Hulu is the banana stand of streaming. When you can’t decide what to watch after scrolling through five or six streaming services, there’s always something on Hulu—and that’s especially true when it comes to horror movies.
Hulu has a couple of secret weapons: the 20th Century Studios catalog (courtesy of parent company Disney) and output deals with IFC Films and Neon. The result is a surprisingly great mix of horror classics and indies, along with a couple of franchise faves. If you’re in the mood to get scared silly, these are the best horror movies streaming on Hulu right now.
Alien (1979)
Alien isn’t just a sci-fi horror classic—it’s a masterpiece. Ridley Scott’s 1979 film stars Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, the only crew member on a commercial ship that doesn’t have her head up her ass, something that proves invaluable when an advanced and highly deadly extraterrestrial life form comes aboard. With an indelible score and incredible creature design courtesy of H.R. Giger, Alien remains every bit as effective today as it was over 40 years ago.
Bad Hair (2020)
You might not have expected Justin Simien to follow 2014’s seminal comedy Dear White People with a horror movie. Simien’s instinct for sharp satire is also present in Bad Hair, which stars Elle Lorraine as Anna, whose dreams of becoming successful at a Black music network in 1989 are complicated by her boss’s insistence that she get a weave. While great for Anna’s professional life, it’s not long before she notices there’s something wrong with her weave.
The Boogeyman (2023)
The Boogeyman isn’t the best Stephen King adaptation, but like the more successful ones, it isn’t beholden to the source material. Based on an early King short story, The Boogeyman stars Chris Messina (low-key the Best Chris) as Will, a therapist grieving the loss of his wife while raising their two daughters, teen Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and young Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair). After an encounter with a disturbed man (David Dastmalchian), Will and his daughters find themselves targeted by a malevolent entity. There are some genuinely creepy moments and fun scares, as well as a totally unhinged supporting performance from Marin Ireland.
Mandy (2018)
For a period of time, Nicolas Cage made several movies a year, most of them forgettable RedBox action flicks. Every few movies, Cage would remind us that he rules by turning out a killer performance in a genre flick. In 2018, that movie was Mandy. Directed by Panos Cosmatos (Beyond the Black Rainbow), Mandy stars Cage as a man determined to wreak violent havoc when a cult kidnaps the titular love of his life, played by Andrea Riseborough. If you’re looking for vibes, Mandy has it all: cosmic horror, ‘70s action-fantasy, demon bikers, psychedelic hellfire, and brutal revenge.
Werewolves Within (2021)
Directed by Josh Ruben (Scare Me), Werewolves Within lures you in with a great comedic cast that includes Sam Richardson, Milana Vayntrub, Harvey Guillén, and Cheyenne Jackson. Come for the familiar faces, stay for the delightful horror comedy about a forest ranger (Richardson) and a postal worker (Vayntrub) trying to maintain the peace when a werewolf attacks their small town during a snowstorm.
If you’re a fan of Werewolves Within, check out Josh Ruben’s great impressions on Instagram (his take on The Bear is a good entry point).
Personal Shopper (2016)
Some things to know about Personal Shopper: Kristen Stewart drives a moped. Kristen Stewart tries on expensive clothing. Kristen Stewart wears a chic harness. Kristen Stewart receives text messages from a ghost. For some (myself included), these are huge selling points, but if you need more: Stewart’s second collab with Clouds of Sils Maria director Olivier Assayas stars the actress as Maureen, a personal shopper for a supermodel who lingers in Paris after the death of her twin brother—a medium who promised to contact her from the afterlife, if it exists.
No One Will Save You (2023)
With No One Will Save You, director Brian Duffield cleverly combines the home invasion and alien invasion genres into an effective thriller. Kaitlyn Dever does all the heavy lifting as a troubled recluse haunted by her past, who awakens one night to discover an alien has broken into her home. No One Will Save You is a great little genre exercise with an ending you won’t soon forget.
Titane (2021)
One of the most unforgettable horror movies in recent years is also a surprisingly poignant story about found family and redemption. It’s also the only movie I can think of in which a woman gets knocked up by a car—and that’s not even the wildest part. Titane begins with a vehicular crash that leaves a young Alexia with a metal plate in her head and an intense affection for cars. As an adult, Alexia (Agathe Rousselle) makes a living as a model at car shows, where her performative gyrations belie a peculiar sexual proclivity.
Following a series of unexplained murders, Alexia reinvents herself as Adrien, the long-lost son of a grieving firefighter (Vincent Lindon). As with her previous film, Raw, Julia Ducournau combines Cronenbergian body horror with existential concerns about family, human nature, and belonging. Titane is electrifying and surreal.
The Babadook (2014)
One of my favorite horror sub-genres is “mom who is losing her grip on sanity while dealing with a child who is objectively a pain in the ass.” (See also: Evil Dead Rise, The Shining, and The Lodge.) In The Babadook, Amelia (Essie Davis) is a single mother grieving the sudden loss of her husband while trying to raise their son, who has become deeply afraid of a creature in a creepy children’s book.
