10 Actually Scary Movies You Can Stream This Halloween

Anyone can watch horror movies on Halloween, but what about horror movies that are actually scary? Sure, we all have different thresholds when it comes to fear and/or gore in our horror movies. Some of us get scared at the slightest thing. Others might need a deep-seated personal dread to feel any terror. To actually come up with a list of universally scary movies is notably impossible, but we’re going to do our best.

Below you’ll find 10 movies that we actually think are scary. And, bonus, they’re all actually streaming, so you can watch them right now with very little effort. Do you agree with the list? Do you not? Let us know below and also, maybe find the perfect film to make this the perfect Halloween.

Bring Her Back

The newest film on the list (it opened this summer) is not just incredibly creepy and off-putting; it’s got some of the most disturbing violence we’ve seen in a long, long time. It’s about a woman who adopts kids that she, maybe, doesn’t want. Why would she do that? Stream it on HBO Max.

Insidious 

Normally, when a movie has a ton of sequels, you can ignore those sequels and just go to the original for the best of the best. That’s certainly the case with Insidious, which balances not just an overwhelming dread but also some pretty great jump scares too. It follows a family whose son ends up trapped in an evil alternate plane of existence called the Further and you do not want to go there. (Also, some of the Insidious sequels are good too but once you know what to expect, they lose some of their power.) Stream it on HBO Max.

It Follows 

What’s so fantastic and terrifying about David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows is that it’s so devilishly simple. There’s some great world-building around it, but ultimately, it’s about a terror that just never stops coming for you. Hence the title. Once you’re marked, there’s no way to stop it. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. And wow, that’s bone-chilling. Stream it on HBO Max.

Paranormal Activity 

Since The Blair Witch Project isn’t streaming anywhere, when it comes to actually scary found footage movies, we’ll go with the one that sort of reinvented it after that. The original Paranormal Activity is scary both because of the way it builds tension and because it brings its evil into your home. The safest place is no longer. And that’s just creepy as well. Stream it on Paramount+.

The Perfection 

Here’s one that’s a little less conventional than the rest but still incredibly scary. It follows the trials and tribulations of several musicians who strive for, as the title says, perfection. And let’s just say things go way beyond even the most insane thing you are thinking right now. A unique, gross, fantastically scary film. Stream it on Netflix.

Poltergeist 

Sometimes you just can’t go wrong with the classics. And Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist is certainly that. What’s truly scary about it is that the scares come in every way imaginable. Jump scares? Check. Edge-of-your-seat thrills? Check. The crushing pain of impossible loss? Check. Wild monsters? You betcha! Then, on top of all that, it’s just a hell of a ride. Stream it on HBO Max (until the end of October).

Sinister

While Scott Derrickson’s latest (very, very good) horror film is in theaters now, one of his earliest films still remains his scariest. That’s because the film, Sinister, is such a fantastic blend of things we love in horror—a family in peril, found footage, mythology, haunted houses, you name it. It’s got a little something for everyone to be scared by. Stream it on Hulu.

Terrified 

Terrified is the perfect title for this 2018 Argentinian film because, well, that’s how I felt watching it. It’s about an evil that haunts a city block, the people investigating it, and an unbelievable set of events that occur after the fact. It’s so good, in fact, that, well, we put two of director Demián Rugna’s films on the list. Stream it on Shudder.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has been remade, reimagined, and remade again and again. But the biggest thing no other film in the franchise could ever capture, and what makes this original film so horrific, is just how real it feels. The fact that the film is so small and so raw makes its story seem completely plausible. Yes, even the guy running around chasing women with a chainsaw. In this place, at this time, that could happen, and that belief makes it scary. Stream it on both Peacock and Prime Video.

When Evil Lurks

The other Demián Rugna film on this list is probably like one atom less scary than Terrified but is still right up there and deserving of this list. When Evil Lurks tells almost its own unique zombie outbreak story, but with possession, and things get so bad, the characters eventually realize there’s no winning. Despair, gore, and infinite dread? What could be better? Oh, and some of the biggest jump scares you’ll ever see, too. Stream it on both Hulu and Shudder.

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