Top Ten Horror Movies to Watch on Netflix Right Now
Jenna Haskins ’16 / Emertainment Monthly Staff
Horror is a tricky genre to choose from, with used up subplots and cliche’s to avoid. Netflix seems to have hundreds of films to choose from, some of which seem a little…questionable. (Zombies vs. Strippers? But I mean if that’s your thing, just letting you know it’s on there.) Luckily for you, Emertainment Monthly has helped you out once again! (We’re so good to you) Simply sift through the following movies and find one that fits your horror genre needs.
10. The Fourth Kind (2009)
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Will Patton, Hakeem Kae-Kazim
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 4/10
The Fourth Kind is a take on the “found footage” genre, but seems less qualified than most to make that claim. The film is based on the unexplained disappearances of several people from the small town of Nome, Alaska over a lengthy span of time. The Fourth Kind, as it’s name implies, paints alien abduction as the culprit. While this film isn’t of the highest quality, (and will make you terrified of owls for a short time), it gives you a chilling feeling to know that something unexplainable has actually occurred there. If found footage is your type of horror genre, you might want to give The Fourth Kind a chance. What it lacks in plot, it makes up for in interest and the solid acting of Jovovich.
9. The Awakening (2012)
Starring: Rebecca Hall, Dominic West, Imelda Staunton
Rotten Tomatoes: 5.7/10
A woman who has dedicated her life to exposing supernatural claims as hoaxes, Florence Cathcart (Hall) is asked to investigate ghost sightings after the recent death of a student at an all-boys boarding school. In the beginning, Cathcart seems convinced that all evidence points towards a schoolboy prank, but as she continues to investigate she finds that her faith in science is not enough to explain the sinister happenings at the boarding school. An old-fashioned plot line that is well acted, The Awakening provides something fresh in the otherwise ashy ghost story genre.
8. They (2002)
Starring: Laura Regan, Marc Blucas, Ethan Embry
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 4.2/10
Julia Lund (Regan) is a psychology major who has a lifelong debilitating fear of the dark. As her night terrors from childhood begin to haunt her again, she discovers that her friend Billy (Abrahams) is having the same problem. When Billy commits suicide, Julia begins to worry that something may be out to get her. As she tries to face her fear of the dark, it begins to consume her life and she realizes that she may not make it out, or she may not make it out with her sanity. With a straight forward creepiness, They doesn’t try to hard and therefore emerges as a standard horror movie, sure to evoke some claustrophobic feelings for those who fear the dark as much as Julia.
7. The Ward (2010)
Starring: Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 4.4/10
The movie begins with Kristin’s (Heard) institutionalization at a mental hospital. Without much information, the viewer learns everything as she does. This can make the beginning a little halting, since there isn’t any emotional investment yet, but it isn’t long before Kristin realizes there is someone, or something, deadly roaming the halls. She needs to find out what it is, and why it’s killing off the female patients before it’s too late. The Ward relies heavily on jump scares, but near the end throws in a twist that you will not see coming. It’s a standard horror movie with a little extra thrown in to keep you guessing.
6. The Evil Dead
Stars: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManicor
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 8.1/10
Five college students decide to stop overnight at an abandoned cabin in the woods, and discover ancient looking occult artifacts. Unable to stop their curiosity, they play a rape recorder filled with incantations used to bring demons to life, giving them the ability to posses the living. When they realize what they’ve done, all hell has already started to break loose, and there’s only one cure for the possession: total body dismemberment. A cult classic, The Evil Dead is a masterpiece of gore, over acting, and atmospheric horror.
5. Halloween (1978)
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nancy Kyes
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 8.5/10
Another horror movie classic, Halloween is a must see for anyone looking for a classic film. In 1963, six year old Michael Myers murders his sister in their family home. Years later on Halloween night, 1978, Myers escapes and spots teenager Laurie Strode (Curtis). He then begins a murderous rampage, as his psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Pleasance) rushes to stop him. While it still maintains some fright factor after all these years, it’s also good fun to groan and yell at the screen as Laurie stumbles her way through some now well known horror movie victim faux-pas. (Keep the knife with you, always keep the knife!) If you haven’t watched it yet, it’s time to give it a chance.
4. Identity (2003)
Starring: John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 6.4/10
A murder mystery and a horror movie combined, Identity brings together some big Hollywood names and some bigger twists and turns. When ten strangers are stranded at a hotel during a storm, they find that there is a greater danger than the weather. As they fight to stay alive, they discover secret upon secret and find that their meeting at the hotel was not by chance at all. Less horror and more taught suspense, Identity is still an exciting find with some familiar faces.
3. Wake Wood (2010)
Starring: Aidan Gillen, Eva Birthistle, Timothy Spall
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 6.7/10
Those who watched, and enjoyed, Pet Semetary will either love or hate Wake Wood. The premise is very similar. A family loses their child in tragic circumstances and has the opportunity to bring them back from the dead. But is it really still the sweet child they knew and loved? Lot’s of creepy and disturbing images and scenes make this movie not for the faint-hearted. And the twist ending is enough to make you gasp! (And if that’s not enough to scare you, the little girl looks like an evil Irish version of Matilda) But if that’s what you’re looking for in your horror movies, this is definitely worth a watch.
2. Session 9 (2001)
Starring: David Caruso, Stephen Gevedon, Peter Mullan
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 6.2/10
There are a number of horror movies that involve former hospitals or asylums. However, Session 9 takes a unique approach to that idea, which makes the movie stand out amongst others. Gordon Fleming (Mullan) is a new father struggling with the responsibility of keeping both his family and his asbestos removal company afloat. When he gets the opportunity to clear out an abandoned mental hospital he claims that he and his team can finish the job in two weeks in order to secure their bid. He gets the job and the team gets to work. But the men on his team harbor secrets almost as dark as those that haunt the hospitals walls, and the job seems to deeply affect each man as the days go by. Session 9 goes for the more psychological scare, and succeeds as it gets under your skin minute by minute.
1. The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchinson, Fran Kanz, Jesse Williams
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 7.8/10
Five friends go on vacation to a remote cabin in the middle of the woods. They each represent a stereotype: The whore, the athlete, the scholar, the stoner, and the virgin. Both of these are pretty common horror movie standards. However, that’s where the similarities to any other film ends. Fans of Joss Whedon’s writing will be thrilled with this witty meta-film that pokes fun at horror cliches and is both incredibly inventive and all around fun. It has humor, scares, and over the top twists and turns that make The Cabin in The Woods a must see.