40 Best Horror Movies On Amazon Prime

Amazon Prime is a treasure trove of streaming options, whether you're talking about classic TV series from your childhood or new releases arriving straight to your living room. And it's a particularly great place to find genre films, including those of the scary variety. 

In recent years, the streaming service has added hundreds of horror options that span decades, from low-budget creature features to arthouses exercises in terror and everything in between. If you want to program a horror marathon for yourself, you can put something incredible together based entirely on Amazon Prime's scary movie options, and you can start today ... if you're brave enough.

Updated on April 3, 2023: Whether you want to check out an American slasher flick, a chilling tale from South Korea, a remake of an Italian classic, or some unsettling science fiction stories, these are the 40 best horror films on Amazon Prime right now.

Mary Harron's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' classic novel, an incisive and darkly comic dive into 1980s greed culture and violent appetites, is even more searing and addictive now than it was when it premiered more than two decades ago. The story of Patrick Bateman, a slick dealmaker who moonlights as a serial killer, the film features astonishing moments of gruesome horror alongside laugh-out-loud pieces of black comedy, all driven by Christian Bale's relentless central performance. It's one of the best horror films of the last 25 years, and it's one you'll want to watch multiple times to really absorb.

• Starring: Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto
• Director: Mary Harron
• Year: 2000
• Runtime: 103 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68%

Amazon's "Welcome to the Blumhouse" series of horror films has provided several rising stars with the opportunity to tell a unique story. "Bingo Hell" is one of the most entertaining. The local bingo hall provides a source of community and joy for the impoverished town this movie explores. When a new owner takes over the hall, he promises untold riches ... for a price. With its terrific ensemble cast and the high-concept horror-comedy premise at its heart, "Bingo Hell" offers wicked fun and a truly original take on horror.

• Starring: Adriana Barraza, L. Scott Caldwell, Richard Brake
• Director: Gigi Saul Guerrero
• Year: 2021
• Runtime: 85 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 63%

An intriguing and intimate exploration of the vampire subgenre, "Bit" follows a young trans woman who's turned into a vampire shortly after arriving in Los Angeles. The deeper she digs into her new lifestyle, the more she finds new challenges to her sense of identity, especially when her vampire cohorts reveal how far they're willing to go in their own pursuits.

• Starring: Nicole Maines, Diana Hopper, James Paxton
• Director: Brad Michael Elmore
• Year: 2019
• Runtime: 94 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

In 2020 and 2021, Amazon Prime Video and horror studio Blumhouse teamed up for a series of films under the "Welcome to the Blumhouse" banner, designed to showcase up and coming genre talent. All of the eight films in the series have their merits, but "Black Box" might be the best. It's a tense sci-fi horror blend about a man willing to go to dangerous lengths to recover his lost memories, even if it means experimental treatment that causes him to question everything.

• Starring: Mamoudou Athie, Phylicia Rashad, Amanda Christine
• Director: Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour
• Year: 2020
• Runtime: 110 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%

"Sinister" creators Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill reunited in 2022 for this horror film, based on the short story of the same name by "Heart-Shaped Box" and "Horns" author Joe Hill. Set in the 1970s, the film follows one unlucky boy as he fights to survive being kidnapped and held prisoner by the Grabber, a ferocious child killer who locks the boy in a basement where a mysterious black telephone offers up conversations with ghosts — ghosts that may hold the key to our hero's survival. Tense, scary, and driven by a horrifying Ethan Hawke performance, "The Black Phone" is one of 2022's horror standouts.

• Starring: Ethan Hawke, Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw
• Director: Scott Derrickson
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 103 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

The film that turned Stephen King from bestselling author into a pure force of pop culture, Brian De Palma's "Carrie" remains a chilling and deeply effective portrait of the horrors of high school. Carrie is a telekinetic girl just trying to survive a brutal life. Her peers torment her, as does her mother — but you can only keep someone down for so long, as they find out in terrifying fashion. Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie deliver show-stopping performances, and the film's grand finale remains one of horror's most iconic moments.

• Starring: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving
• Director: Brian De Palma
• Year: 1976
• Runtime: 98 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Based on the Stephen King short story of the same name, "Children of the Corn" follows a couple who find themselves stranded in a seemingly deserted Nebraska town, only to find that the town only looks deserted because the children murdered all the adults in service to a bizarre, corn-based religious cult. The creepy kid terror of the film alone was enough to spawn a franchise, including more than half a dozen sequels and a remake, but the original is still the best. Don't let the bad critical reviews scare you away.

