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Summer is slowly coming to an end, and with the end of this hot season comes my favorite time of the year: Autumn. Autumn, or as I call it, “Spooky Season,” is the best season of the four. From watching the leaves change colors to the chilly weather, one of the most adored holidays is Halloween. With the Spooky Season creeping upon us, I have curated a list of ten horror films on Netflix to get us in the spine-chilling mood!
10. Sweetheart (2019; J.D. Dillard)
Sweetheart stars Kiersey Clemons, who plays Jennifer “Jenn” Remming, in this short Blumhouse produced film. In this, Jenn washes up ashore on an uninhabited island after a shipwreck. Jenn tries to fight off a massive grey humanoid creature that surfaces on the island each night throughout the film. Alongside this, Jenn has to deal with surviving on an uninhabited island and dealing with the fact that her friends are dead.
As someone who is not the biggest fan of Creature Features, this film definitely helped change my opinion of the sub-genre with its simplicity. In this film, the viewer is thrown into action immediately. This is refreshing since the horror genre can often take too long to get to the meat of a story. With Sweetheart, there’s none of that. Instead, it’s a simple plot with an amazing performance by Clemons.
9. Hush (2016; Mike Flanagan)
Hush is a film about a deaf horror author named Maddie Young (Kate Siegel), who has retreated to the woods to live an isolated life to work on her next novel. Soon, a masked killer appears in her window and has decided to make Maddie his next victim. Siegel’s character is deaf helped create a new spin to home invasion thrillers and the slasher sub-genre.
Considering that Maddie does not have nearby neighbors or a functioning car to escape, Hush has created the perfect atmosphere for an anxiety-filled cat and mouse game. While this film is quite simple, it’s a film filled with suspense that leaves the audience gripping onto their seats.
8. The Conjuring (2013; James Wan)
This is the first film within the Conjuring Universe franchise. The Conjuring is set in Rhode Island during 1971. In the film, the audience follows Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga), paranormal investigators and authors, who come to help the Perron family facing a supernatural presence in their secluded farmhouse. The Conjuring is perhaps one of the best horror franchises within the past decade. If you’re looking to get into a new franchise that is inspired by real-life events, then this is the one for you.
In this first installment, the film builds up a fleshed-out backstory that focuses on the characters instead of purely plot. What makes this film so great is the performances made by each actor. For example, at the beginning of the exorcism scene, the Warrens seem confident that they would be able to perform the exorcism with no problems. However, as the scene continues, it becomes clear that the Perron family is not facing something small. The acting by Wilson and Farmiga is so well done that I thought they were genuinely shocked.
7. Vampires Vs. The Bronx (2020; Osmany Rodriguez)
Vampires vs. the Bronx tells the story of three teenagers, Miguel Martinez (Jaden Michael), Bobby Carter (Gerald W. Jones III), and Luis Acosta (Gregory Diaz IV), who protect their gentrifying neighborhood from a group of vampires. Straying away from the classic suspense feel of horror, this recommendation falls under the horror-comedy genre.
It’s the perfect pick for someone who loves a good horror film but doesn’t like to be filled with anxiety. This film provides a fun atmosphere that is reminiscent of Joel Schumacher’s 1987 film The Lost Boys and a sharp social commentary of class and gentrification.
6. The Ring (2002; Gore Verbinski)
The Ring was an American remake of Hideo Nakata’s 1998 film Ring. The film was about a journalist named Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) who had to investigate a mysterious videotape that may have killed four teenagers, one of which is Rachel’s niece. Soon after, Rachel learned of an urban legend that surrounded the tape: a viewer will die within seven days of watching it.
The Ring is one of the two films (Takashi Shimizu’s 2004 film The Grudge being the second) that introduced me to horror. One scene that scared many was when Samara (Daveigh Chase) creepily crawled out of the well and out of the television screen towards Noah (Martin Henderson). So it is no wonder The Ring has become a cult horror classic that helped pave the way for more American remakes of Asian horror like The Grudge (2004; Takashi Shimizu) and Dark Water (2005; Walter Salles).
