19 Must-See Horror Movies to Watch on Netflix in October

Welcome to Halloween season. Maybe your neck of the woods is experiencing the first touch of lousy weather you've had since the spring. Maybe you're staying in all weekend to drink spiked cider and eat candy. Maybe you found this article in January and just want to watch horror movies without having to do anything more exhausting than pointing and clicking.

Congratulations, boys and ghouls. We've looked at what horror movies are available on Netflix for you to watch right now, and picked our favorites. There's no ranking here, it's just an assortment of our favorites for you to kill a chilly October night with.

We have impeccable taste. You can trust us. Why think, when we can do that for you?

A Nightmare On Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985)

Let me make this clear from the start, Freddy's Revenge is categorically the worst of the Nightmarefilms. Produced by New Line after Wes Craven's refusal to continue the series (he would return to plot Part 3), the film was hastily written and proceeds to ignore the “rules” established in the original. The dialogue is atrocious even for '80s horror, Freddy can pretty much do anything he wants and it doesn't even have the original theme song in the film.

But there is a reason to watch anyway. Freddy's Revenge is the most unintentionally homoerotic film ever made. The “unintentional” is up for debate as the director did not know that the screenwriter had stuck the subtext into the script, but the homoerotic is not. The director's ignorance of the material he was producing adds the amusement that the film otherwise lacks. The sexual imagery is blatant and it is difficult to understand how Jack Sholder was so unenlightened about his own creation. In this context, Part 2becomes a wild gag with Freddy hanging around the edges, and something worth watching. - Vinny

Candyman

Urban legends and ghost stories have a special kind of terror. They always happened to a friend of a friend of a friend, and they invariably offer the jitters from either nervousness or ridiculing laughter. But it’s nervous laughter when it comes to Candyman, the Clive Barker penned story of urban horror in Chicago’s high-rise public housing.

Refreshingly moving it out of the suburbs and into the inner city, there is a uniquely insidious nature to the story of a “Bloody Mary” style ghost that will come for you if you say his name three times. And when he indeed comes for investigative reporter Virginia Madsen’s curiosity, she’ll realize only too late that she is now part of a fabric far greater than she could ever realize: the importance of the stories we tell ourselves and how they last long after ourselves. There is an exquisite happiness in accepting “be my victim,” as refrained under composer Phillip Glass’ beautifully upbeat melancholy score. - David

From Dusk Till Dawn

Quite possibly the most quotable film on this list, although certainly not the best. The pairing of Robert Rodriguez (director) and Quentin Tarantino (writer) made for an insane, two-pronged Grindhouse-style extravaganza. A low-rent heist aftermath movie for its first half, before shifting gears into insane survival horror for the second, From Dusk Till Dawn is the only movie you're going to watch this month that features Tom Savini wielding a gun on his crotch, and Fred Williamson killing vampires alongside George Clooney and Harvey Keitel. It's unlikely you haven't seen this one, but even if you have, there's always a good time to be had at the Titty Twister. - Mike

Re-Animator (1985)

A loose adaptation of HP Lovecraft's short story “Herbert West-Reanimator”, this 1985 gem is responsible for some of the weirdest scenes ever committed to film. Horror and sci-fi Icon Jeffery Combs gives his most memorable performance as Herbert West, a mad genius able to resurrect the dead...sort of. Mostly funny, sometimes scary and always weird, Re-Animator is a true classic. Wait until you get to the part where the severed head...never mind, you'll see.

Writer-Director Stuart Gordon would go on from Re-Animator to craft many other cult favorites such as From Beyond, Robot Jox, and Castle Freak. In short, Re-Animator is horror royalty. If you're a horror fan, watch it again. If you're new to the genre, here is one of the most enjoyable places to start. - Vinny

Friday the 13th: Part 7

Sometimes in fiction, the question to ask is, “If this is true, what else is true?” Jason’s been killing people for several movies and ever since the sixth one, he’s been blatantly supernatural. That begs the question: “Why should Jason be the only character with super powers?” We’ve been watching campers get murdered for six films already.

Yeah, we get that Tommy Jarvis is a badass, but we’re done with him. How about instead of having Jason try to kill a teenager, we just have him try to kill Carrie? But... you know, with the serial number filed off so she’s okay to use. The unkillable hockey zombie meets his match with a girl with telekinesis. It’s pretty great. - Gavin

Rosemary’s Baby

If you don’t know the ending yet for Rosemary’s Baby, let me promise you that it will scare the Hell out of you. Even if you do know it, this movie will not be any less than petrifying, lingering long after credits roll for any couple. Made before “jump scares” became ubiquitous with American horror in 1968, Roman Polanski presents a mystery film suffocating with dread and unspoken tension. Rosemary (Mia Farrow) is the happy homebody for her self-centered thespian husband (John Cassavetes) when they move into an Upper East Side apartment with the nicest neighbors.

