Looking for horror and thriller movies for some spooky season scares? Well, good news — there are plenty of movies perfect for Halloween on the best streaming services.
Welcome! This article is part of Trick or Stream, a seasonal series in which members of the Tom's Guide staff share what they're planning to watch for Halloween 2024 and their takes on the horror genre, with the goal of helping you find great movies that you might want to stream during spooky season.
Now, I'll be the first to admit I'm not typically the go-to guy for recommending horror movies, and to a lesser extent thrillers. I have friends who love the genre, and even a friend who directs horror movies. I respect horror immensely. But more often than not, I find myself passing on scary movies.
Sometimes though, a horror or thriller movie is so good that even I have to watch it. And honestly, the genre has really become a source of great movies in recent years, so I find myself watching more horror movies now than I ever have.
So with that in mind, here are the seven horror and thriller movies I love and recommend for streaming on Halloween. It's not a comprehensive or definitive list, nor am I saying these are the best seven horror or thriller movies of all time — though you could make an argument for some. But I promise you, each of these movies is worth watching whether you love scary movies or not.
'Alien' (Hulu)
I've already written about why 'Alien' is my favorite horror movie of all time, but I'll take any opportunity to rave about Ridley Scott's 1979 classic. It may seem like a science fiction movie but at its core, this is a horror film. There's a monster chasing Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her crewmates, killing them one by one. There are jump scares, including an iconic one where the Alien kills a crew member in dramatic fashion. Trust me, this dark and eerie movie will have you on the edge of your seat the entire time.
Stream now on Hulu
'The Cabin in the Woods' (Peacock)
"Alien" may be my favorite horror movie of all time, but "The Cabin in the Woods" is right up there. While an excellent, bloody slasher horror movie in its own right, it's also a brilliant skewering of the horror subgenre. Plus, its B-plot of technicians Garry (Richard Jenkins) and Steve (Bradley Whitford) just trying to get through their workday is fantastic. If you're not typically into horror movies, this movie is my go-to horror movie recommendation.
Stream now on Peacock
'Barbarian' (Hulu)
If there's one movie that got me to start paying attention to horror, it's this one. "Barbarian" starts out going down one storyline, following Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell) as she arrives at a Detroit rental property to prepare for a job interview. And things get creepy fast because there's already a guest in the house (Bill Skarsgård).
If you think you know where the movie goes from there ... I willing to bet you actually don't. Not unless you've already seen the movie. The twist is brilliant, and the movie had my rapt attention for all 102 minutes.
Stream now on Hulu
'A Quiet Place' (Paramount Plus)
If "Barbarian" is what got me interested in the current wave of horror movies, then "A Quiet Place" is what gave me the motivation to watch a movie like "Barbarian" in the first place.
I never saw this movie about a post-apocalyptic Earth still reeling from an alien invasion in theaters, but my then-girlfriend, now-wife likes horror movies and couldn't believe I hadn't seen it. After I watched it I agreed with her — this movie is really good and the conceit of having to live in absolute silence or die is a brilliant one. It's why I've since seen the following two movies from this franchise while they were still in theaters.
Stream now on Paramount Plus
'Get Out' (Max)
Aside from 'Alien,' I'd say that the movies on this list so far would not make it into conversations about the best movies of all time. You cannot say the same thing about "Get Out," which is as brilliant as all your friends have been telling you it is.
Jordan Peele's first movie stars Daniel Kaluuya as Chris, a young Black man who goes to visit his white girlfriend's family for a weekend. At that point, you can start to think about what could happen with him being thrust into a potentially uncomfortable weekend with the potential future in-laws, but things get so much worse. You won't see what's coming next, or who among the incredible cast is ultimately involved in orchestrating his weekend from Hell.
Stream now on Peacock
‘The Black Phone' (Starz)
I wouldn't go as far as to call "The Black Phone" great, but it's certainly good. It holds a special fondness for me because it was sort of a middle step for me as I continued on my journey into the horror genre.
Plus, Ethan Hawke's performance as the serial child abductor known as "The Grabber" would be worth watching even if "The Black Phone" wasn't also a well-constructed horror movie. It's not the scariest movie, and at some times moves a bit too slow, but it's worth watching whether you are getting further into your horror fandom or just starting.
Stream now on Starz
‘Shutter Island' (Hulu)
In an M. Night Shyamalanian twist, I've managed to work in a Martin Scorsese movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio into a listicle about horror movies. But I promise you, "Shutter Island" earned its spot in this list.
When I saw this movie starring DiCaprio as U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels and Mark Ruffalo as his partner Chuck Aule, I was ready to watch a classic Scorsese drama about two cops investigating an insane asylum. Scorsese's last movie had been "The Departed," also starring DiCaprio, and I was ready for another round of Oscar-worthy crime drama.
But that is not what I got, nor is it what "Shutter Island" was intended to be. Instead, this is a psychological horror movie with a twist I did not see coming until it was too late. This may be a hot take, but this is still one of my favorite Scorcese movies to this day.
Stream now on Peacock
