The 18 best horror movies on Netflix

28 Years Later (2025)

Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later proves the franchise still has a lot to say. Released 18 years after 28 Weeks Later (2007), the third installment in the postapocalyptic horror series is set on one of the British Isles, where a community has flourished, isolated from the more evolved versions of the infected that still terrorize the region. The film follows 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams), who must contend with his mother’s growing illness and his father’s inability to help her.

Writer Alex Garland and director Boyle reunite for the first time since 28 Days Later, and their collaboration meditates on British culture and isolationism in a post-Brexit, COVID-impacted world. Its own sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, premieres on Jan. 16. —Ilana Gordon

Where to watch 28 Years Later: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Danny Boyle

Cast: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Williams, Ralph Fiennes

Bird Box (2018)

Sight becomes a burden in Bird Box, a postapocalyptic thriller where the enemy must go unseen, or else. Sandra Bullock stars as Malorie Hayes, a woman responsible for transporting two young children down a river while wearing blindfolds, a strategy intended to help the survivors avoid seeing the entities that attacked Earth five years earlier, and who cause those who look upon them to commit suicide.

Jumping between their present journey and the past events that led Malorie and the children to this point, director Susanne Bier leans into the tension of the unknown and relies on her talented but eclectic cast to do the rest. Released the same year as A Quiet Place, Bird Box received less attention, but this sci-fi horror film is a great option for fans of both genres. —I.G.

Where to watch Bird Box: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Susanne Bier

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Danielle Macdonald, Sarah Paulson

The Blackening (2022)

Fans of Get Out (2017) will love The Blackening — and if the premise looks familiar, it’s because the horror comedy started as a Comedy Central TV short. In the extended version, a group of friends decides to celebrate Juneteenth together in a cabin in the woods, only to find themselves targeted by a racist board game and a killer in a black leather face mask. 

The film’s tagline is “They can’t all die first,” and the movie precisely skewers genre tropes from the perspective of an almost all-Black cast. A film that focuses more on the satire than the scary moments, The Blackening is a great modern horror film in the style of 2022’s Bodies Bodies Bodies and The Menu. —I.G.

Where to watch The Blackening: Netflix

Director: Tim Story

Cast: Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Dewayne Perkins

Bones and All (2022)

If you took a moody YA romance, set it in Ronald Reagan’s America, and focused it on two cannibals falling in love, you’d get Bones and All. A romantic horror film from Luca Guadagnino, Bones stars Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet as young adults living on the outskirts of society and trying to cope with their hunger for flesh and, eventually, each other.

After the two join forces and travel across America in the late-1980s in search of Maren’s (Russell) mother who abandoned her when she was small, these two “eaters” struggle to confront their pasts, their family ties, and their urges. EW’s critic describes the film as “two crazy kids with hope in their hearts and a femur bone, perhaps, in their throats, running as fast they can.” —I.G.

Where to watch Bones and All: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Luca Guadagnino 

Cast: Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, Michael Stuhlbarg, André Holland, Chloë Sevigny

Cargo (2018)

Martin Freeman gives “a performance in turns stoic and heartbreakingly desperate,” says EW’s critic, in this story about a father and his daughter in the Australian outback struggling for survival after a zombie outbreak. It’s more of a character drama than a horror film, and admittedly is not a ton of fun, but it’s a strong movie and a brave take on the zombie mythos. If you’re a fan of the genre, Cargo will offer you something with more emotional weight than you’re used to. —Declan Gallagher

Where to watch Cargo: Netflix

EW grade: B

Directors: Ben Howling, Yolanda Ramke

Cast: Martin Freeman, Simone Landers, Anthony Hayes, Susie Porter

Creep (2014)

In this found-footage two-hander, a young videographer named Aaron (Patrick Brice) is hired by Josef (Mark Duplass) to record a day of his life. Josef explains that he has an inoperable brain tumor and wants to leave something behind for his soon-to-be-born son, but his eccentric behavior becomes increasingly concerning, and Aaron needs to decide whether to continue filming — assuming Josef will let him leave. 