Plus, their building has history too, like a Devil worshipping warlock who was beaten to death by a mob at the turn of the century. It also has a lovely basement perfect for summoning demons for a little midnight rape. This movie is meant to be savored and slowly unpacked, and when you find the newborn sleeping underneath all those blankets—you’ll wish you never laid eyes on it. Isn’t that the point of a horror movie? - David

Let The Right One In

Is this the finest vampire movie of the last decade? Probably. While some might be more familiar with the english language remake, Let Me In (which is also quite good), there's no denying the ice cold, skin crawl of the original. Eerily quiet at times, stangely romantic, and with at least one completely out of left field laugh, Let The Right One In gives you more than you ever knew you wanted out of the vampire genre. What's more, the most horrific moments deal less with vampirism and more with the lengths that Eli's adult "handler" goes to to protect her (and himself) from identification. That ending should make you profoundly uncomfortable, too. - Mike

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Okay, it’s not exactly Mr. Stoker’s Dracula(he never romanticized the Count the way that the movies, including this one, have done), but Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 fever dream is still more faithful to the original novel than most of its other adaptations. Gary Oldman is outstanding as Dracula, although some of the supporting cast lets him down (I’m looking at you, Keanu Reeves). But the best part of Coppola’s film is his insistence on old-school in-camera special effects. It brings elegance, atmosphere and a fresh visual sense to a story that’s been told many times before on the screen – but never quite wth the same macabre imagery. - Don

The Cabin in the Woods

Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's The Cabin in the Woods became an immediate Halloween night viewing tradition for discerning horror hounds almost immediately upon its 2012 release. The perfect blend of expected horror movie tropes (including a fair amount of skin) and a thoroughly subversive slant on the entire genre, the Cabindelivers an equal amount of laughs with its legitimate scares. If you haven't seen it, I promise, it isn't at all what you think it is. If you have seen it, occupy yourself trying to identify all of the creatures swarming in the background. Keep score. Make it a drinking game. - Mike

The Frighteners

Peter Jackson made a '90s classic with this Michael J. Fox vehicle. Frank Bannister can see dead people, not unlike a certain Haley Joel Osment from a completely unrelated movie. Ever since a horrible accident that took his wife, he’s been able to interact with ghosts. Being a total scumbag, he uses it to his advantage by starting his own Ghostbusters knockoff service where he and the ghosts are in on it.

This is all fun and games until he stumbles upon a legit killing spree headed by what appears to be the Grim Reaper himself! It’s dark enough, but also filled with energy and action. Plus it has a small role by R. Lee Ermey, who may as well be the ghost of his character from Full Metal Jacket. - Gavin

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a Christmas movie, not a Halloween movie. The 1993 movie is based on a poem by Tim Burton and directed by start-stop animation wizard Henry Selick. The music was written by Danny Elfman, who sings the part of Jack Skellington. Chris Sarandon (Dog Day Afternoon, Fright Night) does the speaking voice. Catherine O'Hara (After Hours, Best In Show) plays Sally, the rag doll put together to keep William Hickey’s mad scientist company, but who loves Jack. Paul Reubens, aka Pee Wee plays a trick or treater loyal to the Boogie Man.

Skellington discovers a portal from Halloween Town to Christmas Town and decides to exchange gifts. The voices are wonderful. The songs are perennial. You can watch this with your kids when they are infants to get away from whatever kiddie shows they’re supposed to be watching. You become a kid again. It is that transformative. - Tony

Hellraiser (1987)

The first of three theatrical films that Clive Barker would direct himself, Hellraiser would go on to warrant 8 sequels and create one of the most notorious horror franchises of all time. That said, this isn't about the sequels. Part of the beauty of Hellraiseris how little we actually know about what is going on. While later tales would explain the origins of Pinhead and his Cenobites, the first film leaves this up to interpretation.

Hellraiserfocuses on the relationship between Julia and Frank, not on the Cenobites' interference (well, not until the end anyway). The first film is not the broad battle against evil the later installments would be, but an incredibly unique haunted house story. A corrupt romance growing ever more so. Sex and violence mixed with blood and guts. With a budget of roughly one million dollars, Barker is able to craft a tale far more interesting and disturbing than better funded projects, the sequels included. Pain and pleasure, indivisible. - Vinny

Scream

Mixing horror and comedy is not necessarily an original notion, but few have done it better than this hilariously meta-slasher. The definitive horror flick of the 1990s, this kick-off to the Scream series proved that even their scary movies had to be happily self-aware. But none were as funny—or menacing—as this first 1996 installment from Wes Craven.

