The 24 best movies for streaming and screaming (October 2025)

Aliens (1986)

James Cameron’s follow-up to Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror film Alien, the sequel Aliens — released after years of delays and development apathy — picks up where its predecessor left off. After more than half a century in stasis, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is rescued and agrees to accompany her employers on a mission to an exomoon to exterminate the creatures that destroyed her former ship and murdered its crew.

But when this mission goes similarly awry, it’s up to Ripley to help evade the aliens and find a path back to Earth. The film earned Weaver an Oscar nod for Best Actress, and her performance as an action star was credited with elevating the film beyond typical B-movie fare. The movie also helped establish Cameron’s Hollywood reputation as a craftsman with a talent for pacing action films and a nose for employing the newest technology and visual effects. —Ilana Gordon

Where to watch Aliens: Hulu

Director: James Cameron

Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton

The Babadook (2014)

Long before he became an unexpected gay icon, the Babadook was delivering visceral scares that simultaneously pulled on our heartstrings. The movie constantly makes us question whether the central troubled child (Noah Wiseman) is truly connected to a storybook monster, or if he — and perhaps even his mother (played to chilling perfection by Essie Davis) — is declining psychologically. This is a particularly bleak and scary movie for parents, suggesting we can never keep our children fully safe and stable. —Chris Snellgrove

Where to watch The Babadook: Hulu

Director: Jennifer Kent

Cast: Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Hayley McElhinney, Daniel Henshall, Barbara West, Ben Winspear

Bring Her Back (2025)

A24 knows how to handle horror, and in Bring Her Back, they take audiences on a terrifying ride through grief, gore, and the occult. From the directors of Talk to Me (2022), Bring Her Back is an Australian film about processing trauma and the lengths to which people will go to hang onto their loved ones.

After their father dies unexpectedly, stepsiblings Piper and Andy move in with Laura (Sally Hawkins), an eccentric woman who is also fostering a mute child named Oliver. Critics were quick to praise the film’s performances, especially Hawkins’ work as a deranged foster mother, and fans of Goodnight Mommy will find that Bring Her Back scratches a similar itch. —I.G.

Where to watch Bring Her Back: HBO Max

Directors: Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou

Cast: Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, Jonah Wren Phillips, Sally Hawkins

Carnival of Souls (1962)

After an accident pushes their car off the road, Mary (Candace Hilligoss) awakens on the banks of a river in Kansas with no memory of how she got there or what happened to her friends. Puzzled and shaken, Mary proceeds with her plans to move to Salt Lake City, where she’s been hired as the new organist at a local church. But no matter where Mary goes, mysterious events, creepy people (including one played by the film’s director, Herk Harvey), and sinister spirits seem to follow.

Watching Carnival of Souls today feels like witnessing a slew of Easter eggs before they’ve even happened, as many genre filmmakers have been inspired by the haunting imagery, gothic music, and ending that continues to baffle even decades later. An EW critic writes, “More than just scary, it’s arrestingly odd, with a bats-in-the-belfry 3-a.m. loneliness that you plug into like a private dream.” —I.G.

Where to watch Carnival of Souls: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Herk Harvey

Cast: Candace Hilligoss, Sidney Berger

Carrie (1976)

Carrie was the one that started it all, not only for Stephen King as a novelist but also for the long line of film adaptations of his work to come. While said adaptations are of varying quality, few would argue with the strength of Brian De Palma’s take on this story of high school outcast Carrie White (Sissy Spacek), who uses her telekinetic powers to exact revenge on the bullies who torment her.