Crimes of the Future (2022)
Crimes of the Future is not a casual viewing recommendation. Directed by Canadian filmmaker and master of body horror David Cronenberg, this 2022 film is set in the near future, as human bodies produce new organs in response to our increasingly artificial environment. Cronenberg fave Viggo Mortensen plays Saul, a performance artist who creates exhibitions around his recently developed organs with his partner, Caprice (Lea Seydoux). Saul’s work draws interest from those who fetishize surgery, as well as bureaucrats (Kristen Stewart plays one) who maintain a registry of new organs and a government organization trying to thwart a group of radical evolutionists. It’s … a lot.
Crimes of the Future benefits from having a sense of Cronenberg’s body (sorry) of work—newbies should check out The Fly, Crash, eXistenZ, Videodrome, and Dead Ringers.
Infinity Pool (2023)
Novelist James (Alexander Skarsgård) and his wife Em (Cleopatra Coleman) are vacationing in a beautiful country by the sea when they get mixed up with Gabi (a blessedly forever-unhinged Mia Goth) and a small group of wealthy tourists with a strange and very specific proclivity. Directed by Brandon Cronenberg (yes, that Cronenberg), Infinity Pool is a dark, hilarious satire punctuated with existential body horror.
The Eyes of My Mother (2016)
Similar to the 2002 indie horror film May, Nicolas Pesce’s The Eyes of My Mother follows an introverted and repressed young woman whose morbid curiosities become disturbing compulsions. Shot in black and white, the 2016 film is set in rural Portugal and follows Francisca (Kika Magalhaes), a woman whose relationship with her mother, a surgeon, has a profound impact on how she copes with sudden tragedy.
In the Earth (2021)
In the Earth got a little, uh, buried in the midst of the pandemic. Part psychological thriller, part folk horror, this 2021 film directed by Ben Wheatley would make an excellent double feature with one of his previous films, A Field in England. Joel Fry and Ellora Torchia star as a scientist and a park ranger who venture into an area of the Bristol forest that’s been quarantined by the government—where the scientist’s former colleague has gone dark while researching a symbiotic relationship between fungi and plants.
The Descent (2005)
If you haven’t seen The Descent, I am so jealous because it is a banger of a first-watch. The 2005 film follows a woman who, having recently suffered a horrible loss, reunites with her adventure-seeking friends to explore a cave system. It’s not long before the women realize they aren’t alone in the dark. AND THAT IS ALL I WILL SAY.
Prey (2022)
Prequels—especially ones that come out decades later—are rarely half as good as their predecessors. That Prey is an engaging, clever thriller and a compelling prequel that makes the Predator movies more interesting is a true cinematic feat. Set in the 18th century on the Great Plains, Prey follows Naru (Amber Midthunder), a Comanche woman who just wants to prove to her tribe that she’s a worthy hunter. She gets the ultimate opportunity when a Predator—an advanced alien from a colony that hunts other species for sport—arrives on their land.
The Empty Man (2020)
You’d be forgiven for having no idea that this movie even existed, given that it was delayed by 20th Century Fox and then unceremoniously dumped into theaters in 2020 after Disney’s acquisition. The Empty Man is a surreal supernatural psychological thriller-noir (you can understand why the studio might have had a hard time figuring out how to sell this one) starring the great James Badge Dale as a former cop investigating the disappearance of a little girl. I cannot begin to explain to you how this movie gets from Nepal to a missing child to a bizarre cult bent on summoning a mysterious entity, but I can say that if you’re a fan of David Lynch—and Twin Peaks in particular—you’ll probably dig The Empty Man.
The House That Jack Built (2018)
Lars von Trier is a controversial filmmaker; not only are his films provocative, but he also has a history of being a distasteful media-troll and an abusive a-hole. Which is to say: It’s hard to recommend a von Trier movie, especially one that inspired over 100 people to walk out of the Cannes film festival premiere. That said, The House That Jack Built is a fascinating work of self-reflection in which von Trier brings the overarching themes of his previous films—including Antichrist, Melancholia, and Dogville—together under one roof while prodding his own psyche and his misogynistic tendencies. As for the plot, the film follows a serial killer (Matt Dillon) on his journey through Hell as he reflects on the various women he’s killed. Would you believe me if I also said that it’s really funny?
Honeymoon (2014)
Before she took us to Fear Street with her Netflix trilogy, Leigh Janiak directed the 2014 indie horror film Honeymoon, starring Game of Thrones fave Rose Leslie. The film follows newlyweds Bea (Leslie) and Paul (Harry Treadaway) on their honeymoon vacation at a remote cabin. One night, Bea goes sleepwalking and when she returns, Paul becomes convinced she’s different … somehow. Honeymoon is a suspenseful thriller that uses a familiar genre setting to explore relationship dynamics and intimacy.
I Saw the Devil (2010)
If you’re looking for more of a psychological thriller in the vein of an earlier David Fincher or Park Chan-wook movie, I Saw the Devil will put in overtime for you. Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game) stars as a secret agent whose fiancée is murdered by a sadistic serial killer played by Choi Min-sik (Oldboy). Determined to get revenge, the agent embarks on a violent game of cat-and-mouse with the killer, culminating in a riveting climax.