Featuring the genre’s first completely self-sufficient and heroic survivor girl (Neve Campbell), Scream also boasts a slew of other firsts, including the film nerd (Jamie Kennedy) who’s seen this all before at the movies. Not that it will necessarily help him to look behind at the most crucial moments. Yet, the best aspect is still undeniably the movie’s first 10 minutes, which is a beautiful short of playful banter collapsing into nihilistic despair with a gutted Drew Barrymore gasping through a slit throat to her parents on the other end of a telephone call. - David

Event Horizon

This is one of those understated horror movies that people might have missed. It was a critical and commercial failure back in 1997, and is generally not one of Paul W. S. Anderson's most talked about films. Interestingly enough, this little scifi horror film came between Mortal Kombat and his first Resident Evil. Years later, Event Horizon is a must-see cult classic, one of the twisted films you'll ever watch -- disturbing images, a bleak message, the existence of Hell confirmed before your very eyes. Starring Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill, this film will put you off from ever trying to pursue faster than light travel. You're honestly better off. - John

Scream 2 (1997)

Scream, a movie based around the predictable patterns of 80s slasher films, found itself in an amusing spot. With the blockbuster success of the film, obviously the studio wanted a sequel; the kind of decision that had diluted the genre in the first place. Though many felt this was a betrayal to Williamson and Craven's original, the truth is that Williamson had begun working on it while he was still finishing the first.

While not as strong as its predecessor, Scream 2's continued commentary on the genre is welcome as is its often comedic dialogue and wacky twists. Nearly 20 years later, the film stands as a great period piece in the genre, it just bleeds '90s. They even got Robert Rodriguez to shoot the fake movie within the movie, Stab. Though it exhibits a few plot holes and the twists can be hokey at times, Scream 2 is and was important to the continuing popularity of the slasher genre. - Vinny

Carrie

Poor Carrie, she is the undoubted Queen of Netflix’s Horror collection this October, and she only wanted to be invited to the dance! Indeed, there are several versions (and a forgotten sequel) of the Stephen King classic story for your viewing pleasure available right now, including the most recent 2013 effort with Chloe Grace Moretz.

But if you want to know why the story is truly iconic, look no further than Brian De Palma’s 1976 masterpiece. Taking his cues from Hitchcock, the director crafts a haunting thriller around the world’s loneliest, and most unapologetically pathetic, girl. But despite its harping violin strings and raging third act murders, what lingers about Carrie is the tragedy: Sissy Spacek plays the titular character with so much hope and self-loathing that she invites viewers to both want to hug and slap her, before finally weeping for her. Pig blood and a bloody scary performance by Piper Laurie as Carrie’s demented Bible-thumping mama adds the horror on top of De Palma’s dizzyingly sorrowful camera spins. - David

The Silence of the Lambs

Although Thomas Harris’ human monster, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, was introduced to moviegoers in Manhunter four years earlier (and ably portrayed by Brian Cox), it was this 1991 adaptation of Harris’ novel and Anthony Hopkins’ Oscar-winning personification of the demonic Lecter that turned him into a cultural icon. But Jonathan Demme’s Best Picture winner is about more than Hannibal the Cannibal: it’s about the evil that lurks not just behind the eyes of a thing like Lecter, but behind the closed doors of any modest home anywhere in the world. It’s also about the mundane, everyday evil of sexual objectification, as experienced by every woman in the film, starting with FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster). It’s about all the different forms that evil can take, and for that alone it’s still an unsettling and superb hybrid of horror and police procedural. - Don

Night of the Living Dead

You wouldn’t have The Walking Dead and all the other zombie mayhem you’ve enjoyed over the years if it wasn’t for this little film, which was made for around $70,000 back in 1968 by Pittsburgh-based director George A. Romero and a gang of nine friends. The modern zombie genre all leads back to this film, and the best part is that the movie still has the power to terrify and unnerve, thanks to its handmade feel, its bleak atmosphere and the low-budget esthetic which actually works in its favor. It may not be as shocking as it was back in 1986, but it is still one of the landmarks of horror cinema. - Don

The Crow

While I wouldn't call this one a horror film per se, The Crow is definitely a twisted revenge tale with some very dark moments. Based on a celebrated comic book, the movie's premise is a bit out there: a dead musician named Eric Draven is brought back from the dead by a supernatural crow so that he can avenge the rape and murder of his fiance. Draven sinks deeper into the seedy underworld of Detroit on Devil's Night, taking out the thugs that ended his life in gruesome ways. It is a real artistic gem, too, full of gothic spirit and an awesome soundtrack to boot. Brandon Lee, who tragically died in an accident during filming, gives an inspired performance as Draven. - John

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