There are a lot of movies under 90 minutes that we love. Movies don't always have to be over three hours long to be epic. Sometimes a great film needs less than an hour and a half to say all it needs or wants to say. Usually, these movies are comedies, but not always. Every genre, from comedies to war movies to horror movies and more, has films that clock in a very manageable amount of time. This list is all about those great movies with a runtime under 90 minutes.

This Is Spinal Tap (82 Minutes)

The granddaddy of hilarious mockumentaries showed everyone how it was done, and This is Spinal Tap came up with dozens of the most quotable lines ever in just 82 minutes. The legacy of the movie has endured for five decades now, and it will almost certainly be beloved for at least 50 more.

Paths Of Glory (88 Minutes)

Director Stanley Kubrick is well known for his long movies, such as Barry Lyndon and Spartacus, both of which run over three hours in length. He also proved he could tell an amazing story with the 88-minute Paths of Glory, which is one of the best war movies of all time and one of the few about World War I (at least compared to the number of World War II movies).

Phone Booth (81 Minutes)

Movies that take place in real time are always interesting. Phone Booth, starring Colin Farrell, is a white-knuckle thriller that runs. brisk 81 minutes. It spends most of that time focused on Farrell's character in the titular phone booth, and is an incredibly action-packed movie, despite the static location and happening all in one day.

The Lion King (88 Minutes)

Disney knows its core audience: kids. That means they know exactly how to tell a wonderful, funny, heartbreaking story at a great clip, so as not to bore the kids. This spot could go to any number of Disney animated classics, but The Lion King is my favorite, so I'm letting this one represent the group. At just 88 minutes, it does everything you expect in a great animated movie.

High Noon (85 Minutes)

85 minutes, in real time, is all it took the filmmakers of High Noon to tell an amazing story. It's one of the best Westerns of all time, and Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly are fantastic in their roles. Cooper pretty much defined his career with this movie from 1952.

Cloverfield (85 Minutes)

One of the best examples of a "found footage" flick is Matt Reeves' Cloverfield. The monster movie works on a number of levels, employing the lesson of movies like Jaws to limit how much of the monster we see, making it that much scarier, and it wraps up the whole story in under an hour and a half.

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (88 Minutes)

Another classic comedy that fits nicely on this list is Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. The trip may have taken the titular characters all night to finally satisfy their craving from the burger joint with a cult following, but as an audience, we see it all condensed into 88 hilarious minutes.

Fruitvale Station (85 Minutes)

Director Ryan Coogler burst onto the scene in 2013 with his intense and heartbreaking debut film, Fruitvale Station, which told the true story of an African-American man (played by Michael B. Jordan) who was killed by a police officer at a subway station in Oakland in 2009. It also marked the first time Jordan and Coogler worked together, and in the years since, their partnership, including in one of the best 2025 movies, Sinners, has been amazing to watch.

Idiocracy (84 Minutes)

Leave it to director Mike Judge to make a movie like Idiocracy. It's a movie that still feels disturbingly relevant two decades later. The movie, which is as funny as it is upsetting, comes in at just under 90 minutes, and there isn't one boring moment among them.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (83 Minutes)

The original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which came out in 1974 and runs just 83 minutes, is one of the most influential horror movies of all time. It's hard to imagine a world with Friday the 13th, Halloween, and A Nightmare on Elm Street without this classic slasher film from director Tobe Hooper coming first.

Stand By Me (89 Minutes)

Stand By Me is based on a Stephen King short story called The Body. As one of the best adaptations of a King story, the movie has become a stone-cold classic over the years. It's great that the movie doesn't have to stray from its short source material and comes in at just under 90s minutes, yet tells an incredible, timeless story.

The Producers (88 Minutes)

It's incredible to reflect on the cultural impact of an 88-minute movie like Mel Brooks' classic The Producers. Not only was the movie a huge hit, but its enduring legacy means that generations have loved the comedy since it was released in the late '60s. The smash hit Broadway show (and the 2005 movie adaptation of the musical) has solidified its place as one of the most beloved stories of the last 100 years.

Fast Times At Ridgemont High (90 Minutes)

So, full disclosure here, this is the movie that inspired this list. Even though Fast Times at Ridgemont High is technically not under 90 minutes, it is exactly an hour and a half long, and as the inspiration for this list, it definitely belongs here. It feels even faster, in a good way.

Airplane! (88 Minutes)

Another classic comedy, Airplane! packs more jokes in 88 minutes than most comedy franchises can in three or four movies. It doesn't get more "classic" than this one. It's the kind of movie that you can watch over and over, and not just because there is an endless amount of jokes you probably missed while you were laughing the last time you watched it, but it's a delightfully quick watch.

Toy Story (81 Minutes)

Like the classic Disney animated movies like The Lion King and The Little Mermaid, Pixar knows how to craft a well-told, timeless, funny story in less than 90 minutes. Coming in at barely over 81 minutes, Toy Story remains the gold standard for Pixar animation, and it continues to delight kids and adults alike, decades after it first launched a franchise.

Child's Play (87 Minutes)

'80s horror movies are great for this list. Along with comedies, horror movies are the most common movies you can find under 90 minutes. A perfect example of doing more with less time in the genre is the original Child's Play. A huge franchise was launched on a movie that is only 87 minutes long. This is how you do it!

Before Sunset (80 Minutes)

The second movie in director Richard Linklater's Before trilogy, Before Sunset, follows a couple who met on a train in Before Sunrise who meet in Paris nine years after their first encounter. It takes place in real-time, 80 minutes, and follows the "almost couple" as they walk the streets of the City of Light and reminisce about their one night together in Vienna.

The Evil Dead (85 Minutes)

The Evil Dead (like its two direct sequels, The Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness) comes in at under 90 minutes. All three films, directed by Sam Raimi, are considered classics in the genre by many fans. Personally, I like Army of Darkness best, but since all three work for this list, I'm using the first as a representative for all of them.

The Simpsons Movie (87 Minutes)

After decades on TV, The Simpsons is a show that knows all too well how to tell a story in a short amount of time. When the much-anticipated The Simpsons Movie was released in 2007, it probably came as no surprise that the movie would have a brisk pace and come in under an hour and a half. At 87 minutes, it tells a longer story than the show ever has, but not by a huge margin.

Office Space (89 Minutes)

Working for Inotech, the fictional company in Office Space, would be awful. Every day would seem like a week and every week, a month. Luckily, the movie itself is only 89 minutes. I say luckily, because it manages to pack a lot into those 89 minutes, but never drones on like Lumberg's voice.

Once (86 Minutes)

Once is a little unique on this list because while it's basically a romantic drama, it has elements of a musical, with a slew of original music performed by the actors in the movie, including Glen Hansard. There aren't many musicals that click in under 90 minutes, but Once is unconventional, and that's part of what makes it so great.

Duck Soup (69 Minutes)

It's true, a lot of older movies come in closer to the hour-and-a-half mark than modern movies, but since we had to include one, I decided one that barely gets over the one-hour mark would be appropriate. Duck Soup, from The Marx Brothers, is one of three VHS tapes my parents owned when I was a kid, so I've seen the movie way more times than most in my generation, and for that, I am grateful.

Best In Show (90 Minutes)

Director Christopher Guest and his band of merry improvisational comedy crew have made a few amazing movies. For me, the two best are the first two, Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show. Both movies clock in under the 90-minute mark, or just at that mark, in the case of Best in Show.

Borat (84 Minutes)

Borat is a movie on this list that I am grateful comes in at just 84 minutes. It's an amazing 84 minutes, so don't get me wrong, but anything more would have felt like too much. It's already pushing the envelope (in a good way) with how much second-hand embarrassment I can stand.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (76 Minutes)

When The Nightmare Before Christmas was released in 1993, it was a major departure from Tim Burton's earlier work. Not in tone, of course, but in the stop-motion animation style it used. It was (and still is) brilliant. It's also only 76 minutes long, which makes it feel right in line with some of the stop-motion TV Christmas movies that certainly helped inspire it, like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman from Rankin/Bass Productions.

The Squid And The Whale (81 Minutes)

Writer and director made a huge splash with his breakout film, The Squid And The Whale, in 2005. It's a movie that he based on his own life, and personal stories like that can really soar, like this one. It's a story he told in just 81 minutes, which was good enough to land an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay.

Duel (90 Minutes)

It's no surprise that the great Steven Spielberg would pop up on this list (or any list of great movies, for that matter). Duel was the legendary director's debut film, and while the moderate budget is clear, so are Spielberg's immense skills as a filmmaker. Duel may not be in Spielberg's top 10 best movies, but at 90 minutes, it fits perfectly on this list.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (87 Minutes)

Wes Anderson brought his unique style to animation when he adapted the Roald Dahl book Fantastic Mr. Fox. Anderson's style fits perfectly here, and this is one of my favorite movies from the director.

Rope (80 Minutes)

Yet another legendary director who finds himself on this list is Alfred Hitchcock. His classic Rope, which takes place all in one day, clocks in at a brilliant 80s minutes.

Battleship Potemkin (66 Minutes)

It's amazing what kind of effect a 66-minute movie can have on the rest of the art of film, but Battleship Potemkin proves just how impactful one short film can be. The Soviet-era Russian-language film is a masterpiece and is still influencing movies 100+ years later.

The Kentucky Fried Movie (83 Minutes)

Great parody movies, like Airplane!, The Naked Gun, and Top Secret! often come in at under 90 minutes. The Kentucky Fried Movie is one of those. The great anthology movie clocks in at 83 minutes.

Pi (84 Minutes)

Darren Aronofsky exploded onto the scene with his debut, low-budget indie Pi, and it's a complicated story that he manages to brilliantly tell in just 84 minutes. Like all the movies on this list, it proves you don't need three hours to make a great film.

Kids do and say the darndest things, and that was no more true than in the 1980s. If you just look at just a few of the best ‘80s movies, you’ll see youngsters put in situations ranging from dangerous to downright deadly, and everything in between. 

If you want to take a trip down memory lane to see just how ridiculous things were for kids in big-screen adventures, stick around because we’re about to break down 32 ‘80s movie situations that’ll shock ya.

Running From The Fratelli Family (The Goonies)

The Goonies, one of the most beloved films of the ‘80s, also turns up the intensity when it comes to kids being put in dangerous situations. While the titular gang’s quest to find One-Eyed Willie’s treasure is full of peril (even if the octopus was removed), nothing comes close to their run-ins with the Fratelli family, especially its no-nonsense matriarch.

Short Round Driving A Car (Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom)

Short Round (Ke Huy Quan), who is pretty much the best child sidekick in the history of movies, found himself in all kinds of dangerous situations in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, including that one sequence where he serves as Harrison Ford’s character’s driver in a daring escape. 

NORAD Handing Over Controls To A 17-Year-Old (War Games)

They don’t make movies like WarGames in today’s Hollywood, which is a shame because this 1983 techno-thriller has a great look, a tremendous cast led by Matthew Broderick, and a story that involves a teenager takes on a supercomputer to save the world from nuclear war.

A Teenager Is Recruited To Fight An Intergalactic War (The Last Starfighter)

The Last Starfighter is a movie that is often forgotten when talking about the best ‘80s sci-fi films, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie. In fact, it’s actually a lot of fun. However, it does put its young lead in some wildly dangerous positions when he is recruited to fight in an intergalactic war.

A Group Of Teenagers Engaging In Guerilla Warfare (Red Dawn)

Restart your “Days Without a John Milius Reference” counter because there was no way we were going to leave Red Dawn off this list. This 1984 military classic sees a group of teenagers (Wolverines) take on invading Soviet, Cuban, and Nicaraguan forces when their parents and community leaders are rounded up and imprisoned or killed. Truly bonkers, but so much fun.

Max Going On A Space Walk (Space Camp)

Back when Joaquin Phoenix was still going by Leaf, he appeared in some wild movies. One of those, Space Camp, sees his young character, Max, perform a spacewalk in one of the movie’s more intense and awe-inspiring moments. Still crazy that this happened.

Elliott And His Friends Running From The Feds (E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial)

Though the bicycle escape scene in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is one of the most enchanting of Steven Spielberg’s career thanks in part to John Williams’ fantastic score, it’s also something that seems way too unsafe for Elliott (Henry Thomas) and his pals. One trigger-happy fed could have made this a tragedy.

Going To Chicago Alone At Night (Adventures In Babysitting)

Adventures in Babysitting starring Elisabeth Shue is one of those movies you can’t help but watch whenever it’s on. But once you get over the nostalgic rush, it doesn’t take long for you to realize that a car full of kids going into the heart of Chicago at night isn’t the safest of ideas. A fun, memorable adventure, for sure, but we’re lucky nothing serious happened.

Searching For A Dead Body (Stand By Me)

Though not the most intense Stephen King adaptation involving kids finding themselves in dangerous situations, Stand by Me isn’t just some walk in the woods. The running from the local gang, the leeches, the night watch, and other iconic scenes make this a dangerous adventure for the core group of youngsters.

Kids Taking On Dracula And Others (The Monster Squad)

We all love The Monster Squad, but was there anyone besides the group of titular kids who could take on Dracula and the other movie monsters in this ‘80s horror classic? But in all fairness, the famous Wolfman quote just wouldn’t be the same if spoken by a 40-year-old cop.

A Trio Of Kids Traveling Across The Country For A Video Game Tournament (The Wizard)

The Wizard made the Power Glove look so dang cool and showed off some killer Super Mario Bros. 3 footage, but it also centered on three kids who travel across the country with no supervision to attend a video game tournament. A proper balance, yeah, but Fred Savage is lucky nothing happened.

A High School Senior Conducting A Rescue Mission (Iron Eagle)

Iron Eagle features one of the epic battles between kids and grownups, but unlike in Home Alone where a young boy protects his house from burglars, Doug Masters (Jason Gedrick) takes on a foreign air force in actual combat.

Fighting A Maniac Acting Like 'Santa Claus' (Deadly Games)

A year before Home Alone came onto the scene, there was a French thriller called Deadly Games that saw a tenacious kid protect his house from a homicidal maniac dressed up like Santa Claus. The traps are deadlier, the stakes are higher, and the violence is something to be seen.

Students Taking Over A Military School (Taps)

Long before Tom Cruise was jumping out of airplanes, driving motorcycles off cliffs, or flying jets, he was taking over a military school to prevent it from being shut down in Taps. This 1981 drama, one of Cruiese’s first, is something we’d never see today.

Essentially Building A Fortress On Wheels (Ernest Goes To Camp)

Ernest Goes to Camp is a fun, lighthearted, and hilarious summer camp movie about a group of social outcasts finding family in the form of an accident-prone but well-meaning camp employee. But it also has some wildly dangerous moments, like the scene where the kids essentially build a fortress on wheels (like a Killdozer) to protect their camp from greedy developers.

Entering The Monster World (Little Monsters)

Little Monsters is one of the sillier and more colorful children’s fantasy films of the ‘80s, one that also sees its main character, Brian (Fred Savage) go to a world filled with monsters after befriending the one under his bed (played by Howie Mandel). 

Entering A Mystical Labyrinth (Labyrinth)

Sarah Williams (Jennifer Connelly) finds herself in quite a predicament after wishing for her brother to be taken away in Labyrinth. With a little more than 12 hours to solve a massive puzzle, both of these youngsters are in a race against the clock in this Jim Henson classic.

Hiding An Alien From The Government (Mac And Me)

You know what’s more dangerous than meeting a mysterious (yet adorable) alien? Oh, just hiding that alien from the government. That’s the case in Mac and Me, a 1988 family sci-fi flick about the unbreakable bond between boy and alien that could result in both of them dying.

Escaping Libyan Terrorists In A Time Machine (Back To The Future)

Though traveling back in time seems like it can be extremely dangerous, it pales in comparison to dealing with double-crossed Libyan terrorists \who are running and gunning for your mentor. That’s the case for Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) in Back to the Future. We wouldn’t want to mess with those guys.

Going To Space On A Homemade Spacecraft (Explorers)

We’ve seen so many movies where even ships engineered by NASA have trouble in the giant vacuum of space. But in Explorers, a 1985 sci-fi flick starring Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix, and Jason Presson, a group of young amateur astronauts build a spacecraft of their own and exit the Earth’s atmosphere. Kids don’t belong in space.

Traveling Through Space And Time With A Band Of Thieves (Time Bandits)

Time Bandits is one of Terry Gilliam’s most charming movies, but while that may be true, it does put its young lead (played by Craig Warnock) in some serious trouble. Jumping through space and time with a band of thieves doesn’t seem like a safe or sensible way to spend your free time.

Going Off To Live On Their Own At 13 Years Old (Kiki’s Delivery Service)

One of the most iconic Studio Ghibli movies, Kiki’s Delivery Service sees the titular witch move away from her family home and start a new life in a distant seaside town at the age of 13. Yeah, it’s a fantastical animation and charming beyond compare, but the idea of a girl barely in her teenage years making it on her own is dangerous.

Running From Spies (Cloak & Dagger)

Are you familiar with the 1998 Will Smith thriller, Enemy of the State? Well, imagine that story but instead of an adult attorney coming into possession of a mysterious tape, it’s a young kid who goes on the run from a shadowy government agency. Fun? Yes, but incredibly dark and dangerous.

Getting To The Bottom Of A Massive Criminal Conspiracy (Gleaming The Cube)

Gleaming the Cube seems like just a normal skateboard movie, but in reality, it’s a revenge film about a young skater (played by Christian Slater) trying to avenge the death of his adopted brother. Sure, it’s funny and exciting, but a young punk is no match for armed goons and powerful bad actors.

Thwarting A Bank Robbery Scheme (BMX Bandits)

If you want to see a young Nicole Kidman thwart a bank robbery scheme with a group of friends, you’ll definitely want to check out BMX Bandits. But be warned, as these young bikers find themselves in some perilous situations that may leave you scratching your head.

Fighting A Scorpion (Honey, I Shrunk The Kids)

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is one of the funniest and most inventive family movies of the ‘80s, but it’s also one that puts some kids in some wild scenarios. Being turned into a near-microscopic size is one thing, but battling a scorpion in your backyard, which happens here, is on a whole other level of messed up.

Befriending A Possessed Doll (Child's Play)

Child’s Play is one of the best horror movies ever made, there’s no doubt about it. But there’s no way a kid should be befriending a doll possessed by the spirit of a deranged killer. This is so much fun to watch all these years later, but maybe not give your kid a doll that wants to kill everyone.

Billy Leaving Josh's NYC Motel (Big)

Though Josh (Tom Hanks) is just a little scared boy inside his adult body and terrified during the hotel scene in Big, we really feel bad for his best friend, Billy (Jared Rushton) who has to leave the flea-infested building, walk through pre-Giuliani NYC, and make it back home after dark. That kid saw some stuff he never forgot.

Newt Surviving On LV-426 (Aliens)

Everyone always talks about Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) taking on the Xenomorphs on LV-426 in Aliens, and rightfully so, but let’s not forget that Newt (Carrie Henn) was alone in the mining colony for an extended period of time before the Colonial Marines tried to save they. Hello, trauma.

Stealing Tech From The Government (My Science Project)

Movies with teenagers building wild and crazy machines were a dime a dozen in the ‘80s, but few went as far as My Science Project. In this oft-forgotten film, a pair of teens steal old tech from the government to build a time machine. UFOs, government agents, and death traps make this a dangerous exploration.

Joel Coming Up With A Way To Make Money (Risky Business)

Don’t be distracted by the iconic Risky Business dance scene, as this Tom Cruise classic is all about a dark and depraved journey by a high schooler trying to make some money to fix his dad’s car. You know what we’re talking about here.

Transporting A Russian Sailor To Cuba (Russkies)

Released in the height of the Cold War, Russkies follows a group of young kids as they not only befriend a Russian sailor who washed ashore in Florida but also sees them hatch a plan to take him to Cuba… on a boat… by themselves. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore.

Alright, let’s have a chat. Say that you’re on a date, hanging out with friends, or maybe you’re just on your own, and the desire to watch a horror movie arises. You’re scared at first because you’ve never watched a horror movie; you don’t know how you’ll react to them. Are they all as terrifying as Midsommar and Hereditary seem to be?

Rest assured, readers, we have the solution to that. Today, I’ll review several great picks for horror movies for beginners, whether you want something with a little less horror or maybe a little more. Let’s get into it. 

Poltergeist (1982)

Poltergeist is a classic horror movie from the 1980s that Steven Spielberg co-wrote. The film follows a family who has to find a way to save their daughter when vengeful spirits kidnap her in their own home. Out of most horror movies, this one is very light on the jumpscares and mainly builds fright through suspense – mixed in with some pretty okay-ish CGI. 

Halloween (1978)

You can’t get more of a classic horror movie villain than Michael Myers. Halloween was released back in 1978 and told the story of a young woman acting as a babysitter the night of Halloween and how she has to survive the wrath of Michael Myers, an escaped killer from a mental facility. Halloween isn’t gorey but has excellent music, suspense, and an unforgettable villain. Out of all the Halloween movies, this one is still the best. 

The Fog (1980)

The Fog is a horror movie directed by John Carpenter that makes you question what you see in the fog. It focuses on a group of strangers who all have to survive this strange fog that takes over their town, which seems to contain evil forces. The movie isn’t scary, but it is a nice entrance into a more suspenseful horror. 

The Sixth Sense (1999)

M. Night Shyamalan’s best movies often involve some horror, and The Sixth Sense follows that. The film mainly focuses on a child psychologist with a patient who can see dead people, but of course, the classic Shyamalan twist makes this movie all the better. It’s not scary, per se – just exciting. 

Psycho (1960)

I mean, yes. I have to put Psycho on here. Directed by Hollywood legend Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho is based on the novel of the same name and follows the story of an investigator looking into the strange life of Norman Bates at the Bates Motel and how one interaction with a young woman and her disappearance changes everything. It’s black and white with no gore, but it's a great horror movie to start on. Trust me. 