While the film is not reliant on traditional jump scares, the psychological buildup of Carrie enduring the horrors of high school as well as her religious zealot mother (Piper Laurie, camp excellence) makes the iconic prom climax all the more satisfying. Plus, it’s not every day that the Oscars acknowledge horror performances, with Spacek and Laurie earning nominations for their fully committed work. —Kevin Jacobsen

Where to watch Carrie: MGM+

Director: Brian De Palma

Cast: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, Betty Buckley, Nancy Allen, William Katt, John Travolta, P.J. Soles

Creep (2014)

Longtime horror nerds know that Blumhouse has a mixed bag of films. Fortunately, director Patrick Brice’s Creep is one of the better treasures in that trove, following a cameraman (played by Brice himself) who takes a Craigslist job that involves recording an off-kilter dying client (Mark Duplass) as an artifact for his unborn son. This setup makes for a refreshing and stripped-down found footage film. Trust us: Even if you normally hate the format, you’ll love this bonkers tale that mines much of its scares from a surprisingly psychological angle.

As Duplass told EW, the collective vibe of this movie was, “Let’s just make it super weird and make it the crazy little monster that it is.” The result is an eye-opening exercise in terror that will especially impress those who think the subgenre peaked at the onset with The Blair Witch Project. —C.S.

Where to watch Creep: Netflix

Director: Patrick Brice

Cast: Mark Duplass, Patrick Brice

Get Out (2017)

Jordan Peele turned the horror movie genre on its head with Get Out, his feature directorial debut. Daniel Kaluuya stars as Chris Washington, a Black man whose trip to meet his white girlfriend Rose’s (Allison Williams) family goes awry when he realizes he is not in a safe place. Get Out is a satirical horror film whose social commentary only works to heighten the terror, and Peele blends genre tropes with subtle observational humor to create a revelatory look at modern race relations. His screenplay won an Oscar and the admiration of EW’s critic, who wrote, “He’s made a horror movie whose biggest jolts have nothing to do with blood or bodies, but rather with big ideas.” —I.G.

Where to watch Get Out: HBO Max

EW grade: B

Director: Jordan Peele

Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root, Catherine Keener

Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018)

YouTubers will do a lot of questionable things for views, but in Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum, one channel’s livestream ends with more of its participants dead than alive. A South Korean found footage horror film set in the Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital, the movie follows a web series creator and the six people he recruits to explore the abandoned building. Drawn to room 402, the former intensive care unit, the group encounters supernatural entities they can’t explain and danger they can’t escape.

Based on the real-life Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital — a South Korean asylum that was considered one of the country’s most haunted buildings before it was demolished in 2018 — the film starts off slow, but will have you lunging for the lights by the time the ending arrives. —I.G.

Where to watch Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Jung Bum-shik

Cast: Wi Ha-joon, Park Ji-hyun, Oh Ah-yeon, Moon Ye-won, Park Sung-hoon, Yoo Je-yoon, Lee Seung-wook, Park Ji-a

Goodnight Mommy (2014)

There is no shortage of creepy twins in horror (“Come play with us, Danny!”), and the most terrifying example from recent memory is in Austria’s Goodnight Mommy, which premiered in 2014 at the Venice International Film Festival and was released theatrically a year later. A psychological horror story, Goodnight Mommy follows two 9-year-old twin boys who begin to question their mother’s identity after she returns from intensive cosmetic surgery as a seemingly different person than the parent they once knew. The boys commit to ousting the imposter and finding the location of their real mother, but their investigation leads to truths too horrifying to process. 

A remake starring Naomi Watts arrived in 2022. Feel free to binge both versions, but definitely start with the original. —I.G.

Where to watch Goodnight Mommy: Amazon Prime Video

Directors: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala

Cast: Susanne Wuest, Elias Schwarz, Lukas Schwarz

It Follows (2014)

It Follows is a horror movie about the STDs they don’t teach you about in health class: sexually transmitted demons. After Jay (Maika Monroe) loses her virginity and gains a paranormal pursuer, she learns the only way to rid herself of the supernatural entities now trying to kill her is to have sex with someone else and pass along the curse.

EW’s critic describes the film as “a deadly carnal chain letter fueled by the deliverer’s dishonesty, guilt, and psychosexual fear,” but unlike other horror movies where casual sex is the root cause of all the destruction, in It Follows, sex is also the solution. A smart, unnerving subversion of horror movies by director David Robert Mitchell, It Follows will haunt your brain long after the credits roll. —I.G.

