Netflix is an ever-changing treasure trove of hidden gems and secret delights. Sometimes, a teeny bit too secret though. Who hasn’t sat down to watch a new movie and found themselves scrolling endless either not being to find something they’re in the mood for or not really knowing what half the titles are or if they’re any good?
We’ve scoured the full currently catalogue available to watch in the UK now and picked out the best horror movies available. It’s a mix of classic and new, and a mix of slashers, horror-coms, mumblegore, monsters movies and more to hopeful scratch that itch with ease.
We’ll try to keep this updated as when titles drop in and out of the service.
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
Cloverfield is good, but the lo-fi locked room spin-off/sequel is arguably better. Mary Elizabeth Winstead wakes chained up in an underground bunker after a car accident. Bunker owner John Goodman tells her there’s been some kind of attack and the outside world is no longer save. Has he saved her from the apocalypse? Or is he a creepy guy trying to kidnap her? A tense, twisty three-hander (they’re joined in the bunker by John Gallagher Jr.’s Emmett) as the audience is kept in the dark as much as the bunker’s inhabitants. And how does this relate to monster attack movie Cloverfield? Wait and see…
Annihilation (2018)
An all star cast including Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tessa Thompson, plus the quality direction of Alex Garland wasn’t enough to secure this horror sci-fi based on Jeff Vandermeer’s novel a theatrical release in the UK. Nevermind, that just means you can watch it for frree on Netflix. Portman joins a crew of women exploring the mysterious Area X where he husband ventured some time before and came back changed. It’s a weird, unfamiliar landscape of beautiful flora and terrifying fauna defying explanation until the strange, indelible finale.
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)
Brief (as in 86 mins), smart mystery horror from Troll Hunter director André Øvredal which sees a father and son coroner team working on the body of an unidentified dead woman found at the scene of a bizarre and brutal homicide. Charged with working through the night to discover what the cause of death was by morning, the plot thickens as strange things start happening in the morgue. Intriguing and effective.
The Bar (2017)
Slightly bonkers Spanish horror thriller which sees a bunch of strangers stuck in a busy Madrid cafe when snipers begin shooting anyone who tries to leave. Confusion and personality clashes abound in this economical single location chiller with a dark sense of human as the inhabitants slowly discover what’s going on, who’s responsible and try to work out if and how they will survive.
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Drew Godard and Joss Whedon’s love/hate letter to the horror genre felt like something of a game changer when it finally arrived (it was shelved for several years because of financial issue with original distributor MGM). Chris Hemsworth and Haley Bennett star in a double layer story about ordinary kids vacationing in a woodland cabin, with Bradley Whitfield and Richard Jenkins as very particular kinds of buerocrats up to something in the background. No spoilers just watch.
Cargo (2017)
Martin Freeman stars in this Netflix original developed from a short directed by Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke. Set in the Australian outback, Freeman is a father trying to find someone to protect his child in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. More wistful and emotional than that sounds on paper there’s a fascinating subplot about an Aboriginal girl mourning her father and the final set piece is unforgettable.
Carrie (1976)
Brian De Palma’s classic adaptation of Stephen King’s novel spoke to outsider kids everywhere as poor, delicate Carrie White (Sissy Spacek), bullied by her classmates and her overbearing mother discovered she has powers and spectacularly brings the house down. There are odd moments that haven’t aged so well but the central scene of Carrie, finally happen for once and dancing at her prom, intecut with foreshadowing of what is to come is still perfect.
Creep (2014)
No, not the one set on the tube, this ‘mumblegore’ horror is far weirder than that. Director Patrice Brice plays Aaron, a videographer hired by Mark Duplass’s Josef to make a video for his kid to watch after he’s died of a terminal illness. Or does he? Playing on the power or politeness and the awkward of male relationships this is a highly original, itchily uncomfortable watch. Creep 2 is also on Netflix and also good.
Don’t Breathe (2016)
Fede Alvarez directs this high-concept horror about a group of youngsters including Alvarez’s Evil Dead remake lead Jane Levy, who break into the house of a blind man (Stephen Lang) to steal his money and find him not as helpless as they’d first expected. Sound and darkness are used superbly throughout – the basement scene shot in nightvision is one of the best set pieces of recent years.
Hush (2016)
Another smart sensory based horror, this time from Oculus man Mike Flanagan. This home invasioner see deaf writer Maddie (Kate Siegel) attacked in her woodland retreat by a masked stranger. He uses her inability to hear to sneak around and terrorise her, but she has tricks of her own up her sleeve.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
One of many post-Scream teen slashers in the late 90s, the subgenre grew tired pretty quickly. But looking back, this movie starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr and Ryan Phillippe (who were all super hot at the time) holds up really well and not only just for the nostalgia factor. These teens were complicit in a horrible accident which comes back to haunt them via a hook handed fisherman. Pure horror escapsim.