Friday The 13th (1980)

The Friday the 13th movies were essentially some of the films that began the subgenre of slasher within horror, but the first movie isn’t even that bad. It focuses on a group of teenage counselors trying to survive a serial killer at their summer camp after a tragedy occurred years prior. While there are some messier scenes, it’s not that bad and has some great music. 

Beetlejuice (1988)

With Beetlejuice Beetlejuice releasing, it’s the perfect time to watch the first film. Beetlejuice stars Michael Keaton as the titular character, a “bio-exorcist” contacted by two ghosts to get humans to leave their home – but he has tricks up his sleeves. Look, Beetlejuice, truthfully, is probably the best entrance into horror. This movie is way more funny than scary, but it has enough creepy moments to dip your toes in horror. 

The Black Phone (2022)

Starring Ethan Hawke, The Black Phone is an excellent horror film that follows the story of a teenager who is abducted by a child murderer and can use a rotary dial phone to speak to past victims to find a way out. This film has a few gorier moments, but they’re pretty tame. And truthfully, the plot alone is so creative you’ll be sucked in. 

Happy Death Day (2017)

There are plenty of fantastic horror comedies, and Happy Death Day is one of them. The film follows a young woman who, when she is killed, is forced to relive the day over and over again to find the murderer. Yes, this is a horror version of Groundhog Day, and it’s the best. 

Gremlins (1984)

Gremlins is a comedy horror film that everyone has seen at least once. The film follows the story of a man who receives a strange creature called a mogwai. At first, it seems fine, but once they get fed past midnight, they turn into monsters that wreak havoc. The movie isn’t scary, but it has some good makeup and will make you chuckle at the monsters. 

Shaun Of The Dead (2004)

Shaun of the Dead is a classic comedy zombie movie directed by Edgar Wright and starring Simon Pegg. The film follows a salesman who must survive the zombie apocalypse with his friends when the entirety of London falls. The zombies can sometimes be creepy, but trust me when I say you’ll be laughing a heck of a lot more than screaming. 

Night Of The Living Dead (1968)

Night of the Living Dead essentially created the zombie genre as a whole. This classic horror film from the 1960s, directed by George A. Romero, follows a group of survivors in Pennsylvania who must try to survive when they are all attacked by corpses that have come back to life. The movie features the slowest zombies ever, but they’re still pretty creepy – and powerfully told. 

Get Out (2017)

Jordan Peele’s movies are always hits; Get Out was his first big one. The movie follows a young Black man who travels to his Caucasian girlfriend’s house for the first time to meet her family, only to discover that they hold much darker secrets than ever before. There’s barely any gore in here—all the horror is in the storytelling and how evil humans can be. 

The Ring (2002)

Have you ever heard the phrase “Seven days?” Because it comes from here. Directed by Gore Verbinski and based on the Japanese horror film and novel of the same name, this movie follows the story of a journalist who discovers that when she watches a cursed tape, she will die in seven days—and now she must find a way to survive. Yes, the girl can be a little creepy, but truthfully, the movie isn’t that bad.

Insidious (2010)

When it comes to horror movies about demons, Insidious is pretty much the best you can get because it’s not “poop your pants” scary, but it’s effective in the way it scares. Directed by James Wan, the film follows a married couple who must find a way to save their son when he enters into a coma, and his body becomes host to several vengeful spirits and demons. There are a few jumpscares, but it’s nothing an average person can’t handle. 

Scream (1996)

This film isn’t scary, and I stand by it. Scream is the first in the Scream franchise, and it follows Sidney Prescott as she tries to avoid getting killed by Ghostface, a serial killer in her town. This movie is just a trope city, and there are undoubtedly bloody moments, but not enough to truly scare you. If anything, it’s a love letter to horror movies from decades before. 

Zombieland (2009)

Zombieland was one of the first zombie movies I ever watched, and I think it’s a great horror comedy for first-time viewers. It mainly follows four survivors as they try to survive the zombie apocalypse, but it’s the comedy that keeps you coming back for more. It’s so funny, and some of the ways the zombies are killed are hilarious. It’s one of Emma Stone’s best films. 

An American Werewolf In London (1981)

Starring David Naughton, An American Werewolf in London tells the story of two American backpackers who are attacked by a werewolf. One of them gets bitten, turning him into a werewolf when the moon rises. The scariest thing about this film is the realistic werewolf transformation, but other than that, it’s a great horror movie to start on. 

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

While the found-footage horror genre has only gotten bigger, I often credit The Blair Witch Project as the first to really set it off. The film focuses on a group of film students who are trying to make a documentary about a local legend, only to vanish. Their footage is found a year later—hence the name, “found footage.” The movie has a few scary movies but builds its scares on suspense. 

Jaws (1975)

Will you be scared of sharks a little after this? Sure, but Jaws is iconic for a reason. The film, directed by Steven Spielberg, follows a marine biologist and a shark hunter working together to take down a man-eating great white shark. Yes, the score is as iconic as you think it is.

Alien (1979)

To me, the original sci-fi horror movie was always Alien. The movie, directed by Ridley Scott, follows the space crew as they have to survive aliens that make their way into their vessel. Truthfully, I don’t see the aliens as too creepy—the only thing that’s truly scary is the alien popping out of someone’s chest, but it’s not that bad. 

The Shining (1980)

One of the best Stephen King adaptations is The Shining. Based on the novel of the same name, The Shining follows a family in which a writer takes on the position of off-season caretaker in a hotel, only for him to lose his mind while he’s there. The movie itself is built on suspense and doesn’t really have that many gory or scary moments—it’s just a greatly shot film.

Old (2021)

Old is an M. Night Shyamalan movie that follows a group of vacationers who realize that they are aging inexplicably quicker on a beach, to the point where they grow closer and closer to death with each passing hour. I enjoy this film a decent amount and think it’s excellent for first-time horror viewers, mainly because there’s barely any gore, and it’s an exciting concept. 

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (2019)

For all my PG-13 peeps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a great first-time horror movie. Based on novels of the same name, the film follows how horror stories written in an ancient book come to life, and it’s up to three teenagers to figure out how. The movie is creepy, eerie, and so much more – but it doesn’t quite cross the line of unwatchable. I love it. 

Carrie (1976)

Carrie is hands-down one of the best horror films to start watching. The film, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, follows a young woman who is bullied at school. She later finds out that she has telekinetic powers—ones she uses to exact revenge when she’s pushed too far. The film isn’t gory but expertly acted and brilliantly told. 

The Cabin In The Woods (2013)

This sci-fi comedy is everything. The Cabin in the Woods follows a group of close friends who go away to a remote cabin for a weekend. There, they all fall victim to different kinds of killers—only to find out that these killers aren’t who they thought they were. The twist is excellent; you have to watch it. It’s not scary at all. 

A Quiet Place (2018)

A Quiet Place is a great horror movie to start on. The film follows a family who are trying to live in a world where man-eating but blind monsters have taken out much of humanity. They have incredible hearing, and you're dead if you make a sound. The monsters can be a little creepy, but there’s so much more that makes this movie so good. 

Goosebumps (2015)

Goosebumps is an excellent PG-13 pick on here. Based on the R.L. Stine books of the same name, the film follows a group of kids and a fictionalized Stine as they struggle to capture all the monsters in the Goosebumps books when they come to live and terrorize their town. It stars Jack Black and is silly, goofy, and just a little scary – perfect for first-timers. 

The Birds (1963)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, The Birds follows the sudden invasion and attack of birds that look to kill in California and how it came to be. Yes, I know the premise sounds goofy, but it’s a well-shot film and a classic for a reason. 

Child’s Play (1988)

Child’s Play may sound like it’s for children, but it’s not. The film follows a widowed mother who gifts a doll to her son, unaware that a serial killer’s spirit possesses it and is looking to kill again. Look, this movie is goofy as heck. It is. It’s about a doll killing people – you’re not going to have nightmares after. Just make sure the kids don’t see it. 

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Everyone needs a horror musical sometimes. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Tim Curry, is based on the musical of the same name and follows an engaged couple who take refuge in a castle when their car breaks down, only to see that it’s occupied by several interesting and enigmatic people. That’s all I’ll say. Now, let’s do the Time Warp!

Mama (2013)

Starring Jessica Chastain, Mama tells the story of two girls who are brought home by their uncle after their parents die and are haunted by a strange entity. The spirit follows them to their new house. The film certainly focuses more on the love a mother can bring than anything else, but it’s perfect for first-time horror fans. 

With all these options, now I feel like watching some of the best horror movies ever – I think it’s time for a horror movie marathon. 

Chucky holds a special place in the history of cinematic slashers. He is not a stoic monster like Michael Myers or married to a signature weapon like Leatherface, Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees. He is a psychopath who sees slaughter as an art form and a creative outlet. Charles Lee Ray may have been known as the Lakeshore Strangler when he was alive, but once he uses voodoo to live inside the body of a Good Guys doll, he uses any and all means to kill as many people as he possibly can.

Across seven movies (not including 2019’s Child’s Play) and three seasons of the Chucky TV series, the killer doll has conducted a lot of mayhem… but which kills are the best of the best? After careful consideration of the canon Chucky franchise, we’ve put together this Top 15.

15. Cadet Lt. Col. Brett C. Shelton Shot With A Live Ammunition During War Games (Child’s Play 3)

The vast majority of the kills featured on this list have Chucky personally murdering people, but this one from Child’s Play 3 is one of his special indirect homicides. Amid the annual war games at Kent Military School, Chucky replaces paint bullets with live ammunition, and it results in Cadet Lt. Col. Brett C. Shelton really dying in a fake battle.

14. Miss Kettlewell Inflated With An Air Pump And Beaten To Death With A Yardstick (Child’s Play 2)

The death of Miss Kettlewell in Child’s Play 2 is not a complicated kill, but it is a totally brutal one – hence its inclusion on this list. Stabbing the teacher in the chest with an air pump and pushing the handle is a big ouch… but more significantly, really take a minute to think about what it takes to beat a person to death with a yardstick. That’s hardcore business.

13. Tony Gardner Decapitated With A String (Seed Of Chucky)

Chucky fans owe a lot of gratitude to effects artist Tony Gardner, who has had a key hand in bringing the killer doll to life on screen, so including his death in Seed Of Chucky is honorary to a certain degree… but not entirely. Writer/director Don Mancini does right by Gardner by giving him a properly vicious shuffle off this mortal coil, with Chucky and Tiffany decapitating him with a piece of string (a contrapasso end for a puppeteer).

12. Nadine Pushed Out Of A Bell Tower By Good Chucky (Chucky S2)

Emotional weight is a key factor in this rating, and this doozy from Chucky Season 2 packs one hell of a punch. Nadine is one of the sweetest characters who has been introduced in this franchise, and for her to be killed by Good Chucky – who she naively trusted to be cured of his evil ways – was particularly disturbing to see.

11. Dr. Ardmore Fried With An Electroshock Device (Child’s Play)

This particular kill from the original Child’s Play would be on this list no matter what, as Chucky killing Dr. Ardmore by frying him to death via electroshock device is a gnarly move that showed early on in the franchise how the voodoo-loving serial killer could think on his feet. What pushes it up to #11, however, is the fact that Chucky executes this particularly horrible action directly in front of a young and horrified Andy Barclay.

10. Rachel Fairchild Strangled With A Untied States Flag (Chucky S3)

In the Chucky TV series, Charles Lee Ray makes a habit of killing the parents and guardians of Jake, Devon and Lexy, but the death of Rachel Fairchild in Season 3 particularly hurts. At the time that she is strangled to death with a United States flag in the White House, she is the only adult who the teen protagonists can trust, and it’s because of that trust that Chucky is giddily compelled to snuff her out.

9. Lucas Wheeler Electrocuted Via Fuse Box When Chucky Vomits Alcohol At His Feet (Chucky S1)

This is a landmark kill in Chucky history because it is the first major murder in the Chucky TV series – but it’s also awesome in its construction. Hoping to indoctrinate Jake, he gets rid of his father in a horrible way: spitting whiskey at his bare feet while he is making contact with his house’s fuse box.

8. Chief Warren Kincaid Killed With Nail Trap In Car (Bride Of Chucky)

The Chucky franchise has frequently paid homage to the greatness of the horror genre, and this little tribute to Hellraiser in Bride Of Chucky is a delight. With a bit of creative rigging, Chucky is able to launch a bunch of lined up nails off the dashboard of a car with enough force that they get embedded in the face of Chief Warren Kincaid.

7. Bree Wheeler Pushed Out Of A Window (Chucky S1)

Another “win” in the emotionally devastating kills category. It’s horrible enough that Chucky kills Bree Wheeler in Chucky Season 1 by pushing her out a window after she tells her psychiatrist that she is rededicated to living – but the bloody cherry on top is that her body lands on top of the car in which her son is waiting for her. Instant trauma.

6. Father Frank Martinez Poisoned And Then Decapitated In A Car Accident (Curse Of Chucky)

The death of Father Frank Martinez in Curse Of Chucky is particularly great because of how it builds. First, he is randomly fed rat poison when Chucky sprinkles some in a bowl of soup served at a family meal. He seems destined for death anyway… but rather than just keeling over and vomiting, he is killed in a horrible car crash that sees him decapitated when rescue workers try to free him from the wreckage of his vehicle.

5. Technician Stabbed Through The Eyes By A Doll-Making Machine (Child’s Play 2)

This one from Child’s Play 2 admittedly gets special consideration because it was the cause of many, many nightmares when I was a child. This poor technician is just trying to do his job at the Good Guys factory, and what does he get for it? Slashed with a knife and his skull impaled with a pair of dolls eyes.

4. Detective Sean Peyton Gets Acupuncture With Used Syringes (Chucky S1)

Chucky loves hospitals, and it’s because of the kind of thing that he does to Detective Sean Peyton in Chucky Season 1. The cop gets stabbed by dozens of used syringes, and the end result is that he starts bleeding out of every orifice in his body. It’s super disgusting and one of the all-time best kills in the franchise.

3. President James Collins Gets Enucleated (Chucky S3)

Chucky has killed dozens upon dozens of people, but his headlining murder to date is taking down President Collins in Chucky Season 3. Despite being old and near death, he shows that he still has some life in him by taking down the leader of the free world and plucking his eyes out with his bare hands. This one gets bonus points because Chucky later uses an acquired eyeball when he makes his way down to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center with plans to nuke the world.

2. Madeleine Chokes On Chucky’s Arm As Its Shoved Down Her Throat (Cult Of Chucky)

How do things escalate from Chucky plucking out the eyes of POTUS? How about shoving his arm so far down a woman’s throat that he can eventually pull her esophagus out of her mouth? That’s the shocking fate of Madeleine in Cult Of Chucky – and what makes it particularly messed up is how slow it happens. Mentally disturbed, Madeleine thinks that the Good Guy doll is her baby, and Chucky uses that fantasy to oh-so-slowly jam his hand and arm into her face.

1. Cab Driver Stabbed Through The Mouth With An Umbrella (Chucky S3)

Kenan Thompson is apparently a massive Chucky fan (which is what led to his cameo in Chucky Season 3), so I hope he is delighted to know that he is the number one victim in the franchise’s amazing history. There are a number of characters in movie and TV history who have threatened to impale others with umbrellas and open them, but all of those instances have left the full imagery of that to the viewers’ imaginations. Chucky actually does it, however, and it is a phenomenal thing to witness.

All of the films in the Chucky franchise are available from online retailers for rental and purchase, and all of them have been released on 4K UHD by Scream Factory. All episodes of the Chucky TV series to date are streamable with a Peacock subscription.

Being a fan of all things spooky is especially rewarding when you are watching the best horror movies on Pluto TV. Not only is that because Pluto TV is free, but also because the streaming service has so many of the all-time best horror movies available to watch right now. We picked out some of our favorites for you, below.

The Ring (2002)

A journalist (played by Naomi Watts) investigates a mysterious death linked to a disturbing video tape.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Gore Verbinski’s The Ring is one of the few Americanized remakes of a classic Japanese horror movie that is widely considered to be as hauntingly creepy as the original.

Stream The Ring on Pluto TV.

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)

A group of San Franciscans struggle to avoid falling prey to an epidemic causing people to be replaced with emotionless clones.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Out of the many cinematic  versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Philip Kaufman’s chilling, atmospheric adaptation – also one of the late Donald Sutherland’s best movies – might just be the best.

Stream Invasion of the Body Snatchers on Pluto TV.

You’re Next (2013)

An already awkward family reunion quickly becomes a nightmare when a group of masked assailants invade their isolated home.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett’s You’re Next is a satisfyingly clever and brutal home invasion thriller that also boasts one of the most badass modern final girls in Sharni Vinson’s Erin.

Stream You’re Next on Pluto TV.

The Return Of the Living Dead (1985)

Two medical supply warehouse employees accidentally release a chemical that causes the dead to rise from their graves.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: The film that introduced the concept of the undead craving brains is director Dan O’Bannon’s The Return of the Living Dead – a thoroughly fun zombie movie classic with a kick-ass soundtrack.

Stream The Return of the Living Dead on Pluto TV.

Goodnight Mommy (2015)

When their mother (played by Susanne Wuest) returns home after receiving cosmetic surgery, twin brothers (played by Lukas and Elisa Schwarz) begin to suspect that she is not who she claims to be.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’s Austrian import, Goodnight Mommy, is a suffocatingly eerie nightmare that might have you crying for (or in fear of) your own mother.

Stream Goodnight Mommy on Pluto TV.

Bliss (2019)

An increased desperation to get over her creative block sends a prolific painter (played by Dora Madison) into a surreal, deadly downward spiral.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Without giving too much away, writer and director Joe Begos’ Bliss is one of the most narratively subversive and visually striking takes on an otherwise common topic of horror lore in recent memory.

Stream Bliss on Pluto TV.

Frailty (2001)

A man (played by Matthew McConaughey) recalls shocking memories of his father (played by Bill Paxton), whom he helped hunt people he believed were demons in disguise, to an FBI agent (played by Powers Boothe).

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Paxton also makes his directorial debut with Frailty – one of the most absorbing and underrated horror films of its time.

Stream Frailty on Pluto TV.

Let Me In (2010)

A lonely boy (played by Kodi Smith-McPhee) discovers that his new friend (played by Chloë Grace Moretz) is hiding a strange and deadly secret.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Tomas Alfredson had already crafted one of the greatest vampire movies ever with his adaptation of Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist’s Let the Right One In, but Matt Reeves’ English-language update, Let Me In, is an equally powerful and unsettling tale of young love.

Stream Let Me In on Pluto TV.

Night Of The Living Dead (1968)

A man (played by Duane Jones) struggles to maintain order among the survivors with whom he takes refuge against the flesh-eating reanimated corpses shuffling outside.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: The film that kicked off George A. Romero’s legendary Dead franchise and the modern zombie genre was Night of the Living Dead, which also boasts one of the most resourceful horror movie characters with Jones’ Ben.

Stream Night of the Living Dead on Pluto TV.

Nosferatu (1922)

A German real estate agent (played by Alexander Granach) discovers that his latest client (played by Max Schreck) is a dangerous creature.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Before Universal released its 1931 adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, F.W. Murnau released his own, arguably much scarier interpretation, Nosferatu, which has a remake by Robert Eggers set to release in late 2024.

Stream Nosferatu on Pluto TV.

The Terrifier Movies (2017, 2022)

A serial killer dressed as a clown (played by David Howard Thornton) preys on the innocent on Halloween.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Writer and director Damien Leone crafts some of the most shocking slashers in recent memory with his instant classic creepy clown movie Terrifier 2 and its even more brutal sequel.

Stream the Terrifier movies on Pluto TV.

Battle Royale (2000)

A recently passed government law forces a group of troubled underage students to compete in a fight to the death as punishment.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Predating the Hunger Games books by nearly a decade is the Japanese horror movie classic, Battle Royale – director Kinji Fukasaku’s adaptation of Koushun Takami’s novel.

Stream Battle Royale on Pluto TV.

The House Of The Devil (2009)

A desperate college student (played by Joceline Donahue) accepts a last-minute babysitting job that turns out not to be what it seems.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Writer and director Ti West’s breakout film, The House of the Devil, is a deliciously creepy slow-burn horror masterpiece set during the Satanic Panic era.

Stream The House of the Devil on Pluto TV.

Grave Encounters (2011)

The cast and crew of a paranormal investigation reality program get far more than they bargained for while exploring an old, abandoned mental institution.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: From writing and directing duo, the Vicious Brothers, Grave Encounters is one of the most raw and relentless found footage thrillers of its time.

Stream Grave Encounters on Pluto TV.

Coherence (2013)

On the night a comet passes over a suburban neighborhood, a group of friends unite for a dinner party that is interrupted by a very unusual situation.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: The less you know about director James Ward Byrkit’s Coherence, the better, but just know that the partially improvised sci-fi thriller is one of the most cleverly constructed and wickedly suspenseful Multiverse movies in recent memory, if not all time.

Stream Coherence on Pluto TV.

The Babadook (2014)

A single mother (played by Essie Davis) becomes increasingly convinced that the unsettling title character of a pop-up book she read her son (played by Noah Wiseman) is alive and stalking her.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: What makes the title character of The Babadook one of the scariest modern horror movie villains is not just its unnerving appearance, but its symbolic properties that also make writer and director Jennifer Kent’s masterpiece one of the best horror movies to address grief.

Stream The Babadook on Pluto TV.

