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Are you looking for the best horror movies to watch on Netflix in 2021? Then you’re about to find out about some of the best ones on Netflix! This article has a list of all the best horror movies on Netflix that you must watch.
I love horror films; they make you brave enough to confront the things you fear the most, plus they have the trill that makes you feel alive. Get it?
And if you didn’t know this, there are over 80+ fear films on Netflix right now, but we have listed only the best, and for that, I spent almost 72 hours finding the top best horror films on Netflix right now.
So without further ado, let’s see the following list of best scary movies on Netflix for the best binging experience.
Best Horror Movies on Netflix
1. Fear Street Part Three: 1666 (2021)
Cast: Kiana Madeira, Ashley Zukerman, Gillian Jacobs
Writer: Phil Graziadei, Leigh Janiak, Kate Trefry
Director: Leigh Janiak
It is the most-watched scary movie in Cinema. You know you are doomed when you live in a town specifically known for its centuries colonial witch-hunting stories back in 1666 (apt choice of number, if you ask us). But after years of torment, the youngsters including the young women are fed up with the said curse on their town; they’re set to do all they can to clear the town name and restore the life that it had before the curse. It is the most-watched Netflix’s fear street trilogy for horror fans.
2. 1BR (2020)
Cast: Nicole Brydon Bloom, Giles Matthey, Taylor Nichols
Writer & Director: David Marmor
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
The story revolves around Sarah (Nicole Brydon Bloom) starting a new life in Los Angeles moves into a sweet one-bedroom with a beautiful neighborhood, group BBQ, and friendly tenants; everything seems too good to be true until loud noises and movement around her apartment keep her awake at night.
Strange things start to happen, and her cat goes missing, and soon she figures out that her choosing this apartment was not a coincidence – the apartment chooses her.
2. 1922 (2017)
Cast: Thomas Jane, Molly Parker, Dylan Schmid
Director: Zak Hilditch
Writer: Stephen King, Zak Hilditch
In 1922, A proud farmer plots to murder his wife to get all financial gain, brainwashing his teenage son to support him in this devilish plan.
However, their plan turns into horrifying consequences after his wife’s death, based on the Stephen King novel.
3. Apostle (2018)
Cast: Dan Stevens, Richard Elfyn, Paul Higgins
Writer & Director: Gareth Evans
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
In 1905, a drifter on a horrific mission to rescue his kidnapped sister encounters a sinister religious cult on a deserted island.
Apostle is a unique angle in the horror movie genre that you will love if you like to watch scary movies.
4. As Above, So Below (2014)
Cast: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge
Writer & Director: John Erick Dowdle
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A team of explorers ventures into Catacombs, the city of death, lies beneath the streets of Paris and unearths some dark secrets about the home of countless souls.
As Above, So Below is a journey of terror and insanity that reveals the personal demons of the human psyche.
5. The Babysitter (2017)
Cast: Judah Lewis, Samara Weaving, Robbie Amell
Writer: Brian Duffield | Director: McG
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Babysitter is one of the most-watched ghost movies on Netflix of horror franchises.
The story begins when Cole stays up past his bedtime, he discovers that his hot babysitter is part of a satanic cult that will stop at nothing to keep him quiet.
6. Before I Wake (2016)
Cast: Kate Bosworth, Oleksandr Reshetilov, Thomas Jane, Jacob Tremblay
Writer & Director: Mike Flanagan
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
A married couple, Jessie (Kate Bosworth) and Mark (Thomas Jane), adopts an 8-year-old boy, Cody, and later they find that the child is afraid of falling asleep because of his dreams and nightmares. Soon, they discover that when he sleeps, his dreams manifest reality. So the couple embarks on a terrifying journey to discover the truth behind Cody’s dreams.
7. Berlin Syndrome (2017)
Cast: Teresa Palmer, Max Riemelt, Matthias Habich
Writer: Shaun Grant, Melanie Joosten | Director: Cate Shortland
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Clare, an Australian photojournalist, meets a charismatic man Andi on her holiday in Berlin. Their love blossoms quickly, followed by a night of passion. However, the romantic relationship takes a sinister turn when Clare finds herself alone in Andi’s apartment the next morning and could not find a way out.
8. Bird Box (2018)
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich
Writer: Eric Heisserer, Josh Malerman | Director: Susanne Bier
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
An unknown global terror driving most of the society to commit suicide, a mother attempting to save her two children must flee the society and cross the treacherous river. However, to save from unseen deadly forces, the terrifying journey must be done blindly.