• Starring: Linda Hamilton, Peter Horton, John Franklin
• Director: Fritz Kiersch
• Year: 1984
• Runtime: 92 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 35%

C.H.U.D. stands for "cannibalistic humanoid underground dwellers," and that's exactly what you'll encounter in this unabashedly over-the-top creature feature. Set in New York City, the film begins with a series of mysterious disappearances, and soon, it evolves into a full-on horror show as it becomes clear that something beneath the streets is on the hunt. One of the great '80s B-movies, "C.H.U.D." remains a great film to chuckle along with while holding a bowl of popcorn after midnight.

• Starring: John Heard, Kim Greist, Daniel Stern
• Director: Douglas Cheek
• Year: 1984
• Runtime: 96 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 29%

A musician used to a rather cushy lifestyle gets a letter from his estranged father, complete with an invitation to visit him at his secluded home. The musician agrees to visit, but what he finds when he arrives isn't just a strange waterfront home in the middle of nowhere but a man who feels very unlike his father. Tense, darkly hilarious, and packed with twists that take full advantage of Elijah Wood's ability to convey wide-eyed terror, "Come to Daddy" is a quirky masterpiece of suspense.

• Starring: Elijah Wood, Stephen McHattie, Martin Donovan
• Director: Ant Timpson
• Year: 2019
• Runtime: 95 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

It might not live up to the reputation or quality of the original film, but the sequel to "Creepshow" is still very much worth watching for a number of reasons — despite those negative reviews. Like the first film, it's got a darkly comic tone, a great ensemble cast, and stories from horror legends Stephen King and George A. Romero. Most memorably, though, it has "The Raft," a gruesome staple of 1980s horror cinema that every kid who ever watched this film in their VCR remembers to this day.

• Starring: George Kennedy, Lois Chiles, Tom Savini
• Director: Michael Gornick
• Year: 1987
• Runtime: 89 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 29%

One of the quintessential horror films about a small town with a dark secret, "Dead & Buried" follows a local sheriff who investigates a series of mysterious deaths in a seaside village and finds that something very, very strange is going on. The film catches you off guard right away with a sense of unpredictable menace, and the gore effects by the legendary Stan Winston do the rest.

• Starring: James Farentino, Melody Anderson, Jack Albertson
• Director: Gary Sherman
• Year: 1981
• Runtime: 93 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75%

The low-budget horror releases from the Adams family collective of filmmakers that includes John Adams, Toby Poser, and their daughter Zelda Adams are some of modern horror's most intriguing, imaginative stories, as "The Deeper You Dig" proves. The story of an accidental murder and the haunting events that follow, it's a film that shines far beyond its small-scale confines, signaling the rise of a trio of bright talents in the genre.

• Starring: John Adams, Toby Poser, Zelda Adams
• Director: John Adams and Toby Poser
• Year: 2019
• Runtime: 95 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

Before he broke through in America with films like "Blade II" and "Hellboy," Guillermo del Toro proved his skill with scary stories through this modern horror classic set during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. Unfolding in a secluded orphanage, the film follows a young orphan who discovers a supernatural presence in the place, one tied to the tragedies of the war and the various secrets and terrors which emerge as a result. It's an early example of del Toro's atmospheric skill and one of the best horror films of the 2000s.

• Starring: Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi
• Director: Guillermo del Toro
• Year: 2001
• Runtime: 107 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

The legendary horror hostess landed her first feature film in this wild journey in which Elvira inherits a house from a dead relative and suddenly finds herself the misfit in a stuck-up Massachusetts community. More horror-comedy than outright horror, "Mistress of the Dark" is nevertheless a must-see for its revelry in spooky camp and for Peterson's gleeful leading performance.

• Starring: Cassandra Peterson, Phil Rubenstein, Tress MacNeille
• Director: James Signorelli
• Year: 1988
• Runtime: 96 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 48%

In the wake of the success of "Halloween," producers everywhere were on the lookout for the next low-budget horror hit, and Sean S. Cunningham found it in 1980 with this foundational slasher classic. The story of a group of summer camp counselors and the mysterious killer stalking them all, "Friday the 13th" remains one of the most influential horror films of all time, inspiring hundreds of imitators and homages and launching a franchise that's already stretched to include 10 sequels and one reboot. It's an essential for any horror fan and still a very scary film.