Skinamarink (2023)
Skinamarink is arguably one of the most ambitious horror films in recent years. The barebones plot follows a pair of kids who wake up in the middle of the night to discover that their father is gone and elements of the house keep disappearing and changing. Kyle Edward Ball’s feature directorial debut is an extremely lo-fi genre exercise set almost entirely in the dark, lit largely by the glow of the TV screen keeping the kids company. Ball relies on sound design and vibes, but the viewer does most of the heavy lifting; what makes Skinamarink so scary—aside from the demonic voice whispering in the dark—is the thoughts and memories it conjures, and the sinister suggestions of our imagination. (If you usually turn the subtitles on, I highly recommend switching them off for Skinamarink—the captions hit a little early and tend to disrupt the tension.)
Annihilation (2018)
Based on the novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation follows a group of specialists (among them Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson) handpicked to conduct an expedition in “The Shimmer,” a quarantined area where an alien lifeform is causing strange biological and environmental mutations. Directed by Alex Garland, Annihilation is a visceral and deeply disturbing sci-fi horror film that will crawl under your skin.
Get Out (2017)
Jordan Peele not only made one of the greatest and most assured directorial debuts of the 21st century, he also made a damn good horror film. Get Out stars Daniel Kaluuya as Chris, a photographer who’s heading home with his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) to meet her parents for the first time. Rose’s parents seem like well-meaning upper middle-class liberals, but their carefully manicured neighborhood hides an unsettling secret. Peele’s film is a masterful work of uncanny psychological horror featuring great supporting performances from LaKeith Stanfield, Bradley Whitford, and Catherine Keener.
Candyman (2021)
Before she directed The Marvels, Nia DaCosta brought Candyman into the modern era with a compelling update that thoughtfully incorporates the 1992 horror classic. Yahya Abdul Mateen II plays Anthony, an artist in Chicago who learns the tragic story behind the gruesome urban legend, which begins informing his paintings—as a new series of murders grips the city.
Halloween (2018)
It’s best to view 2018’s Halloween on its own—don’t watch the two sequels, which undermine everything great about this one. Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her iconic role as Laurie Strode, the lone survivor of prolific serial killer Michael Myers, who has escaped a mental institution to finish what he started. Judy Greer plays Laurie’s daughter in what I prefer to think of as an intensely satisfying conclusion to the great horror franchise.
Happy Death Day (2017)
Jessica Rothe gives a stellar performance in Happy Death Day as Tree, a college student who gets murdered by a masked killer and wakes up to relive her final day … over and over again. Directed by Christopher Landon, Happy Death Day can easily be described as “Groundhog Day with a slasher,” but it’s so well-written and much more dynamic than you might expect.
The Menu (2022)
An insufferably pretentious foodie (Nicholas Hoult) takes his trophy girlfriend (Anya Taylor-Joy) to an exclusive restaurant, tucked away on an island, to experience the cuisine of a renowned chef (Ralph Fiennes) who has orchestrated a truly deranged tasting menu for the wealthy diners. The Menu may not fully come together in the end, but the delicious dark comedy has a blast eating the rich, and you probably will, too.
Ready or Not (2019)
Before they revived the Scream franchise with 2022’s Scream and its sequel, filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (a.k.a Radio Silence) made the wildly entertaining Ready or Not. After Grace (Samara Weaving) marries Alex (Mark O’Brien) at his absurdly wealthy family’s estate, they spend their first night as newlyweds participating in a deadly tradition that forces Grace to fight for her life. Ready or Not is a bloody good time featuring hilarious performances and a few bonkers surprises.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Many people think of The Sixth Sense as M. Night Shyamalan’s first film, but it’s actually his third feature and his first box office hit. Bruce Willis stars as a child psychologist who begins treating a young boy (Haley Joel Osment) plagued by encounters with dead people. If you’ve somehow made it this far in life without getting spoiled on The Sixth Sense, I strongly recommend that you continue knowing nothing—and watch it as soon as possible.
Split (2016)
The second film in M. Night Shyamalan’s comeback (following The Visit) was a bit more divisive, but those who love it (me) really love it. Split stars Anya Taylor-Joy as a young woman who gets kidnapped with a couple of friends while leaving a mall. Their kidnapper is a disturbed man with dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder. James McAvoy really goes for it and delivers a collection of great performances as the antagonist of Split, but the key to the movie’s success is Taylor-Joy.
Us (2019)
Jordan Peele is three-for-three, and his second feature, Us, might be his scariest. Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke star as married couple Adelaide and Gabe, who take their two kids on a trip to the beach house where the former spent many childhood summers. Amid her happy memories lies a terrifying experience she’s never been able to shake, and one that resurfaces when a family of people who look just like Adelaide and her family show up at their front door.
(featured image: Neon / 20th Century Studios / IFC Films / Magnolia Pictures)