Creep’s continued success depends on whether Josef can keep finding fresh ways to be unnerving, and he does. (Things get even creepier in 2017’s Creep 2 — also on Netflix — which documents another video project gone terribly wrong.) —Danny Horn

Where to watch Creep: Netflix

Director: Patrick Brice

Cast: Mark Duplass, Patrick Brice

The Dead Don’t Die (2019)

The Dead Don’t Die defies explanation. A zombie movie that dabbles in absurdist comedy, sci-fi, and horror — and delights in breaking the fourth wall — the movie is never what you expect, but that doesn’t detract from the viewing experience.

As EW’s critic notes, the film isn’t particularly scary or gory, so if those are your zombie priorities, you’ve come to the wrong place. However, if your goal is to watch a “genre-tweaking experiment” laden with director Jim Jarmusch’s favorite acting collaborators, then The Dead Don’t Die is the deadpan zom-com for you. —I.G.

Where to watch The Dead Don’t Die: Netflix

Director: Jim Jarmusch

Cast: Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Buscemi

The Devil All the Time (2020)

A Netflix original and horror thriller, The Devil All the Time explores several interconnected groups of people living in two small towns in Southern Ohio between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s. Linked by religious evangelism, war, corruption, suicide, abandonment, and serial murder, the cast — which includes a host of young Hollywood heavy hitters — makes the most of the story’s melodrama and dark subject matter. Based on the 2011 novel and directed by Antonio Campos (The Staircase), The Devil All the Time takes the “all the time” portion of its title literally: the sins are multitudinous and the depths of human depravity on full display. —I.G.

Where to watch The Devil All the Time: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Antonio Campos

Cast: Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Sebastian Stan, Riley Keough, Eliza Scanlen

El Conde (2023)

Director Pablo Larraín sinks his teeth into Chile’s most notorious villain, Gen. Augusto Pinochet, a figure who frequented some of his past works like Tony Manero (2008), Post Mortem (2010), and No (2012). But instead of merely depicting Pinochet’s military dictatorship that terrorized and killed thousands, Larraín offers an alternative history that sees him as a 250-year-old vampire who’s grown tired of immortality after the countless atrocities he’s committed. 

Shot in breathtaking, Oscar-nominated black and white cinematography, El Conde is a gothic, politically rich vampire odyssey that renders fascists as literal life-drainers, forcing its heartless protagonist to sit forever with his horrific legacy. —James Mercadante

Where to watch El Conde: Netflix

Director: Pablo Larraín

Cast: Jaime Vadell, Gloria Münchmeyer, Alfredo Castro, Paula Luchsinger

Fear Street Part I: 1994 (2021)

It’s a familiar setup — a group of clever, plucky suburban teens battling a hooded, skull-masked serial killer who returns from the dead — but this brisk adaptation of the R.L. Stine novel series offers more than just the obvious tropes. The Fear Street trilogy is a knowing mash-up of slasher films, ghost stories, and summer camp killers bound together by an ancient supernatural curse. 

The second chapter in the franchise flashes back to 1978, and the third film to 1666, exploring a detailed backstory. Plus, the lesbian romance at the heart of the trilogy provides a modern spin. —D.H.

Where to watch Fear Street Part I: 1994: Netflix

Director: Leigh Janiak

Cast: Kiana Madeira, Olivia Scott Welch, Benjamin Flores Jr., Julia Rehwald, Fred Hechinger

Gerald’s Game (2017)

On vacation at a remote lake house, Gerald (Bruce Greenwood) plays a kinky sex game with his wife, Jessie (Carla Gugino), handcuffing her to the bed and then dropping dead of a heart attack. Shackled to the bedposts with no chance of rescue, Jessie has to figure out how to survive. 

Adapting a Stephen King novel long thought to be unfilmable, Gerald’s Game fleshes out the story by bringing Gerald back to life as a hallucination, giving Jessie someone to talk to as she confronts her inner demons. Stirring performances by Gugino and Greenwood make this film a compelling watch. —D.H.

Where to watch Gerald’s Game: Netflix

Director: Mike Flanagan

Cast: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Carel Struycken

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

You can’t escape the sins of your past in I Know What You Did Last Summer. A horror film with a serious hook — both literal and metaphorical — the success of the project helped enable a resurgence of slasher movies in the ‘90s. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Freddie Prinze Jr. star as four recent high school graduates with a deadly secret that stays between them until they reunite the following summer in their hometown. Soon, intimidating messages indicate that someone else knows what happened a year ago and will stop at nothing to seek retribution. EW’s critic writes that the movie “knows how to assault you as crudely — and efficiently — as its vengeful slasher.” —I.G.