• Starring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Kevin Bacon
• Director: Sean S. Cunningham
• Year: 1980
• Runtime: 95 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 63%

Horror icon Clive Barker's directorial debut is an iconic vision of sex, death, and demons. The story of a man obsessed with intersection of pleasure and pain, demons who control a magical puzzle box, and the poor young girl caught in the middle of it all, "Hellraiser" introduced millions to Barker's particular brand of horror storytelling, and it created an unforgettable, iconic movie monster in the form of the pale Cenobite known as Pinhead.

• Starring: Ashley Laurence, Clare Higgins, Andrew Robinson
• Director: Clive Barker
• Year: 1987
• Runtime: 93 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 73%

The follow-up to Clive Barker's demonic classic is perhaps not as beloved as the original film, but there's still a lot to enjoy about "Hellraiser II." The film follows the heroic Kirsty as she tries to rescue her father from hell after the events of the first film. As a result, director Tony Randel plunges the story into a full-on pandemonium, delivering a wild vision of hell dominated by Doug Bradley's unforgettable Pinhead, a new villain in the form of a devilish psychologist, and Kirsty's stepmom, returned from the dead and hungry for flesh.

• Starring: Doug Bradley, Ashley Laurence, Clare Higgins
• Director: Tony Randel
• Year: 1988
• Runtime: 99 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 50%

One of the most talked-about horror films online in the last 10 years, "Hell House LLC" is a modern found-footage gem that blends mockumentary and first-person storytelling to terrifying effect. The film follows a documentary crew as they try to solve the mystery of what went wrong the night the titular haunted house attraction first opened its doors, and once the film gets into the footage shot by the workers on the fateful night, it's an all-out thrill ride.

• Starring: Theodore Bouloukos, Kristin Michelle Taylor, Lauren A. Kennedy
• Director: Stephen Cognetti
• Year: 2015
• Runtime: 91 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75%

In this bizarre gem, a troubled writer, beset on all sides by personal problems, decides to move into his late aunt's mansion to finish his next novel. He sets out to write a story about his time in Vietnam, hoping to purge that trauma from his mind, but the house around him won't stop waking up with fresh horrors of its own. It sounds like the plot of dark drama, but "House" effortlessly pushes itself into spooky laughter at every turn, creating a dark comedy cult classic.

• Starring: William Katt, George Wendt, Kay Lenz
• Director: Steve Miner
• Year: 1985
• Runtime: 92 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 57%

One of the legendary Vincent Price's most memorable films, "House on Haunted Hill" casts the spooky icon as an eccentric millionaire who offers guests a $10,000 prize if they can stay all night in the title mansion. Shot on a low budget and fueled by director William Castle's legendary knack for horror gimmicks, "House on Haunted Hill" is a camp classic that still packs some of the most memorable scares in the history of the genre.

• Starring: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long
• Director: William Castle
• Year: 1959
• Runtime: 74 minutes
• Rating: 16+
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%

Though some might see it as a film that walks the line between psychological drama and all-out horror, "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" has become a cult film in the years since its release thanks in no small part to the sheer level of darkness lurking in its runtime. The film follows a young girl whose father is always gone, but is he really away on business? Driven by Jodie Foster's title performance, it's a film that seeps in under your skin and makes you squirm.

• Starring: Jodie Foster, Martin Sheen, Alexis Smith
• Director: Nicolas Gessner
• Year: 1976
• Runtime: 91 minutes
• Rating: PG
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Led by a magnetic central performance from Regina Hall, Mariama Diallo's "Master" deftly blends haunted house elements with stories of all-too-real deceit and mistreatment on an American college campus. The story of a school "master" who must get to the bottom of a dark force tormenting her students, it's an unsettling experience with some very stylish atmospheric flourishes.

• Starring: Regina Hall, Zoe Renee, Talia Ryder
• Director: Mariama Diallo
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 99 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75%

An intimate, emotionally heavy vampire tale in the vein of "Let the Right One In," "My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To" follows a single impoverished family as they do their best to survive while protecting one sibling from sunlight and from his own constant craving for human blood. It's an unexpected, moving, dark journey into very human horrors.