9. The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015)
Cast: Emma Roberts, Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Boynton
Writer & Director: Oz Perkins
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Two Catholic schoolgirls found themselves battling against Satanic forces when they get left behind alone at their boarding school over a winter break.
10. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Cast: Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard
Co-Writer & Director: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Three amateur documentarians disappeared after traveling into Black Hills Forest to shoot a documentary on the legendary Blair Witch. No sign of the student filmmaker was found, other than raw footage they left behind. Nevertheless, it is the hands-down best scary movie on Netflix.
11. Cadaver (2020)
Cast: Gitte Witt, Thomas Gullestad, Thorbjørn Harr
Writer & Director: Jarand Herdal
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
A starving family of three takes shelter in a charitable hotel after a nuclear disaster. Soon, things get horrifying when people start to disappear inside the hotel.
12. Calibre (2018)
Cast: Jack Lowden, Martin McCann, Tony Curran
Writer & Director: Matt Palmer
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Two childhood friends take a hunting trip into a remote area for a weekend that quickly turns into a nightmare when they face a thrilling situation. Both are tested to the limit; now, they have to hide their paranoia and act normal.
13. Cam (2018)
Cast: Madeline Brewer, Patch Darragh, Melora Walters
Writer & Director: Daniel Goldhaber
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Alice, an erotic cam girl performer, faces an issue of identity theft of supernatural kind when a doppelganger takes over her show, hijacks the channels, and pushes the erotic envelope much further.
14. Cargo (2018)
Cast: Martin Freeman, Anthony Hayes, Susie Porter
Directors: Ben Howling, Yolanda Ramke | Writer: Yolanda Ramke
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
This Netflix Original movie will take your horror movie experience to another level since its story is not like regular scary movies.
Cargo is a new take on the Zombie genre, where you will see a struggle of a father to find a family that can take care of his daughter after a pandemic spreads of the Zombie plague virus in Australia.
15. Creep (2014)
Cast: Patrick Brice, Mark Duplass
Writer & Director: Patrick Brice
Genre: Horror, Thriller
A videographer answers Craigslist advertisements and takes a one-day job to record the last message of a dying man in a remote mountain town. However, things start getting strange when the last message gets darker, and he finds himself unable to leave.
16. Elizabeth Harvest (2018)
Cast: Abbey Lee, Ciarán Hinds, Carla Gugino
Writer & Director: Sebastian Gutierrez
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A beautiful woman Elizabeth (Abbey Lee), marries a brilliant scientist, Henry (Ciarán Hinds), and goes to her husband’s magnificent house for the very first time. Henry starts giving a house tour and states that the house belongs to hers except for the one locked-off room, where she is not allowed to enter. When her husband leaves, Elizabeth sneaks into the room out of curiosity and pays the price when he returns.
17. The Endless (2017)
Cast: Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson, Callie Hernandez
Writer & Director: Justin Benson
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Two adult brothers receive a cryptic message from an old videotape encouraging them to revisit the UFO death cult that they narrowly escaped as kids. In an attempt to find closure, an ineffable phenomenon surrounding the camp brings them back to the starting point.
18. The Forest of Love (2019)
Cast: Kippei Shîna, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Kyoko Hinami
Writer & Director: Sion Sono
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror
Based on the life of a Japanese serial killer Futoshi Matsunaga about how he manipulated and abused a group of high school students filmmakers and a shy girl to become involved in his murders.
19. Gerald’s Game (2017)
Cast: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Chiara Aurelia
Writer & Director: Mike Flanagan
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Gerald’s game story begins with a romantic evening that turns into a fight for survival when a couple takes a vacation to a remote lake house. Trying to revive the spark in their marriage, the couple tries some sex games; things take an ugly turn when the husband dies unexpectedly and leaves the wife handcuffed to the bed frame. The wife must confront her inner demons in the empty house. Gerald’s Game is based on a true story movie developed by Universal Pictures and it was a most highest-earning horror film in its theatrical release.
20. Girl on the Third Floor (2019)
Cast: C.M. Punk, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Sarah Brooks
Writer: Greg Newman, Trent Haaga | Director: Travis Stevens
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
A husband, Don Kock, and his pregnant wife, Liz, decided to move to the suburbs to raise a family with children. The couple buys an old house and starts renovating it. But, unbeknownst to them, the house has a sordid history.
