As it is now October, the spookiest month, everyone is obligated to watch far more horror than they usually do. For me, this means an attempt to watch and rate as many horror movies from Netflix’s library as I can in one month. If you’re after a new horror to watch, here’s what I think of everything streaming now on Netflix.
While there are a lot of horror movies on Netflix, there’s a method to this madness. I’ll be starting with the Netflix Originals, then making my way through the rest of the library in order of its aggregated rating via Flickmetrix. Here’s what I’ve watched so far, from best to worst:
Netflix Originals
The Ritual
Themes: Supernatural, outdoors, psychological, creature feature
Thoughts: Kind of vibing Blair Witch without the found footage, The Ritual is a surprisingly creepy film following a group of British men on a trip through the Scandanavian wilderness. While you can expect monsters, it’s still great at building tension without showing too much too soon.
Rating: 4.5/5
Gerald’s Game
Themes: Psychological horror, Stephen King
Thoughts: Like most Stephen King adaptations, Gerald’s game is dark, malevolent and unrelenting psychological. Unlike a lot of Stephen King adaptations, Gerald’s game is very well done, with an unrelenting focus on the restrictions of its trapped and desperate protagonist. The ending is a little anti climactic unfortunately, but that’s the price this film pays for accuracy to the source novel.
Rating: 4.5/5
Annihilation
Themes: Sci-fi, psychological thriller
Thoughts: Annihilation is definitely more sci fi than horror, but Netflix sometimes categorizes it as horror so I’ll include it here. Annihilation is less scary than it is mind-bending, and its big supernatural set-pieces take a back seat to the mental states and the interplay between its main cast. You’ll either love it or you’ll hate it, but Annihilation is still worth a watch.
Rating: 4/5
Malevolent
Themes: Haunted house, supernatural, thriller
Thoughts: Malevolent follows a brother-sister duo of fraudster mediums who make money from cleansing houses of lingering spirits. I’m a fan of the fake supernatural turns real supernatural storyline, and Malevolent mixes that with a few other classic horror elements to great effect. It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a good solid horror film that’s worth checking out.
Rating: 3.5/5
Little Evil
Themes: Comedy, fatherhood, possession
Thoughts: Starring Adam Scott and Evangeline Lilly, Little Evil tells the story of a regular man who ends up with the antichrist as a step-son after marrying his new love. Not really scary, Little Evil nevertheless turns into a better movie than expected.
Rating: 3/5
The Babysitter
Themes: Slasher, comedy
Thoughts: The Babysitter basically leans everything it has on the premise of “what if the cute blonde babysitter was actually the killer?” As such it’s never going to be a masterpiece, but it’s better than you’d think. Good for if you need a low-effort, lighter-hearted slasher.
Rating: 3/5
I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives In The House
Themes: Haunted house, supernatural, literary
Thoughts: I’m usually a fan of slow horror, but I Am The Pretty Thing is too slow even for me. It took me two tries just to get past the opening scene. I’m usually a fan of haunted house concepts too, but the weak link in this film for me was its protagonist. Live-in nurse Lily narrates the story in literary prose and acts like she stepped out of a 1940s hospital, but then berates her friend for being a “slut” over the phone. There’s a lack of consistent characterisation that makes it hard to relate to Lily and thus feel the creeping tension of her situation.
Rating: 2/5
The Open House
Themes: Thriller, whodunit
Thoughts: The open house is a thriller based almost entirely on the premise “aren’t open houses creepy?” which I’m pretty sure is said almost verbatim during the film. It also leans heavily on the “rural folk are creepy” horror trope that’s really getting old by now. The Open House wins points for an inventive moment involving contact lenses that I’ve never seen in horror before, but otherwise is a less than inspiring thriller.
Rating: 1.5/5
Clinical
Themes: Psychological thriller
Thoughts: While Clinical has some good moments when it gets going, there’s always way too much nothing time between those good moments. The dealbreaker for me, however, was Clinical’s heavy use of mental health as “horror”, including depicting psychiatric patients as the “monsters” of the film. Not cool, Clinical, not cool.
Rating: 1.5/5
Death Note
Themes: Supernatural, butchered anime adaptation
Thoughts: The only thing really scary about Death Note is how off the mark it is in its adaptation of the original, but it’s in the horror category so I’ll still include it in here. Disappointing if you’ve seen the original, baffling if you haven’t.
