Halloween is here, and you need a movie to watch for your quarantine night-in. These are the best horror, suspenseful, haunting and thrilling movies available to stream now on Netflix and Hulu. 

Netflix

Creature films

“The Ritual” (2017, rated TV-MA)

Four old college friends reunite to live out their deceased friend’s dream: hiking the Scandinavian mountains. However, more lies for them from within the trees than they anticipated. After choosing to take a shortcut to the pub, the group finds themselves being hunted, with only a dark forest and a series of fortunate events on the horizon. 

Don’t go into this expecting it to be like “The Blair Witch Project”, as this film holds more history that stalks the men from the shadows.

“Silent Hill” (2006, rated R)

“Silent Hill” is arguably a psychological horror film filled with the creatures of your nightmares. This horror movie has become a classic after being modeled off the 1999 video game: “Silent Hill” that was produced by Konami.

This movie will give you some good jumps but ends with a twist. It will leave you on the edge of your seat wondering if Rose and her adopted daughter, Sharon, will ever see the light of day again…

Suspense

“As Above so Below” (2014, rated R)

This found-footage style film takes place in the Paris catacombs and follows an archeologist trying to find the most precious treasure in the world: The Flamel’s Philosopher’s stone. The stone can allegedly grant eternal life and turn stone to gold. The team thought it knew the catacombs, but the archeologist and her team were faced with more than they bargained for in the form of their worst nightmares.

“13 Cameras” (2015, rated TV-MA)

“13 Cameras” follows a recently married couple through the eyes of their landlord, who happens to have 13 hidden cameras throughout his property. Is he just a creep with habits so disgusting it will make you cringe? Or does the landlord have more sinister plans?

“14 Cameras” (2018, rated TV-MA)

“14 Cameras” takes place after the events of “13 Cameras.” It’s summer and a family of four chooses to get away to a remote desert home, owned by none other than Gerald who streams the home’s camera footage online.

This movie gets intense but is a fun one to watch if you don’t want anything super scary to watch at night. It won’t leave you scared of the dark, but rather scared of the people who could be watching. It will make you want to lock your doors, board up your windows, and go through your house with a fine-toothed comb. 

Supernatural 

“The VVitch: A New England Folktale” (2015, rated R)

This film has classic forest-witch horror movie vibes, and it’s everything you need for your next disturbing and suspenseful horror movie binge. The film has a slow build filled with progressively intensifying supernatural events that will keep your attention until the end. 

“The VVitch” follows a Pilgrim family who was exiled from its New England village for being too religious. The family settled on the edge of a forest that was home to a mysterious witch. Strange events and family tragedies will keep you hooked throughout the slow build. Will you be able to sleep after watching this movie? 

Probably, but will your dreams be filled with memories from the disturbing imagery? Now that, I can’t guarantee.  

“The Boy” (2016, rated PG-13)

If you’re looking for a horror movie that’s not rated R but will still give you a spook, “The Boy” is the movie for you. The film has some dark scenes but is well-paced overall. “The Boy” follows an American, Greta, who is avoiding her past by escaping to England where she has taken a strange Nanny job. It’s Greta’s responsibility to look after a porcelain boy. This movie could be considered a PG-13 “Annabelle,” however, there is more going on behind the scenes than meets the eye.

Zombie 

“Alive” (2020, rated R)

Ever wondered what you would do if a zombie apocalypse broke out while you were in the heart of a highly populated city? This foreign horror film plays out your worst zombie-apocalypse nightmare and will leave you wondering how long you can survive locked inside an apartment with minimal food and millions of flesh-eating monsters right outside your door.

Psychological

“Gerald’s Game” (2017, rated R)

Based on Stephen King’s novel, “Gerald’s Game” follows a couple who has taken a weekend away at their lakehouse. However, things don’t go according to plan during a kinky escapade leaving the woman handcuffed and alone, far from earshot of anyone else, with her husband dead on the floor. Dehydration and her own memory battle against her throughout the film, but the feeling that she is not alone torments her.