Child's Play (1988)

A single mother (played by Catherine Hicks) becomes increasingly convinced that a popular doll she bought her son (played by Alex Vincent in a strong debut performance) is alive and trying to kill them.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: While rooted in a seemingly ridiculous idea — a toy possessed by the soul of a serial killer (played by Oscar nominee Brad Dourif) — Child’s Play is one of the scariest ‘80s slasher movies and the pint-sized Chucky is one of the most iconic horror movie villains of all time.

Stream Child's Play on Pluto TV.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Road-tripping teenagers end up on the menu for a murderous Southern family — including a power tool-wielding killer who wears his victims’ faces as a mask.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: While not really a horror movie based on a true story like it was advertised, writer and director Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is dripping with nightmarish realism that might have you feeling uneasy, despite how little blood there actually is on the screen, which makes it one of the best horror movies of the 1970s.

Stream The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on Pluto TV.

Hellraiser (1987)

A married woman (played by Clare Higgins) goes to murderous lengths to help her lover revive himself from the dead and escape persecution by a gang of sadomasochistic demonic entities.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Prolific horror writer Clive Barker made his directorial debut with Hellraiser — an adaptation of his novella “The Hellbound Heart,” which introduced the world to Doug Bradley’s iconic villain, Pinhead.

Stream Hellraiser on Pluto TV.

Mandy (2018)

A heinous, unspeakable tragedy drives a lumberjack (played by Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage) to wage war against a murderous cult in the early 1980s.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Cage gives one of his most badass performances yet in director Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy — an otherwise simple tale of revenge enhanced with surreal imagery straight out of a heavy metal album cover.

Stream Mandy on Pluto TV.

Day Of The Dead (1985)

Surviving against the undead proves easier than surviving each other — at least at first — for a group of military personnel and scientific researchers holed up together in an underground bunker.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Some of the most impressive special effects and insightful examples of social satire from George A. Romero’s seminal series of zombie movies can be found in the third installment, Day of the Dead.

Stream Day of the Dead on Pluto TV.

The Exorcist III (1990)

A disillusioned detective (played by Academy Award winner George C. Scott) begins to suspect a seemingly disparate string of murders have a terrifying and peculiar connection to one another.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: Arguably, the best Exorcist movie since William Friedkin’s 1973 classic is still writer and director William Peter Blatty’s underrated and unbelievably creepy The Exorcist III, which changes things up by being less of a possession thriller and more of a clever crime drama.

Stream The Exorcist III on Pluto TV.

Starry Eyes (2014)

A restaurant server (played by Alex Essoe) goes to extreme lengths to achieve her dream of making it big in Hollywood.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Pluto TV: From writing and directing duo Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer, Starry Eyes is a brilliant meditation on the pains of being a struggling actor, enhanced to deeply unnerving levels with a dash of Satanic Panic and some brutal body horror effects.

Stream Starry Eyes on Pluto TV.

You won’t have to look so far to find some great scares. Just go to Pluto TV.

Let’s say that you wanted to watch a sweet romantic drama called Hearts on Fire and put it on, only to realize a little too late that you accidentally selected an intense horror flick also called Hearts on Fire. While we made that particular movie up, this sort of scenario is quite plausible, considering how many pairs (or groups) of films there are that might have very little in common in terms of their plots, but are identical in name. Not counting remakes, of course, let’s take a look at some of the most notable, intriguing, and even hilarious examples of movies that are almost entirely, but happen to share the same title.

Child's Play (1972, 1988)

Everyone knows about the classic '80s slasher movie that introduced the world to Chucky, a doll possessed by the soul of a serial killer, voiced by Brad Dourif. However, less might know about Sidney Lumet's Child's Play, a mystery thriller starring Beau Bridges in which a gym teacher becomes embroiled in a strange feud between two colleagues at an all-boys prep school.

The Aviator (1985, 2004)

One of the best Martin Scorsese movies, The Aviator, is an engrossing portrait of the life of Howard Hughes, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. The biopic is predated by a 1920s-set adventure epic of the same starring Christopher Reeve and directed by George Miller (but not the George Miller who created Mad Max).

Gladiator (1992, 2000)

In the early ‘90s, future Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr. and Twin Peaks cast member James Marshall starred alongside each other in a boxing drama called Gladiator. Less than a decade later, director Ridley Scott and star Russell Crowe released a brutal period epic of the same that went on to win the Best Picture Oscar in 2001.

Drive (1997, 2011)

Most people probably recognize Drive as a neo-noir thriller starring Ryan Gosling as an unnamed Hollywood stuntman by day and getaway driver by night. It is also the name of a sci-fi action movie starring Mark Dacascos as a genetically enhanced man on the run and Kadeem Hardison as his reluctant companion.

The Kid (1921, 2000)

The title of writer, director, and star Charlie Chaplin’s classic silent film era dramedy, The Kid, refers to an orphan of whom Chaplin’s “The Tramp” becomes the adoptive father. The title of Disney’s The Kid refers to Spencer Breslin’s role as a '60s-era child who meets his grown-up self (played by Bruce Willis) at the turn of the century.

Black Sheep (1996, 2006)

In 1996, Chris Farley and David Spade followed up the success of Tommy Boy with another buddy comedy with a more political edge called Black Sheep. Ten years later, a New Zealand-based film of the same name, a horror-comedy about killer sheep, was released.

Bug (1975, 2006)

Two major horror movies called Bug were released more than three decades apart. The earlier thriller is more of a straightforward creature feature about a swarm of fire-starting cockroaches, while the newer film is a paranoid psychological thriller from director William Friedkin and starring Michael Shannon and Ashley Judd.

Catch Me If You Can (1989, 2002)

The title Catch Me If You Can is associated with quite a few features, actually. The two most notable, however, are a coming-of-age action-comedy about car race gambling and a drama from director Steven Spielberg based on the alleged life of elusive check fraud criminal Frank Abagnale Jr. (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and also stars Tom Hanks as the FBI agent trailing him.

Twilight (1998, 2008)

The title Twilight will forever be remembered by mainstream audiences as the adaptation of Stephanie Meyer's phenomenally successful YA novel about a girl (played by Kristen Stewart) falling in love with a vampire (played by Robert Pattinson). Yet, just a decade earlier, Paul Newman starred in another movie called Twilight as a retired detective who accepts a deadly new case.

Crash (1996, 2004)

David Cronenberg's Crash earned controversy and an NC-17 rating for its bizarre story of a couple who discover automobile accidents have an unusual effect on them. Paul Haggis' Crash, focusing on racial tension in L.A. from multiple perspectives, earned controversy for winning the Best Picture Oscar over Brokeback Mountain.

Criminal (2004, 2016)

Whether you are in the mood for something light and funny or bizarre and earnest, there is a movie perfect for either occasion called Criminal. One is a comedy about con artists starring John C. Reilly, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Diego Luna and the other is a sci-fi thriller starring Kevin Costner as a convict who becomes implanted with the memories of a slain CIA agent played by Ryan Reynolds.

Inside Out (1975, 1986, 2005, 2011, 2015)

We found five movies called Inside Out. We have a comedic crime thriller starring Telly Savalas, a drama that stars Elliot Gould as an agoraphobic man, one about a suburb affected by a mysterious doctor (played by Eriq La Salle), and an action flick starring wrestler Triple H. The best-known, however, is a Pixar movies favorite following the personified emotions of an adolescent girl.

Bad Boys (1983, 1995)

Michael Bay's directorial debut starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence is now a buddy cop movie classic and, easily, the more recognizable movie called Bad Boys, given it became a franchise. However, it is predated by Rick Rosenthal's drama starring Sean Penn as a teen sent to reform school after committing manslaughter.

Frozen (2010, 2013)

Frozen, Disney's retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale, "The Snow Queen" became an Oscar-winning, record-breaking cultural phenomenon. A horror movie also called Frozen, in which a young trio (played by Shawn Ashmore, Emma Bell, and Kevin Zeger) become accidentally trapped on a ski lift, was released just three years earlier.

Australia (1989, 2008)

Director Baz Luhrmann’s sweeping, romantic period piece, Australia, starring real-life Aussie actors Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, was later recut into a Hulu-exclusive miniseries called Faraway Downs. It is unlikely we will ever see the earlier movie named after the Land Down Under, a Belgian, post-WWII-era drama starring Jeremy Irons as a wool dealer, given the same treatment any time soon.

Venom (1981, 2005, 2018)

We found three movies called Venom. One from the early ‘80s is an aptly named creature feature about snakes; the second is another, less-aptly named horror movie about teenagers targeted by a man possessed with 13 evil souls; and the most recent is a Sony Marvel flick starring Tom Hardy as the titular Spider-Man villain.

Jack Frost (1997, 1998)

This pair of films is a special case because each involves a snowman possessed by a dead man's spirit. The 1997 Jack Frost, however, is a ridiculously cheesy holiday horror movie and the one from the following year is a family film starring Michael Keaton, Kelly Preston, and Joseph Cross.

Kicking and Screaming (1995, 2005)

It is actually quite easy to tell the difference between writer and director Noah Baumbach’s debut, Kicking and Screaming, and the Will Ferrell-led Kicking & Screaming. The first is a dramedy about the perils of post-college adulthood and the second is a family-friendly sports comedy that also uses an ampersand in its title.

Bad Company (1972, 1995, 2002)

There are actually three star-studded major motion pictures with the name Bad Company that we know of, the earliest being a Jeff Bridges-led Western. The other two are both CIA thrillers released under Disney’s Touchstone banner — one from the mid-'90s with Laurence Fishburne and Ellen Barkin, and the other from director Joel Schumacher and starring Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock in dual roles as a slain operative and his twin brother.

Legend (1985, 2015)

Ridley Scott's Legend is an Oscar-nominated fantasy epic starring Tom Cruise as a young hero seeking to save his love (played by Mia Sara) from the Lord of Darkness (Tim Curry). Thirty years later, director Brian Helgeland released a film of the same name, a ‘60s-era, British crime biopic starring another famous Tom (Hardy) as notorious twin gangsters, Ronnie and Reggie Kray.

Life (1999, 2015, 2017)

Life could refer to the title of three entirely different films. One is a period dramedy starring Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence as two imprisoned rivals-turned-friends, another is a James Dean biopic with Dane DeHaan as the actor and Robert Pattinson as a LIFE magazine photographer profiling him, and the most recent (released just two years after the last) is a sci-fi thriller with Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, and Jake Gyllenhaal.

Mother's Day (1980, 2016)

Mother’s Day is a Troma movie that came out of the holiday-oriented slasher trend of the time in which two brothers carry out their mom's murderous bidding. It is also the name of one of director Garry Marshall’s holiday-oriented, ensemble rom-coms from the time starring the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts.

Project X (1987, 2012)

In the late 1980s, Matthew Broderick starred in Project X as a pilot involved in a mysterious experimental program involving chimps. Another film with the same title — a raunchy, found footage style comedy and one of the craziest party movies ever made — was released more than two decades later.

Running Scared (1986, 2006)

Both of the films that we know of called Running Scared technically count as crime thrillers, but their respective tones are the differentiating factor. One is a funny buddy cop comedy starring starring Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines and the other, released 20 years later, is a gritty drama starring Paul Walker as a thug given a task by a mobster that goes horribly wrong.

Sisters (1972, 2015)

Co-writer and director Brian De Palma’s Sisters is a murder mystery thriller about formerly conjoined twins played by Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt. Director Jason Moore and writer Paula Pell’s Sisters is a comedy starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as grown-up siblings who throw a party at their childhood home before their parents put it on the market.

The Babysitter (1995, 2017)

Both of these are horror movies starring one of the most popular, blonde-haired stars of their respective generations. However, 1995's The Babysitter is more earnest in tone and stars Alicia Silverstone as the victimized protagonist, while the latter, more comedic Netflix original sees Samara Weaving playing a more villainous role.

The Host (2006, 2013)

One of the most acclaimed monster movies of its time is The Host, a South Korean horror favorite from Bong Joon-ho, the director of Parasite. There also exists an adaptation of Twilight author Stephenie Meyer's sci-fi YA novel, The Host, in which most of mankind is taken over by an alien parasite.

Crossroads (1986, 2002)

Both major films known as Crossroads involve aspiring musicians chasing their dreams. However, the one from the '80s is about a young blues guitarist (played by Ralph Macchio) seeking mentorship from an older musician (played by Joe Seneca) and the one from the early 2000s is a road trip comedy starring Britney Spears.

Man of the House (1995, 2005)

In Man of the House, the Disney dramedy starring Chevy Chase and Jonathan Taylor Thomas, the title refers to a battle of wits between a lawyer and his girlfriend’s rebellious son. In Man of the House, a Tommy Lee Jones-led comedy released 10 years later, the title refers to a Texas Ranger sharing a living space with college cheerleaders he is assigned to protect after they witness a murder.

The Night Before (1988, 2015)

Years before he became a beloved action movie hero, Keanu Reeves starred in The Night Before as a teen trying to piece together a disastrous prom night he forgot. After they had already established themselves as A-list stars, Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Anthony Mackie led a different movie called The Night Before, which is also a raunchy comedy, but does not involve amnesia and takes place on Christmas Eve.

Suicide Squad (1935, 2016)

Most audiences today know of Suicide Squad as the first live-action, feature-length adaptation of a DC comic about supervillains forced into completing dangerous tasks in exchange for reduced jail sentences. More than 80 years earlier, a film of the same name was released that follows the dangerous tasks of a group of daredevil firefighters.

Christine (1983, 2016)

John Carpenter's adaptation of Stephen King's novel about a killer car is a great scare, but Christine starring Rebecca Hall is even more unsettling. It dramatizes the final days of 1970s TV reporter Christine Chubbuck, who took her own life live on air.

Let this be a lesson to check a film’s synopsis carefully before you watch it and do not go off of the title alone. You could be in for quite a surprise.

Film critic Roger Ebert once said that, “No good movie is long enough and no bad movie is short enough.” Well we’re about to put that first half to the test, as we’ve got a list of films that pack a ton of quality into a running time of under 90 minutes. So if you want a good movie in a seemingly short time, the titles we’re about to share fit the bill! 

Red Eye (2005)

Wes Craven’s air travel thriller sees a seemingly cute encounter between two passengers (Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy) pivots into a taut fight for survival. In a short span of time, charm turns to cruelty, and flattery turns to fear, as McAdams and Murphy match wits while confined on an airplane. And yes, this is the same Wes Craven that made horror hits out of Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Stand By Me (1986)

One of the greatest Stephen King movies of all time, Stand By Me follows Gordie (Wil Wheaton) and his best friends on a journey through the woods. Of course, this is King Country, and this adolescent dramedy is a mix of bonding and danger, all sparked by a body found in the woods.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

Wes Anderson’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox is lighting quick with its wit and action. But believe it or not, this 2000s family movie/comedy gem led by George Clooney comes in under the 90 minute mark; which allows every gag and every set piece to really pack a punch.

Airplane! (1980)

Surely the Zucker Brothers and Jim Abrahams’ Airplane! isn’t shorter than 90 minutes? Well, indeed it is, despite this classic comedy being so packed full of gags the chaos feels a bit longer. And don’t call us Shirley, but do check out this parody of the very serious drama Zero Hour!

Phone Booth (2002)

Colin Farrell goes through the worst day of his life in Phone Booth, and the tension is so spectacular that you’d be inclined not to notice that it’s a pretty brief run. Who knew that Kiefer Sutherland’s threatening voice, and the confined location that gives the movie its title, would be so effective?

Office Space (1999)

You may not have the minimum pieces of Flair, and you may have forgotten the cover sheet to your TPS report. But if you’ve got time for a slightly extended lunch break, you’ve got time to watch Mike Judge’s Office Space.

Toy Story (1995)

“To Infinity, and Beyond!” seems like a long time. However, in the world of Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story, it all happens in just a little over an hour. So if you or any other friends and family members need a shortcut to adventure, you’ve got a friend in this title accessible through a Disney+ subscription.

Run Lola Run (1998)

If you think about it in the right context, you’re getting three movies for the price of one with Run Lola Run, aka Lola Rennt. As Franka Potente relives her efforts to try and stop her on-screen boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) from robbing a supermarket, each runthrough has its own challenges. Fate is fickle, and each pulse pounding variant makes up a third of this brief but fantastic film.

Rope (1948)

Alfred Hitchcock’s title as the “master of suspense” is absolutely enforced in Rope, as the director of Psycho and The Birds made what looks like a single take movie. Through clever edits, and taut performances by Farley Granger, John Dall, and Jimmy Stewart, this howcatchem drips with nerves and style.

This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

Prepare to crank your day up to 11, dear readers. This Is Spinal Tap’s classic mockumentary about the band that gave its name to rock and roll history is another member of this very specific club. Whenever you’re not laughing, you’ll probably be singing along to the stellar rock-based soundtrack of the band's original works.

Attack The Block (2011)

Believe, Bruv! Attack the Block lives up to its reputation as a non-stop crowd pleaser, and it does so in a relatively short length of cinema. Joe Cornish’s sci-fi/comedy, with John Boyega leading the charge, speeds along its merry way, with plenty of menace and laughter to spare.

The Producers (1967)

How lucky is any director to have a feature length debut like Mel Brooks’ The Producers? From start to finish Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder’s antics only get more frantically funny, with new players adding something to the recipe as they come on board. It’s everything you’ve ever wanted from the movies.

Child’s Play (1988)

At the start of Charles Lee Ray’s reign of terror, Child’s Play delivered a horror movie that actually hid his presence for quite a bit of its under 90 minute runtime. Even if you’re a die hard Chucky fan, it’s still amazing to revisit this suspenseful fright-time classic and imagine how audiences must have felt when the other Good Guy branded shoe dropped.

Cloverfield (2008)

If you’ve ever wanted the Cloverfield timeline explained, a good place to start is the 2008 titan that started it all. Director Matt Reeves’ introduction to the world of Large Scale Aggressors kicked off an anthology/multiverse, and it did so with a close to real time struggle to escape New York.

Duck Soup (1933)

Between shorter lengths and black and white images, movies like Duck Soup are sometimes seen as quaint artifacts of a bygone era. And yet, the Marx Brothers legacy of lunacy continues to survive because not only did they understand comedy, they wielded that genre like an expert sword handler. Except replace that sword with a bicycle horn.

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Falling in love happens pretty quickly in a Disney fairytale, and Beauty and the Beast only proves that. This landmark animated film that became the first of its medium to be nominated for Best Picture, it’s not hard to see just why that was the case. A tale as old as time, it has earned the place of holding such historic feats.

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

Acclaimed director Hayao Miyazaki has been known to blend whimsy and realism in his films, with the results yielding classics like My Neighbor Totoro. You won’t be checking your watch as you get drawn into this gorgeous world, but trust us when we tell you it’s actually a pretty speedy movie. Heads up though: your plushie collection stands a good chance of expanding each time you watch this one.

Black Dynamite (2009)

Playing like an Airplane! style take on the blaxploitation genre, Black Dynamite sends up movies like Shaft, while also paying tribute. Michael Jai White’s title-inspiring crimefighter is one tough mother, but he isn’t above pulling some ridiculous stunts and gut busting dialogue.

Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the WereRabbit (2005)

Aardman Animation’s classic Wallace and Gromit series was built on short journeys into high adventure. So the fact that Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit went feature length, but didn’t forget its charms, speaks volumes to the benefit of quicker paced movies that do it right.

March of the Penguins (2005)

The good news is that not only is March of the Penguins adorable, it’s a quick sit. The bad news is that with all of the fuzzy cuteness and Morgan Freeman’s expert narration there are bits of sadness. So goes the world of nature, but that’s part of why this documentary is so impactful with viewers.

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Is it a Halloween movie? Is it one of the best Christmas movies? Who cares when Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas runs only a little longer than a broadcast TV special. Only instead of commercials, it’s songs and striking visuals that see the adventures of Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon) clocking in a bit longer than traditional competitors. 

Chronicle (2012)

Found footage seems to lend itself well as a genre for quick, intense filmmaking. Chronicle shows us the super adventures of Andrew (Dane DeHaan), Matt (Alex Russell), and Steve (Michael B. Jordan), after they gain random superpowers. The scale and scope of this Josh Trank directed film made an impressive debut back in the day, and it still holds up.

Liar Liar (1997)

It’s hard to keep track of time when you’re laughing so hard it hurts. Already a blazing hot talent when he made Liar Liar, Jim Carrey delivered an amazing performance reminiscent of a Looney Tunes cartoon. So if you need a really good laugh in under half an hour, this recommendation should please the court.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer (1992)

Before Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer became an iconic TV series, it was a movie that showed the world a very different version of Sunnydale’s protector (Kristy Swanson). Whether you consider it canon or not, you can’t go wrong with Paul Reubens goofing off as a vampire who seems to take a lot longer to die that his brethren.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is the best Batman movie, full stop. Operating in the realm of The Animated Series, this sub-90 minute drama keeps all the superhero action, and amps up the emotional stakes. Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Dana Delaney couldn’t have done it better.

The Lady From Shanghai (1947)

Orson Wells’ noir thriller The Lady From Shanghai is a twisted web of deceit in which an Irish sailor (Wells) is roped into what’s supposed to be a fraudulent murder. The reality becomes something new altogether, leading to a literal funhouse maze of an ending, sharply concluding this criminal entertainment.

The Secret of NIMH (1982)

Don Bluth’s animation style and panache are in full effect with The Secret of NIMH. As Mrs. Brisby (Elizabeth Hartman) embarks on an epic quest to save her sick son Timothy, her adventure into the worlds of animals and humanity is as surprising as it is beautiful. Lush and haunting, this is one of those non-Disney animated classics that just might surprise you. 

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. (2010)

You know the supposed mountain folk that are typically the menace behind any teen horror drama? Tucker & Dale vs. Evil challenges us to imagine a pair of such people (Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk) as a kinder, gentler sort of cabin dweller who just happen to have their supposed victims stumble into danger. In other words, you’re kind of rooting against the kids in this one.