Where to watch It Follows: HBO Max

EW grade: A–

Director: David Robert Mitchell

Cast: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Jake Weary, Lili Sepe, Olivia Luccardi

Lake Mungo (2008)

Given that everything natural on the continent is designed to kill you, Australia seems an ideal setting for a scary movie. But in the psychological horror film Lake Mungo — set in Ararat, Australia — the fear isn’t born from external foes, but rather from the terror required to succumb to the depths of human feeling. Lake Mungo begins with the accidental drowning of 16-year-old Alice Palmer. Upon returning home, her brother Matthew believes he sees Alice’s ghost, but further investigation from the Palmer family reveals that Alice was seeing premonitions of her death.

Far from providing closure, the family begins to realize that the more they learn about Alice’s personal life, the less they understand about what happened to her. Shot in mockumentary style and incorporating elements of found footage, Lake Mungo is, at its core, a horror movie about human behavior and navigating grief. —I.G.

Where to watch Lake Mungo: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Joel Anderson 

Cast: Talia Zucker, Rosie Traynor, David Pledger

M3GAN (2023)

It is a truth universally acknowledged — at least in horror movies — that dolls are terrifying. But forget Chucky and Annabelle, because M3GAN isn’t your average genre villain. Designed by Gemma (Allison Williams), a professional toy roboticist, M3GAN is powered by generative AI, packaged in a childlike body, and designed to be a loyal companion to the kid formally paired with her.

Unfortunately, the playmate takes her role as protector very seriously, and when Gemma becomes the caretaker for her recently orphaned niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), M3GAN goes rogue. Now facing off against an uncontrollable robot with a penchant for murder (and viral dance moves), Gemma and her co-workers must find a way to power their creation down forever — or risk dying at her hands. A horror comedy that never takes itself too seriously, M3GAN is self-aware, murderous, and seriously entertaining. —I.G.

Where to watch M3GAN: Peacock

EW grade: B+

Director: Gerard Johnstone

Cast: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, Jenna Davis, Amie Donald

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

George Romero thought Night of the Living Dead would be a “one-off,” but his seminal zombie flick has persevered to fundamentally shape the modern horror landscape. The Dead franchise spawned numerous entries and imitators, most notably Dawn of the Dead (1978) and its well-regarded 2004 remake, and one of the most successful TV series of this century arguably wouldn’t exist without his low-budget lark.

Named one of EW’s scariest movies of all time, Romero’s slow-burn, documentary-like approach to the apocalypse is as mundane as it is violent; the end comes not with an explosion, but the slow encroachment of our dead loved ones. Notable, too, is Duane Jones, a Black actor, as the film’s protagonist, not to mention the film’s final moments, which resonated deeper than Romero would ever have imagined. As he tells EW upon hearing how much his film had impacted Frank Darabont, co-creator of The Walking Dead, “It’s still hard for me to realize how influential that film was.” —Randall Colburn

Where to watch Night of the Living Dead: Peacock

Director: George Romero

Cast: Judith O’Dea, Duane Jones, Marilyn Eastman, Karl Hardman, Judith Ridley, Keith Wayne

Nosferatu (2024)

Robert Eggers finally got to direct the story he’s always wanted to remake with this haunting gothic horror drama. Based on 1922’s Nosferatu, which was itself an unofficial interpretation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the Victorian-set film follows a woman named Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) who has an abnormal psychic connection with a faraway vampire, Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård).

Things escalate when Ellen’s husband, Thomas (Nicholas Hoult), accepts an opportunity to sell Count Orlok a manor in town, and the parasitic vampire’s arrival spells doom for the townsfolk. Unsettling and graphic with an undeniably dark romantic draw, Nosferatu is one of the most elegantly made horror films in recent years. —K.J.