“In the Tall Grass “(2019, rated TV-MA)

An expectant mother endangers herself and her brother in an effort to save a boy who’s trapped in a field of tall grass. However, much more lies within the grass than the pregnant woman and her brother were expecting. An ancient and unspoken religion and a large rock prevents the people the grass has trapped from ever being free, but can they outsmart the grass and learn to use it’s laws to their advantage? 

Don’t watch this film before going into a corn maze unless you want to be filled with anxiety.

“The Platform” (2019, rated R)

This Spanish sci-fi horror film presents a form of a social experiment that places a pair of people on a new platform every thirty days. The people living on these platforms are fed once a day via a platform that descends the floors. Theoretically, there is enough food for everyone on every platform to be able to eat and survive for thirty days. However, human selfishness takes over and oftentimes, the food doesn’t make it past a certain level, leaving the majority of the inhabitants of the platforms left unfed. 

Rumor of a child floating around the platforms begins to spread, leaving one inhabitant inspired to find the child and to outsmart the brutality of the platform.

Hulu

Creature

“Cabin in the Woods” (2011, rated R)

A college group of friends takes a trip to a cabin in the woods. Along the way, they are met with a warning that they neglect. The film is presented through two stories, one being the group of friends and the other being the company that is manipulating the group’s experiences. This company appears to have ulterior motives and a list of rules that the group must follow. The college students are a small piece of a larger puzzle. This film is a great horror film in the sense that it acknowledges classic horror movie clichés and embraces them to improve the film’s impact. The busy movie implements more creatures of your nightmares than one could imagine, followed by a monstrous ending.  

“Midsommar” (2019, rated R)

The devil is in the details; miss something small that may be hidden in the background and you’ll find yourself in the dark for the majority of the story. But if you focus on everything, and miss nothing you’ll recognize this film as a brilliant and complex masterpiece. 

The score contributes greatly to the film’s emotional impact. The music is just as intense, making you feel like you’re a part of the scene. The intense daylight the film takes place in provides a unique sense of comfort amid disturbing imagery and complicated moral decisions.

Follow a girl as she jet sets to Europe alongside her boyfriend and his friends, who are attending a midsummer festival in their friend’s hometown in Sweden. The festival has darker roots than the American visitors had anticipated that will keep you invested throughout the duration of the film. 

“Mother!” (2017, rated R)

A woman works tirelessly to renovate the Victorian mansion she lives in while her husband finds inspiration for his next book. A string of people begins showing up at the quaint Victorian house in the field that are supporters of the woman’s husband and wants to support his work. He begins to accumulate a cult following that tears the woman’s world apart. 

Throughout this film, pay close attention to what the film shows you. All the symbols presented come together to form the larger message at hand, but miss something and you’ll find yourself watching an ending explained video. 

Supernatural

“Hereditary” (2017, rated R)

After the passing of their grandmother, a family realizes it is being tormented by an unexplained presence. Through loss and research, their family history catches up to them. This film has intense music that will continue to ring through your mind after the film concludes, leaving you with a fraction of an understanding of the chaos the family endured.

“The Wretched” (2019, rated NR)

What happens when people go missing and no one notices? A teen realizes his neighbor is acting strangely, then he notices his neighbor’s 

children are missing and his neighbor’s husband doesn’t remember his own children. How could someone forget their own family? Shadows in the night set

 the teen further on edge, leading him to discover what’s behind this mystery. 

“Pure” (2019, rated R)

A group of teenage girls, disillusioned by their fathers, are attending a purity retreat when they summon Lilith, who the group of girls believes is simply misunderstood. Following the summoning of Lilith, the girls’ lives begin to fall apart. The film’s underlying message is notable, as it premiered in the midst of the #metoo movement and modernization. Supporters of the feminist movement will feel oddly inspired after viewing this film.