In all probability, watching movies is how the majority of us spend our free time. There are three ways of doing this: in the theatre, on a couch with a bag of munchies or on a bed with a laptop already stockpiled with numerous flicks to binge watch. But whatever it is, there is one particular genre of movies that always keeps you on your toes and thrilled till the last second of the film. Yes, we are talking about horror movies.
These are movies that shock, thrill, scare and make you think twice before you switch off the lights or head to the bathroom. We have all faced the chills of a good horror movie, but there are some of these usually scary pieces of art that keep us all awake throughout the nights and sometimes, for several nights in a row.
So let’s count the list of the scariest and best horror movies on Netflix you must watch.
1922
Let’s start off with a movie that’s based on a novel by Stephen King. 1922 is a Netflix original that received some critical acclaim. Although it’s quite debatable whether it’s a horror movie or not, this thriller follows a Rancher who conspires to kill his own wife. Rotten Tomatoes scored it at 86%, based on 29 reviews.
Incarnate
A mother witnesses her son being possessed by a ferocious demon. In order to save him, she calls a Vatican representative and a scientist who battle out the demon. Aaron Eckhart plays the scientist on the wheelchair who shares a past with the demon.
The Unborn
Isn’t it weird when the spirits of the people who were never born come to haunt you Nevertheless, this movie shall weird you out. It follows Cassy who is haunted by the spirit of her twin sibling who died in their mother’s womb.
The Sixth Sense
So we take the first mention of M. Night Shyamalan with this horror movie which is one of his best works. Bruce Willis plays a psychologist that treats a young boy who is able to communicate with spirits. It was even nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. And until 2017’s IT, this movie was the highest grossing Horror movie as well.
Unfriended
A social media thriller, this is one of the new age horror movies and probably that’s the only thing unique about it. A group of friends receive a friend request from an account of a friend who had committed suicide sometime back. At first, they consider it to be a hoax or a prank but then the account starts naming the lives it’s coming after and all hell breaks loose. It has a sequel too – ‘Unfriended: The Dark Web’
Poltergeist
A couple moves into a house and here starts a new chapter of hauntings when their youngest child starts talking to an ‘imaginary friend’. The spirit soon holds the child captive and unleashes trouble on the family. Now they must fight for their child before it’s too late.
Case 39
The movie follows a social worker who takes care of a little girl with abusive parents. But as soon as she takes guardianship of the girl, demons start hunting her down. Although a slow movie, it does pick up pace gradually.
The Skeptic
To begin with, it’s not a very new script but just another rendition of a-ghost-in-a-mansion story. Zoe Saldana stars is a psychiatrist who along with Tim Daly and Tom Arnold are haunted by strange activities in a Victorian mansion where the first murder took place. Soon they discover a secret buried within the mansion.
Orphan
This is quite a good psychological horror movie released in 2009. The film follows a couple who adopt an orphan named Esther after their third child dies in childbirth. But the orphan who seems very docile has a dark past and unleashes turmoil in the family. This movie has had to face some controversy amongst the child rights and Orphanage community for the evil portrayal of Esther.
The Strangers
Writer-director Bertino was inspired by real-life events: the Manson family Tate murders, a multiple homicide and a series of break-ins that occurred in his own neighbourhood as a child. A couple is enjoying their company when a break-in happens and they torture the couple and a fight for survival begins.
Wrong Turn
For this movie, I’d be nominating the entire series of ‘Wrong Turn’ for it’s just impossible to tell you which one is gorier than the other. It all starts with a set of friends who encounter barbaric cannibals who kill you in the most gruesome manner and are hungry for more flesh. The death that each one of the group suffers is bloody enough to make you wanna close your eyes.
Insidious
Demonic possession never gets any better than ‘Insidious’. The James Wan-directed film series has had viewers hooked on the edge of their seats with fear up their nerves. It starts with a boy falling down and entering a coma and demons manifesting the soul. Elise Raine, a demonologist now has to fight back. Four movies down, a 5th has been planned to be released by April 2021.
The Ritual
A scary movie involving 4 college mates who meet up after 6 months of their friend’s death make an idea to Trek in Sweden. But a wrong turn changes the fate for the trekkers and they are haunted by a Nordic creature. Do watch this movie for some picturesque trekking routes though!
Halloween
This Franchise is one of the most thrilling Slasher movies around. Halloween starts off with Michelle Meyers, who kills his elder sibling during childhood and is then imprisoned. Years later while being transferred for a court hearing, he escapes and comes back to his hometown where he hunts down his next victim. Over 35 years this franchise has expanded to 8 movies and the grim slasher will surely entertain you.
Annabelle
If I ever despise a name in this wide world, then it better be ‘Annabelle’. A ghost caused by some satanic history and possession of souls. This movie left us with a lot of quizzed and beserked expressions but nevertheless the prequel to the movie, ‘Annabelle: The Crration’ left a deeper scar in our minds with a darker past.