Where to watch Nosferatu: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Robert Eggers

Cast: Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hoult, Bill Skarsgård, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Ralph Ineson, Willem Dafoe

Prey (2022)

The Predator monster has terrified audiences for nearly 40 years, but in the story’s prequel/fifth installment, the tables turn and the monster becomes the prey. The film follows Naru (Amber Midthunder), a Comanche warrior with the heart of a hunter, who seeks to prove her skills and protect her tribe by catching a predator. Professional basketball player–turned–horror star Dane DiLiegro plays the film’s eponymous villain and says the story is strong enough to win viewers over, even without its affiliation to the beloved horror franchise.

In an interview, he tells EW, “There just happens to be a Predator involved. Honestly, you could have shot this movie with a different monster and it still probably would have worked.” If you’re in the market for a solid action thriller that still makes time to flesh out its main characters, sink your teeth into Prey. —I.G.

Where to watch Prey: Hulu

Director: Dan Trachtenberg

Cast: Amber Midthunder, Dane DiLiegro, Dakota Beavers, Michelle Thrush, Harlan Blayne Kytwayhat 

A Quiet Place (2018)

What if cottage core could kill? That’s the implicit question posed by A Quiet Place, a film in which writer-director John Krasinski and Emily Blunt must raise a family on the road. But it’s not by choice: Society collapsed after the world was invaded by violent creatures who cannot see but track prey through sound, making any sudden noise or wrong move a near-immediate death sentence. (The 2024 prequel, A Quiet Place: Day One, covers how all this started…)

It’s an inventive premise that won over EW’s critic, who wrote that Krasinski “has conjured a taut, breathless little trick of a movie around it: 90 minutes of slow-drip dread and well-earned jump scares that dissipate” and that he “builds a sustained mood in ways that feels both modern and pleasingly old-school, with its shades of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and other ’80s touchstones.” —C.S.

Where to watch A Quiet Place: Paramount+

EW grade: B+

Director: John Krasinski

Cast: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe

Red Rooms (2023)

Psychological thrillers don’t come much darker than the French Canadian film Red Rooms. Kelly-Anne is a model and online poker player who has become fascinated with a local murder trial. Every day she shows up at the courthouse to watch Ludovic Chevalier prosecuted for the alleged murder of three teenage girls whose deaths were recorded and distributed as snuff films on the dark web.

When Kelly-Anne meets another true crime voyeur named Clementine, the two women bond over their shared fascination with the trial. But the longer the trial goes on, the deeper Kelly-Anne finds herself journeying into the internet’s most terrifying spaces in search of more information about the killer and his victims. A slow burn crime thriller told through the eyes of an enigmatic lead character, the film turns the mirror on the audience, asking them to reconsider their relationship with true crime, and the victims and criminals involved. —I.G.

Where to watch Red Rooms: AMC+

Director: Pascal Plante

Cast: Juliette Gariépy, Laurie Babin, Elisabeth Locas, Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, Natalie Tannous, Pierre Shagnon, Guy Thauvette

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

Suburban horror is effective because no over-the-top movie monster can be more menacing than one’s nosy neighbors. Rosemary’s Baby (which is a powerhouse for Mia Farrow and supporting actors like John Cassavetes) is the terrifying tale of a very pregnant woman who, after moving into a new apartment, discovers something sinister is happening in both her building and her body. That domestic threat is all the more frightening because it lurks beneath a saccharine veneer. —C.S.

Where to watch Rosemary’s Baby: Paramount+

Director: Roman Polanski

Cast: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

According to The Silence of the Lambs, the best way to catch a serial killer is with another one. Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) is a former psychiatrist and convicted cannibal whose intellect and preternatural understanding of the human psyche the FBI hopes to use to help catch the killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). To convince Lecter to cooperate, the FBI sends in Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), an agent in training who finds a way to match wits and guts with the monster in the cage.

A slow-burn thriller with dialogue that will linger in your nightmares for years after watching, The Silence of the Lambs is a fantastic film, largely due to the energy buzzing between Foster and Hopkins. EW’s critic writes that Hopkins, “always one of the most dynamic of British actors, gives the performance of his life.” Just know going into the film that his portrayal might scare you forever. —I.G.