Fruitvale Station (2013)

The true life death of Oscar Grant III (Michael B. Jordan) is chronicled in director Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station. Chronicling the last day of Grant’s life, this historical drama captures a real tragedy through the lens of cinema in heartbreaking detail.

The Little Mermaid (1989)

Believe it or not, it may take more time to work out your rankings of the best Little Mermaid songs than to watch the actual movie itself. Though you could also use some of that time to argue whether or not “Les Poissons” deserved to be cut from the live-action remake; as this movie is the only one that has it.

Videodrome (1983)

David Cronenberg is known for some of the most horrific body horror known to our species. Videodrome is perhaps one of the cruelest, as a television executive (James Woods) gets drawn into a world of conspiracy, death, and seduction. Prepare for some of the trippiest visuals, and a couple of gross outs here and there.

The Evil Dead (1981)

Hail to the king, baby! The Evil Dead runs a tight and bloody ship through its brisk clip, as Bruce Campbell’s Ash is introduced to the world of the Deadites. The most deadly serious of the series, the frights come fast and steady; even without as much quippy action from Ash in his origin story.

The next time you want to be entertained in a pinch, fear not, as there’s always a movie that could get the job done. Though if you want a really great film to accomplish that task, look no further than the library of wonders we’ve provided above.

Just like my dad did when I was a kid, I’ve spent the vast majority of my kids’ lives trying to get them into movies, and it’s safe to say I’m making some progress. My wife and I make a big deal out of “Friday Family Movie Night,” and try to keep things on theme, which is especially exciting with Halloween quickly approaching at the time of this writing. 

I’ve been looking for some great horror movies to watch with my kids in the lead-up to Halloween, but I’ve quickly found this to be no easy task when the members of the audience range in age from 3 to 7 years old. That being said, I have learned a thing or two, tried some failed experiments, and put together a list of lessons I’ve learned so far about everything from fun Halloween movies to the time of day in which to show the kids the more frightening flicks. 

A 'One Size Fits All' Approach Will Get You Nowhere

With each of my kids being of different ages and temperaments and levels of obsession with Halloween (my son checks on the outside decorations every day before and after school), I have to think of multiple action plans to introduce them to horror movies. What might be too scary for my 3-year-old is too boring for my 7-year-old, and what’s too tame for one is too extreme for the other. 

What I’ve been doing is gauge the situation with something light like Hocus Pocus or Ernest Scared Stupid so that I know where each of my kids stand with what some would consider classic Halloween movies. Then I go from there and work around their respective schedules. However, this isn’t a problem for my son because he’s a horror hound in the making.

A PG-13 Movie From 1988 Isn't The Same As One From 2023

Speaking of my son, he became obsessed with Killer Klowns from Outer Space after seeing animatronics based on the classic B-horror movie at Spirit Halloween at the start of the season. It was all he would talk about for a couple of weeks before I decided to show it to him. It was PG-13, and so I thought it wouldn’t be that extreme. 

Let me tell you, PG-13 movies from 1988 are a lot different than those in modern times. There’s the scene where one of the alien clowns punches a guy’s head clean off his shoulders, pies melting humans into piles of bones, and people being wrapped up in cotton candy cocoons. He loved it, but now I’m questioning my parenting choices. 

Trailers And Movie Clips Have Become My Best Resources

Some people prefer to go into a movie completely blind, having not watched a single trailer or clip before diving into some classic horror movie. Well, that doesn’t fly when checking out some beloved horror flick with the youngins. I’ve been going into these movies with a game plan that involves trailers and movie clips to see if my kids are going to be able to handle what’s coming their way.

As much as I would love to throw them into the deep end with Day of the Dead's zombie walk opening sequence, I need to prep them ahead of time with clips and trailers. We tried this out with my son before Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and it helped us set expectations. Now, I’m not going to do this for something like The Sixth Sense or other twist-heavy films, but you get the picture.

Watching Horror Movies During The Day Is Your Best Bet

I know this goes against conventional wisdom of watching horror movies in the dark of night to add to the experience, but come on, we’re talking about kids here. We’re talking about the same folks that aren’t upset when you purchase tickets to Sing 2 only to find out it’s a screening where the lights never go dim. If my kid is going to enjoy some mildly terrifying movie more in the day and not be a mess at night, this is the route I’m going to take.

... Unless You Want A Bed Full Of Scared Kids Come Night

However, you could live your life dangerously and turn on a marathon of all the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies at sundown and see how long it takes for your room to fill up with terrified kids thinking Freddy Krueger is in their closet or under their bed. This could happen with something as harmless as The Nightmare Before Christmas or Halloweentown as much as it could with Night of the Living Dead or Hellraiser, so be careful.

But like I said earlier, every kid is different, and you could have someone like my son who isn’t scared of slasher movies or the skeleton with red eyes in the front yard but will freak out if a tree branch rubs against his window.

Like Parenting, Patience And Empathy Is Key To An Introduction To Horror

Patience and empathy has been key to this experience, much like parenting in general. I’ve had to start, stop, and start again multiple movies the past couple of years for one reason or another. Whether it’s because one kid is too scared or another is bored, or there’s too much sugar in their bloodstream causing all kinds of hyperness, an 80-minute horror movie can quickly turn into a three-hour epic before you know it. 

I’ve had to straight up turn off a handful of movies over the years because it was too much for the kids, resulting in me holding off until they go to bed to finish. When I get frustrated, I remember that little boy (me) who had his first asthma attack because of the It miniseries back in the day. 

On A Side Note, What Was I Doing Watching Some Of These Movies So Young?

As a kid, I watched a lot of movies in general, but I have a ton of memories of staying up way too late on a Friday or Saturday night with various horror flicks with my older brother. Candyman, Pumpkinhead, the Child’s Play movies, and others like The Lost Boys were in constant rotation, especially during Halloween when channels would run hellacious marathons all month. 

In my attempt to find horror movies to watch with the kids, I’ve been looking back on my own childhood and wondering what kind of effect spending my nights with classic horror villains at such a young age had on me. The jury is still out on this one.

All in all, it has been a fun and educational experience trying to figure out which scary movies to watch with my kids, one that I’ll continue to fine-tune in the months and years to come. I mean, I have to get them ready to see an upcoming horror movie in an actual theater at some point, right? Time will tell.

I have always been firm believer in the phrase, “A hero is only as good as his or her villain.” I also believe that some of the best movies of the 1980s are home to some of the greatest heroic characters in cinematic history. By that logic, the antagonists from that decade would have would also have to be pretty top notch, to say the least.

Well, the 30 great ‘80s movie villains below certainly make a great case for that bold claim. Take a look at the heinous jerks, power-hungry criminals, and coldblooded killers from the unforgettable decade, below.

Ace Merrill (Stand By Me)

Part of the reason why 1986’s Stand By Me — Rob Reiner’s adaptation of the coming-of-age novella, The Body — is one of the most beloved Stephen King movies is that its darker moments never rely on a supernatural threat. That was handled perfectly enough by Kiefer Sutherland’s performance as Ace Merrill, who is remembered today as one the quintessential examples of how unmercifully sadistic a childhood bully can be.

Audrey II (Little Shop Of Horrors)

A 1960 B-movie by Roger Corman inspired a hit Broadway show that director Frank Oz made into one of the greatest musical horror comedy movies — 1986’s Little Shop of Horrors, in which Rick Moranis’ Seymour Krelborn comes across a weeeiiiirrrrd plant that soon becomes a sensation. 

The catch: Audrey II (named after his co-worker and crush, played by Ellen Greene) is really a “mean, green mother from outer space” with an insatiable craving for human flesh and an even meaner singing voice (courtesy of The Four Tops’ Levi Stubbs) that could consume the entire world if it grows large enough.

Betelgeuse (Beetlejuice)

Before playing one of the greatest ‘80s movies heroes (and becoming the best live-action Batman actor in the process), Michael Keaton first collaborated with Tim Burton in the title role of the spooky 1988 classic, Beetlejuice. The future Academy Award nominee actually had a lot of influence in the creation of the kooky, conniving bio-exorcist — from his rapid-fire speech pattern, bizarre wardrobe choices, and moldy skin — making him a villain hard to dislike and even harder to forget, despite only 17 minutes of screen time.

Biff Tannen (Back To The Future)

Making Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doc Brown’s (Christopher Lloyd) troublesome adventures in the time travel movie classic, Back to the Future, and its sequels even more difficult is Biff Tannen — easily the best-known role of comedian Tom Wilson. Initially a typical, ‘50s-era high school bully, by Part II, he evolves into a dynamic antagonist of various sides who, in an alternate 1985, becomes a powerful, ruthlessly corrupt business tycoon with the unwitting help of his older self.

Chet Donnelly (Weird Science)

Has cinema ever shown us a more fearsome example of how horrible older siblings can be than the late Bill Paxton as Chet Donnelly from 1985’s Weird Science? From little things like stealing breakfast from his brother, Wyatt (Ilan Mitchell-Smith), to shoving a shotgun in Gary’s (Anthony Micheal Hall) face, the dull-brained, militaristic terror is easily the biggest jerk from John Hughes’ movies and his comeuppance at the end — Lisa (Kelly LeBrock) turns him into some frog-like blob — is less than he really deserves.

Christine (Christine)

It is every teenager’s dream to have their own car, but when Keith Gordon’s Arnie gets his own set of wheels in John Carpenter’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Christine from 1983, it proves to be a nightmare… for everyone else in his life. The titular, red Plymouth Fury (named after George Romero’s ex-wife) turns out to have a mind of her own, the ability to heal herself of any damage, and grows so protective of her driver that she will do anything to keep him all to herself. 

Chucky (Child's Play)

Anyone who suffers from an irrational fear of dolls must have felt a refreshing sense of validation upon the 1988 release of one of the best scary doll movies, Child’s Play, in which a single mother (Catherine Hicks) discovers a friendly-looking gift for her young son (Alex Vincent) is possessed by the soul of a nasty serial killer. Academy Award nominee and deeply underrated actor, Brad Dourif, gives a memorably menacing performance as the voice of Charles “Chucky” Lee Ray that is key to why the franchise still continues to this day with Syfy’s hit Chucky TV show.

Darth Sidious (Star Wars: Episode VI - Return Of The Jedi)

If this was a list of villains from the best ‘70s movies, we would have given praise to the original Star Wars movie’s Darth Vader, but when it comes to classics from this decade, the most fearsome foe from George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away is his boss, Darth Sidious. Otherwise known as Emperor Palpatine, the Sith Lord (whom Ian McDiarmid first appeared as in 1983’s Return of the Jedi) may appear old and decrepit, but behind those yellow eyes is a mighty, nigh unstoppable force of deadly, tyrannical manipulation — not to mention, the lightning that emits from his fingertips is pretty devastating. 

The Duke (Escape From New York)

One of the first and most iconic acting roles by Isaac Hayes (the Academy Award-winning composer of the iconic movie theme song from Shaft) is a really bad mother— shut your mouth — known as The Duke from John Carpenter’s dystopian 1981 cult thriller, Escape from New York. The ruthless criminal, who has established himself as the most powerful inmate in the maximum prison that once was Manhattan, sees the accidental arrival of the President (Donald Pleasance) as his ticket to freedom and compromises the anti-heroic Snake Plissken’s (a badass Kurt Russell) rescue mission by barbaric means.

Gozer (Ghostbusters)

The moment that really confirms 1984’s Ghostbusters as a classic horror-comedy movie (with emphasis on the horror) is certainly not when Slimer first appears, but in the final act when the crew must take on the demonic Gozer (Slavitza Jovan, but later played by Olivia Wilde in Ghostbusters: Afterlife). The terrifying, omnipotent “prehistoric bitch” takes way more than a proton pack to defeat, but at least has enough respect for its human adversaries to give them the choice of what will be bring forth their planet’s destruction, resulting in the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man’s attack on New York.

The Gremlins (Gremlins)

Many can relate to the idea of giving your child a seemingly cute and cuddly pet that turns out to be a terror, which producer Steven Spielberg, writer Chris Columbus, and director Joe Dante exaggerated to a nightmarish levels in the Christmas horror movie classic, 1984’s Gremlins. If only the Mogwai’s three rules were followed, it could not have given rise to the titular, green, grinning, goblin-like creatures that give Billy’s (Zach Galligan) small town a horrifying holiday.

Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare On Elm Street)

Growing up, parents always said not to be afraid of bad dreams because they cannot hurt you, but what if that was not the case and staying awake was the only solution? Such is the concept of writer and director Wes Craven’s 1984 supernatural slasher favorite, A Nightmare on Elm Street, in which Robert Englund gives his most iconic performance as Freddy Krueger — a grotesque boogeyman with the power to slay people with his razor-clawed glove from within their subconscious.

Hans Gruber (Die Hard)

You would never believe that the late Alan Rickman had never been in a movie before giving his stunning, seminal performance in 1988’s Die Hard cast as Hans Gruber. The bloodthirsty, but admirably sophisticated, German thief is a polar opposite to Bruce Willis’ reluctant, blue collar hero, John McClane, making him the perfect adversary for, arguably, the greatest action movie ever made and one of the genre’s finest villains.

Ivan Drago (Rocky IV)

While the original from 1976 is a classic Best Picture Oscar winner, the fourth installment of the Rocky movies from 1985 might be the most iconic in the Sylvester Stallone-led boxing movie franchise. A good chunk of credit should be given to Dolph Lundgren as the cold, hulking, Russian rival athlete, Ivan Drago, who takes competition deathly seriously, based on his signature catchphrase, “I must break you,” and his absolute lack of remorse for incidentally killing Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) in the ring. 

Jack Torrance (The Shining)

One of the reasons why Stephen King did not care for The Shining (to put it lightly) was the casting of Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance, as he believed it would let on his eventual descent into madness from the moment we first see him. However, the Academy Award winner’s bombastically unhinged performance was one of the top reasons why Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 adaptation is so beloved to this day and why the good dad gone bad is, arguably, the best Stephen King movie villain yet. 

Jason Voorhees (Friday The 13th Sequels)

In 1980’s original installment of the Friday the 13th movies, the killer stalking Camp Crystal Lake was a vengeful mother named Pamela Voorhees (Betsy Palmer), who would easily go down in history as one of the greatest female horror villains of all time. Yet, the one who would go down as one of the most iconic horror movie villains in general and became the (hockey-masked) face of the subsequent franchise was her son, Jason Voorhees, who started off slicing teens with his machete to avenge his mother, but did not really need much of a motivation as the series went on.

Johnny Lawrence (The Karate Kid)

In the ‘80s, one of the go-to actors to play the designated superficial, bullish jock in a coming-of-age movie was William “Billy” Zabka and earning him that reputation was his role as Johnny Lawrence in 1984’s The Karate Kid. Years later, the character — introduced in the classic movie as Daniel LaRusso’s (Ralph Macchio) brutal martial arts rival — would be seen in a whole new light when Zabka reprised the role in the Cobra Kai cast on the YouTube original series that became a Netflix exclusive.

The Joker (Batman)

There have been many different, unique portrayals of The Joker — the top dog of Batman’s rogues gallery — with some favoring Mark Hamill’s enduring animated iteration or Heath Ledger’s unpredictably manic, Oscar-winning interpretation in 2008’s The Dark Knight. However, when 1989’s Batman came out, it seemed like nothing would be able to surpass Jack Nicholson as Jack Napier — a Gotham gangster whose chemical accident turns him into a Clown Prince of Crime with an ingenious balance of cartoonish lunacy and chilling wickedness.

Judge Doom (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)

There are many reasons why modern audiences struggle to call Robert Zemeckis’ astonishing blend of live-action and animation, 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a great movie for kids, definitively. One of the most pressing is the way Christopher Lloyd fully channels his bad side — and abstains from blinking his eyes — as the ominous Judge Doom, who only gets much, much scarier when we discover his true identity.

Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan)

Ricardo Montalban first appeared as a genetically engineered Augment known as Khan — or, as William Shatner’s Captain James T. Kirk pronounces it, “KHAAAAAAAAAN!” — in an episode of the original Star Trek series in 1967. However, his grand return to the role as the titular antagonist of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is one of the most legendary performances in the franchise’s history and key as to why the 1982 sequel is still widely considered the best Star Trek movie to date.

Lord Humungus (The Road Warrior)

George Miller’s Mad Max movies have had their fair share of great villains, from Toecutter in the 1979 original to Immortan Joe in 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road — both of whom were played by Hugh Keays-Byrne. When the franchise fully entered its influential, dystopian-era stage with 1981’s The Road Warrior, Mel Gibson’s anti-hero was tasked with taking on the Marauders’ hulking leader, Lord Humungus (Kjell Nilsson), who kind of looks like if Jason Voorhees was a medieval exotic dancer, but is nonetheless a memorably imposing figure off post-apocalyptic tyranny.

Mama Fratelli (The Goonies)

The deadly traps that the thrill-seeking youngsters from the Goonies cast encounter while searching for buried treasure are scary enough, but if there is anything more terrifying in director Richard Donner’s 1985 cult classic, it’s the matriarch of the menacing Fratelli family. Given her reputation for playing particularly “grouchy” characters, to say that Academy Award nominee Anne Ramsey gives one of her most intimidating performances as a woman trying to beat a group of children to the site of hidden loot is really saying something.

Mola Ram (Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom)

Harrison Ford’s intrepid fortune hunter, Indiana Jones, has made enemies with many dastardly personalities, but I do not believe a single one of them comes close to being as haunting as Amrish Puri as Mola Ram. What better proof is there than the terrifying scene from 1984’s Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom when the Thuggee cult leader reaches into a man’s chest, pulls out his still-beating heart, and lowers him into a fiery pit as a sacrifice to his ruthless deity. 

Mother Alien (Aliens)

In the franchises’ decades-long history, the Alien movies have shown us various breeds of the Xenomorph — each one horrifying, but also undeniably picturesque, in its own way — but the one that might take the cake, however, is the (literal) mother of them all. Then again, we cannot blame this queen for her main goal in James Cameron’s 1986 sequel, Aliens, which is to protect her children from Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley, who is on her own mission to rescue the young, orphaned Newt (Carrie Henn).

The Predator (Predator)

The Xenomorph may be cinema’s definitive depiction of extra-terrestrial evil, but the most badass of them all would have to be the titular creature played by the late Kevin Peter Hall in director John McTiernan’s 1987 sci-fi hit, which is still the best of the Predator movies in most people’s eyes. As Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Dutch would demonstrate in the third act of the testosterone-fueled, jungle-set action thriller, it does not take brawn, but brains to defeat the hulking beast, who admirably maintains a code of honor when hunting his prey.

Principal Richard Vernon (The Breakfast Club)

I pray for anyone who ever felt like their principal relished in making his students’ lives miserable when they were in high school, because that would mean that they actually knew someone like Richard Vernon. 

Paul Gleason, an actor who seemed to relish playing unlikable characters with brilliant focus, may have hit his peak in that regard in 1985 with his performance in John Hughes’ The Breakfast Club cast as a nearly sadistic principal with no sense of respect or concern for his youthful peers. I hope the custodian, Carl (John Kapelos), managed to talk some sense into him and save him from being a dangerous embarrassment to the public school system.

Rene Beloq (Raiders Of The Lost Ark)

Out of all of the memorable Indiana Jones movie villains, my pick for the all-time best would be Rene Beloq, played by Paul Freeman in 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark. As a fellow fortune-hunter, the charismatic Frenchman is a perfect match for Harrison Ford’s hero — having a similar goal, but going about it in a more despicable manner by partnering with the Nazis and being willing to kill and manipulate to get his hands on any great fortune.

Roy Batty (Blade Runner)

There really is not a “good guy” in director Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking — yet commercial unsuccessful — adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? from 1982, considering how there is nothing admirable about Rick Deckard’s (Harrison Ford) occupation in “retiring” Replicants from a moral standpoint. Furthermore, as an artificial being who wants nothing more but to live longer and freely, I think that Rutger Hauer’s Roy Batty is actually one of Blade Runner’s more sympathetic characters, which is what makes him such a unique example of antagonism.

The Terminator (The Terminator)

One of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s most iconic characters would come to be known as a great hero in the early ‘90s with the release of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but that is a far cry from his original depiction in 1984. The titular antagonist of James Cameron’s breakthrough, The Terminator, may look like an ordinary (yet extraordinarily ripped) man, but is really a futuristic machine that does not negotiate, feel any emotion, and refuses to cease until his target — Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the unwitting mother of a dystopian war hero — is dead.

The Thing (The Thing)

Imagine not being able to trust if someone you know personally is really who they say they are or if they are a shapeshifting, otherworldly creature in disguise. That is the concept of, arguably, the best of John Carpenter’s movies, 1982’s The Thing, which more faithful adapts John W. Campbell  Jr.’s horror novella “Who Goes There?” into a master class in suspense in which its alien antagonist pits an Arctic research crew against each other, challenging them figure out who is still human.

For anyone who wants to get in the business of playing bad people on the silver screen, they should consider ‘80s movie villains their heroes.

SPOILER WARNING: We are going to discuss major spoilers for all the movies mentioned in the list.

As horror fans, we willingly immerse ourselves in heart-pounding suspense, bone-chilling terror, and the adrenaline rush of a good scare. Whether it's a sinister entity haunting a home or a deranged serial killer lurking in the shadows, some of the best horror movies have gifted us with unforgettable moments of cinema that continue to plague our nightmares. I explore the scariest scenes in 25 major horror movies in this feature. So, fellow horror enthusiasts, let's dive into the most terrifying motion picture moments.