• Starring: Patrick Fugit, Ingrid Sophie Schram, Owen Campbell
• Director: Jonathan Cuartas
• Year: 2020
• Runtime: 90 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98%

"Nanny," one of 2022's most acclaimed horror films, stars Anna Diop as Aisha, a Senegalese immigrant who works as the titular caregiver for an upscale family. This starts out as a straightforward and simple job — until Aisha realizes that something is haunting her. This something is tied to her roots, and it begins to play tricks, conjure images, and change her reality, whether she likes it or not. Featuring fierce direction and writing from Nikyatu Jusu, "Nanny" arrives on Amazon Prime December 16. It's very much worth adding to your year's-end binge-watch list.

• Starring: Anna Diop, Michelle Monaghan, Sinqua Walls
• Director: Nikyatu Jusu
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 97 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 88%

Every English-language film Nicolas Winding Refn has made so far ventures into the horrific to some degree, but "The Neon Demon" is easily the one that moves most often and most vividly into the horror genre. The story of a young model (Elle Fanning) who finds herself in the belly of the beast as she tries to rise in the fashion world, it's a gorgeous descent into terror, one punctuated by dreamlike imagery and compelling performances.

• Starring: Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Abbey Lee
• Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
• Year: 2016
• Runtime: 117 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 59%

Siblings O.J. and Emerald Haywood operate a struggling Hollywood horse ranch. One day, they think they spot a UFO in the sky over their property. Though they're unnerved, they decide to make a film of their own to capture proof. What follows is a frightening, hilarious, and endlessly ambitious masterpiece from writer-director Jordan Peele about spectacle, and what it costs us. It's not as overtly horrific as his previous films, but it's got enough scares to satisfy, plus plenty of sci-fi adventure thrills.

• Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun
• Director: Jordan Peele
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 130 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

One of the most famous and influential found footage films of all time, "Paranormal Activity" arrived in theaters around the world in 2009 and promptly changed the face of horror movies for years to come. The story is simple: A couple believes a malevolent supernatural presence is in their house, and they install a system of cameras to record their lives in the hopes of securing evidence. The execution of this idea, and the way it builds to a horrifying ending, makes "Paranormal Activity" both an instantly memorable experience and an excellent example of the found footage subgenre. It'll still send chills down your spine more than a decade after its release.

• Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Amber Armstrong
• Director: Oren Peli
• Year: 2007
• Runtime: 86 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

"A Quiet Place" features a great concept for a horror film, and the original movie is so tightly plotted and suspenseful that trying to recapture that magic in a sequel felt more than a little risky. Thankfully, with the help of some great performances and a measured expansion of the universe, "Part II" proves itself to be a worthy sequel, just as full of tension and frightening revelations as the original film. Millicent Simmonds in particular shines in the follow-up, making it a worthwhile journey back to a dark, monster-filled landscape as the Abbott family encounters both hungry creatures and other survivors.

• Starring: Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy, Millicent Simmonds
• Director: John Krasinski
• Year: 2021
• Runtime: 97 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

Long considered one of the greatest found-footage movies of all time, "[REC]" is a film that absolutely lives up to its reputation as an all-out scarefest. The film follows a TV news anchor who's assigned to follow a local fire brigade during their night shift. But when the fire crew is sent to an apartment building where a mysterious infection leads to a quarantine, everyone is left trapped in a tower of horrors that gets more terrifying by the minute. You will rarely find a film that uses darkness and night vision cameras with such skill, and the results will make your heart rate skyrocket.

• Starring: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano
• Director: Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza
• Year: 2007
• Runtime: 78 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Dario Argento's "Suspiria" is one of those films that seemed like it shouldn't, and couldn't, ever be remade. Somehow, though, Luca Guadagnino not only pulled it off, but he delivered another classic in its own right with his terrifying vision of a dance school and the new student plunged into a world of occult horror. Sumptuous, sexy, and gorgeously dark, "Suspiria" lives up to its predecessor by honoring it, then going its own way.

• Starring: Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton, Mia Goth
• Director: Luca Guadagnino
• Year: 2018
• Runtime: 152 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 65%

One of the most effective found-footage horror films of the past decade, "The Taking of Deborah Logan" follows a film crew as they set out to document the life of an Alzheimer's patient, only to find that her strange behavior may have darker origins than an illness. Driven by constantly rising tension and some unforgettable imagery, it's one of those films worth seeing even if found-footage horror isn't really your thing.

• Starring: Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay, Michelle Ang
• Director: Adam Robitel
• Year: 2014
• Runtime: 90 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

Though it never reached the same classic heights as "The Twilight Zone," George A. Romero's horror anthology series "Tales from the Darkside" won plenty of fans with its particular blend of the funny, the scary, and the downright ghoulish. In 1990, the series made the leap to the big-screen with this film, combining horror stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Stephen King, and Romero himself into one fiendish hour and a half.