Rating: 1/5
Apostle
Themes: Supernatural, cultists, HP Lovecraft
Thoughts: From the director of The Raid and The Raid 2 comes a very different sort of film about an island of sinister cultists in Victorian-era Wales. Unfortunately the plot doesn’t quite hang together. With that said, there are some great splatter sequences for fans of extreme horror and the foreboding atmosphere is very effective.
Rating: 3/5
Everything Else
Train to Busan
Themes: Zombies, ensemble cast, survival
Thoughts: Train to Busan is the only zombie movie I’ve ever enjoyed, and possibly the only one I ever will enjoy. The character dynamics are fantastic, and the cramped train setting is great for tense moments.
Rating: 5/5
What We Do in the Shadows
Themes: Comedy, supernatural
Thoughts: Not really a horror movie in the traditional sense, Kiwi vampire mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows is nevertheless hilarious and a must-watch for everyone. Literally everyone.
Rating: 5/5
It Follows
Themes: Supernatural, teens, demon STD
Thoughts: It Follows isn’t the scariest horror movie around, but it’s a fantastic film and still worth a watch. The premise surrounds a kind of curse or ghost or creature that follows its target with intent to kill – until they have sex with someone, thereby passing it on. The set-up is great for tense, and has a couple of good scares as well.
Rating: 4.5/5
Annabelle: Creation
Themes: Haunted house, possession, creepy dolls
Thoughts: I have a real soft spot for the Conjuring universe, and Annabelle: Creation (a prequel to both The Conjuring and the first Annabelle) is surprisingly well done considering how generally terrible the first movie was. Worth a watch for fellow haunted-house enthusiasts.
Rating: 4.4/5
The Shining
Themes: Psychological, classic, Stephen King
Thoughts: I usually find horror films older than 10 years pretty horribly dated, but The Shining is one of the few ‘classics’ I really enjoyed. Creepy, tense, unrelenting… Do I really have to tell you you should watch The Shining? Go watch The Shining!
Rating: 4.5/5
Green Room
Themes: Thriller, Nazis, survival
Thoughts: Patrick Stewart is a terrifying neo-nazi in this movie about a band who accidentally book a gig at the hangout of some pretty extreme white skinheads, and then get stuck as unwanted witnesses to a violent crime. A tense and all too realistic kind of scary film.
Rating: 4/5
Psycho
Themes: Murder, thriller, classic
Thoughts: What can I say about Psycho? Watch it so you know the context to that iconic shower scene. A little dated for my tastes but still a classic.
Rating: 4/5
Under the Shadow
Themes: Haunting, war, supernatural
Thoughts: A Persian film set during the Iran-Iraq War, Under The Shadow combines a traditional haunted house story with the horrors of living in wartime. More eerie than outright scary, the experience of viewing a haunting through a unique cultural lens is not to be missed.
Rating: 4/5
Veronica
Themes: Haunting, possession
Thoughts: A Spanish language film, Veronica is a pretty classic haunting film about a young woman who gets more than she bargained for after playing with a ouija board. While not super original, it does this theme well, and gets bonus points for a super creepy nun who’s actually there to help.
Rating: 3.5/5
Saw
Themes: Torture, gore, psychological
Thoughts: While gore isn’t generally my cup of tea, Saw is interesting for being the unique film that inspired way too many formulaic sequels. As with most franchises, the original is easily the best, taking the time to explore the themes as well as just indulging in OTT gory setups.
Rating: 3.5/5
P
Themes: Supernatural, revenge, folklore
Thoughts: P is a Thai film that dips into both Thai ghost stories and the reality of sex tourism in Bangkok. It’s a lush little film with some great characters and great creepy scenes.
Rating: 3.5/5
It
Themes: Creepy clowns, supernatural, Stephen King
Thoughts: The new It adaptation is very Stranger Things with its mix of kids doing kid things in the 80s and also a terrifying monster on the prowl. For me, however, Pennywise is just a bit too goofy to be truly scary, though a couple of the other recurring hauntings are good for a scare.
Rating: 3.5/5
Creep 2
Themes: Found footage, psychological, humans are weird
Thoughts: Creep 2 is both less horror-like and also a better film than its predecessor. All the cards are on the table with our weird subject/antagonist/protagonist, and Creep 2 spends more time exploring humanity than trying to creep us out. Still weird, but kinda fun.