21. Gothika (2003)
Cast: Halle Berry, Penélope Cruz, Robert Downey Jr.
Writer: Sebastian Gutierrez | Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Dr. Miranda Gery is a female psychiatrist who works in the mental institution sector. One day she has a car accident; when she wakes up, she finds herself as an asylum inmate with charges of the terrible crime of which she has no memory.
22. The Guest (2014)
Cast: Dan Stevens, Sheila Kelley, Maika Monroe
Writer: Simon Barrett | Director: Adam Wingard
Genre: Action, Mystery, Thriller
A soldier meets the Peterson family claiming to be a friend of their dead son. The family welcomes him and lets him stay in their house. Soon, a series of mysterious deaths happen that seems to be connected with the soldier.
23. He Never Died (2015)
Cast: Henry Rollins, Booboo Stewart, Kate Greenhouse
Writer & Director: Jason Krawczyk
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Jack is an anti-social who spends most of his day sleeping and watching television. His existence comes to light when some thugs stir up his life and thrust him out of his comfort zone.
24. His House (2020)
Cast: Sope Dirisu, Wunmi Mosaku, Malaika Wakoli-Abigaba
Writer & Director: Remi Weekes
Genre: Horror, Thriller
A refugee couple makes a dreadful escape from war-torn South Sudan to turn over a new leaf in an English town. The struggle begins when they find out about the evil lurking beneath the surface of the town.
25. Horns (2013)
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Juno Temple, Max Minghella
Writer: Keith Bunin, Joe Hill | Director: Alexandre Aja
Genre: Comedy, Horror, Drama
Iggy is suffering from the trauma of his longtime girlfriend’s death, and the whole town suspects him as a murderer. But, then, one morning, he awakens with the horns on his forehead that led townspeople to confess their sins.
26. Hush (2016)
Cast: John Gallagher Jr., Kate Siegel, Michael Trucco
Writer & Director: Mike Flanagan
Genre: Horror, Thriller
A deaf-mute writer living a solitary life in the woods finds herself fighting for her life when a masked killer appears at her windows.
27. I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016)
Cast: Ruth Wilson, Paula Prentiss, Bob Balaban
Writer & Director: Oz Perkins
Genre: Horror, Mystery
It is another mystery based on a ghost story. Lily is a young nurse hired to take care of an aging writer in a haunted vacant mansion. Lily starts encountering shadowy sightings of spooky female ghosts that blur her imagination between reality and fantasy.
28. The Invitation (2015)
Cast: Logan Marshall-Green, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Michiel Huisman
Writer: Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi | Director: Karyn Kusama
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Will, separated from his wife (Eden) for two years after she disappeared, receives an invitation to a dinner party from Eden. Will’s suspicion grows over the course of the dinner party that Eden has a terrifying agenda behind inviting him.
29. It Comes at Night (2017)
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo
Writer & Director: Trey Edward Shults
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
This movie is based on home invasion thrillers. Amidst global unnatural threat, a man establishes a tenuous domestic order in an isolated home with his wife and son. The order is put to the test when they welcome a young family seeking refuge that follows a series of mistrust and paranoia between both families as the horror outside sneaks closer.
30. Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
Cast: Grant Cramer, Suzanne Snyder, John Allen Nelson
Writer & Director: Stephen Chiodo
Genre: Horror, Comedy
Aliens who, like circus clowns, invade a small town and start killing the townspeople. Only a few young people realize the danger since no one believes clowns look-alike aliens. It is the few old-school horror cult classic available on Netflix.
31. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan
Writer & Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Steven, a respected cardiothoracic surgeon, takes a 16-year old young boy under his wings after his father died on the operating table. Little did Steven know that the boy is sinister.
32. Knock Knock (2015)
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, Ana de Armas
Writer & Director: Eli Roth
Genre: Thriller
A nice family man helps two stranded young women by allowing them to stay in his house while his family is away for the weekend. Unfortunately, two young women take advantage of his kind gesture and begin a deadly game of seduction.
33. Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Cast: Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López
Writer & Director: Guillermo del Toro
Genre: Fantasy, War
A girl fond of fairy tales lives with her stepfather, a sadistic Spanish officer, and pregnant mother in the post-civil war Spain of 1944. One night she meets a fairy who takes her to a charismatic fantasy world and tells her that she is the princess of this place, but she must pass her royalty test by surviving three horrific tasks.