It Follows (2014)
David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows marked a whole kind of slasher. Inspired by a reoccuring nightmare of being relentless, and slowly pursued by an inescapable unseen monster, It Follows focuses on Maika Monroe’s teen who’s infected with what is essentially a sexually transmitted ghost able to shape shift. Packed with very creepy moments and images and a terrible sense of inevitable doom, the movie plays with the idea that the follower could be any of the people in the background of any shot, to great effect.
Little Evil (2017)
Comedy horror from Eli Craig who made the wonderful Tucker and Dale Vs Evil. This time he’s playing on creepy kid tropes, particular those from The Omen movies. Adam Scott plays a man who discovers his new wife’s (Evangeline Lilly) son might actually be the anti-christ. And because it’s Eli Craig, of course it’s funny and very good natured as well as playing with the genre.
Monsters (2010)
Part monster movie, part road movie, part love story, this was the low bduget breakout that made a name from Brit director Gareth Edwards who would go on to make Godzilla and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Scoot McNairy plays a journalist who agrees to escort a tourist (Whitney Able) through Mexico to the US boarder in the wake of an alien invasion. But what do the aliens really want? Edwards’ background was in VFX so the monsters look gorgeous.
The Omen (1976)
Satanic classic starring Gregory Peck who adopts a child who might just be the actual anti-christ. Though it was released on the heels of The Exorcist the impact and influence of The Omen shouldn’t be underestimated A forerunner to the Saw and Final Destination movies with its clever and inventive death scenes, it’s just as memorable for Peck and Lee Remick’s performances as parents who don’t want to believe their child is anything other than a sweet little boy despite evidence to the contrary.
The Purge (2013)
High-concept horror from Blumhouse, which spawned a very successful franchise. The premise is that for one night a year all crime is legal, including murder. The movie follows a wealthy family holed up in their house behind a security system who harbour an injured man earmarked for death by a gang of murderous youths. Political and discursive, as well as violent and fun, the movie did great box office – sequels followed and a TV show is on the way.
Ravenous (2017)
Unusual Canadian zombie movie (in French) which sees remaining stragglers after an outbreak of the infected band together in disparate groups travelling to find other survivors. Ravenous sets up its infected as worshipping a sort of new religion of found items (chairs, TVs etc.) making comment on the zombification of society. It’s also funny and quiote scary, so there’s that.
Rogue (2007)
An entry at the top end of the ‘giant crocodile’ subgenre sees tourists in Austrailia trapped on a mud island and threatened by the biggest croc you’ve seen all day. Radha Mitchell is the pleasingly practical tour guide with Michael Vartan the American journalist helping her out. Way less schlocky than, say, Lake Placid, this is from Wolf Creek director Greg McLean so there’s a gritty, tense, brutual edge to the giant croc antics.
The Similars (2015)
Extremely weird Mexican chiller which plays like an extreme extended version of The Twilight Zone. A group of strangers find themselves trapped in a bus station when a freak storm breaks. Then a very odd phenomenon begins to take hold. To say more would be to deny this movie its bizarre charm, but know this – it gets more and more bonkers as it goes on.
Stake Land (2010)
Vampire Western from director Jim Mickel who also made the excellent Cold in July and Mulberry Street. A vampire hunter, a nun and a young orphan track across a dystopian landscape in search of the ‘New Eden’, picking up misfit survivors on the way. Gritty and stylish it’s a smart re-invention of the vampire genre.
Triangle (2009)
Twisty turny time travel horror from Christopher Smith (who made the other Creep, set on the tube). Home and Away alumnus Melissa George plays a woman who takes refuge on a cruise shift drifting in the ocean when she and her friends have a yachting accident. Triangle is cool and clever with several indelible images and set pieces right up to the crazy end reveal.
Veronica (2017)
Loosely based on a true story, Veronica is set in Madrid in 1991 and follows a young woman who messes with a Ouija board who thinks she’s accidentally summoned an evil spirit. Director by Paco Plaza, one of the two directors behind [REC] the movie gained minor notoriety when it first landed on Netflix because of a few viewers finding it overly scary. It’s true there are some seriously creepy bits (but you’ll be fine!).
The Witch (2015)
Subtitled ‘A New England Folk Tale’ Robert Eggers beautiful folk horror sees a family in the 1630s banished from their village who build a farm on the edge of a forest and begin to encounter strange forces, after the family’s new baby disappeared. The debut feature of Anya Taylor-Joy, it also boast a star making turn by a goat called Black Philip.
Zombieland (2009)
Stylish zom-rom-com with an all-star cast including Jesse Eisenberh, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson and Abigail Breslin (as well as a killer cameo from Bill Murray). Talks of a sequel have long been in the works – last we heard, getting the cast back together was proving tricky for scheduling reasons.