Psycho (1960) - The Shower

Let's kick off this list with Alfred Hitchcock's genre-redefining classic from 1960, Psycho. The film follows Marion Crane, who finds herself at the Bates Motel, run by the enigmatic Norman Bates. In one of the most iconic moments in cinema, a routine shower turns into a shocking and suspenseful encounter as Marion is attacked by Norman, dressed like his mother and wielding a knife. The rapid cuts and Bernard Herrmann's intense string score make this scene a masterclass in suspense, leaving an indelible mark on horror history.

Paranormal Activity (2007) - The Demon Drags Katie

In 2007, Paranormal Activity emerged as a groundbreaking found-footage horror film, captivating audiences with its minimalist approach to terror. The scariest scene occurs when the malevolent demon entity drags a still-sleeping Katie out of bed, down the dimly lit hallway, into the abyss of the unknown. This scene alone solidifies Paranormal Activity as one of the best movies about demonic possession. 

Signs (2002) - The Fingers Under the Door

In one of M. Night Shyamalan's best films, Signs, an alien invasion becomes a gripping and unsettling experience for the former priest, Graham Hess, and his family, who find themselves trapped in their home. When the family takes refuge in their basement, a terrified Merrill, played by Joaquin Phoenix, investigates strange noises outside the door, only to encounter a pair of ghastly alien fingers emerging from under the door, instilling a visceral sense of dread. The fear of the unknown and the eerie sound design in this scene create a visceral sense of dread, proving that sometimes, what we don't see can be the most terrifying thing of all.

The Others (1999) - The Confirmation Dress

Set in post-World War II England, The Others is an eerie ghost story centered around Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman) and her two children with a rare photosensitivity condition. The tension builds as strange occurrences unfold in their isolated mansion. A haunting moment comes when Grace confronts her daughter, Ann, playing on the floor in a confirmation dress, only to discover a ghostly older woman speaking in her daughter's voice. When the creepy woman says: “Are you mad? I am your daughter.” scored with an eerie soundtrack and dizzying camerawork, it is a moment in a PG-13 movie that is legitimately terrifying and is bound to send shivers down your spine.

Poltergeist (1982) - The Clown Under the Bed

Poltergeist is a classic '80s horror film and easily one of the best haunted house movies ever. The movie focuses on evil spirits hellbent on pulling a young girl into their ghostly world, infiltrating the home of a terrified family. Amidst the chaotic frightening experiences, one truly unforgettable moment emerges when a once seemingly harmless clown doll ropes an arm around young Robbie’s neck and pulls him under his bed.

The Shining (1980) - Room 237

Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Stephen King's novel is a psychological horror masterpiece, filled with an eerie atmosphere and unforgettable imagery. Though it’s divisive amongst some longtime King readers due to its big differences from the written story, the movie is superior to the book in some ways. The film follows the Torrance family at the isolated Overlook Hotel, where Jack's sanity unravels due to the hotel's sinister past. The most unsettling and nightmarish sequence happens when Jack explores Room 237, encountering a beautiful young woman in the bathtub who undergoes a terrifying transformation into a rotting older woman. The terrifying score adds to the sheer terror, leaving a lasting impact on the audience.

Barbarian (2022) - Keith’s Death in the Tunnels

In 2022's Barbarian, a young woman books a rental home already occupied by a stranger and decides to spend the night despite her reservations. However, she soon discovers there's more to fear than just an unexpected house guest. The most shocking moment involves Keith, portrayed by Bill Skarsgård, meeting a violent end at the hands of the basement-dwelling Mother. Skarsgård's previous role as Pennywise adds intrigue, but his true intentions are brutally revealed as he is murdered in front of our modern-day final girl, Tess, with his head bashed into the basement wall.

The Sixth Sense (1999) - The Ghosts in the Hallway and Bathroom

In M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense, young boy Cole, who can communicate with the dead, seeks help from child psychologist Dr. Malcolm Crowe. One night, as Cole uses the restroom, he senses the presence of restless spirits and the temperature drops. Confronting eerie unease in the hallway, he faces a horrifying sight in his tent. This suspenseful scene is masterfully crafted and leaves no questions about why the movie was one of the few horror movies nominated for Best Picture.

Hereditary (2018) - The Cake Allergic Reaction

Ari Aster's Hereditary is a modern masterpiece delving into family and grief's psychological horrors. After the family matriarch's death, the Graham family experiences terrifying and unexplained events. The scariest scene occurs when Charlie, the youngest daughter, unknowingly ingests nuts to which she is fatally allergic. Charlie's reaction's slow and agonizing progression is excruciating, culminating in her shocking fate. A light pole decapitates her as her brother races to get her to help. This scene's emotional and unflinching intensity is a testament to the film's ability to create terror through familial trauma and visceral horror. Hereditary is also notable for, like The Sixth Sense, featuring one of the most potent Toni Collette performances. 

Misery (1990) - Annie Hobbles Paul

Another Stephen King adaptation, Misery follows Paul Sheldon, a famous author held captive by his deranged number-one fan, Annie Wilkes, exploring obsession, manipulation, and sadism. The most gruesome scene occurs when Annie discovers Paul killed off her beloved literary character, Misery Chastain. In a rage, she brutally hobbles Paul to prevent his escape, showcasing the horrors of obsession and the destructive power of fanaticism, magnified by Kathy Bates' Oscar-winning performance.

Scream (1996) - Opening Scene/Casey Becker’s Death

Wes Craven's Scream cleverly revitalized the slasher genre in the 1990s, blending self-awareness with classic horror tropes. The opening 13 minutes, featuring Drew Barrymore’s Casey Becker on the receiving end of a deadly prank phone call (despite some fan theories), is a masterclass in horror filmmaking. It was also where the now iconic line "What's your favorite scary movie?" was first uttered. 

The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) - Night Vision

Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs is a psychological thriller classic introducing the infamous cannibalistic psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter. FBI trainee Clarice Starling seeks Lecter's help to catch serial killer Buffalo Bill. The most intense scene occurs during the heart-pounding climax in Buffalo Bill's pitch-black basement, where he stalks his latest victim, Catherine Martin, using night vision goggles, creating a nightmarish sequence that effectively builds tension and fear, leaving a lasting impression on the viewer's psyche.

The Thing (1982) - The Chest Chomp

John Carpenter's The Thing, initially a flop, is now a cult classic sci-fi horror where researchers in Antarctica encounter a shape-shifting alien organism. In a skin-crawling scene, Dr. Copper's forearms get trapped as he attempts to use a defibrillator on Norris, showcasing Rob Bottin's practical effects mastery in this body horror masterpiece.

The Exorcist (1973) - The Crucifix Stabbing

William Friedkin's The Exorcist is an iconic horror film that introduces the terrors of demonic possession, following young girl Regan MacNeil's struggles with a malevolent entity. The most intense scene unfolds during the exorcism ritual, as Regan utters disturbing and blasphemous statements before violently stabbing herself with a crucifix, shocking audiences with its horrifying act of self-harm and graphic imagery, solidifying the film's status as a benchmark for horror and its ability to elicit genuine fear, and is why it's one of the best 1970s horror movies. 

The Exorcist III (1990) - The Hallway/Scissors 

The Exorcist III may be an underrated sequel, but it delivers spine-chilling moments as Lieutenant William F. Kinderman investigates murders resembling a past case. The scariest scene occurs in a hospital hallway during a quiet night shift; the sole nurse hears a strange noise in one of the rooms and investigates. Startled by a sleeping doctor, as she catches her breath, she encounters a figure dressed as a white nun wielding giant shears in the adjacent room. It’s one of the most effective jump scares ever filmed. 

Child's Play (1988) - Batteries Not Included

Child's Play is one of the best scary doll movies, introducing the iconic killer Chucky on a quest to possess young Andy's body. When Andy's Mother, suspecting her son is telling the truth about his homicidal plaything, confronts the “Good Guy” and discovers he has no batteries. The doll's true nature is revealed as he terrifyingly attacks Karen. The film's ability to instill fear into an innocent children's toy solidifies Chucky as one of cinematic history's most memorable horror villains.

Frailty (2001) - Destroy Him

Bill Paxton's directorial debut, Frailty, is a shocking psychological drama and great one-off horror movie that explores a father's belief in a divine mission to destroy demons disguised as humans, delving into themes of faith and fanaticism. The most intense scene occurs when the father orders his son Fenton to kill a man, but Fenton swings the axe in the opposite direction, embedding it in his father. This blood-curdling moment is a testament to the film's exploration of morality and the depths of human darkness, making it an underrated gem in the horror genre.

Audition (1999) - Asami's Torturing Nature

Takashi Miike's Audition is a Japanese horror film delving into obsession and sadism. The story follows a widower who sets up an elaborate lie to find a new partner. During the film's climax, the woman the widower finds, Asami, shows her true sadistic nature as she traps Aoyama in a nightmarish and torturous ordeal. The slow and deliberate pacing creates an excruciating and visceral experience, leaving the viewer disturbed and haunted by the horrifying events.

Bone Tomahawk (2015) - Deputy Nick’s Demise

Bone Tomahawk is a visceral blend of horror and Western genres, following a group on a rescue mission to save captives from cannibalistic troglodytes. The most disturbing scene occurs during the group's encounter with the savage tribe, as Deputy Nick suffers an unimaginable fate, brutally scalped and ripped in half before being devoured. This scene's graphic and unflinching violence reflects the film's relentless and ruthless approach to horror.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) - The Corner

When released in 1999, The Blair Witch Project revolutionized the found-footage genre. Near the flick's climax, the surviving filmmaker discovers an unsettling figure, who looks a lot like their friend, standing in the corner of an abandoned house in the woods. The eerie and inexplicable sight effectively capitalizes on the fear of the unknown and isolation, solidifying the film's place as a groundbreaking and unforgettable entry in horror movie history.

The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014) - Child Eating

The Taking of Deborah Logan, a found-footage horror film, delves into dementia and possession. The most horrific scene unfolds when unknowingly possessed, Deborah kidnaps a child and transforms into a horrifying entity with an unhinged snake-like jaw, attempting to devour the child. This unexpected and contextually fitting moment delivers one of the best jump scares in any horror movie, evoking both fear and surprise in the audience.

It  (2017) - The Losers Visit The House on Neibolt Street

One of the best creepy clown movies is 2017’s It, based on Stephen King's novel of the same name. The movie follows children in Derry confronting an ancient evil personified as Pennywise the Clown. During the Losers Club's journey to the gothic and rundown house on Neibolt Street, Pennywise uses illusions to manipulate Richie, Bill, and Eddie, resulting in Eddie breaking his arm. The relentless pursuit in the bowels of the abandoned home will make any horror lover squirm. 

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) - The Home Videos

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer is a disturbing and unflinching exploration of the mind of a serial killer. The film, supposedly based on a true story, follows Henry, a remorseless and sadistic murderer, as he goes about his brutal and senseless killings. The most disturbing scene occurs when Henry and his partner, Otis, watch home videos of their past crimes, showcasing their unnerving lack of remorse and depravity. The film is a harrowing and relentless portrayal of human evil.

Skinamarink (2023) - The Face Without a Mouth

In 2023, Skinamarink became a game-changing, untraditional horror movie, gaining popularity on TikTok. The story follows Kevin and Kayle, two children who wake up to find their father missing and their home's windows and doors vanished. The freakiest scene is when Kevin approaches his sister, revealing her face transformed into a skin-covered void, evoking primal fears of the uncanny and the unknown.

Sinister (2012) - The Lawnmower Home Video Footage

Sinister is a 2012 supernatural horror film following true-crime writer Ellison Oswalt as he uncovers disturbing footage of a series of murders. The scariest scene occurs when Ellison, played by Ethan Hawke in one of his best roles, watches a horrifying Super 8 home video of a family's brutal demise with a lawnmower, combining shocking imagery and a hair-raising score for an unnerving and nightmarish experience. The film expertly blends found-footage elements with traditional horror storytelling, creating an atmospheric and unsettling cinematic journey.

As our journey through the scariest scenes in 25 major horror movies concludes, we're reminded of fear's enduring power in cinema. Each moment has left an indelible mark on the genre, resonating with horror fans worldwide. Who knows, maybe some of the many upcoming horror movies set for the 2024 movie release schedule could find themselves on this list one day. 

In recent years, cinematic universes have expanded beyond comic-book movies, with horror movie franchises gaining popularity; captivating audiences with chilling tales. From masked killers to sinister creatures, these franchises have left a mark on the genre and pop culture. As we delve into the dark recesses of horror history, we'll uncover the best and worst aspects of some of the most iconic horror franchises ever spill blood on the silver screen.

Saw (2004 - Present)

Busting onto the scene in 2004, Saw, helmed by James Wan and Leigh Whannell, offered a fresh and twisted take on the genre and, for better or worse, ushered in the rise of the “torture porn” subgenre in the early 2000s.

Best Thing: The Innovative Puzzles - At the core of Saw's appeal were Jigsaw's elaborate and mind-bending puzzles, challenging victims' morals and pushing them to their limits, making the audience eagerly anticipate the next twisted puzzle and driving each movie to outdo itself with gruesome set pieces.

The Worst Thing: The Convoluted Mythology - As the series advanced, it grew more complex, particularly after John "Jigsaw" Kramer (Tobin Bell) died in the third film, causing writers to get creative to fit him into the narratives. The intricate backstory and interconnected plots created a convoluted mythology, challenging both new and longtime fans with confusing webs of characters and timelines. Bell is set to return (again) in the forthcoming Saw X. 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974 - 2022)

The 1974 OG film, directed and produced by Tobe Hooper, and written by Hooper and Kim Henkel, is a low-budget slasher set in rural Texas, revolving around a family of cannibals who abduct gas station customers, and is considered one of the best '70s movies and a great summer horror watch.

The Best Thing: The Sawyer Family - The series’ enduring legacy lies in the terrifying and deranged Sawyer family. Led by the iconic Leatherface, a chainsaw-wielding maniac with a penchant for human skin masks, the family’s grotesque and unpredictable nature made them standout in the horror pantheon.

The Worst Thing: Leatherface’s Character Inconsistency - While Leatherface remains a horror icon, the character's portrayal suffered from inconsistency across the franchise. In some films, he was a mindless brute; in others, he showed signs of vulnerability and complexity.

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984 - 2010)

Wes Craven’s 1984 A Nightmare on Elm Street centers around Freddy Krueger, a vengeful apparition of a former child killer, terrorizing and killing Springwood, Ohio's teenagers in their dreams after being burned alive by their parents.

The Best Thing: The Iconic Dreamscapes - Elm Street revolutionized horror with its dream-based terror, blurring the line between reality and nightmare. Freddy's invasion of victims' dreams resulted in unforgettable and imaginative horror sequences, and some incredibly gruesome kills.

The Worst Thing: The Evolution to a Comedic Tone - As the franchise wore on, it gradually shifted from bone-chilling horror to a more comedic approach. While Freddy's dark humor initially added to his sinister charm, it eventually led to a tonal shift that diluted the terror and alienated some die-hard horror enthusiasts.

Child’s Play/Chucky (1988 - Present)

Created by Don Mancini, the Child's Play franchise centers on a notorious serial killer who transferred his soul into a "Good Guy" doll named Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif) using a voodoo ritual. Since the original film's release on November 9, 1988, the franchise has expanded with six sequels, a successful television series, a remake, comic books, a video game, and tie-in merchandise.

The Best Thing: Writer/Creator Don Mancini - What makes Child’s Play one of best scary doll movies is the creative genius of Mancini, whose vision brought to life the possessed doll with a wicked sense of humor, and his ongoing stewardship of his creation keeps the franchise fresh and engaging.

The Worst Thing: The Shift in Focus to Chucky as a Lead - Chucky became a prominent lead character as the franchise evolved, losing some of the tension from earlier films. However, the fantastic recent TV series has found a more balanced tone.

Friday The 13th (1980 - 2009)

In 1980, the Friday the 13th movies introduced Jason Voorhees and his vengeful mother, who targeted camp counselors for her son's supposed drowning. Decades later, the "cursed" lake becomes the backdrop for a series of mass murders perpetrated by the resurrected Jason.

The Best Thing: The Iconic Villain, Jason - Though it took three movies to solidify the look, the hockey-masked killer with his signature machete became synonymous with the franchise and a pop culture icon.

The Worst Thing: Lack of Compelling Franchise Leads - The franchise struggled to create compelling lead characters that could match Jason's fearsome presence, with Tommy Jarvis being the closest to a recurring lead. As a result, the focus often returned to the killer, leaving some films with lackluster protagonists.

Halloween (1978 - 2022)

Committed to a sanitarium as a child for murdering his sister, on Halloween 1978, the masked Michael Myers returns to Haddonfield to wreak havoc among the townspeople.

The Best Thing: John Carpenter’s Music - Director John Carpenter’s eerie piano melody became synonymous with the masked killer, setting the stage for one of history's most influential slasher films. When the series was rebooted (again) 40 years later, he returned to provide a killer soundtrack.

The Worst Thing: The Many Differing Timelines - The series' convoluted timeline, including reboots, sequels, a standalone, and alternate continuities, can be confusing and frustrating for casual and die-hard fans. So, no shame if you need a guide to the timeline. 

Alien (1979 - 2017)

Ridley Scott's Alien (1979) is one of the best sci-fi movies ever and tells the story of Sigourney Weaver’s warrant officer, Ellen Ripley, and her battles with the extraterrestrial lifeform known as the Xenomorph.

The Best Thing: The Xenomorph - Audiences were introduced to the perfect killing machine designed by the late H.R. Giger, with its sleek, biomechanical design and acidic blood, becoming a symbol of extraterrestrial horror and one of cinema's most iconic creatures.

The Worst Thing: The Prequels (Prometheus and Covenant) - Criticism emerged for the prequels deviating from the original films' horror roots and spending too much time on Xenomorph's origins.

Paranormal Activity (2007 - 2021)

Oren Peli's low-budget original found footage flick is set in October 2006 and follows a young couple, Katie and Micah, terrorized by a demon that has haunted Katie since childhood.

The Best Thing: The Low-Budget and Real-World Approach to Found Footage - Paranormal Activity revitalized the found footage subgenre, proving that a low-budget approach and a clever premise could achieve massive box office success and even become one of the best-haunted house movies of all time.

The Worst Thing: The Lack of Time Between Sequels - If you have watched the Paranormal Activity series in order, then you know quick turnaround between sequels led to diminishing returns.

Psycho (1960 - 2017)

Starting with Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 original, the Psycho franchise revolves around the life of truly terrifying classic horror villain, Norman Bates, a deeply disturbed young man running the Bates Motel. His mentally unstable nature stems from a twisted split personality resulting from his domineering relationship with his mother, leading him to occasionally commit murders.

The Best Thing: Anthony Perkins’ Performance - Psycho's enduring legacy is largely attributed to Anthony Perkins' iconic portrayal of the disturbed innkeeper. His unsettling and nuanced performance made Bates one of the most memorable villains in cinematic history.

The Worst Thing: The Gus Van Sant Remake - Gus Van Sant's color shot-for-shot remake of the masterpiece faced skepticism and failed to capture the essence of the original, feeling like an unnecessary imitation lacking the tension and brilliance of the original film, with Vince Vaughn unable to match Perkins' portrayal.

The Conjuring Universe (2013 - Present)

Beginning with James Wan's 2013 first entry, the films dramatize the real-life cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren, paranormal investigators linked to prominent yet controversial haunting cases.

The Best Thing: Strong Initial Core Films (Conjuring 1 & 2) - The first two flicks are pillars of the modern horror genre, renowned for expertly crafted scares, engaging characters, and Wan's effective storytelling, setting the standard for the expanding universe. The clap sequence from the original remains memorable and chilling.

The Worst Thing: Weak Spinoffs of Varying Quality - While The Conjuring films thrived, some spinoffs, such as The Curse of La La Llorona, struggled to maintain the same quality and scares. The universe's expansion led to some Conjuring movies not living up to standards set by the core entries.

Final Destination (2000 - 2011)

Beginning in 2000, the Final Destination films revolve around a small group of people who escape the manifestation of death after one individual (the protagonist) has a sudden premonition and warns them about an impending disaster.

The Best Thing: The Memorable Kills - Final Destination's unique premise of death's design led to inventive and memorable death sequences, some based on real-life accidents, captivating audiences with the Rube Goldberg-like chain of events leading to each character's demise.

The Worst Thing: Lack of Story Innovation - As the franchise progressed, the formula became predictable, leading to a sense of repetition.

The Evil Dead (1981 - Present)

Sam Raimi's 1981 debut film and subsequent series revolve around the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, an ancient Sumerian text (now three volumes) causing havoc among a group of cabin inhabitants in a wooded area in Tennessee.

The Best Thing: The Series’ Cinematic Evolution - The Evil Dead franchise has undergone a remarkable evolution, starting as a low-budget cult classic and transforming into a polished, action-packed horror-comedy series, back to its horror roots.

The Worst Thing: The Treatment of Female Characters Early in the Series - The first movie faced criticism for its treatment of female characters, subjecting them to brutal violence, degradation, and an unfortunate sexual assault scene involving a demonic tree.

Scream (1996 - Present)

In 1996, director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson jump-started a hip meta slasher whodunnit series that is still going strong nearly 30 years later.

The Best Thing: The Self-Aware Meta Tone - Scream revitalized the slasher genre with its self-referential and meta approach to horror. Characters in the film were well aware of the rules of horror movies, and the franchise's clever writing and humor set it apart from traditional slashers.

The Worst Thing: Scream 3 - Rushed into production, Scream 3 is a definite low point for the series. This Hollywood-set outing faced criticism for its weaker plot, over-the-top moments, and weak villain reveal, leading some to feel it needed to live up to the standards set by the first two.

Hellraiser (1987 - 2022)

The Hellraiser series, starting in 1987 with Clive Barker's film, centers around the Lament Configuration, a mysterious puzzle box that opens a gateway to a dimension ruled by sadistic beings known as Cenobites. Led by iconic character, Pinhead, the Cenobites bring unimaginable pain and pleasure to those who dare open the box.