Rating: 3.5/5
Event Horizon
Themes: Space, science fiction, supernatural
Thoughts: I’m sorry Event Horizon fans, this space horror will always play second fiddle to Alien. That being said, there’s not much space horror around so you might have to settle for what you had, but Event Horizon‘s reliance on gore over atmosphere was always a disappointment to me.
Rating:3/5
The Final Girls
Themes: Parody, slasher
Thoughts: The daughter of a once-famous scream queen gets magically transported to the fictional setting of one of her mother’s films. Her and her friends have to use their knowledge of horror film logic to stay alive. Campy, but a decent take on horror tropes for fans of the genre.
Rating: 3/5
Saw II
Themes: Torture, gore, psychological(ish)
Thoughts: While a sequel itself, Saw II feels more like the model for the franchise than the original does. The torture devices used in the movie can be horrifyingly original, but for me it’s all ruined by the fact that you don’t really want any of the characters to survive. They’re just all so awful.
Rating:3/5
Creep
Themes: Found footage, psychological, humans are weird
Thoughts: A strange man seeks a videographer to chronicle his life (in a conveniently isolated house in the woods) and things only get weirder from there. I don’t know how to feel about Creep. I’m not sure it was scary but it was definitely unsettling.
Rating:3/5
Insidious: Chapter 3
Themes: Haunting, possession, mediums
Thoughts: I had to Google this movie to actually remember which Insidious was which, which doesn’t really bode well for Insidious: Chapter 3. The third installment in this franchise is a prequel, delving into medium Elise’s past and setting up her first meeting with franchise regulars Specs and Tucker. Other than that it’s not really remarkable, just more of the same spirit-world shenanigans as the first two.
Rating: 2/5
The Devil and Father Amorth
Themes: Documentary, exorcism
Thoughts: This documentary by The Exorcist director William Friedkin is supposed to be a terrifying depiction of a real life exorcism, but Friedkin unfortunately makes it as campy as a trashy ghost-hunting TV show. Featuring interviews with psychiatry experts who wisely refuse to diagnose patients from a video on a screen, it’s questionable at best.
Rating: 2/5
You’re Next
Themes: Slasher, survival
Thoughts: A favourite of Lifehacker editor Chris Jager, You’re Next is nevertheless not for me. It’s a classic slasher with a group of people trapped in a house, slowly being picked off one by one by determined assailants and clever traps. For me, the characters aren’t likeable enough to carry it, especially as infighting breaks out, and the concept isn’t original enough to hold up on its own.
Rating: 2/5
Ouija: Origin of Evil
Themes: Possession, haunted house
Thoughts: Origin of Evil starts strong, with the interesting set-up of a family who fake seances and ghostly apparitions to earn a living. However instead of using this set-up for any good scenes, it’s quickly forgotten and descends into a fairly typical possessed child/haunting film with a lack of any decent scares.
Rating: 2/5
Paranormal Activity 4
Themes: Found footage, haunted house
Thoughts: I actually liked the first few Paranormal Activities, but they lost the magic well before this one. It sets up some cool ideas, like using the Xbox Kinect to ‘see’ the ghost, but then never does anything good with them.
Rating: 2/5
The Nightmare
Themes: Documentary, sleep paralysis
Thoughts: The Nightmare bills itself as a documentary that’s more scary than fictional horror, featuring interviews with people who experience sleep paralysis, and re-enactments of their visions. The concept gets tired pretty soon, though, and it tries a little too hard to be super creepy with bad sound and visual effects.
Rating: 2/5
Hostel
Themes: Gore, torture porn
Thoughts: For some people Hostel is a classic, but I barely got all the way through it. If you like torture porn and awfully unlikeable protagonists, go right ahead.
Rating: 1/5
Dig Two Graves
Themes: Thriller, mystery
Thoughts: Dig Two Graves is a story of generational grudges and small town politics that takes a long time to get to the point. It’s a little too much complicated character relationships and too little actually being scary.
Rating: 1/5
Satanic
Themes: Haunting, possession, demons
Thoughts: I have regrets for the time I wasted on this film. It has a score of 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s not even so bad it’s good it’s just kinda… bad.
Rating: 1/5
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