Where to watch The Silence of the Lambs: HBO Max

Director: Jonathan Demme

Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine

Sinners (2025)

Sinners has been named in early discussions forecasting 2026 Oscar contenders and for good reason: The period horror film has so much to offer, it’s hard to know what to highlight. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan in dual roles as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who return to their hometown in the Mississippi Delta to create a juke joint for the Black community. But when the spot’s music is powerful enough to summon supernatural forces to its door, the bar’s patrons struggle to survive their night of revelry.

Set in 1932, the first half of the movie is a compelling drama about gangster brothers returning to the South and confronting their past loves and hopes for the future. The second half — a bacchanalian, gore-filled night of singing, dancing, and vampire attacks — is both gripping and terrifying. The acting, casting, and music are excellent, making Sinners one of 2025’s must-see movies. —I.G.

Where to watch Sinners: HBO Max

Director: Ryan Coogler

Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Delroy Lindo

Smile (2022)

Horror is a bit like history: Even when it doesn’t repeat itself, the genre very often rhymes. That’s the case with Smile, a scary movie in the same vein as It Follows (2014), making the most out of a monstrous force that is passed along and possesses people in unexpected ways.

The cast (particularly Sosie Bacon and Jessie T. Usher) does a great job livening these characters, who are instantly out of their depth when confronted with all this grinning ghoulishness. EW’s critic deems first-time director Parker Finn “a pleasingly nervy stylist, letting the camera tilt and flip at seasick angles and ratcheting the tension as he goes.” —C.S.

Where to watch Smile: Paramount+

EW grade: B

Director: Parker Finn

Cast: Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Kal Penn, Rob Morgan

The Substance (2024)

Demi Moore takes on her best role yet in The Substance, a body horror satire about celebrity, aging, and Hollywood’s pressure on women to look perfect. Moore stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, a Jane Fonda-esque TV personality who is fired from her aerobics show when she turns 50. To save her career, Elisabeth takes a single-use substance that creates Sue (Margaret Qualley), a younger version of herself. But when Sue and Elisabeth struggle for control over Elisabeth’s body and life, it’s unclear who will win. Moore’s work on the film earned her an Academy Award nod for Best Actress, and The Substance comes well-recommended by critics and filmmakers for its fun script, audacious execution, and clever premise and performances. —I.G.

Where to watch The Substance: HBO Max

EW grade: B+

Director: Coralie Fargeat

Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid

Talk To Me (2022)

Accepting a helping hand is not a good option in Talk to Me, a film about a preserved extremity capable of temporarily possessing those who touch it. Mia (Sophie Wilde), a 17-year-old still mourning the loss of her mom, discovers the hand has the potential to reconnect her with her mother’s spirit, but the quest opens the door for disastrous consequences.   

A film from Australian filmmakers, twins Danny and Michael Philippou, Talk to Me was a hit at Sundance and quickly added to A24’s roster. Appreciated for its gory practical effects and grounded performances — particularly from Wilde and young actor Joe Bird — Talk to Me is a horror story about the ways in which grief and trauma make us vulnerable. —I.G. 

Where to watch Talk to Me: HBO Max

Directors: Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou

Cast: Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Otis Dhanji, Miranda Otto, Zoe Terakes, Chris Alosio, Marcus Johnson, Alexandria Steffensen

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

One of the forebears of the horror genre, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre built the sadistic road map followed by many modern films — the Saw and Hostel franchises among them. A movie that prompted nine sequels, and inspired 2022’s X, this ‘70s torture film only needs a chainsaw and a face mask sewn from human skin to drive its viewers into spasms of terror.

Following a group of young hippies who visit an old family farmhouse and end up encountering the home’s murderous next-door neighbors, EW calls The Texas Chain Saw Massacre the “template for modern horror.” As EW’s critic writes, “What Chain Saw channeled, far more than any other horror film of its time, was the dementia, the terrifying insanity, of violence. It made you feel like you were really experiencing what it was like to be murdered.” —I.G.

Where to watch The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: Peacock

Director: Tobe Hooper

Cast: Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, Gunnar Hansen