The Best Thing: Clive Barker - Hellraiser owes its horrifying and twisted world to Barker, who created the novella "The Hellbound Heart," on which the franchise is based.

The Worst Thing: Miramax/Dimension’s Involvement - From the '90s to the 2010s, Miramax and Dimension Films held the rights and produced numerous direct-to-DVD sequels with questionable creative decisions, leading to lackluster entries and hindering the franchise's potential for consistent quality.

Every major horror franchise has its successes and missteps, leaving lasting memories of fear and excitement. From Saw's innovative puzzles to Friday the 13th's iconic villains, these franchises have etched their names into horror history, tapping into our deepest fears and captivating audiences for generations to come.

As a young child, you want to know what my favorite toys were? American Girl Dolls. 

So, for that reason, I’ve always been a little weary of scary doll films, even though a few are considered some of the best horror movies of all time.

But today, instead of avoiding them, I've faced my fears to round up the best horror movies featuring truly terrifying dolls. There are the classics such as Child’s Play and some horrifying newbies, like M3GAN, but one thing is for sure, you'll never remember your childhood in the same way again.

Child’s Play (1988)

When you think of a scary doll movie, this is the movie you think of. In Child’s Play, a mother who just recently lost her husband decides to gift a doll to her son in order to cope with everything going on. As time passes, the mother begins to realize that the doll isn’t as innocent as it looks, and that there’s actually the ghost of a serial killer in there. 

Fun little fact about me – my brother once bought a doll and made it look exactly like Chucky from Child’s Play in order to scare me. Good ol’ big brother antics. But on a real note, this movie is everything and more when it comes to scary doll movies. 

Chucky is probably one of the most iconic horror movie villains of all time. You can’t really forget the way he talks, and especially the way he kills, and a whole Chucky franchise started because of this movie. If you want a series that’s seriously going to make you look closely at any dolls you have, this is the franchise to check out. 

A rebooted Chucky movie came out in 2019, starring Aubrey Plaza, but there’s nothing quite like the first one. 

Stream Child’s Play on Max.
Rent/Buy Child’s Play on Amazon.

Puppet Master (1989)

Another classic scary doll movie is Puppet Master, also leading to tons of sequels not that long after. The film, starring Paul Le Mat, is all about a group of psychics who must try to come together when a former colleague of theirs plots revenge – and he intends to use dolls, brought to life by an ancient magic, to do it. 

I think what I enjoy the most about Puppet Master is that it does feel inherently a lot more original than many other scary doll movies. It’s not just about some kid receiving a doll and it being haunted. There’s plenty to love and plenty of gore as well, so give it a shot if you have the time. 

Stream Puppet Master on Peacock.
Rent/Buy Puppet Master on Redbox.

The Boy (2016)

Starring Lauren Cohan, The Boy is a 2016 horror film directed by William Brent Bell that tells the story of a young woman from the United States who is hired as a nanny in the United Kingdom, but when she arrives, she finds that the child isn’t actually living, but is a life-size porcelain doll. 

If we’re being truthful, when I first saw this trailer, I thought this movie was going to be so bad, just because the premise felt like the easiest thing in the world. The only reason I ended up watching it was because of Cohan’s starring role, someone I love as Maggie from The Walking Dead. But then I actually ended up really enjoying it. 

The story offers plenty of fun, refreshing moments in the scary doll genre, and even in porcelain form, haunted dolls are still freaking terrifying. A sequel came out in 2020, but I’d rather stick to the original. 

Rent/Buy The Boy on Amazon.

Dolls (1987)

In this fun horror film, Dolls is the worst fear of every toy lover – where every single doll you own comes to life. The film follows a group of travelers that take shelter in the home of a puppet maker, but as the night goes on, they start to notice that the dolls there aren’t like any others – and are not going to play nice. 

I like to think of Dolls as the horror movie version of the Toy Story movies, because at first, they really do just look like normal dolls, and then out of nowhere – boom, they are literally the scariest things in existence. The cast is also a lot of fun too, with performances from Stephen Lee, Guy Rolfe, Hilary Mason, and more. 

Stream Dolls on Tubi.

Annabelle: Creation (2017)

Coming from The Conjuring universe, Annabelle: Creation is the best film out of the three Annabelle movies that have been released. It follows the origins of the famous doll that is owned by Ed and Lorraine Warren, which murdered plenty of people. 

This franchise really did the impossible and made the sequels even better, really expanding on the story of Annabelle in many different ways, and the third film is where it’s taken to new heights. I truly loved watching the origin story and how it connected to the first movie, and what makes it even scarier is that this is literally based on a real-life doll, so I guess I’m not sleeping tonight. 

Stream Annabelle: Creation on Tubi.
Rent/Buy Annabelle: Creation on Amazon.

Magic (1978)

In this psychological horror film, Magic follows the story of a magician who decides to incorporate a dummy into his act using ventriloquism, but as time goes on, he starts to imagine that his dummy is talking to him – and possibly guiding him toward murder. 

There are so many reasons to love Magic. Not only is the plot really fun and an interesting take on the scary doll genre, but Anthony Hopkins is the lead and he really brings it in one of his best horror movie performances. It’s so underrated and he deserves to get more praise for it, even now. 

Stream Magic on Peacock.

M3GAN (2023)

I can’t talk about scary dolls and not talk about M3GAN. The 2023 hit tells the story of Gemma, who has to suddenly take care of her niece when her sister is killed in an accident. In order for Cady to not be alone, she gives her a doll named M3GAN, powered by A.I. technology – but the wiring soon turns faulty and she starts to hurt anyone that might harm Cady. 

I feel like M3GAN is one of those movie franchises that is going to go on forever just because of how iconic the movie was. Not only did it perform well at the box office, but it got great reviews, and a sequel is already on the way. Just wait until we all get actual M3GAN dolls in the mail – then it will have really come full circle. 

Stream M3GAN on Peacock.
Rent/Buy M3GAN on Amazon.

There are so many scary doll movies that you could watch, but these are some of the ones that I truly love the heck out of, so enjoy them with ease – and then lock up literally all your toys in a closet and look the other way afterwards. 

There is an unfortunately long history of horror franchises that continue to produce sequels and installments long past their expiration date, but that’s one curse that Chucky the killer doll has managed to nimbly avoid. The voodoo-and-murder-loving possessed toy can’t be said to have an immaculate track record, but the brilliant cinematic mayhem of his best movies far outweigh the weaker parts of the lesser titles, and the full breadth of what has been accomplished with the character is remarkable. After seven beloved films in the canon (all of which have their advocates in the fan community), the record of excellence has only been padded in recent years with two seasons of an amazing television series.

After first debuting on SyFy and USA Network in 2021, Chucky completed its second run of 8 episodes last November, and every hour-long chapter has been a delight. If you haven’t been watching, you’ve been missing out – but the good news is that now happens to be the perfect time to catch up with the show, and there are five standout reasons why.

Chucky’s Future Is No Longer Up In The Air: Season 3 Has Been Given The Green Light

Getting invested in a show that has an unclear future ahead of it can be emotionally taxing for television enthusiasts, but those who are interested in getting into Chucky need not worry about that issue. It’s true that SyFy/USA Network kept fans in suspense about a renewal for nearly two months after the Season 2 finale, but that period of uncertainty has come to an end. On January 15, the news was made official that Season 3 is now in the works.

While it’s true that the wait for new episodes is going to feel interminable, the announcement should give anyone on the fence about getting into the show the confidence to do so. Awaiting you with the cliffhanger at the end of Season 2 won’t be tension about whether or not it will ever be resolved, but instead anticipation for the outcome that will hopefully be revealed within the next 12 months.

It’s A Great Fix If You’re Experiencing An Itch For More Killer Doll Mayhem After M3GAN

January 2023 has been a good month thus far for killer dolls, and that’s not only because of the Chucky Season 3 announcement. Gerard Johnstone’s M3GAN has made headlines by performing exceptionally well in theaters – the movie doing its part to raise the profile of the horror subgenre. Now fans are left counting down the days until M3GAN 2 gets made, but until that project arrives, why not spend some time with the homicidal toy who crawled, walked, ran and stabbed so that M3GAN could dance and slay?

One could make the argument that the PG-13-rated M3GAN is a training wheels program to graduate to the genius grotesqueries of Chucky – and if you’re of an appropriate age to do so, you should definitely take the step (either by starting with the TV series or going back to the original Child’s Play). The two dolls may have their own feud going online, but you don’t have to choose a side as a horror fan – their homicidal tendencies should be enjoyed in tandem instead of in contrast.

2023 Is An Anniversary Year: Chucky Is Turning 35!

If you’ve simply been waiting for any general excuse to dive into the world of Chucky, here’s one to chew on: this year marks a special birthday for serial killer Charles Lee Ray, as it was 35 years ago that the Brad Dourif character evaded police pursuit by transferring his soul into a Good Guy doll. The original Child’s Play first hit theaters in November 1988, and the Chucky TV series is notably an amazing celebration of everything that film spurred on.

The Chucky show is very accessible for audiences not overly familiar with the seven movies that preceded it – as it introduces its own new ensemble of protagonists for the eponymous killer to terrorize – but one of the most impressive things that creator Don Mancini has done with the series is make it deeply faithful to the larger canon. It goes to some extreme and amazing lengths to fortify the continuity of the franchise, the best being the fact that Alex Vincent is still playing Andy Barclay, Chucky’s true nemesis, three-and-a-half decades after first portraying the character as a six-year-old in Child’s Play. The impressiveness of that alone should inspire any pop culture fan to check it out.

There Is Never A Bad Time To Start Watching A Crazy Gory, Super Funny, And Ridiculously Entertaining TV Series

I’ve been attempting to be cute in this feature explaining why the stars are presently perfectly aligned for audiences to start getting into Chucky, but there is one larger reason to do so independent of recent news, other pop culture developments, or anniversaries: it’s a great show, and great shows deserve to be watched. There is a wonderful cast of characters featured in the terrorized town of Hackensack, New Jersey – the trio of leads played the talented Zackary Arthur, Bjorgvin Arnarson, and Alyvia Alyn Lind –and there is unquestionably some of the best horror content that you’ll find on the small screen right now.

Properly tuned sensibilities will have you smiling and laughing along with Chucky during his giddy, blood-soaked rampages, and the show is regularly quite witty and funny – but it’s also a series with a deep capacity to shock as Charles Lee Ray bolsters his reputation as a habitual line stepper who really doesn’t care who he is killing so long as he is killing. It makes for a fascinating blend that allows for the unexpected to unfold with every chapter, and it’s must-see television. It's the best franchise-based horror series since Hannibal.

Chucky Season 1 And Chucky Season 2 Are Both Easily Accessible

Are you now stoked and ready to watch Chucky? The best news I have for you yet is that it’s exceptionally easy to do so. If you want to watch Season 1, all 8 episodes are available to stream with a Peacock subscription, and a Blu-ray set was released last April. If you want to watch Season 2, you can digitally purchase episodes via Amazon, Vudu, Google Play, and Apple (all of those services also have Season 1).

For more horror-centric reading here on CinemaBlend, check out our guide to Upcoming Horror Movies and our ranking of the best horror movies of all time.

Warning: some spoilers for M3GAN are in play. If you haven’t set your playdate to see the movie just yet, consider this a playful warning. 

Dear readers, the wait is over. 2023’s new movie releases have kicked off thanks to the sassy automaton known as M3GAN finally dancing her way into theaters. If you’ve seen director Gerard Johnstone’s movie, you know she’s a force to be reckoned with. However, there’s a recent feud that’s inspired a healthy bit of competiton.

Now that the finished product is in the world, we can revisit the social media feud between M3GAN and another killer Universal playmate: Chucky from the Child’s Play movies. What began as some harsh burns over Twitter can now be weighed out a rather different way: physical combat. Even though writer Akela Cooper was inspired by that classic, her creation is different enough to be a valid and wily competitor. 

Asking the question of which killer doll would emerge victorious in a fight, a thorough evaluation of both of these deadly companions through several criteria will determine who’s the deadlier doll. If you don’t want to know anything about M3GAN until you’ve taken her out of the box in theaters, that’s understandable and you’ve officially been warned. It's time to unbox the pain, and see whether M3GAN or Chucky is the greater threat. And to be clear, we're strictly talking about the original Chucky here, not the one from the 2019 Child's Play remake.

Round 1 - Attitude

We’re going to start of with an easy round, as the attitudes of both dolls are a good foundation to what they’re capable off in the field. Right off the bat, Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif), better known as Chucky, seems to pull ahead in this field. His trademark combination of wit and insults has kept him going for over 30 years now, reinforcing that while he’s become an ally by accepting the gender fluid Glen/Glenda for who they truly are, he can still kill without being a monster. 

M3GAN, on the other hand, is a sophisticated AI that’s built her own personality, and even feels quite similar to Charles Lee Ray in some scenarios. She doesn’t exactly value human life, except for that of her best friend Cady (Violet McGraw), whom she has imprinted on. Anyone else who gets in her way is expendable; even her creator Gemma (Allison Williams).

Though that patience is also tested when Cady eventually sees how dangerous M3GAN truly is, putting her on the target list as well. That leads to Chucky winning this round, as the Child’s Play killer can keep his ego in check to play the long game; whereas M3GAN gets continually erratic throughout her journey of self discovery.

Round 2 - Durability

The difference between M3GAN and Chucky’s material build is night and day, which is in part due to doll manufacturing being so different in the modern. Throughout the Child’s Play movies, Chucky’s doll build was nothing more than plastic limbs with some metal plates to support that mechanical face of his. Compared to M3GAN's sceramic composite skin covering a titanium core, this matchup could be called right then and there.

However, a greater weakness knocks Chucky down a couple more pegs, and it’s thanks to one of his special abilities. Using black magic to posess the dolls he’s inhabited through the years, if Charles Lee Ray stays in a doll body for too long, it starts to become human again. While that plot point doesn’t seem to be brought up all that much in the Chucky series, it’s still canonized as a concern. In which case, the advantage goes to M3GAN’s titular time bomb. 

Round 3 - Special Abilities

Chucky’s magical powers are a good entry point for us to discuss the special abilities that both he and M3GAN possess in the the name of killing. As previously discussed, Charles Lee Ray was a practitioner of the dark magical arts, and as such could possess a doll or human body if he chose to do so. This might actually be more of an advantage, as this field seems to come down to physical versus digital.

M3GAN sees her special abilities coming from the digital realm, as she’s the most impressively movie AI since Finch’s Jeff. A hungry intelligence, M3GAN’s sentience grows rather quickly and without a moral compass. We see her make false phone calls and faking other people’s voices to lure in her prey, plus she’s able to hijack anything with electronic components. 

So as long as M3GAN can keep Chucky away from her, she can potentially this round. Which means that Chucky really wins as all he’d have to do is possess a better body to gain her powers. Oh, and seeing as both of them presumably know how to make copies of themselves, a theory M3GAN’s ending would support, that loophole only spells more trouble for the human race.

Round 4 - Stealth/Detection

If you’re going to make a life out of killing, you need to be good at it. Even as a human, Charles Lee Ray’s days as the “Lakeshore Strangler” saw him evade capture for quite a while. But as a doll, Chucky had a huge advantage when it came to his smaller stature. Though it may have reduced his ability to kill like he was used to, he had the all-too important aspect of stealth on his side: making sure he could strike in ways that would leave the authorities baffled.

M3GAN is no slouch when avoiding detection either, and she’s been known to sneak up on people rather well. However, she remains undetected through more sophisticated and modern means.  Manipulating security systems and any digital data that can trace her, M3GAN is good at covering her tracks and getting people right where she wants them. She’s even proficient at falsifying crime scenes and motives, which gives M3GAN another leg up on her competition. 

Seeing as Chucky had specially branded shoes that could give him away in the first Child’s Play movie, it was only a matter of time until people started questioning if a doll could murder. Meanwhile, it looks like M3GAN gets away with murder at the end of the movie, with the company that built her not catching wise to her abilities just yet. M3GAN wins this time, as she’s able to engineer an alibi so perfect it’d be even harder to catch her.

Round 5 - Killer Instincts

Here’s where the ultimate showdown takes place, as both Chucky and M3GAN are proven to be stone cold killers. The only question that remains is how dedicated are they to getting the job done, and where do they draw “the line?” For M3GAN’s antagonist, she’s pretty loyal after imprinting, but even turns against her “family.” It takes her a while, but it looks like she’s ready to kill anything that stands in her way, which sets up a potential sequel to M3GAN Universal is already talking about. Should she come back, M3GAN will be ready to go Skynet on her former family’s asses.

And yet, Charles Lee Ray was basically born a killer. He didn’t have to be scorned by someone to have a taste for violence, because as we saw in Season 1 of Chucky, all it took was a chance encounter with a serial killer to really dig in. To this man/doll, the world has always been, and always will be a target. The Chuckster wins this round, as he’s pure evil from the word 'go.'

M3GAN Vs. Chucky - Who Walks Out Alive?

While M3GAN has introduced a modern killing machine for our times, the classic approach of Chucky actually saves him in an overall fight. With no compunction when it comes to killing, his size and experience still keep him competitive. All he needs to do is fight M3GAN long enough to incapacitate her, and then he can possess her advanced doll body and become basically a living god. 

And yet, even though Chucky is the winner of this match, it’s going to be a hell of a fight. What the Model 3 Generative Android lacks in stealth and humanity, it makes up for in durability and technological knowhow. So while Charles Lee Ray wins on paper, there's room for future sequels and more comprehensive simulations to further refine the argument for either side's supremacy.

It’s enough to make you want to weigh the battle over and over again, and you can do that with the help of the first season of Chucky being available in the same place that M3GAN will presumably make its streaming home. All you need is a Peacock subscription, and you can be prepared to continue discussing this matter on your own terms. But don’t forget to check out M3GAN, as she’s currently waiting to play at a theater near you.

Max is one of the best streaming services out there and has a ton of great movies, which can make the process of deciding on one a difficult task. There are so many films you can see with a Max subscription, and as of March 2025, so many have been added, like The Florida Project, Flow and more. Here is what you can check out.

Intense Dramas

For the times you want to be on the edge of your seat:

The Zone Of Interest (2023)

The Director: Jonathan Glazer

The Cast: Christian Friedel, Sandra Huller

What It's About: This movie focuses on the life of an Auschwitz commandant, and how he and his family live in the “Zone of Interest,” an area around the concentration camp.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: The film won Best International Feature at the 2024 Academy Awards and was praised for its story and sound.

• Stream The Zone of Interest on Max.

Civil War (2024)

The Director: Alex Garland

The Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, Jesse Plemons, Stephen McKinley Henderson

What It's About: Civil War is a dystopian thriller film that follows the story of photojournalists, both professionals and a rookie, who travel across a United States that has been torn apart by a civil war, and the horrors they face, all to interview one person – the president.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Civil War is hands down one of the best films of 2024, and it’s by A24, which rarely ever misses in the films they distribute.

• Stream Civil War on Max.

The Iron Claw (2023)

The Director: Sean Durkin

The Cast: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson

What It's About: The Iron Claw is based on the real-life wrestling family known as the Von Erichs, and how they suffered tragedy after tragedy while in the professional sport.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: This is a film that will emotionally gut you by the end, but you’ll thank yourself for it. It’s beautifully acted and well-shot.

• Stream The Iron Claw on Max.

Prisoners (2013)

The Director: Denis Villeneuve

The Cast: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Paul Dano

What It's About: After two girls are abducted in Pennsylvania, a suspect is released back to the public, and one of the fathers decides to take matters into his own hands and hunt him down.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: I personally think Prisoners is one of Hugh Jackman’s best performances, and you will be riveted by the end of it. The movie is thrilling from beginning to end.

Stream Prisoners on Max.

A Different Man (2024)

The Director: Aaron Schimberg

The Cast: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve, Adam Pearson

What It's About: A man with Neurofibromatosis undergoes a surgery to change his face forever only for the procedure to bring up past insecurities.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: A24 rarely misses when it comes to many of their dramatic films, and A Different Man is right up there with its compelling story and incredible lead performance from Sebastian Stan. It even won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Male Actor - Musical or Comedy in 2025.

• Stream A Different Man on Max.

Powerful, Emotional Dramas

For the dramas that make you laugh, cry, and more…

The Florida Project (2017)

The Director: Sean Baker

The Cast: Willem Dafoe, Brooklynn Kimberly Prince, Bria Vinaite, Valeria Cotto, Christopher Rivera, Caleb Landry Jones

What It's About: The Florida Project mainly focuses on the daily life of a six-year-old girl as she and her mother struggle not to become homeless in Kissimmee, Florida while also simultaneously living close to Disney World.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Since Sean Baker recently swept the 2025 Academy Awards for his film Anora, I think it’s time to check out one of his lesser-known films from A24. It’s emotional in all the right ways and beautiful, as well.

• Stream The Florida Project on Max.

Taxi Driver (1976)

The Director: Martin Scorsese

The Cast: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Leonard Harris, Peter Boyle, Cybill Shepherd

What It's About: Travis Bickle is a former Marine who takes a job as a taxi driver in New York City, and as the world around him continues to crumble, so does his mental state.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: I mean, I think if you think of Martin Scorsese, there are a few films that instantly come to mind for the brilliant director, and Taxi Driver is one of them. It’s an iconic movie with even better performances and if for some reason you haven’t seen it, you need to check it out now.

• Stream Taxi Driver on Max.