The Mist
As if we haven’t had enough of Stephen King, here comes another bone-chilling movie. Based in Birdgton, a town in Maine, due to a thunderstorm citizens are forced to collect supplies from a nearby supermarket. But this town is engulfed in a mysterious mist that has brought some bloodthirsty demons along. Now the citizens must fend off any of these creatures in order to survive.
Grudge
If I could ever get bored of this movie! This classic has always been a permanent on any given horror movie list and the reason is the sheer build-up it holds. Adapted from a Japanese movie ‘Ju-on’ this is based in Tokyo, where an American Karen David’s searches about a mysterious ghost and her killings.
The Ring
Another Classic and another gem of a movie. It revolves around a videotape containing gruesome clips and at the end of the clip, the viewer receives a phone call from an unknown caller who whispers “seven days”. The movie catches on after a journalist makes a move to trace and destroy the ghost after her son watches the movie. This movie is probably the best Japanese Horror remake in Hollywood history.
Child’s play
Thought Annabelle was the only doll to stay away from? Let me introduce you to ‘Chucky’. The movie starts with a witch who traps her soul inside a doll named Chucky and later attempts to kill the boy who purchased the doll in order to get inside the body of the little boy. This timeless classic is enough to keep you away from dolls for a long time.
Death Note
Another Thriller in our list and a movie I liked a lot, is based on a high-school student receiving a book from the demon ‘RYUK’ which only he can see. Anyone whose name he writes dies a gory death. The boy soon starts striking off people whom he deems unfit until he gets cornered by a detective and trapped under the demon.
You’re Next
This movie is quite similar to ‘Scream’ or ‘Saw’ as it involves a grim psycho who brutally kills his marked ones, nonetheless, the movie is in a league of its own. This slasher thriller follows a masked maniac who bloodily murders his victims and slashes a horrendous ‘You’re Next’ on their body and exterminates anyone who reads it. It gets more thrilling when an entire family gets hunted down.
Scream
Kevin Williamson’s 1999 Thriller horror movie ‘Scream’ is the first (and scariest) of the 4 film franchise. The movie follows Sidney, who tries to track down her mother’s killer after more similar murders occur. The movie thrills you and gives you a stock load of value time scenes which you’d not blink even for a second.
Don’t Breathe
This 2016 movie comes from the directors of ‘The Evil Dead’. The movie follows 3 friends who break into houses, steal jewellery and valuables and make a living. But the entire plan falls off when they get trapped in a blind man’s house and one of the three gets killed. All of a sudden they realize this blind man has more secrets to hide and the best thing to do is get out.
Creep 2
I strongly advise you to watch the prequel to this movie, ‘Creep’ released in 2014 as the story continues on from the first part. But nevertheless, it’s this movie that’s more terrifying and exciting. Dave is confronted by a set of videotapes which are basically murders from the prequel and later the friend who kills him after revealing his true identity. Another videographer learns about this and has to now escape the same fate before she ends up on the tapes as well.
Sinister
I sometimes feel for these fictional characters who get their souls or life’s messed up around witches or demons, but not this one! A struggling crime writer heard about a mysterious killing of a family and in order to understand the case, he moves into the house with this family. A dark scary movie indeed that would make you question every decision you’ll ever make.
Split
A horror list without M. Night Shayamalan getting a mention is inevitable. And for this, we have his Horror/Thriller movie ‘Split’ which follows a man with 23 different personalities who kidnaps and imprisons three teenage girls in an isolated underground facility. One of his darker personalities manifests within his psyche and results in his eventual transformation into a merciless and cannibalistic sociopath with superhuman abilities.
Oculus
Two siblings unravel the mystery behind the deaths of their parents 10 years ago. The suspect is a ‘Lasser Glass’, a family antique with a dark mystery: it infects the person who gazes into it. So you can guess the rest, one sibling gets closer to knowing some dark secrets behind their parent’s death while the other attains the dark spirit!
The Collector
A Man burdened with debt decides to break into a mansion and make money out of his burglary. But his luck is not on his side as another mysterious masked man has already entered the mansion and has lined up fatal traps for others. This dark Thriller has a sequel called ‘The Collection’ released in 2012.
Hereditary
What if you one day stumble upon the darkest of secrets of your ancestors and come across some strange cryptic messages that tell you how much you don’t know about your very own family? Well that’s what the Graham family’s children and grandchildren did and the rest of the movie was acclaimed by critics, who called it “truly, upsettingly powerful on an emotional level”.
Ouija: The Creation
Aah! I really wish sometimes these characters just stayed away from some ghost hotspots, you know, like empty gothic houses, spooky dolls, and ouija boards. Coming back, this is the one movie you should be warned with before you get a board for yourself. It’s based on an interaction between a mother and her two daughters with a supernatural force.
