(Photo by Netflix. Thumbnail: Dark Sky/courtesy Everett Collection)
Looking for the best scary movies on Netflix? After a guided map of the most terrifying dingy dungeons, creaky manors, home-invaded houses, and deeply dark woods you can find on the streaming service? Then your search has led you to your glorious streaming doom: The Best Horror Movies on Netflix!
Not only does Netflix have a strong rotating library of scary movies, they sit along their horror original efforts, like Gerald’s Game, Fear Street, and Bird Box.
How did we whittle down our list of horror? We took every last scary movie on Netflix that had at least 20 reviews. What emerges is a portrait of which films unnerved and spooked out critics, have the potential to get audiences’ heart racing, and maybe even broke new ground and bones for the genre. So enough delaying the inevitable: Here are the best Netflix horror movies to stream and scream right now!
#41
Adjusted Score: 68.729%
Critics Consensus: If you only watch one art-world satire with horror overtones this year — or most others — it should probably be Velvet Buzzsaw.
#40
Adjusted Score: 68.845%
Critics Consensus: Unfriended subverts found-footage horror clichés to deliver a surprisingly scary entry in the teen slasher genre with a technological twist.
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#39
Adjusted Score: 69.548%
Critics Consensus: Bird Box never quite reaches its intriguing potential, but strong acting and an effectively chilly mood offer intermittently creepy compensation.
#38
Adjusted Score: 66.611%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#37
Adjusted Score: 71.249%
Critics Consensus: We Summon the Darkness makes the most of its rather pedestrian plot with palpable affection for genre formula, an appealing cast, and a sharp sense of humor.
#36
Adjusted Score: 76.928%
Critics Consensus: With little gore and a lot of creepy visuals, The Ring gets under your skin, thanks to director Gore Verbinski’s haunting sense of atmosphere and an impassioned performance from Naomi Watts.
#35
Adjusted Score: 75.457%
Critics Consensus: Led by a pair of compelling performances, The Perfection is a smart, gripping thriller that barbs its wild twists with cutting wit.
#34
Adjusted Score: 72.321%
Critics Consensus: Enjoyable if not particularly original, The Babysitter makes the most of its familiar genre ingredients with energetic direction and a killer cast.
#33
Adjusted Score: 76.594%
Critics Consensus: Stylish with a sadistic streak, Piercing pairs gripping lead performances with a smartly macabre story that delivers unpredictable thrills.
#32
Adjusted Score: 77.327%
Critics Consensus: Director David Bruckner makes evocative use of the Scandinavian setting and a dedicated cast to deliver a handsome — if familiar — horror story.
#31
Adjusted Score: 81.222%
Critics Consensus: Apostle resists easy scares in favor of a steady, slow-building descent into dread led by a commanding central performance from Dan Stevens.
#30
Adjusted Score: 79.093%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#29
Adjusted Score: 83.363%
Critics Consensus: While it may feel muddled at times, The Platform is an inventive and captivating dystopian thriller.
#28
Adjusted Score: 87.051%
Critics Consensus: Fear Street Part One: 1994 kicks off the trilogy in promising fashion, honoring the source material with plenty of retro slasher appeal.
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#27
Adjusted Score: 91.708%
Critics Consensus: The Killing of a Sacred Deer continues director Yorgos Lanthimos’ stubbornly idiosyncratic streak — and demonstrates again that his is a talent not to be ignored.
#26
Adjusted Score: 89.841%
Critics Consensus: The Conjuring 2 can’t help but lose a bit of its predecessor’s chilly sting through familiarity, but what remains is still a superior ghost story told with spine-tingling skill.
#25
Adjusted Score: 78.289%
Critics Consensus: A yuletide nightmare full of familial angst and slithering scares, Await Further Instructions is a genre treat that pretty much any horror fan will want in their stocking.
#24
Adjusted Score: 84.393%
Critics Consensus: Smart, stylish, and well-acted, What Keeps You Alive proves it’s still possible to spin an engrossing horror yarn without fundamentally altering established formula.
#23
Adjusted Score: 84.746%
Critics Consensus: Girl on the Third Floor proves a good old-fashioned haunted house story can still be entertaining — and put a fresh spin on established genre formula.