• Starring: Deborah Harry, Christian Slater, David Johansen
• Director: John Harrison
• Year: 1990
• Runtime: 93 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 43%

One of the best zombie films ever made and one of the best horror films of the 2010s, "Train to Busan" begins with one extremely effective concept: What if a zombie outbreak started on a train in the middle of a journey? From there, it hits highs of both character development and all-out creature terror that have helped make it a fan favorite around the world.

• Starring: Gong Yoo, Ma Dong-Seok, Choi Woo-shik
• Director: Yeon Sang-ho
• Year: 2016
• Runtime: 117 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

India remains one of the most fertile places to find imaginative, effective genre films, and if you're into horror, "Tumbbad" is well worth the journey. A labor of love more than two decades in the making, it chronicles a generational search for a legendary treasure and a battle against an ancient demon, with all the affecting imagery that goes with that territory. If you love international horror, it's a must-see.

• Starring: Ronjini Chakraborty, Deepak Damle, Jyoti Malshe
• Director: Rahi Anil Barve and Adesh Prasad
• Year: 2018
• Runtime: 104 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

Few living horror creators carry a more dread-inducing reputation than legendary manga artist Junji Ito. This adaptation of one of his most popular works explores a community beset by a sudden and endless obsession with spiral patterns. The spiral manifests in the sky, in the schools, and eventually, in people's bodies. Can anything stop this bizarre menace before it swallows the town whole? "Uzumaki" will have your skin crawling by the time you find out the answer.

• Starring: Eriko Hatsune, Fhi Fhan, Ren Osugi
• Director: Higuchinsky
• Year: 2000
• Runtime: 90 minutes
• Rating: NR
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 58%

A high-concept thriller driven by Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots' tense performances, "Vivarium" follows a young couple who move into a newly developed community. But this community isn't what it seems: The pair has been trapped in some kind of nightmarish game they can barely comprehend. It's bad enough that they can't seem to find a way to drive out of this labyrinthine place — things get even more complicated when they're forced to raise a child together.

• Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Imogen Poots, Eanna Hardwicke
• Director: Lorcan Finnegan
• Year: 2019
• Runtime: 97 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 72%

One of the most universally celebrated horror films of the 2010s, the South Korean supernatural epic "The Wailing" is steeped in creepy atmosphere, incredible performances, and unforgettable storytelling. The story of a man investigating a town where a strange infection has driven people to murder their families, it's a terrifying blend of folk horror and supernatural drama, full of devilish moments that will burrow into your brain and stay there.

• Starring: Kwak Do-won, Jun Kunimura, Hwang Jung-min
• Director: Na Hong-jin
• Year: 2016
• Runtime: 156 minutes
• Rating: 16+
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%

A grieving couple move to an old farmhouse while mourning the death of their son ... and they find more waiting for them than just their own personal darkness. As strange things happen around the house and the residents of the nearby town start responding accordingly, the family finds that something in their new home is waking up again. Packed with great performances, homages to classic 1970s horror, and great effects, "We Are Still Here" ranks as one of the best ghost stories of the 2010s.

• Starring: Barbara Crampton, Andrew Sensenig, Lisa Marie
• Director: Ted Geoghegan
• Year: 2015
• Runtime: 83 minutes
• Rating: 18+
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 95%

Centered on a captivating performance by the great Tilda Swinton, Lynne Ramsay's "We Need to Talk About Kevin" derives its horror not just from the brutality of its title character but from the weight that brutality places on the shoulders of his mother. Through nonlinear storytelling and a sense of constantly building tension, we learn what it's like to shoulder the burden of birthing a villain and the existential dread of knowing you can't change what you created.

• Starring: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller
• Director: Lynne Ramsay
• Year: 2011
• Runtime: 112 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 75%

You might think you know where this '70s horror classic is going because it hinges on the classic "the calls are coming from inside the house" urban legend, but you'd be wrong. "When a Stranger Calls" is a fantastic case of what happens when filmmakers start in recognizable territory, then branch out into something else altogether, and the result is a terrifying unpredictable experience.

• Starring: Charles Durning, Carol Kane, Colleen Dewhurst
• Director: Fred Walton
• Year: 1979
• Runtime: 97 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 41%