10 Best Horror Movies on Netflix You Didn’t Know Were Streaming

Netflix dominates the streaming landscape, constantly churning out buzzworthy original movies and series that grab headlines and dominate social media feeds. As a result, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype surrounding the latest Netflix original horror flick, whether it’s a new slasher revival or a chilling supernatural tale. But beneath the surface of heavily marketed exclusives lies a treasure trove of licensed horror films just waiting to be discovered in Netflix’s expansive catalogue. These are not Netflix productions, yet they represent some fantastic entries in the genre, offering everything from modern franchise hits to cult classics and brutal indie darlings.

This list dives into Netflix’s horror library, focusing specifically on non-original titles that deliver scares, suspense, and memorable moments worthy of any horror fan’s queue. For anyone searching for their next horror fix and wanting something beyond the usual recommendations, here are ten horror movies you didn’t know were streaming on Netflix.

Scream VI

Scream VI proves the franchise’s formula still slashes as Ghostface takes Manhattan. Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the team behind the successful 2022 Scream legacy sequel, the entry in the Scream series relocates the action from Woodsboro to the bustling streets of New York City. Following the latest round of killings, survivors Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown), and Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding) attempt to start fresh in the big city, only to find a new, seemingly more ruthless Ghostface targeting them and their friends. The change of scenery injects fresh energy, utilizing crowded subways and towering apartment buildings for intense chase sequences and suspenseful set pieces.

Bringing back franchise veteran Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers and Hayden Panettiere as Kirby Reed alongside the new core cast, Scream VI successfully blends legacy characters with the new generation. The film maintains the series’ signature meta-commentary on horror tropes while delivering genuinely brutal kills and ratcheting up the tension, keeping audiences guessing about the killer’s identity amidst a growing list of suspects.

Creep / Creep 2

The found-footage films Creep and Creep 2 deliver a masterclass in escalating awkwardness and psychological dread, courtesy of Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass. The first Creep introduces Aaron (director Brice), a videographer answering a Craigslist ad from Josef (Duplass). Josef claims terminal illness and wants Aaron to film a video diary for his unborn son. The initially odd gig spirals into profound unease as Josef’s eccentricities reveal something deeply sinister. Meanwhile, Duplass’s mesmerizing performance weaponizes social discomfort, creating suspense through palpable tension and unpredictable behavior rather than jump scares.

The sequel, Creep 2, cleverly flips the script when Duplass’s character, now calling himself Aaron, targets Sara (Desiree Akhavan), a YouTuber seeking extreme subjects. Aaron openly admits he’s a serial killer suffering creative burnout, hoping Sara can help. Akhavan matches Duplass’s energy, creating a bizarre dynamic as Sara pushes back against Aaron’s attempts to scare her. Together, Creep and Creep 2 offer a unique, character-driven take on found footage horror, relying on performance and psychological manipulation over supernatural elements for genuinely unnerving results.

Thanksgiving

Eli Roth’s holiday slasher Thanksgiving carves up Plymouth, Massachusetts, expanding his infamous fake trailer from 2007’s Grindhouse into a full-length feature. A year after a deadly Black Friday riot at the local RightMart store, a mysterious killer dressed as pilgrim John Carver begins targeting those deemed responsible for the tragedy, including the store owner’s daughter Jessica Wright (Nell Verlaque) and her circle of friends. Meanwhile, Patrick Dempsey plays the town sheriff, trying to stop the carnage.

Staging elaborate and gruesome kills themed around the holiday, Roth balances brutal violence with a whodunit mystery and sharp satire aimed at consumer culture. Roth directs Thanksgiving with glee, embracing the slasher formula he helped satirize. The outcome is a movie that successfully captures the retro exploitation vibe of its origins while functioning as a solid modern slasher. It’s a fun, gory horror flick providing perfect seasonal or year-round slasher entertainment.

The Nun

The Nun explores the terrifying origins of the demonic Valak within the Conjuring Universe. Directed by Corin Hardy, this horror movie transports audiences to 1952 Romania, where the Vatican investigates a nun’s mysterious suicide at a remote abbey. Father Burke (Demián Bichir), a priest with a haunted past, and Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), a young novitiate, are dispatched to uncover the truth, guided by local villager Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet). Their exploration of the Cârța Monastery reveals an unholy presence tied to the demon Valak (Bonnie Aarons).

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Hardy leans heavily into the isolated Romanian setting and ancient abbey to create palpable dread. The Nun employs classic horror techniques, focusing on shadows, sound design, and striking visuals centered around the titular demon’s terrifying visage. While part of a massive franchise, this prequel stands alone as an atmospheric horror tale exploring themes of faith and ancient evil, offering a chilling dose of gothic supernatural horror.

Bone Tomahawk

S. Craig Zahler’s Bone Tomahawk blends gritty realism with unflinching horror. Released in 2015, the film follows Sheriff Franklin Hunt (Kurt Russell) leading a posse into desolate territory to rescue captives from a reclusive clan of cave-dwelling cannibals. The rescue party includes aging deputy Chicory (Richard Jenkins), arrogant gunslinger John Brooder (Matthew Fox), and Arthur O’Dwyer (Patrick Wilson), a rancher determined to save his wife Samantha (Lili Simmons) despite his own injury. With such a premise, Zahler establishes the film firmly in the Western genre before its sharp, brutal turn.