The Imitation Game (2014)

The Director: Morten Tyldum

The Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear, Charles Dance, Mark Strong

What It's About: Based on the autobiography, Alan Turing: The Enigma, this film follows the story of the real-life game cryptanalyst Alan Turing and how he and a team decrypted German intelligence messages and essentially created one of the world’s first modern computers.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Nominated for several awards in many different ceremonies, The Imitation Game is one of those films that really captures your interest the moment you watch it, and by the end, you’ve not only learned something new but want to learn more after.

• Stream The Imitation Game on Max.

The Color Purple (2023)

The Director: Blitz Bazawule

The Cast: Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins

What It's About: Based on the stage musical of the same name, which is based on the 1982 novel, The Color Purple is a movie musical about the life of Celie, an African American woman in the early 1900s trying to make a life for herself over time and dealing with domestic abuse at home.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: The movie earned several Academy Award nominations, and features some of the best performances of 2023. You have to check it out if you love musicals.

• Stream The Color Purple on Max.

King Richard (2021) 

The Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green

The Cast: Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Tony Goldwyn, Jon Bernthal

What It's About: King Richard tells the story of Richard Williams (Smith), the father of famous tennis duo, Serena and Venus Williams, and the struggles he went through to see his daughters become the best tennis players in the world.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Starring Academy Award-winner Will Smith, King Richard features the actor in his best role, and is the story that shows the beautiful kind of resilience that we all need.

• Stream King Richard on Max.

Priscilla (2023)

The Director: Sofia Coppola

The Cast: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi

What It's About: Priscilla is a biographical drama that tells the story of Priscilla Presley, the legendary wife of Elvis Presley, following the tale of how they met, fell in love, and navigated their complicated relationship until their divorce.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: The movie received critical praise for its acting performances and Spaeny shines as Priscilla.

• Stream Priscilla on Max.

Sully (2016)

The Director: Clint Eastwood

The Cast: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Laura Linney

What It's About: Based on the inspiring true story, Sully tells the story of real-life pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and how he saved all the passengers of his flight when he had to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: When I first saw Sully back in 2016, it was one of those films that really opened my eyes to a story that I didn’t fully know, and it’s a quick movie that flies by while also delivering compelling performances from its cast.

• Stream Sully on Max.

Romantic Rendezvous

From dramatic romances to funny ones, these are the romance movies for you:

We Live In Time (2024)

The Director: John Crowley

The Cast: Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh

What It's About: We Live In Time follows the love story of two people who meet on a whim, and their beautiful and heartbreaking love story.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: We Live In Time utterly broke me when it first came out back in October 2024 and I was seriously shocked it wasn’t up for more awards, because it’s one of those films that just sits with you and makes you think about the beauty in your life, and to learn to enjoy every second that you can, because you never know when it will be taken from you. So beautiful in so many ways.

• Stream We Live in Time on Max.

Eat Pray Love (2010)

The Director: Ryan Murphy

The Cast: Julia Roberts, James Franco, Richard Jenkins, Viola Davis, Billy Crudup, Javier Bardem

What It's About: Based on the memoir of the same name, Eat Pray Love follows a woman who looks for fulfillment in life after ending her marriage, and decides to travel the world.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: I think if you’re ever looking for something that’s romantic but also has a touch of self-love as well, this is the movie for you. You can’t get much better than Julia Roberts in a romantic drama.

• Stream Eat Pray Love on Max.

Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

The Director: Rose Glass

The Cast: Kristen Stewart, Katy O’Brian

What It's About: Love Lies Bleeding follows a young woman who owns a gym but is secretly part of a huge crime family. She gets tangled up in a romantic relationship with a female bodybuilder, and drama ensues once the bodybuilder finds out what is going on.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Love Lies Bleeding features an amazing LGBTQ+ storyline that somehow breaks barriers and also keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. Plus, Stewart and O’Brian’s acting is top tier.

• Stream Love Lies Bleeding on Max.

Casablanca (1942)

The Director: Michael Curtiz

The Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingred Bergman

What It's About: An American expatriate who runs a successful nightclub in Casablanca, Morocco, is given a second shot at redemption and love when his old flame waltzes back into his life and asks him to help her fugitive husband escape the Nazis once and for all.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: One of the greatest films to ever win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, Casablanca has it all: drama, romance, action, and one of the most quotable lines ever. I mean, do you need me to go on?

• Stream Casablanca on Max.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

The Director: Jon M. Chu

The Cast: Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, Michelle Yeoh

What It's About: A Chinese-American professor travels to Singapore with her boyfriend only to find out that his family over there isn’t normal – they are incredibly rich.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: I think Crazy Rich Asians is one of those films that everyone has to watch at least once. The romance in it is top-tier, with some expert-level chemistry and acting, but the comedy aspect is really what makes it so great. Plus, the cast is outstanding.

• Stream Crazy Rich Asians on Max.

Pretty Woman (1990)

The Director: Garry Marshall

The Cast: Richard Gere, Julia Roberts

What It's About: Pretty Woman is a rom-com that follows the story of a rich man hiring a sex worker for a week in order to pretend to be his date for several upcoming social events, and the relationship that grows from there.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Pretty Woman is hands down one of Julia Roberts’ best romantic comedies, and features one of the best romances on the big screen, mixed in with some steamy chemistry.

• Stream Pretty Woman on Max.

Fun Comedies

Get ready for your tummy to hurt from laughing so much:

Modern Times (1936)

The Director: Charlie Chaplin

The Cast: Charlie Chaplin, Paulette Goddard, Henry Bergman

What It's About: Charlie Chaplin’s 1936 silent movie classic, Modern Times, follows the Tramp (Chaplin) as he attempts to make sense of the technologically-advanced world around him and stay out of trouble, failing at both.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: I mean, it’s Charlie Chaplin. How can I not recommend him? There are some of his other films on the platform but I’ll always stand by Modern Times as the best.

• Stream Modern Times on Max.

The Hangover (2009)

The Director: Todd Phillips

The Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha, Jeffrey Tambor

What It's About: When a bachelor party goes wrong and the groom winds up missing, it’s up to three groomsmen teaming up together to look for him across Las Vegas before the wedding.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: It’s The Hangover. It’s pretty much considered one of the best comedy movies of the 2000s. I would be a fool not to recommend it to you. It’s hilarious and great to watch with friends.

Stream The Hangover on Max.

• Stream The Hangover on Max.

Teen Wolf (1985)

The Director: Rod Daniel

The Cast: Michael J. Fox, James Hampton, Scott Paulin, Susan Ursitti, Jerry Levine, Jay Tarses

What It's About: A teenager suddenly finds his ordinary world turned upside down when he turns into a werewolf.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: I mean, I think when we remember the most iconic films of the 1980s, Teen Wolf is probably up there for it being one of Michael J. Fox’s biggest movies. It’s funny, a great coming-of-age story, and honestly one that plenty of people can enjoy – and it’s not even scary.

• Stream Teen Wolf on Max.

Keanu (2016)

The Director: Peter Atencio

The Cast: Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key, Method Man, Luis Guzman, Nia Long, Will Forte

What It's About: Two cousins go on the ultimate adventure when a kitten is stolen and they do anything to get him back – including getting tangled up with criminals.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: This movie is so. Freaking. Funny. I stand by it every time I watch it because I think Peele and Key just have the best chemistry out there. Anyone who hasn’t seen it needs to.

• Stream Keanu on Max.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (2010)

The Director: Edgar Wright

The Cast: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Alison Pill, Brandon Routh, Jason Schwartzman

What It's About: Based on the graphic novel of the same name, the titular character, Scott Pilgrim, must face off against the seven evil exes in order to be with his new girlfriend, Ramona Flowers.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: This film is an absolute classic, especially now fifteen years later. The action is fun, the comedy is great, and it’s an all-around entertaining time.

• Stream Scott Pilgrim vs. The World on Max.

Intense Horrors

These are the kinds of horrors that you might want to leave the light on for:

Evil Dead Rise (2023)

The Director: Lee Cronin

The Cast: Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies, Gabrielle Echols, Nell Fisher

What It's About: Evil Dead Rise is the latest installment in the Evil Dead franchise, this time following the story of a mother who is possessed by the Deadites in that famed demonic book, and causing chaos for her sister and children on the same night.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: The film was a critical success – and even if you haven’t seen an Evil Dead movie before, this one is good for a solo watch for any horror fan.

• Stream Evil Dead Rise on Max.

MaXXXine (2024)

The Director: Ti West

The Cast: Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki, Moses Sumney, Michelle Monaghan

What It's About: The final part of the X trilogy, MaXXXine follows Maxine as she makes her way to Hollywood and finds herself in the middle of someone else’s killing spree – someone who is looking to kill her next.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: You could check out X or Pearl prior, but MaXXXine takes the gore to another level and is fun as heck.

• Stream MaXXXine on Max.

The Conjuring (2013)

The Director: James Wan

The Cast: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Ron Livingsgon, Lili Taylor

What It's About: Based on the real-life haunts, The Conjuring tells the story of Ed and Lorraine Warren, two paranormal investigators, and their experience in a house on Rhode Island that is overcome with disturbing events.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: I remember when The Conjuring first released back in 2013, it was all everyone could talk about, and now, The Conjuring universe is still going strong, twelve years later, with a final film releasing in 2025, The Conjuring: Last Rites. You should certainly check it out if you haven’t yet for the frights.

• Stream The Conjuring on Max.

Sinister (2012)

The Director: Scott Derrickson

The Cast: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Fred Thompson, James Ransone

What It's About: Sinister is a horror film that follows the story of a true-crime writer who begins to experience supernatural events after moving his family into a new home, only to find out that there’s more to this house than he thought, including plenty of murder.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Sinister is certainly one of Ethan Hawke’s best movies, but truthfully you should just watch it for how utterly horrifying this film is and how quickly it gets under your skin.

• Stream Sinister on Max.

Not So Intense Horrors

For the ones who need a light horror day:

Child’s Play (1988)

The Director: Thomas Lee Holland

The Cast: Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon

What It's About: The ghost of a serial killer possesses a doll, and soon, that new doll is unknowingly gifted to a young boy, which causes nothing but chaos.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: I know that at first glance you might wonder why I put Child’s Play in the “Not So Intense Horror” section but truthfully the first movie isn’t that scary. It’s not as gory or bloody as later Child’s Play movies, and the film is scary in a delightful way and enjoyable for those who want more subdued horror.

• Stream Child’s Play on Max.

The Lighthouse (2019)

The Director: Robert Eggers

The Cast: Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe

What It's About: The Lighthouse follows the story of two lighthouse keepers in the nineteenth century, and how a storm one night changes their lives forever.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Look, this is a Robert Eggers film. That means you know it’ll be visually stunning but also trippy as heck and will certainly make you say “huh?” a couple times while watching. But let me tell you that this is the kind of horror that is not aimed to scare, but make you uncomfortable and freaked out. And I eat it up each time I watch it.

• Stream The Lighthouse on Max.

I Saw The TV Glow (2024)

The Director: Jane Schoenbrun

The Cast: Justice Smith, Bridgette Lundy-Paine, Helena Howard

What It's About: I Saw The TV Glow follows two high school students who bond over their connection to a children’s show that they love, but things in their lives begin to take a turn when the show is cancelled.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: As I said before, A24 doesn’t miss with its horror movies, so this is a great pick for those who want that scary feeling but don’t want to be completely horrified by the end of it.

• Stream I Saw The TV Glow on Max.

The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (2017)

The Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

The Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan

What It's About: The Killing of a Sacred Deer follows how the lives of a teenage boy and a cardiac surgeon begin to twist in unexpected ways, but things take a turn when the family of the surgeon begins to fall ill, one by one.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Yorgos Lanthimos directed this film so it really does have some crazy visuals and twists throughout it. Truly one of a kind and not too scary but scary enough.

• Stream The Killing of a Sacred Deer on Max.

Black Swan (2010)

The Director: Darren Aronofsky

The Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder

What It's About: Black Swan captures the essence of a ballerina slowly losing her mind as she becomes obsessed with perfection regarding her starring role as the Black Swan in the stage production of Swan Lake.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Natalie Portman won the Academy Award for Best Actress because of her performance in Black Swan. Truly a great performance.

• Stream Black Swan on Max.

Heroes And Villains Galore

It’s a bird, it’s a plane - nope, it’s some exciting superhero (or villain) movies!

The Batman (2022)

The Director: Matt Reeves

The Cast: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright

What It's About: Bruce has been fighting crime for two years in Gotham City, and now must uncover corruption as the Riddler (Paul Dano) wreaks havoc on the wealthy.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: It’s certainly one of the best live-action Batman movies out there, and there’s a sequel on the way, so you might as well check out the first.

• Stream The Batman on Max.

Superman I And II (1978, 1981)

The Director: Richard Donner and Richard Lester

The Cast: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando, Ned Beatty

What It's About: The movies, considered some of the best Superman movies ever, star Christopher Reeve as the beloved DC superhero, telling the origin story of Superman, from his time as a young child on Krypton to his crime-fighting days against Lex Luthor.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: If you want a pure superhero movie with a lot of heart, not crazy CGI, and good acting, these are some of the best out there and ones you need to check out.

• Stream Superman on Max.
• Stream Superman II on Max.

The Dark Knight (2008)

The Director: Christopher Nolan

The Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman

What It's About: The second movie in the Nolan Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight follows Batman as he forms an alliance with lawmakers in order to take down the Joker.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: What can I say about this film that hasn’t already been said as to why you should watch it? It’s The Dark Knight. Ledger’s performance is incomparable and the film is full of action and great lines. Give it a watch.

• Stream The Dark Knight on Max.

Blue Beetle (2023)

The Director: Ángel Manuel Soto

The Cast: Xolo Maridueña, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, George Lopez

What It's About: Blue Beetle follows the story of Jaime Reyes, a young man trying to help out his family in their time of need, but when he touches an ancient Scarab and it fuses with him, it gives him the powers of the Blue Beetle – a moment that will change his life forever.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Many other heroes in the upcoming DC universe formed by James Gunn haven’t made the cut, but Blue Beetle will. Now is the best time to check out the film.

• Stream Blue Beetle on Max.

Deadpool (2016)

The Director: Tim Miller

The Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T.J. Miller, Gina Carano

What It's About: Deadpool is the first film in the Deadpool franchise, following a mercenary who is diagnosed with cancer and undergoes a treatment that’s supposed to cure him but ends up giving him superpowers that change his life for the worse. Now, he uses it to fight against evildoers and find the person who did this to him.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Ryan Reynolds is perfect as Deadpool and with the third film out, now is the best time to check out the original.

• Stream Deadpool on Max.

Joker (2019)

The Director: Todd Phillips

The Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz

What It's About: Joker tells the origin story of how Arthur Fleck donned that famous face paint and ended up becoming a symbol for all of crime in Gotham City, through his own madness.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Joker earned Phoenix an Academy Award for Best Actor and was one of the highest-grossing R-rated films ever. Truly a great one to watch. You could check out the sequel on Max as well but I prefer to stick to the original.

• Stream Joker on Max.

Action Galore

These are the picks that will get your heart racing!

Elevation (2024)

The Director: George Nolfi

The Cast: Anthony Mackie, Morena Baccarin, Maddie Hasson

What It's About: When the life of a young boy is threatened, a single father and two women go on an incredibly perilous journey in order to save him, leaving behind the safety of their elevated community to travel into the depths of danger beneath them.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: I feel like no one knows about Elevation. The movie came out during a time where there were a lot of other big movies at the box office and it wasn’t marketed as much. But it’s an enjoyable thriller with a lot of action going for it.

• Stream Elevation on Max.

Speed (1994)

The Director: Jan de Bont

The Cast: Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton, Jeff Daniels

What It's About: This iconic action thriller tells the story of a city bus that is set to explode if the speed drops below 50 mph, so now an LAPD officer has to figure out how to save the people on board.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: I really think that Speed is one of the best action movies out there. When I think of high-paced action, I think of this film. It’s a great movie to check out on a random Saturday night.

• Stream Speed on Max.

Bad Boys (1995)

The Director: Michael Bay

The Cast: Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Tea Leoni, Tcheky Karyo

What It's About: Bad Boys is a buddy-comedy movie about two detectives who are trying to investigate a huge drug case but get entangled into protecting a woman after she sees someone murdered.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: There’s a reason why there have been so many of these films over the last two decades (five and counting). You just can’t help but enjoy Lawrence and Smith’s hilarious chemistry and performances.

• Stream Bad Boys on Max.

Greenland (2020)

The Director: Ric Roman Waugh

The Cast: Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin Roger Dale Floyd, Scott Glenn, David Denman, Hope Davis

What It's About: When a comet is coming that will destroy the Earth, a family races against time in order to get to an evacuation point so they can somehow survive.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: There are some great modern-day apocalypse movies and I do think Greenland is one of those. While it doesn’t do anything new – as we’ve all seen the films that follow someone trying to survive a planet-killing comet – it’s fun acting, action, and the effects are great as well. I would fully recommend it.

• Stream Greenland on Max.

The Boondock Saints (1999)

The Director: Troy Duffy

The Cast: Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Willem Dafoe

What It's About: Two Irish twin brothers become vigilantes after they kill members of the Russian mafia up in Boston.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: This film is just fun. That’s the best way I can describe it. It’s a fun, action-paced film with scenes that are so packed with violence that it’ll almost make you laugh but damn, do I love watching it.

• Stream The Boondock Saints on Max.

Fun For The Whole Family

These are great for the parents and the kids!

Flow (2024)

The Director: Glints Zilbalodis

The Cast: N/A

What It's About: A cat tries to survive alongside its animal companions in a world where the water level is rising and no one is there to help them.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: This film is honestly one of the best of 2024. It won the 2025 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and comes from one of the few independent film studios to ever do so. It’s incredibly well-animated and the fact that it tells a story so well without any dialogue is fascinating.

• Stream Flow on Max.

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

The Director: Chris Columbus

The Cast: Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fiernstein, Robert Prosky

What It's About: When a divorced dad wants to see his kids, he decides to disguise himself as a female nanny and housekeeper and work in his old home undercover.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: When you’re talking about Robin Williams’ best movies, Mrs. Doubtfire is always high on that list for his hilarious comedic timing and the heartwarming story that comes from it. Definitely check it out if you haven’t ever seen it.

• Stream Mrs. Doubtfire on Max.

Ghostbusters (1984)

The Director: Ivan Reitman

The Cast: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Rick Moranis

What It's About: A group of men work as parapsychologists and begin a ghost-catching business in New York City to take on the paranormal problem.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters! As someone who did watch this film as a kid, it’s fully safe for the whole family and is a ton of fun. And I’m sure that after, you’ll end up watching every Ghostbusters movie after.

• Stream Ghostbusters on Max.

Matilda (1996)

The Director: Danny DeVito

The Cast: Mara Wilson, Danny DeVito, Rhea Pearlman, Embeth Davidtz, Pam Ferris

What It's About: Based on the novel of the same name, Matilda follows the story of a young girl with psychokinetic abilities who uses them to not only deal with her family but with the bad principal of her school.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Matilda is probably one of the most classic kids films that you could see. The magic is fun, the acting is enjoyable, and of course, Mara Wilson is adorable as Matilda.

• Stream Matilda on Max.

Barbie (2023)

The Director: Greta Gerwig

The Cast: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera

What It's About: Barbie follows everyone’s favorite doll as she enters the human world to find the girl she is connected to in order to help her. If she doesn’t, Barbie will turn more human-like by the day.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Considered one of the best movies of 2023, Barbie inspires a celebration of girlhood, love, and the beautiful life that we all take for granted most days.

• Stream Barbie on Max.

Hayao Miyazaki Movies

All of the films you see below were directed by legendary anime film director, Hayao Miyazaki. All of which are great for parents and for kids. Personally, my favorites have been Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle for a long time, both featuring beautiful stories, but the 2023 Academy Award-winning The Boy and the Heron is a must-watch as well.

• Stream Howl’s Moving Castle on Max.
• Stream Spirited Away on Max.
• Stream The Boy and the Heron on Max.

Megamind (2010)

The Director: Tom McGrath

The Cast: Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross, Brad Pitt

What It's About: When a villain beats his nemesis, he decides to create a new hero to fight, but when the hero ends up becoming worse than he could ever imagine, it’s up to Megamind to stop him.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: You know, I think Megamind was ahead of its time. It was successful back then but has only become more of a cult classic now, and people love to look back on it with fond memories.

• Stream Megamind on Max.

Paddington (2014)

The Director: Paul King

The Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, Nicole Kidman, Ben Whishaw

What It's About: Based on the fictional character of the same name, Paddington follows a bear who migrates to London and is adopted by a family there, while a taxidermist looks to add him to her collection and will stop at nothing to achieve it.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Paddington has always been praised as one of the best family films out there for a reason. It’s emotional, funny, and teaches good lessons, and is quite successful, with a sequel and a third movie releasing soon.

• Stream Paddington on Max.

Mamma Mia! (2008)

The Director: Phyllida Lloyd

The Cast: Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard

What It's About: Mamma Mia! is a jukebox musical comedy that is based on the Broadway musical of the same name and uses ABBA music to tell the story of Sophie. You see, Sophie is getting married, but she’s never met her biological dad, so she has no one to walk her down the aisle.To do this, she decides to invite all three possible choices and figure out who it is for herself.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: The premise itself is hysterical, but truthfully, this film is the perfect one to watch to get yourself up on your feet and dancing while also swooning at all of the romance.

• Stream Mamma Mia! on Max.

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

The Director: Guy Ritchie

The Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams

What It's About: Based on the iconic fictional character of the same name, Sherlock Holmes tells the story of Holmes and his partner, Watson, as they investigate the crimes of someone who was thought to be dead.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: While these films can get a little action-packed, I watched this with my entire family and it was a heck of a fun time, and who doesn’t want to see Holmes kick some butt?

• Stream Sherlock Holmes on Max.