5. Insidious (2010; James Wan)
Like The Conjuring, Insidious is the first installment of its respective franchise. However, instead of following the Warrens, Insidious is about the Lambert family moving into a new home. Soon after their move, one of their children ends up falling into a coma, and eerie events begin.
Out of all of the horror works directed by James Wan, Insidious does not get as much praise or recognition as The Conjuring or Saw (2004) does. Nevertheless, it’s an underrated horror franchise that executed its jump-scares well. For example, when the audience is shown the Lipstick-Face Demon for the first time, many audience members are caught off guard because of how calm the scene is.
4. Gerald’s Game (2017; Mike Flanagan)
Gerald’s Game is another work directed by Mike Flanagan and is an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1992 novel of the same name. It features Jessie (Carla Gugino) and Gerald (Bruce Greenwood), a married couple who takes a vacation to a remote lake house. Unfortunately, just as the pair are about to have some kinky fun, Gerald has a heart attack, leaving Jessie handcuffed to the bed with no key and little to no hope of rescue. Soon after, Jessie begins to confront the buried demons of her own mind.
As huge fans of Flanagan’s Hill House series, Gerald’s Game definitely takes the cake for my favorite work made by Flanagan. It’s a nerve-wracking film that deals with unresolved childhood trauma through Jessie’s hallucinations of herself and Gerald and flashbacks. However, the true highlight of the film is how Gugino carries the film with her performance, especially in the disturbing scene where Jessie smashes a glass cup and cuts her wrist to break free from the handcuffs.
3. #Alive (2020; Il Cho)
#Alive is a South Korean zombie film. It centers on Oh Joon-woo (Yoo Ah-in), a reclusive gamer alone in his family apartment when a mysterious and rapid infection overtakes the city. Along the way, Joon-woo teams up with Kim Yoo-bin (Park Shin-hye), and the two spend the film trying to stay alive and not get eaten by zombies.
This film does an excellent job keeping the audience’s attention the entire time with its pace, the dynamic between Joon-woo and Yoo-bin, and its delivery on how entertaining it is. In addition, the film includes a humorous scene in which Joon-woo is eating and watching television about a quarter of the way in the film. Typically in the zombie sub-genre, characters are always on the move. However, despite experiencing a zombie encounter, Joon-woo decides to stay in his family apartment instead of immediately looking for help. This is a film that I highly recommend all zombie lovers to watch!
2. Cam (2018; Daniel Goldhaber)
Cam is a 2018 Netflix original film that focuses on a camgirl named Alice (Madeline Brewer) whose account is being taken over by someone who looks exactly like her. In the times of technology and social media, Cam is a film that I particularly liked because of its overall color palette, its focus on a social media sex worker, and the mysterious vibe it gave off. This film managed to take most people’s fears of getting locked out of your online account and putting a twist to it that is refreshing and entertaining to see.
The ending to the film is perhaps the part the most viewers discuss. Some find the ending a complete frustration, while others find it realistic and a nice change in the horror genre. No matter what your stance is on the ending, it is definitely a film worth watching.
1. Fear Street Trilogy (2021; Leigh Janiak)
The Fear Street Trilogy, directed by Leigh Janiak, is a Netflix teen slasher film based on R.L. Stine’s book series of the same name. The film is centered on a group of teenagers from Shadyside who are being chased and terrorized by a witch that has haunted the town for centuries and is responsible for the mass killings that have plagued Shadyside.
Okay, I’m technically cheating with this recommendation since it’s three films instead of one. However, all three parts are a must-see because they’re all tightly interwoven together even through the year gaps between the three film settings (1994, 1978, and 1666). If you haven’t seen these films yet and are a lover of R.L Stine’s Goosebumps or Fear Street books, then you will love these films! It’s a fun horror trilogy that pays homage to past horror films (particularly the slasher genre). However, it still manages to separate itself in contemporary horror, with the heart of the trilogy being focused on a queer love story.
Happy Horror Watching!
Hopefully, a few horror films from this list pique your interest in binging this Halloween season. For even more spooky movies, check out this list of underrated horror films from the 90s. So be sure to snuggle up with a bowl of popcorn and keep the lights down low for this night full of fright!