Netflix is like a horror movie marathon that never ends. The streaming service’s lineup of scary movies has gone from being a typical frightening experience to an endless variety of horror stories, from gory slashers to the very clever, slow-burning thrillers that will keep you thinking long after the movie has finished. So if you want to kill some time with horror movies, Netflix is the perfect place. Now get ready with some popcorn (maybe some blanket to hide if fear takes over). Here are the 10 top scares in Netflix horror films and TV shows, ranked by the degree of fright:
10. Monster House – Animated Horror for Everyone
Why not start with a relatively mild one, but still hairy enough to make your hair stand up? Monster House is the perfect starting point for kids, teenagers, or thug-nuts who were raised on ’80s adventure movies. The film narrates the story of three children who found out that the scary house on the other side of the street is not only haunted but also alive and voracious. Moreover, to the clever animation, Halloween setting, and the blend of love and laughter, it is a frightening yet amusing film that shows how to get chills by just the atmosphere, with no need for gore.
9. The Ritual – Grief, Friendship, and Norse Nightmares
Take a hike, it said. It’ll be chill, it said. The Ritual turns a story about pals adventuring in the Swedish wild into a nightmare of total loss when the four of them find something ancient hanging out with the trees. Besides, the film blends supernatural horror with real emotional depth, as the friends’ guilt and grief become as lethal as the monster chasing them. Additionally, the monster design? One that sticks with you. The atmosphere? Scary, really.
8. Cam – Digital Doppelgängers and Online Horror
We live in the age of deepfakes and social media. However, Cam is not just another story like these. It is a psychological techno-thriller about a camgirl whose virtual self was snatched by a copy of her in a strange, unsettling dive into the realms of identity and obsession. Furthermore, Intelligent, spooky, and incredibly unsettling, and it will make you question every reflection, be it digital or not.
7. Gerald’s Game – Survival at Its Most Psychological
Unexpectedly, a love weekend turns fatal, and a woman finds herself handcuffed to a bed in a lonely cabin with no way out. Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game is quite a visual experience as it manages to keep the audience captivated with a very simple storyline branded as one of the most impressive survival dramas ever. Carla Gugino behaves like a one-woman army in her battle with delusions, trauma, and time. The film is suffocating, disturbing, and unexpectedly, it ikes to touch your heart.
6. Train to Busan – Zombies on Overdrive
Zombies? Got it. A high-speed train? Yep. Emotional gut-punches? Twice as much. Train to Busan is the movie that set the zombie genre on fire by combining an unstoppable pace with a deeply touching story of a father who tries to save his daughter amid a zombie outbreak on a train in motion. The action is merciless, the heroes are on the edge of doom, and the finale might be the last thing you want to see if you are not ready to cry. Nevertheless, it is not only a great horror film but also one of the best action dramas of the last decade.
5. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – The Blueprint of Terror
Even years after, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre still retains its capacity to shock. Tobe Hooper’s 1974 cult masterpiece is less of a film and more of a descent into madness. With its harsh, documentary-like realism and inexorable suspense, it remains one of the most raw, unsettling horror movies ever created. If you believe contemporary horror has made you desensitized, this one will inform you what horror actually is.
4. Fear Street Trilogy – A Bloody Binge Worth Every Minute
Experimenting with the success of the Fear Street trilogy, Netflix is on a roll with a three-film slasher masterpiece that goes back and forth between 1994, 1978, and 1666. The trilogy is an absolute blast of references, inventive death scenes, and a rather intricate backstory for a cursed town, all cleverly brought together from R.L. Stine’s young adult horror novels. Whether it’s retro slashers or supernatural stories, this is the perfect marathon for a long, eerie night in.
3. His House – Haunted by the Past
His House is breaking the typical haunted house film pattern with a frightful and heartfelt story. It chronicles a South Sudanese refugee couple who, after trying to start over in England, discover that their new place and their past have conspired to keep them from moving on. The scares are there, but the staging of the story dealing with trauma, displacement, and shame, provides it with real depth. This one will linger with you for a long time after it ends.
2. Smile – When Terror Wears a Grin
What’s more terrifying than a person smiling at you for nothing? Smile puts that disturbing picture and constructs a whole horror around it. Following a patient’s horrific suicide, a therapist is possessed by a malevolent presence that’s transferred from individual to individual. It’s full of jump scares and psychological fear, wrapped around a narrative concerning unfinished trauma. You won’t see a smile the same way again.
1. Jaws – The Classic That Still Bites
Jaws by Steven Spielberg is not only one of the most terrifying horror movies; it is the horror movie. The very first summer blockbuster still has people with a tight grip on their seats almost 50 years after its release. Along with John Williams’ memorable score, the charismatic characters, and the careful gradual suspense, this movie demonstrates that minimizing fright is the best way to do with the genre. Even if you are very familiar with the whole story, that shark is what makes your heart beat faster.
And so it is, the 10 scariest horror movies and shows that are currently haunting Netflix. These are the scariest films and series in the world: from slow burns that make you cry to thrillers full of gore. The list has something for every fear lover. Only don’t say we didn’t warn you if the nights come and you still find yourself checking your locks twice.