Got a hankering for dark, disturbing, flat-out terrifying films? Critic Rory Doherty has combed through Amazon Prime Video‘s archive and picked the 25 best horror movies.
The Babadook (2014)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEOA powerhouse debut for Aussie director Jennifer Kent, this folk-tinged horror takes all the jagged cruelty and terror of children’s storybooks into a tactile, breathless take on how grief picks and scratches at our everyday lives. A recent widow and her overactive child are plagued by a cursed bedtime story and the violent wraith at the centre of it—soon realising that the titular monster intends to hunt their very personal pain.
The Brood (1979)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEOOliver Reed definitely laid the groundwork for Donald Pleasance yelling/pointing guns at children in the Halloween sequels. This Cronenberg “haunted kid” film riffs on the Canadian director’s interest in psychology and medical institutes first explored in his earliest work, now imbued with pulpy and unsettling themes of reproduction and maternal fears. Both mother and child turn deadly in this chilling film.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEOOne of the first and most enduring cinematic horror stories, this defining German Expressionist film comes with no sound, but conveys its dreamlike unease through crooked set design, dark make-up and deep shadows. A half-dead somnambulist is set loose on a town by a mad doctor, and even though it has no jumpscares or body mutilations, the themes of being helpless to a deceitful, evil science resonated with its 1920 audience—and still do a century on.
C.H.U.D. (1984)
Watch on Prime VideoAll of New York has C.H.U.D. fever in this subterranean sci-fi-horror that also features a lot of municipal bureaucracy—but the sharp contrast between that and the little critters roaming around NYC’s sewers give this a distinctly 80s type of charm. Men with wiry hair and moustaches race around trying to figure out exactly what government organisations could be trying to cover up, while trying to avoid being ripped to shreds by pint-sized mutants.
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEOGeorge Romero upped the ante from his landmark Night of the Living Dead with this iconic zombie film, in which resourceful survivors fortify themselves in a shopping mall. It flits between splattering Tom Savini gore to outright slapstick, with a handful of apocalypse survivalism tenets that still influence the genre today. The trilogy would push to further excesses in the underrated Day of the Dead, but here we see Romero’s cynical-yet-playful pastiche of 70s attitudes in living colour.
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEOA classic, if not the classic haunted house film, this William Castle joint utilises Hitchcockian and Clouzot suspense film mechanics on a sillier, lower budgeted scale. Vincent Price offers a cash reward for anyone who can stay a night in his Very Haunted Mansion—but murderous plots and vengeful spirits are holed up with them. While maybe seeming silly by today’s standards, its total earnestness is a perfect and effective example of the heightened chills of the era.
Paranormal Activity (2007)
Watch on Prime VideoFor today’s generation, it’s tough to ascertain how much of a grip films like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity had on their audiences. They were both bolstered by online marketing campaigns that brewed incredible hype, and the extremely low-budget filmmaking fooled a lot of people into thinking their lo-fi horrors were real. If you buy into the character drama, there’s no doubt this found-footage haunting story will majorly freak you out.
Possum (2018)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEODirector Matthew Holness’ surreal psychological horror finds an incredibly rich reservoir of creepiness in puppetry. A traumatised, repressed puppeteer comes back to his damaged home (bringing his very messed up creation with him), confronting the terrors that shaped and inspired him. Sean Harris is, as ever, reliably off-putting in a film that’s oppressive, wicked and deeply unsettling.
The Purge (2013)
Watch on Prime VideoA lot of people complained that The Purge didn’t meet its full potential straight out of the gate—if you invent a world where all crime is legal for one night, don’t set everything in one house!—but these detractors would get what they want in the four sequels. This film takes a hyper-focused look at an expansive concept—a wealthy home’s invasion—to dial up the class-based terror about how we profit off misery.
Scanners (1981)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEODon’t lose your head over this iconic Cronenberg. But even if you do, it won’t be as messy as the iconic GOATed head-explosion that kicks off this film. Cronenberg’s fascination with mutilating and malforming the human body goes hand-in-hand with a strange but sincere sensuality that curiously investigates where body horror meets the body politic.
Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 (1987)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEOYou get two for the price of one with this Christmas slasher—a B movie sequel that incorporates a clipshow of the greatest kills from the original. Thankfully, they’re bloody and ridiculous enough to warrant sitting through, not to mention the new horror sequences being packed with wild slasher violence and tongue-in-cheek energy. As the sequel’s killer, Eric Freeman gives a performance for the ages, creating a deliciously insane Yuletide villain.
Suspiria (2018)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEOIf you’re going to remake a classic, give it as much of its own identity as possible. When Luca Guadagnino released this a year after his lauded Call Me By Your Name, its grim tone and imposing length (one hour longer than the original!) was off-putting to some. But to audiences patient and weird, its ruminations on fascism and body horror were rewarding.
Terror Train (1980)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEOBefore she pivoted to more legitimate comedies and dramas, Jamie Lee Curtis made her start in cheapo horror films—making it very fitting that she won her Oscar for a film unapologetic about being genre fare. Terror Train (helmed by future Bond director Roger Spottiswoode) feels like it was thought up in an afternoon—a slasher whodunnit of college graduates set on a train—but finds enough weird, unique setpieces and details to warrant a watch with pals.
The Void (2016)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEOWhat do you do when you can’t make a movie in the 1980s anymore? Do your best to imitate it! This incredibly visceral small-town/cosmic body horror prides itself on spectacular practical effects. Cultish conspiracies and volatile grief give way to something that feels like John Carpenter on steroids. Does it feel like too many genres and motifs are being stuffed into one 90 minute feature? Of course, but we never said that was a problem.
The Wicker Man (2006)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEONow that we’ve asserted there’s no such thing as a bad Nic Cage performance, it’s high time we forgave what was once reviled by a less forgiving culture. The Wicker Man remake is admittedly a stain on the British original’s flawless legacy, but the self-serious 2000s hysterics of this film (not to mention the choice to make the island cult a matriarchy) make it worthy of interest. And Nic Cage’s operatic turn sells the horror of his fate.
Xtro (1983)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEOThere are certain types of stories that can only work as B-movies. Something about Xtro’s low-budget, extra-inventive, hard-genre nature makes it feel more precious. A missing father returns from an alien dimension to resume parenting duties, in the process doing a lot of slimy metamorphosis and imbuing his kid with psychic abilities. It’s genuinely unsettling and striking—a proper diamond in the rough amongst the straight-to-video offerings on Prime.