34. Piercing (2018)
Cast: Christopher Abbott, Mia Wasikowska, Laia Costa
Writer & Director: Nicolas Pesce
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A man leaves for a seemingly business trip after giving a goodbye kiss to his wife and baby. But, in reality, he checks into the hotel, calls an escort service, and kills an innocent prostitute to accomplish his dream – to commit a perfect crime.
35. The Platform (2020)
Cast: Ivan Massagué, Zorion Eguileor, Antonia San Juan
Writer: David Desola, Pedro Rivero |Director: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
A mysterious vertical prison with a deep hole and a countless number of levels. Each level has one cell and two people. A single food platform descends on each level and gives two minutes to eat per day. Thus, begins an inhuman fight for survival.
36. Ravenous ( Les Affamés , 2018)
Cast: Marc-André Grondin, Monia Chokri, Charlotte St-Martin
Writer & Director: Robin Aubert
Genre: Adventure, Horror
After a flesh-eating plague outbreak in a small remote village, turning people into the ravenous zombie apocalypse, the survivors flee in the woods looking for other survivors. it is the best korean zombie flick.
37. The Ritual (2017)
Cast: Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier
Writers: Joe Barton, Adam Nevill | Director: David Bruckner
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Old college friends reunite after a long time and plan a hiking trip in Sweden. Unfortunately, a raging rainstorm forces them to spend a night in a forest where they encounter a series of threatening events.
38. Rust Creek (2018)
Cast: Hermione Corfield, Jay Paulson, Sean O’Bryan
Writers: Julie Lipson, Stu Pollard Genre | Director: Jen McGowan
Genre: Crime, Thriller
A young female overachiever college lost her way to a job interview. She takes a wrong turn and unknowingly ends up in a dense Kentucky forest. The girl must defend herself from harsh elements and ruthless criminals in the forest.
39. Shutter (2004)
Cast: Ananda Everingham, Natthaweeranuch Thongmee, Achita Sikamana
Co-Writer & Director: Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom
Genre: Horror, Mystery
After escaping a tragic accident, a young photographer (Thun) and his girlfriend (Jane) find mysterious shadows in the photographs that unveil some past secrets of Thun that he has not told to Jane.
40. Shutter Island (2010)
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Emily Mortimer, Mark Ruffalo
Writers: Laeta Kalogridis, Dennis Lehane | Director: Martin Scorsese
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
In 1954, Teddy Daniels, a US Marshal, comes to Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital to investigate the disappearance of a criminally insane murderer. But, unfortunately, the mysterious vibe of Shutter Island makes Teddy doubt everything, including his own sanity.
41. Sinister 2 (2015)
Cast: James Ransone, Shannyn Sossamon, Robert Daniel Sloan
Writers: Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill | Director: Ciarán Foy
Genre: Horror, Mystery
A young mother and her twin sons encounter a supernatural occurrence when they move to a haunted rural house.
42. Sinister (2012)
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone, Michael Hall D’Addario, Clare Foley
Writer: Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill | Director: Scott Derrickson
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Sinister revolves around Ethan Hawke as true-crime novelist Ellison Oswalt. To work on a new book, he moves his family into a home where the previous owners were brutally murdered; however, he is not aware of this fact.
Ellison stumbles upon a box of Super 8 reels of photos of an evil deity, Bughuul. It is believed that the images of Bughuul function as an opening point for him to step into our world.
43. Sweetheart (2019)
Cast: Kiersey Clemons, Emory Cohen, Hanna Mangan Lawrence
Writer & Director: J.D. Dillard
Genre: Adventure, Horror, Mystery
Jenn finds herself alone on an uninhabited tropical island after surviving a sea storm. To stay alive, she must fight off the malevolent force each night.
44. Under the Shadow (2016)
Cast: Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi
Writer & Director: Babak Anvari
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
In the 1980s, war-torn Tehran, a mysterious evil, haunts a mother and daughter who struggle to overcome the terror of the post-revolutionary Iran and Iraq war.
45. Unfriended (2014)
Cast: Heather Sossaman, Matthew Bohrer, Courtney Halverson
Writer: Nelson Greaves | Director: Levan Gabriadze
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Unfriended is one of the most hyped fear movies because of its unique take of embedding the horror genre with the digital medium.
A group of high school friends having a video chat when they receive a message from their dead classmate. What appears to be an innocent prank turns out to be a mysterious force when she starts to disclose the dark secrets of the group.
