With stores everywhere morphing into strange collections of overpriced costumes and Christmas trees, one thing is clear: The Halloween season is upon us.
If you're looking for an alternative to haunted hayrides and trick-or-treating, you needn't look any further than your Netflix streaming account. We waded through the service's massive selection of horror movies and compiled a list that will surely get any cinema buff into the spirit of the season.
Watch them soon, however; like stranded motorists in the woods, movies offered by Netflix have a tendency to vanish suddenly, never to return.
The Night of the Living Dead
Way, way before the modern zombie craze, acclaimed horror director George A. Romero brought the dead back to life in a truly chilling manner. While his 1968 classic has spawned sequels, remakes, and imitations galore (not to mention an actual federal preparedness plan), nothing has come close to matching it. Nostalgic horror fans and newcomers alike will be able to share in the sheer terror of the living dead as they wreak havoc in a rural Pennsylvania town.
Hellraiser
Japan and South Korea have long been the home of some of our favorite foreign horror movies. However, the same nation that gave us our beloved Doctor Who and Sherlock is also responsible for one of the most timeless horror franchises out there. Clive Barker's original Hellraiser introduces us to the dangerous "Lament Configuration" puzzle box and the terrifying effects it has on its curious—yet selfish—victims. In addition to the original film, Netflix also has all eight sequels available to stream.
House
The 1970s and 1980s were chock-full of horror movies, ranging from multimovie franchises to low budget one-shots. Smack in the middle of the 1980s horror craze—and well before the Scary Movie franchise reared its head—was the 1986 horror-comedy film House, which follows a falling-from-grace novelist who decides to take up residence in his late aunt's spooky mansion. The first of its three sequels, House II: The Second Story, is also available to stream.
Carrie
It goes without saying that Stephen King is one of the true masters of horror; his books have spawned cinematic and television adaptations for decades. One of the more successful examples of this was the 1976 film Carrie, which follows a young, bullied girl who, unfortunately for her tormentors, possesses telekinetic powers. The film's only sequel, The Rage: Carrie 2, is also available for streaming, as is the 2013 remake.
Children of the Corn
Stephen King's influence on horror cinema continued with the 1984 film Children of the Corn. It was one of the original horror flicks to capitalize upon the "young children are creepy as hell" trope, which of course continues to this very day. Watch as "He Who Walks Behind the Rows" hypnotizes the children of a small town, turning them into zombie-like murderers with glowing green-yellow eyes. Six of the film's seven sequels are also available to stream (the only entry missing is Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice).
From Dusk Till Dawn
Once upon a time, vampires in cinema didn't sparkle or prey upon mopey teenagers. For a classic example of the good ol' bloodsucking days, look no further than 1996's From Dusk Till Dawn and its all-star cast, including George Clooney and Harvey Keitel. Through writer (and co-star) Quentin Tarantino's signature over-the-top bloodshed and fast-paced dialogue, it follows a pair of thieving brothers fleeing to Mexico who face a terrifying foe: murder victims who instantly become bloodthirsty vampires. The film spawned two sequels and a television adaptation, all of which are also available for streaming.
The Prophecy
The always-amazing Christopher Walken is actually—believe it or not—a horror movie veteran. Following roles in The Sentinel and The Dead Zone early in his career, he landed the role of the archangel Michael in 1995's The Prophecy, in which he is commissioned with the task of finding an evil human soul to aid with an angelic war. The film's four sequels are also available to stream, although be advised that Walken only reprised his role in The Prophecy II and The Prophecy 3: The Ascent.
Ju-On: The Grudge
For quintessentially terrific horror fare from Japan, we suggest 2002's Ju-On: The Grudge, which was remade as simply The Grudge in America. While the Sarah Michelle Gellar-headlined remake was certainly disturbing in its own way, nothing tops the source material, which involves a social worker who is plagued by an evil force inside a murder victim's home. Ju-On 2 is also available to stream, as is the lackluster American sequel The Grudge 3.
Scream
After raging success with Last House on the Left and A Nightmare on Elm Street, horror master Wes Craven returned to the scene with Scream in 1996. The very self-aware film about neighborhood teenagers being slaughtered by a mysterious figure in a "Ghostface" mask exploded at the box office. It was responsible for a wave of new teen-led horror films in the late 1990s, including the I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legends franchises. Sequels Scream 2 and Scream 3 are also available to stream; the most recent entry in the franchise, 2011's Scream 4, is not.
The Blair Witch Project
With the Paranormal Activity franchise now five entries strong (and counting), it is safe to say that the "found footage" style of horror filmmaking resonates with audiences. But over a decade before audiences packed movie theaters to see bedroom doors close on their own, they were filing into theaters to watch The Blair Witch Project. With no soundtrack, no A-list actors, and very little budget, the movie is billed as footage that was shot by three student filmmakers who disappeared without a trace in rural western Maryland in search of the elusive Blair Witch.
The Cabin in the Woods
This very meta 2012 film from Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard has been heralded as one of the greatest horror movies of the 21st century. Equal parts terrifying, hilarious, and thought-provoking, it tells the story of human sacrifice via a traditional horror movie setup, giving viewers a newfound respect for the genre's tropes and themes.
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark
After being scared straight by everything from zombies to supernatural forces, maybe it's time for some straight-up PG-13 comedy with horror as a backdrop. Elvira: Mistress of the Dark delivers this perfectly, starring Cassandra Peterson as the title character. A public access TV "horror hostess" who introduces—and mocks—old horror films, she finds herself unintentionally scaring conservative residents of a tiny Massachusetts community on a trip to collect inheritance money.
Scary Movie 3
When it comes to the lampooning of horror culture, almost nothing beats the five-film strong Scary Movie franchise. Kicking off in 2000 with a direct parody of the first Scream movie, the subsequent entries have parodied everything from Saw to Paranormal Activity and resurrected the careers of the Wayans brothers. Scary Movie 3 is perhaps one of the franchise's best entries; it parodies The Ring, Signs, 8 Mile, and other movies that were popular at the time of its 2003 release. Directed by the team that brought us comedy classics like Airplane! and The Naked Gun, the film marked career resurgences for Charlie Sheen and Leslie Nielsen. Scary Movie 2 is also available to stream.
Screengrab via Forever Cinematic Trailers/YouTube