Where to watch I Know What You Did Last Summer: Netflix

Director: Jim Gillespie

Cast: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Freddie Prinze Jr., Johnny Galecki

The Perfection (2018)

Cello prodigy Charlotte (Allison Williams) returns to a prestigious music conservatory after several years away to find that another student, Lizzie (Logan Browning), has taken her place as the star pupil. The perverse, grisly way that Charlotte sabotages her rival is breathtaking — and that’s only act one of this twisty psychological horror movie. 

Williams’ deadpan charm anchors the film, even as it takes several left turns from reality. EW’s critic notes, “Some folks may laugh when director Richard Shepard wants their jaws to drop. But it delivers. The Perfection is a pure hit of twisted, absurd camp catnip.” —D.H.

Where to watch The Perfection: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Richard Shepard

Cast: Allison Williams, Logan Browning, Steven Weber

The Platform (2019)

In this Spanish dystopian thriller, prisoners are trapped in a “Vertical Self-Management Center,” a towering structure of stacked cells featuring a large hole in the floor. Every day, a platform loaded with food descends the tower, pausing at each level for the prisoners to eat. Those at the top feast heartily, while those below get the leftover table scraps. If everyone only took what they needed, there would be enough for all, but the greedy folks don’t care about those suffering beneath them. (FYI: The Platform 2 is also available on Netflix.) —D.H.

Where to watch The Platform: Netflix

Director: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

Cast: Iván Massagué, Antonia San Juan, Zorion Eguileor

The Ritual (2017)

A stylish spine-chiller, The Ritual sends four British friends on a hiking tour through a dark Swedish forest, where they find that someone’s been busy gutting animals and carving strange runes on the trees. None of the guys like to admit they’re scared, so they keep pushing forward through the wilderness, as the occult threats grow more terrifying. However, they tend to make some newbie monster-movie mistakes, like spending the night in an abandoned cabin featuring an effigy with antlers for hands. Events get progressively bleaker from there. —D.H.

Where to watch The Ritual: Netflix

Director: David Bruckner

Cast: Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier, Sam Troughton

Train to Busan (2016)

The only thing faster than a bullet train is the zombie infection overtaking its passengers. In the South Korean action horror film Train to Busan, Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) is a work-obsessed hedge fund manager and absentee father who agrees to accompany his young daughter, Soo-an (Kim Su-an), on a bullet train from Seoul to Busan so she can spend her birthday with her mother.

As the train departs, a sick woman begins transitioning into a zombie — and infecting everyone around her. These zombies seem to have studied at the World War Z School of Swarming; they move at the same frenetic speed, infecting the entire country during the course of the movie’s under two-hour run time. —I.G.

Where to watch Train to Busan: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Yeon Sang-ho

Cast: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an, Choi Woo-shik

Under the Shadow (2016)

Living in Tehran during the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, Shideh (Narges Rashidi) and her young daughter (Avin Manshadi) are under constant threat from missile strikes — and from the terrifying djinn that appears to be haunting their apartment. While her husband and neighbors urge Shideh to take her daughter to safety, the spirit taunts her, questioning whether she’s a respectable woman and a good mother. 

Complex and thought-provoking, Under the Shadow makes a unique addition to the horror canon. EW’s critic calls the movie “a skilled, chilling feature debut that might follow you around a while after seeing it.” —D.H.

Where to watch Under the Shadow: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Babak Anvari

Cast: Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi

Verónica (2017)

In Madrid, 15-year-old Verónica (Sandra Escacena) has a dead father, an absent mother, and three young siblings whom she cares for on her own. In an attempt to contact her dad, she and two friends play with an Ouija board. She cuts her hand, and drips blood on the board — an obvious no-no among Ouija enthusiasts — causing something demonic to emerge and attach itself to her.

Dark forces start to attack, and Verónica’s descent into madness is all the more upsetting because it threatens her adorable little brother and sisters. Verónica notably wraps up with an explanation of the true story that inspired the film. —D.H.

Where to watch Verónica: Netflix

Director: Paco Plaza

Cast: Sandra Escacena, Claudia Placer, Bruna González, Iván Chavero, Ana Torrent