46. Vampires vs. the Bronx (2020)
Cast: Jaden Michael, Gerald Jones III, Gregory Diaz IV
Writer & Director: Oz Rodriguez
Genre: Comedy, Horror
This original Netflix horror movie is a story about a group of young teenage friends from the Bronx. The group is trying to protect their society from gentrification, figure out they have to deal with a much bigger threat – the vampires.
47. Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Zawe Ashton
Writer & Director: Dan Gilroy
Genre: Horror, Mystery
The actor-director duo of Nightcrawler collab again to offer the scariest scenes spine-chiller classic horror film to watch on Netflix.
After paintings of an anonymous artist are discovered, big money artists and mega-collectors decide to satisfy their greed with those unknown paintings. Little did they know that the paintings are possessed with supernatural spirits. This horror first film is based on a true horror story.
48. Veronica (2018)
Cast: Sandra Escacena, Bruna González, Claudia Placer
Writer & Director: Paco Plaza
Genre: Horror
Madrid, June of 1991. Veronica, a teenage girl who recently lost her father, calls her two friends to play Ouija to contact the recently deceased; the game goes horribly wrong when an evil spirit besieges Veronica.
49. We Summon the Darkness (2020)
Cast: Alexandra Daddario, Keean Johnson, Maddie Hasson
Writer: Alan Trezza | Director: Marc Meyers
Genre: Horror, Thriller
We summon the darkness is one of the latest scary movies.
In the middle of satanic ritual homicides tension, three friends take a road trip to a heavy metal concert. On the way, they meet three young hard rockers and decide to go for an after-party at one of the girl’s country houses, where a series of deceit, seduction, and murder begins.
50. What Keeps You Alive (2018)
Cast: Hannah Emily Anderson, Brittany Allen, Martha MacIsaac
Writer & Director: Colin Minihan
Genre: Horror, Thriller
A young lesbian couple, Jackie and Jules, decide to celebrate the first anniversary in an isolated remote cabin surrounded by majestic mountains. All hell breaks loose when Jackie’s mannerism changes and she reveals her unknown dark side to Jules.
51. The Ring (2002)
Cast: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, and Brian Cox
Writer: Ehren Kruger | Director: Gore Verbinski
Genre: Horror, Mystery
It is another horror movie of all time. A mysterious videotape kills anyone within seven days who watches it. So after the niece of the journalist (Rachel Keller) dies along with four other teenagers, Rachel starts investigating the videotape in order to save her and her son’s life.
The Ring has a very interesting storyline, one of the best scary movies, and a great horror remake. Special shout out to Verbinski’s strong grip on creating a gloomy tone and maintaining tension.
52. The Boy (2016)
Cast: Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans, James Russell
Writer: Stacey Menear | Director: William Brent Bell
A babysitter is excited about the new job until she gets to know the kid she is going to take care of is actually a life-sized doll. It is worth watching a horror movie of all time.
However, after she violates the list of rules while taking care of that boy, she is surrounded by paranormal events, which finally makes her believe the doll is really a human boy cursed by a demon.
53. The Conjuring (2013)
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston
Writer: Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes | Director: James Wan
Genre: Horror, Thriller
The Conjuring is another one of the greatest fear movies. Based on true events, this spine-chiller tells the story of a New England family who begins having encounters with spirits in their farmhouse. It is one of the best Netflix horror movies in the horror genre. It was one of the compelling performances from Patrick Wilson in this movie.
54. The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Madison Wolfe
Writers: Chad Hayes, Carey W. Hayes | Director: James Wan
Genre: Horror, Thriller
The paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren travel to London to aid a single mother of four children living alone in a haunted house plagued by a malicious spirit.
55. The Nun (2018)
Cast: Demián Bichir, Taissa Farmiga, Jonas Bloquet
Writers: Gary Dauberman, James Wan | Director: Corin Hardy
Genre: Horror, Mystery
A priest with a haunted past and novitiate on the threshold of her final vows is sent to investigate a suicide case of a young nun in Romania. Instead, he encounters a supernatural force in the shape of a demonic nun.
Wrapping it Up
So, what are you waiting for? Grab a blanket, snacks, and your favorite person because this one is going to be one heck of a scary roller coaster ride. And things will turn into the spooky season after a while, so don’t go in unprepared!
Read More:
Best 50 Scary Movies on Netflix