amazon prime horror movies

A24

One of the great things about being a horror movie fan is that the genre, especially these days, is just so wide-ranging. Big fans of the genre can get the sorts of slashers they’re looking for with something like the Happy Death Day films, fans of the supernatural have movies like The Conjuring series, and thee most patient and picky of us will sink our teeth into something like Ari Aster’s Midsommar, which takes disturbing to a new level (and was a key piece in the star-making of one Florence Pugh, now both an Academy Award-nominated actress and a star of Marvel movies).

And if you’ve got a subscription to Amazon Prime, you have access to that last one without spending even an extra dime. Not only does Amazon Prime Video have a number of original horror movies worth your time—including some from horror master Jason Blum’s 2020 “Welcome to the Blumhouse” series—but it’s got a constantly revolving selection of some really great movies to catch any horror mood you might be in.

Want moody, aesthetic, artsy scares? You’re covered. Want a dumb thriller? Covered. How about an old school slasher (in either film or serial miniseries form)? You’ve got options. Supernatural stuff, monsters, hell, sometimes real life can be scarier than any of that. But no matter your mood, there’s usually going to be an option for it.

So, that’s enough build-up—time for some scares (Or, at least, scary-adjacent aesthetic. You’ll see what we mean). Here are the 24 best horror movies on Amazon Prime Video.

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below

1

Alien (1979)

Come on. An absolute classic. Some might argue that Ridley Scott’s original Alien—perhaps the single best movie in the legendary director’s long and prolific career—veers more toward science fiction than horror. But with the long sequences of dread and anxiety, this one absolutely channels the most important parts of what makes a horror movie, well, work. And Sigourney Weaver as Ripley, I mean, what more can you say? And most importantly, it’s a movie with a moral: be careful when you’re examining eggs on an unknown far away planet. Good advice!

Stream It Here

2

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Another must-watch for any fan of the horror genre. Anyone expecting for director John Landis to follow up on 1978’s Animal House with a similar movie was probably on board for the beginning of this 1981 classic—when it’s just two friends backpacking across Europe—and then shocked when things take a dark and surprising turn. A dark horror comedy and an absolute staple (feel free to skip the sequel, though).

Stream It Here

3

Rear Window (1954)

Rear Window is a triple classic: an Alfred Hitchcock classic, a Jimmy Stewart classic, and a voyeuristic classic. While 2007’s Disturbia is pretty solid and 2021’s The Woman in the Window is pretty terrible, Rear Window is the number one greatest “something fishy is going on across the street” movie of all time.

Stream It Here

4

Midsommar (2019)

While he broke out in the mainstream with 2018’s Hereditary, it was the next year’s Midsommar that made director Ari Aster a modern horror legend in the making (going 2/2 on your first two movies, entirely unique tales, will do that). Midsommar is the story of a young woman (Florence Pugh) who joins her half-assed boyfriend (Jack Reynor) on a trip with his friends after suffering an unspeakable family tragedy. The group ends up on a trippy, colorful, and deeply disturbing trip to a festival that you won’t ever forget. One of the greatest horror movies of the last 20-30 years without question.

Stream It Here

5

The Lighthouse (2019)

The Lighthouse! Robert Pattinson did a lot of stuff while making this dark, black and white, moody tribute to creepy old monster movies, including keeping “The Streak” alive. (Unfortunately that streak did not continue into Tenet). But this movie of a young man (Pattinson) and an old man (Willem Dafoe) stuck at a lighthouse and slowly losing their marbles is one for patent viewers. It’s a slow-building, character-driven movie, but one where something absolutely crazy happens just often enough to keep you invested.

Stream It Here

6

Take Shelter (2011)

Not a horror in your traditional Friday the 13th or Nightmare on Elm Street sense, but rather one focused on just the creeping feeling that something really bad is about to happen. Michael Shannon plays a man who experiences just that—visions, signs, and hints at impending disasters that may or may not be actually coming. Jessica Chastain and Shea Whigham co-star.

Stream It Here

7

Climax (2019)

There aren’t any monsters or serial killers in Climax, but it focuses instead on one of the scariest things out there: a bad trip. And it’s a bad trip that all of this movie’s main characters weren’t expecting. And they all experience it together.

Let’s back up a bit. Climax is a movie from provocateur director Gaspar Noé, and follows a dance troupe speaking a number of different celebrations through one night. And what starts as a celebration proves to eventually be anything but. One of the most visceral—and disturbing—movies you’ll watch.

Stream It Here

8

Black Box (2020)

The first movie from Amazon Prime Video’s original “Welcome to the Blumhouse” series to make our list (movies produced by Blumhouse) is Black Box, which is a bit disorienting, and has a handful of twists throughout its short running time, all coming back to its amnesia-based central mystery. But in the end everything makes sense, we promise. You’ll be entertained throughout at the very least.

Stream It Here

9

Coherence (2014)

Coherence is a small-budgeted movie that really tests your ability to follow threads. When friends all meet at a dinner party and weird stuff starts happening, everything comes back to a comet flying through the night’s sky, and some great universal wires getting crossed. A weird movie and one that will have you really wondering what could happen next—and perhaps even more wondering what you would do if in the same scenario.

Stream It Here

10

Sharknado (2013)

You know this is low budget garbage. But don’t you just want to say that you’ve seen Sharknado? (Amazon Prime Video has the entire series of these, if you really care that much).