The patient pacing builds rich characters and authentic period dialogue, ensuring audience investment in the perilous journey. When the horror elements arrive, they are shocking, graphic, and unforgettable, depicting the antagonists with terrifying savagery. In addition, Russell delivers a commanding performance, anchoring a cast that fully commits to the grim material. Bone Tomahawk is a challenging, bold, and uncompromising film that stands out for its potent genre fusion.

Ouija: Origin of Evil

Director Mike Flanagan defied expectations with Ouija: Origin of Evil, crafting a prequel far superior to its predecessor. This supernatural horror film centers on Alice Zander (Elizabeth Reaser), a widowed mother in 1967 Los Angeles running a fraudulent séance business with daughters Lina (Annalise Basso) and Doris (Lulu Wilson). When Alice adds a Ouija board to enhance their act, she unknowingly invites a malevolent presence that possesses young Doris. 

In Ouija: Origin of Evil, Flanagan brings his signature focus on character and atmosphere to the story. The film effectively establishes the family dynamics and features strong performances, especially from Wilson as the increasingly creepy Doris. Furthermore, Ouija: Origin of Evil utilizes its period setting and builds suspense through clever scares and unsettling imagery, moving beyond the formulaic structure of the first movie. Unsurprisingly, this prequel stands as a strong, well-crafted supernatural tale in its own right.

John Carpenter’s Vampires

John Carpenter delivers his signature take on vampire lore with the 1998 action-horror film Vampires. In the movie, James Woods stars as Jack Crow, leader of a ruthless Vatican-sanctioned team of vampire slayers in the American Southwest. After ancient master vampire Jan Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith) decimates his team, Crow, surviving partner Tony Montoya (Daniel Baldwin), and Father Adam Guiteau (Tim Guinee) must hunt Valek down before he completes a ritual granting immunity to sunlight. Their mission is complicated by Katrina (Sheryl Lee), a sex worker bitten by Valek who develops a psychic link to him.

Carpenter infuses Vampires with a distinct Western sensibility, portraying the slayers as rugged mercenaries battling supernatural evil under the harsh desert sun. The movie also favors gritty action and practical effects over gothic romance, featuring intense shootouts and brutal methods for dispatching the undead. In addition, Woods gives a memorably aggressive performance as the cynical Crow, helping elevate one of Carpenter’s most underrated films.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

The iconic 1997 teen horror hit I Know What You Did Last Summer solidified the slasher revival sparked by Scream. Penned by Kevin Williamson and directed by Jim Gillespie, the film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Freddie Prinze Jr. as four friends in a small seaside town. After accidentally hitting someone with their car post-graduation, they dump the body and swear secrecy. A year later, an anonymous note stating, “I know what you did last summer,” signals the arrival of a hook-wielding killer stalking the group.

I Know What You Did Last Summer delivers classic slasher thrills, building suspense around the killer’s identity and featuring memorable chase sequences. The coastal setting provides an atmospheric backdrop for the mayhem, keeping viewers engaged alongside the imperiled protagonists. While firmly rooted in its ’90s origins, the film remains an effective and influential entry in the slasher genre, offering a perfect opportunity for a nostalgic thrill ride.

Cult of Chucky

Chucky, the relentless killer doll, returns in Don Mancini’s Cult of Chucky, the seventh installment in the long-running franchise. Following Curse of Chucky, Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif) is confined to a mental institution, framed for Chucky’s murders. She soon suspects the doll has followed her, even though Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent), Chucky’s original nemesis, keeps the original doll’s severed head captive. Chaos ensues when multiple Good Guy dolls, seemingly possessed by Charles Lee Ray (voiced by Brad Dourif), start appearing at the institution. The cherry on top is that Jennifer Tilly also reprises her role as Tiffany Valentine.

Cult of Chucky fully embraces the franchise’s increasingly complex mythology, doubling down on gore, dark humor, and lore. Plus, Mancini directs with visual flair, using the asylum setting for inventive kills and psychological horror. The film plays with the concept of multiple Chuckys, leading to wild and darkly comedic scenarios that directly set up the Chucky television series, offering a bloody continuation of the saga that consolidates the mythopology into a streamlined canon.

Under the Shadow

Babak Anvari’s chilling debut Under the Shadow blends supernatural horror with powerful social commentary. Set in war-torn 1980s Tehran during the Iran-Iraq War, the Persian-language film follows Shideh (Narges Rashidi), a former medical student barred from her studies. When her husband, Iraj (Bobby Naderi), is drafted, Shideh stays behind with their daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi). After a missile hits their apartment building, a mysterious entity, possibly a malevolent Djinn, begins to haunt them.

Anvari uses the backdrop of war and political oppression to amplify the horror of Under the Shadow. The constant threat of air raids creates pervasive anxiety, bleeding into the supernatural as Shideh questions reality. Furthermore, Rashidi gives a compelling performance as a woman battling external dangers and an encroaching evil, all the while being forced to question her role as a woman and a mother in an increasingly sexist society. The film builds suspense slowly, utilizing cultural folklore for unique scares, resulting in a thought-provoking horror film.

What other hidden horror gems have you discovered on Netflix? Let us know your recommendations in the comments!