#22
Adjusted Score: 94.628%
Critics Consensus: Well-crafted and gleefully creepy, The Conjuring ratchets up dread through a series of effective old-school scares.
#21
Adjusted Score: 89.621%
Critics Consensus: 1BR’s occasionally ordinary storytelling is more than outweighed by tight direction, interesting ideas, and an effective blend of horror and thoughtful drama.
#20
Adjusted Score: 97.614%
Critics Consensus: It Comes at Night makes lethally effective use of its bare-bones trappings while proving once again that what’s left unseen can be just as horrifying as anything on the screen.
#19
Adjusted Score: 88.114%
Critics Consensus: Well-acted, genuinely unsettling, and occasionally even funny, #alive proves the crowded zombie genre still has fresh stories to tell.
#18
Adjusted Score: 88.519%
Critics Consensus: Uncommonly restrained for a movie about a flesh-eating menace, Ravenous offers a satisfyingly nuanced entry in the crowded zombie apocalypse subgenre.
#17
Adjusted Score: 90.498%
Critics Consensus: Cargo takes a refreshingly character-driven approach to the zombie genre that’s further distinguished by its Australian setting and Martin Freeman’s terrific lead performance.
#16
Adjusted Score: 90.859%
Critics Consensus: Stocked with solid performances, Freaks is a clever sci-fi/horror hybrid that suggests a bright future for co-writers/co-directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein.
#15
Adjusted Score: 89.494%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
#14
Adjusted Score: 89.181%
Critics Consensus: A smart, odball take on found-footage horror, Creep is clever and well-acted enough to keep viewers on the edges of their seats.
#13
Adjusted Score: 92.61%
Critics Consensus: The Invitation makes brilliant use of its tension-rich premise to deliver a uniquely effective — and surprisingly clever — slow-building thriller.
#12
Adjusted Score: 97.467%
Critics Consensus: Wickedly funny and featuring plenty of gore, Zombieland is proof that the zombie subgenre is far from dead.
#11
Adjusted Score: 90.857%
Critics Consensus: In the sharp, socially conscious battle of Vampires vs. the Bronx, comedy and horror blend brilliantly — and the audience is the winner.
#10
Adjusted Score: 91.65%
Critics Consensus: A smart and subversive twist on slasher horror, Fear Street Part II: 1978 shows that summer camp has never been scarier thanks to stellar performances from Sadie Sink, Emily Rudd, and Ryan Simpkins.
#9
Adjusted Score: 92.004%
Critics Consensus: Thanks to director Zak Hilditch’s patient storytelling and strong work from lead Thomas Jane, 1922 ranks among the more satisfying Stephen King adaptations.
#8
Adjusted Score: 93.598%
Critics Consensus: Carla Gugino carries Gerald’s Game’s small-scale suspense with a career-defining performance.
#7
Adjusted Score: 93.793%
Critics Consensus: Hush navigates the bloody waters of home invasion thrillers and incisive slashers for a contemporary horror puree.
#6
Adjusted Score: 96.603%
Critics Consensus: Smart and suspenseful, CAM is a techno-thriller that’s far more than the sum of its salacious parts — and an outstanding showcase for Madeline Brewer in the leading role.
#5
Adjusted Score: 95.792%
Critics Consensus: Carried by Kiersey Clemons’ performance, Sweetheart balances smart subtext and social commentary against effective genre thrills.
#4
Adjusted Score: 103.335%
Critics Consensus: Pan’s Labyrinth is Alice in Wonderland for grown-ups, with the horrors of both reality and fantasy blended together into an extraordinary, spellbinding fable.
#3
Adjusted Score: 101.927%
Critics Consensus: Under the Shadow deftly blends seemingly disparate genres to deliver an effective chiller with timely themes and thought-provoking social subtext.
#2
Adjusted Score: 100.139%
Critics Consensus: Creep 2 has everything that made the original work and more — more laughs, more awkwardness, more unsettling terror.
#1
Adjusted Score: 104.431%
Critics Consensus: Featuring genuine scares through every corridor, His House is a terrifying look at the specters of the refugee experience and a stunning feature debut for Remi Weekes.
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