Stream It Here

11

The Ring (2002)

If something is a primary spoof in a Scary Movie, that makes the original a modern classic, right? Anyway, The Ring, from director Gore Verbinski finds Naomi Watts as a woman who learns of a mysterious video tape that supposedly kills anyone who watches it within 7 days, when a little girl climbs out of a well on screen, and eventually kills the person watching. Wild stuff. It’s a slow-building movie with scares, thrills, and really good visuals and acting. Don’t skip this one.

Stream It Here

12

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

Here’s something super rare—a remake that actually improves upon the original. While the black-and-white Invasion of the Body Snatchers from 1956 set the story for the first time, it was this 1978 movie—with Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, and Leonard Nimoy among those in the cast—that really expanded the story of aliens replacing humans on earth to its full potential. A truly creepy (and fun) movie.

Stream It Here

13

Unsane (2018)

Steven Soderbergh has always been a master of all genres (the man earned Best Director Academy Award nominations for Traffic and Erin Brockovich in the same year), but he really goes over the top and proves it with 2018’s Unsane, a tense thriller starring Claire Foy and filmed entirely on an iPhone. The movie in a nutshell finds a woman (Foy) looking to escape her stalker, and finding herself involuntarily committed to a mental institution—where she believes her stalker has now begun working. Quite the shift from the Ocean’s movies! Sodey is the best.

Stream It Here

14

Piranha (1978)

Piranha has been described by Steven Spielberg himself as the best Jaws rip-off, which, well, high praise. This movie, which launched the career of its director Joe Dante (a master of his own craft in is own right) 100% knows what it is, having some good old silly monster/horror fun, with a bit of a winking, satirical bite. Get ready to cover your eyes one second and laugh aloud the next.

Stream It Here

15

Nocturne (2020)

If you’ve been enjoying Sydney Sweeney’s performance as an intense Gen Z teen in The White Lotus, then you’ll enjoy her performance in Nocturne (the second “Welcome to the Blumhouse” entry to make our list) as a twin in an elite arts academy. She is constantly compared to her twin sister, and only once she discovers a mysterious notebook does she start to outperform her. And that’s when—you guessed it—things get weird.

Stream It Here

16

We Need To Talk About Kevin (2012)

An absolutely wild movie. Two of our favorites (Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly) play parents of a kid named Kevin who they can tell from his very early childhood is not like other kids. And something really bad is going to happen sooner or later. The question is, what is there to do? The movie has thrills, scares, is artfully done, and, of course, some great acting (it also features Ezra Miller as the older Kevin).

Stream It Here

17

Bringing Out The Dead (1999)

Nic Cage was at near his best in Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out The Dead, where he plays a paramedic near madness after losing too many lives to simply keep going. It’s not really a horror movie as much as it’s a movie that fully takes on the scariest parts of living, particularly death and loss. Ving Rhames and Patricia Arquette co-star in this movie, which you could probably fit together with Cape Fear and Shutter Island and call Scorsese’s “horror” trilogy.

Stream It Here

18

Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

It’s definitely not a movie (though it is based on one). But if you’re a horror fan and have Amazon Prime Video, you should probably check out Buffy the Vampire Slayer if you haven’t already. You’ve of course heard of this before, but it’s just fun. Sarah Michelle Gellar plays Buffy, who just wants to be a normal teenager—but finds herself in far too deep to do anything other than, well, slay vampires. It’s a supernatural blast and an essential watch.

Stream It Here

19

AHS 1984 (2019)

Most American Horror Story seasons start off pretty well and end pretty poorly. And I can report with confidence that AHS: 1984, the season modeled on a Friday the 13th type slasher film…does exactly that. Still, you know the expression—it’s about the journey, not the ending. As annoying as it can be when these seasons go off the rails, there’s a reason we still keep watching—it’s fun while it lasts.

Stream It Here

20

The Neon Demon (2016)

This creepy movie from director Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) follows an aspiring model played by Elle Fanning who arrives in Los Angeles only to find…..many deeply weird and disturbed people. Can’t give too much away, and you’ll certainly have a major WTF look on your face for most of it. And Keanu Reeves is in it. Fun!

Stream It Here

21

The Stuff (1985)

The Stuff is the ’80s B-movie that horror fans always are looking for. It’s a desert….that’s evil! Maybe an alien! Who knows! It’s fun and it doesn’t take itself seriously. Does anything else really matter?

Stream It Here

22

Hellraiser (1987)

This tale of a portal opened to hell by a sexual deviant, and that deviant’s resurrection, is absolutely wild. Author Clive Barker is the writer/director in a very original horror film, particularly considering it came out in a genre overrun with derivative, albeit fun, ripoffs of a few of the same pillar movies.

Stream It Here

23

Suspiria (2018)

Director Luca Guadagnino goes far the opposite direction of his previous film (Call Me Be Your Name) for this remake of Suspiria, which includes a dance troupe, witchcraft, and a whole lot of slow-moving madness.

Stream It Here

24

The Lie (2020)

A little lie can go a long way. The third and final “Welcome to the Blumhouse” entry on our list isn’t a super artful movie or anything, but it’s just a story that takes a lot of twists and turns—and an ending that will make you really think again about everything else you just saw.

Stream It Here

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

Advertisement – Continue Reading Below