How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

The Director: Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois

The Cast: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera

What It's About: This animated DreamWorks masterpiece follows the story of Hiccup, a Viking, who is somehow able to tame – and learn to ride – the most vicious dragon after he injures it, in a world where Vikings slay dragons.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: A new live-action version of How To Train Your Dragon is releasing in 2025, so you might as well check out what made the original trilogy such a great one.

• Stream How To Train Your Dragon on Max.

Thrilling, Twisty, And Exciting Sci-Fi

Sci-fi that will truly make you question everything and anything:

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024)

The Director: Adam Wingard

The Cast: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Dan Stevens, Keylee Hottle, Alex Ferns, Fala Chen

What It's About: In this sequel to Godzilla vs. Kong, King Kong must unite with Godzilla in order to prevent even bigger monsters, the Skar King and Shimo, from invading Earth.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: I mean, it’s Godzilla and King Kong. You can’t really get more sci-fi than these two. Is it a big CGI monster fun-fest? Of course it is – but that’s what you sign up for with these epic films, and it’s fun as heck.

• Stream Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire on Max.

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

The Director: Daniel Kwan, Daneil Scheinert

The Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis

What It's About: The movie, starring Michelle Yeoh, follows the story of a Chinese-American immigrant who goes on a wild ride when parallel universe versions of herself say that she is the answer to stopping a powerful being from taking over – and destroying – the multiverse.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: The premise is silly, but the film swept at the Academy Awards and won Best Picture, and personally, it’s one of my favorites.

• Stream Everything Everywhere All At Once on Max.

The Martian (2015)

The Director: Ridley Scott

The Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels

What It's About: The Martian, based on the novel of the same name and directed by Ridley Scott, follows the story of an astronaut who is left behind on Mars, while also simultaneously following the people whose task is to get him back safely.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: The Martian cast is insanely talented, but Matt Damon knocks it out of the park with this one. Truly a great space movie.

• Stream The Martian on Max.

Men In Black (1997)

The Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

The Cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D’Onofrio, Rip Torn

What It's About: Two MIB agents, one a veteran and one a newbie, investigate a series of criminal incidents related to space creatures that have been invading Earth, all of which are finding ways to live among the people. All of them lead to one major alien that is causing a lot more harm than good.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: I feel like any time you think of Will Smith, his role in Men In Black is always one of the first you think of. He’s hilarious in the movie and, with three films in the franchise with the actor a part of it, it’s seriously one of his best roles.

• Stream Men In Black on Max.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

The Director: Stanley Kubrick

The Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood

What It's About: 2001: A Space Odyssey is probably one of the most iconic movies of all time. The film follows a group of space explorers consisting of astronauts and scientists in order to look into an alien monolith, but the adventure isn’t as seamless as you would expect.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: While the film itself can be a little confusing, it’s considered one of the best movies of all time, so I’d highly suggest checking it out.

• Stream 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Fantasy Spectaculars

When you just want to escape to a magic world:

Dune And Dune: Part 2 (2021, 2024)

The Director: Denis Villeneuve

The Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Bautista

What It's About: In this 2021 adaptation of the famous science-fiction novel, Dune stars an amazing ensemble cast and tells the story of Paul Atreidas (Timothée Chalamet), who sets out on a dangerous journey in order to find a way to save his family and his people, with Part 2 continuing the epic saga and taking the audience members on a journey unlike any other.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: The new Dune movies truly took over the world when they came out and introduced plenty of people to this fantasy world. Such fun films.

• Stream Dune on Max.
• Stream Dune: Part 2 on Max.

The Harry Potter Films (2001 – 2011)

The Director: Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell, David Yates

The Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson

What It's About: For those who don’t know (which would be pretty shocking but either way), the Harry Potter film franchise is based on the novels of the same name and follows a boy wizard named Harry Potter and his adventures at a magical school named Hogwarts, where he trains to use magic and, eventually, take on the Dark Lord himself, Voldemort.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Harry Potter is a franchise that is still going to this day, but the original eight films raised an entire generation of Potterheads and make us all feel like going home when we hear the word ‘Hogwarts.’

• Stream the Harry Potter films on Max.

The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (2001 - 2003)

The Director: Peter Jackson

The Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett

What It's About: An unsuspecting Hobbit embarks upon a perilous journey to hell on earth to destroy the One Ring, an incredibly dangerous instrument that grants its bearer great power while also corrupting their mind and body.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy remains a landmark cinematic experience even 24 years after it first took audiences to Middle Earth at the turn of the 21st century.

• Stream The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring on Max.
• Stream The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers on Max.
• Stream The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King on Max.

The Lord Of The Rings: The War Of The Rohirrim (2024)

The Director: Kenji Kamiyama

The Cast: Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Luke Pasqualino, Laurence Ubong Williams, Lorraine Ashborne, Miranda Otto

What It's About: Set before the Lord of the Rings movies, this film documents the story of King Helm Hammerhand, and how he begins a war by unintentionally killing the leader of an opposing faction, leading to bloodshed.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Look, if you like The Lord of the Rings movies, you’re going to like this one. The animation is utterly beautiful, with an anime style that is perfected so wonderfully it’ll make you want to watch more anime after. Plus, there’s much more to love about the film, and I would fully suggest watching it, even if you’re not fully aware of all the fantasy aspects.

• Stream The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim on Max.

Wonka (2023)

The Director: Paul King

The Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas

What It's About: Based on the fictional character of the same name, Wonka is the origin story of Willy Wonka, the famous chocolatier, and how he struggles to get his passion project up and running in the face of the Chocolate Mafia.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: Yes, I know that premise sounds wacky but this film is honestly a fun time. Chalamet gives a hilarious but sweet performance, the music mixes well with the fantasy, and it has a lot of heart – and yes, you will be craving chocolate after.

• Stream Wonka on Max.

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

The Director: Victor Fleming

The Cast: Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley

What It's About: A young girl is transported from a dusty farm in Kansas to the technicolor dreamland of Oz where she must defeat a wicked witch if she wants to ever see home again.

Why It's One Of The Best Movies On Max: To this day, The Wizard of Oz remains one of the most fantastical cinematic experiences and continues to enchant audiences of all ages.

• Stream The Wizard of Oz on Max.

All of these movies and more are available to anyone with a Max subscription. This list will change as the months go by so make sure to bookmark this page and check back for all future updates.

Horror movie fans surely know that Max is one of the best streaming services to subscribe to when you are in the mood to watch something spooky. That being said, as we are now in the Halloween season, this is a great time to have a Max subscription. Just see for yourself as I present my picks for the best horror movies on Max right now.

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

Director: Wes Craven

Starring: Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp

What it’s about: A teenage girl and her friends fall prey to a badly burned boogeyman with the ability to kill his victims in their dreams.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: One of Robert Englund’s best performances (and the most iconic) is as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street – a classic supernatural slasher.

• Stream A Nightmare on Elm Street on Max

Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)

Director: Halina Reijn

Starring: Amandla Stenberg, Maria Bakalova

What it’s about: A simple party game among a group of friends turns far too real when people begin to turn up dead.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: One of the best horror movies from a female director in recent memory is A24’s Bodies Bodies Bodies – a clever send-up of modern youth culture disguised as a bloody whodunnit.

• Stream Bodies Bodies Bodies on Max

The Shining (1980)

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall

What it’s about: A novelist slowly begins to lose his mind while he, his wife, and his young son serve as the caretaker for a Colorado hotel harboring dark secrets.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: Despite a cold reception from the author, Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining is widely considered one of the most terrifying and captivatingly mysterious films of all time.

• Stream The Shining on Max

Doctor Sleep (2019)

Director: Mike Flanagan

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyleigh Curran

What it’s about: A telepath recovering from addiction and a terrible childhood tragedy must confront his past to protect a younger and more powerful psychic from a vicious gang of immortals.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: As both a faithful interpretation of the novel and an honorable sequel to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Mike Flanagan’s stirring adaptation of Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep actually helped the author come to terms with his issues with the 1980 classic.

• Stream Doctor Sleep on Max

Gremlins (1984)

Director: Joe Dante

Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates

What it’s about: After three important rules are accidentally broken, a young man’s unique, furry new pet spawns duplicates that transform into mischievous, reptilian creatures.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: In addition to being one of the best Christmas horror movies, producer Steven Spielberg’s Gremlins is so effectively creepy and cartoonishly uproarious, that a fan can enjoy it any time.

• Stream Gremlins on Max

I Saw The TV Glow (2024)

Director: Jane Schoenbrun

Starring: Justice Smith, Brigette Lundy-Paine

What it’s about: Two teens bond over a strange late-night TV show that alters their lives forever.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: The unsettling, subversive recent A24 movie, I Saw the TV Glow is Jane Schoenbrun’s acclaimed follow-up to We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.

• Stream I Saw the TV Glow on Max

It And It Chapter Two (2017, 2019)

Director: Andy Muschietti

Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Martell

What they’re about: In the 1980s, a group of preteens battle a shape-shifting, fear-feeding demon and reunite decades later to destroy him once and for all.

Why they are some of the best horror movies on Max: The two-part, big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s It had a profound effect on the creepy clown movie subgenre, thanks to Bill Skarsgård’s chilling performance as Pennywise.

• Stream It and It Chapter Two on Max

Poltergeist (1982)

Director: Tobe Hooper

Starring: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson

What it’s about: A suburban family struggles to rescue their youngest daughter from malevolent spirits that have invaded their home and kidnapped her into the netherworld.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: Even without acknowledging the alleged curse connected to Poltergeist, producer Steven Spielberg’s ghost story is a truly haunting masterpiece, bearing the soul of a family drama and the pulse of a thriller.

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The Exorcist (1973)

Director: William Friedkin

Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair

What it’s about: An actor believes she has no choice but to call on the help of a priest after her 12-year-old daughter exhibits upsetting behavior.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: Hollywood’s obsession with demonic possession movies can be traced back to the critical and commercial success of The Exorcist – a startling, Oscar-nominated adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s novel, which was inspired by allegedly true events.

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Trick ‘R Treat (2007)

Director: Michael Dougherty

Starring: Quinn Lord, Dylan Baker, Anna Paquin

What it’s about: A school principal with a dark secret, a young woman trying to find a date for a costume party, a reclusive, elderly curmudgeon, and others experience an All Hallows’ Eve unlike any other.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: The mischievous trick-or-treater Sam serves as the main connective tissue for each tale told in Trick ‘r Treat – a funny horror anthology movie that gained a cult following for its passionate celebration of Halloween.

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Beetlejuice (1988)

Director: Tim Burton

Starring: Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton

What it’s about: After an eccentric new family takes over their home, the lingering spirits of a recently deceased couple regrettably enlist a malicious ghost to help drive them out.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: The quintessential Tim Burton movie might be Beetlejuice, which is one of the most unique horror-comedy films of all time for its surreal production design and Keaton’s high-energy performance.

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Saw (2004)

Director: James Wan

Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell

What it’s about: Victims of a sadistic kidnapper recall what led to their captivity while trying to figure out a safe way to escape.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: Some audiences assume the Saw movies are just a series of torturous scenes, but the original is lighter on carnage than it is on suspense.

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The Dead Don’t Die (2019)

Director: Jim Jarmusch

Starring: Bill Murray, Adam Driver

What it’s about: Citizens of an already strange small town encounter an even stranger situation when reanimated corpses rise from their graves.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: A ridiculously large cast of actors – also including Tilda Swinton, Selena Gomez, Steve Buscemi, and more – star in the ridiculously absurd, but also vastly underrated, zombie movie, The Dead Don’t Die.

• Stream The Dead Don’t Die on Max

Scream (1996)

Director: Wes Craven

Starring: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox

What it’s about: A group of California teens are stalked by a masked assailant with a knack for scary movie trivia.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: The slasher movie genre was revived in the 1990s with the frightening and clever first installment of the Scream movies, which have a seventh installment in the works with Neve Campbell returning as Sidney Prescott.

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Evil Dead (2013)

Director: Fede Álvarez

Starring: Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez

What it’s about: A recovering drug addict who falls prey to sinister, possessive forces after her friends bring her to a remote cabin.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: Alongside producers Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell, and Rob Tapert, Fede Alvarez crafts a reboot worthy of being called one of the all-time best Evil Dead movies with his more earnest, clever, and relentlessly brutal reimagining of the 1981 classic.

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Fright Night (1985)

Director: Tom Holland

Starring: William Ragsdale, Chris Sarandon, Roddy McDowell

What it’s about: A teenage boy enlists the help of his friends and a TV horror host when he suspects his new neighbor is a creature of the night.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: While its 2011 remake was well-received, most fans believe the original Fright Night is the better vampire movie and one of the most fun horror films of its time.

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Sinister (2012)

Director: Scott Derrickson

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance

What it’s about: True crime author Ellison Oswalt moves his family into the site of a grisly murder as research for his next book, only to uncover a much stranger and more unsettling mystery than he could have imagined.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: The film that cemented Ethan Hawke as a modern Scream King is the chilling modern haunted house movie masterpiece, Sinister.

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Midsommar (2019)

Director: Ari Aster

Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor

What it’s about: A cultural festival in Sweden proves to be too much to handle for the grieving Dani, her emotionally distant boyfriend, Christian, and their friends.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: Hereditary creator Ari Aster proves he has the talent to unsettle audiences to their core even in a bright, idyllic setting with his sophomore feature-length effort, and one of the best A24 horror movies yet, Midsommar.

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It Comes At Night (2017)

Director: Trey Edward Schults

Starring: Joel Edgerton, Carmen Ejogo, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Christopher Abbott, Riley Keough

What it’s about: A family of three breaks one of their rules for surviving a cataclysmic virus by taking in another couple and their young son.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: It Comes at Night is not quite the horror film that its marketing led some to believe but its devastating commentary on human nature in the wake of catastrophe makes it one of the best A24 movies yet.

• Stream It Comes at Night on Max

The Amityville Horror (1979)

Director: Stuart Rosenberg

Starring: James Brolin, Margot Kidder

What it’s about: George and Kathy Lutz move into a seemingly perfect home with their children that turns out to be the site of a brutal murder and soon proves to be a living nightmare.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: Just about all the most essential haunted house movie tropes can be traced back to the classic, original adaptation of Jay Anson’s book, The Amityville Horror, which is allegedly inspired by terrifying true events.

• Stream The Amityville Horror on Max

Evil Dead Rise (2023)

Director: Lee Cronin

Starring: Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland

What it’s about: A woman must protect her nephew and nieces from their own mother after possessive forces invade their L.A. apartment building.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: Some say the Evil Dead movies make up the greatest horror franchise ever and the latest gruesome installment, Evil Dead Rise – which brings the action out of the woods – only continues to further that claim.

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Paranormal Activity (2009)

Director: Oren Peli

Starring: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat

What it’s about: Micah tries to capture evidence to back up claims from his girlfriend, Katie, that they are being haunted.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: One of the first films to bring the found-footage thriller genre to the mainstream is the first installment of the Paranormal Activity movies – a low-budget, partially improvised, and overall terrifying instant classic.

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Night Of The Living Dead (1968)

Director: George A. Romero

Starring: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea

What it’s about: Seven people who find themselves trapped in a rural farmhouse, in a deadly battle against zombies.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Max: No horror movie list is complete without a George A. Romero selection, such as Night of the Living Dead – the terrifying apocalyptic thriller that ushered in a new wave of horror movie filmmaking and made the zombie movie genre what it is today.

No matter what time of the year, this leading streaming service always has movies that are scary to the Max.

SPOLER WARNING: The following article gives away all the most essential plot details from Child’s Play. If you have not seen the 1988 classic by now, don’t say we didn’t warn you by the time you get the to end, friend.

Just like any of the greatest horror movie villains, it really is impossible to get rid of Chucky. Case in point: the otherwise cuddly-looking doll possessed by the soul of a serial killer (voiced by Brad Dourif) is back at it for another murderous rampage on the second season of his self-titled TV show. 

The upcoming premiere of Chucky Season 2 — which airs simultaneously on USA and SYFY, Wednesday, October 5, at 10 p.m. ET — got me in the mood to revisit the film that started it all, and is the best of the franchise in most people’s eyes: 1988’s Child’s Play. “I beg of you” to take a look at this breakdown of what was going on in my head during my most recent viewing of this fun, creepy, and sometimes hilarious horror classic, starting with some much-needed praise for the actor behind deadly toy.

Brad Dourif Is So Underrated

It is no wonder why an icon like Mark Hamill was intimidated by the chance to voice Chucky in 2019’s Child’s Play remake, because even he realizes that the role is owned by Brad Dourif. With an Academy Award nomination for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the killer doll still remains his most famous role, but even I think the unending praise he receives for giving the villain a voice is not quite enough. His performance as Charles Lee Ray in the original film’s opening scene, even before the dying fugitive transfers his soul into the Good Guy, boasts a remarkably compelling combination of fury and desperation.

You Know A Horror Movie Is Good When The First Kill Is This Insane

The quality of a slasher movie villain is determined by the effectiveness of their kills and Chucky earns himself a seat among the best in the business the moment he claims his first victim in Child’s Play. Dinah Manoff’s Maggie Peterson — watching young Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) while his mom, Karen (Catherine Hicks), is at work — takes a child-sized hammer to the forehead, which sends her hurtling through a window and falling several stories before landing on a pickup truck parked outside the Barclay’s apartment building. The way director Tom Holland (no, not the Spider-Man actor) ramps up the tension in the moment leading up to the brutal attack really sells it as a frightening classic. 

Karen Discovering Chucky Has No Batteries Is Never Not Chilling

However, Maggie’s death might not even be the scariest scene in Child’s Play, which really only hints at the fact that Charles Lee Ray is still alive in “Chucky” until one very clever and creepy reveal. The look on Karen’s face when she finds the doll’s batteries still in the box before opening him up to discover he isn’t powered by electricity, after all, is priceless. The now iconic moment never fails to send a shiver down my spine.

Norris’ Face-Off With Chucky In His Car Is Truly Thrilling

Chris Sarandon may be recognized better from the Princess Bride cast, but I especially love his performance in Child’s Play as Det. Mike Norris, who finally realizes that Andy and Karen were telling the truth about Chucky when the doll hides in his car and attacks him from behind while he is driving. It is a thoroughly intense sequence, both for the vengeful, yet still playful, ferocity Chucky exudes when facing the man who killed him in his human form. Not to mention, the idea of having to fight off an assailant when behind the wheel of a moving vehicle is horrifying enough in concept.

The Movie’s Scariest Element, Really, Is How Often Andy Comes Close To Death 

However, if there is one thing that truly frightens me the most about Child’s Play, it is all the ways that Andy’s life is put in jeopardy throughout the film. Seeing the six-year-old skip school to take a train across town while accompanied by no one but his homicidal doll is enough to get my blood boiling. However, I was audibly shouting when he walks way too close to the home of Chucky’s former partner-in-crime, Eddie Caputo (Neil Giuntoli) just seconds before Chucky blows it up. 

How Did Alex Vincent Not Have A Bigger Career After A Performance This Good? 

While it is really no challenge for a child character to earn my sympathies, I don’t think I would have such a soft spot for Andy if it were not for Alex Vincent’s performance. His enchanting wonderment while watching a Good Guy ad on TV, his plea for protection when he spots Chucky coming for him from his psych ward window, and the way he delivers the heroic line, “This is the end, friend!” is so perfectly convincing. I really believe it is one of the best children's performances in a horror movie, and I’m glad Vincent is still part of the franchise to this day, having appeared on the Chucky series, most recently.

Charles Lee Ray Has The Most Cliched Serial Killer Apartment Ever

While searching for any leads that might point them in the direction of where Chucky may strike next, Norris and Karen scope out Charles Lee Ray’s apartment which, upon first glance, made me wonder how this creep wasn’t caught any earlier. With a collection of undressed mannequins crudely placed in front of a window, paintings of graphic, ritualistic imagery all over the walls, and some weird table made out of legs, this is the definitive serial killer’s home, and I feel more uncomfortable with every passing moment the film spends showing it to us.

How Did This Movie Not Get An Oscar For Its VFX?

An element of Child’s Play that always leaves me amazed is the visual effects work that brings Chucky to life with animatronics that were very impressive for the late ‘80s and still hold up fantastically today. I know the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has never been too kind to horror (save a few notable exceptions), but I cannot imagine why this film’s VFX were left completely ignored. I would call it one of the horror genre’s worst Oscar snubs ever.

Not Sure What’s Creepier: Chucky In Standard Doll Form Or A Walking Hunk Of Burnt, Melting Plastic?

On second thought, maybe the Academy couldn’t nominate Child’s Play’s VFX work because they were too frightened to look at it and I cannot say I blame them. I mean, even before Chucky reveals his true self, the soulless grin on the Good Guy’s face is already pretty unsettling, if you ask me. Then again, the tension escalates quite a bit after Andy sets Chucky on fire and he comes back as a hideously burned, dripping shell of himself. Even then, the jury is still out on what his scariest appearance really is, in my book.

I Forgot How Much I Loved Child’s Play

One think I can definitively say about Child’s Play upon what was my second viewing is that I did not realize how much I unironically enjoy this movie is until now. Despite its inherently ridiculous concept, its genuinely effective scares and clever plot structure honestly qualify it as one of the best horror movies of its time as far as I am concerned. You could even watch it as an earnest thriller or just a good horror-comedy (shots of Chucky when he is clearly played by a little person in a mask are done in an especially hilarious way), and have a good time either way.

This Child’s Play re-watch actually has me thinking a few other things. One: maybe I should finally watch some of the sequels for once (yes, I admit, I have never seen any past the original); and two: I still firmly stand by my belief that Chucky is the scarier horror movie doll over Annabelle from the Conjuring Universe.

Even as horror movies go, the Child’s Play franchise is among the more outrageous. That brazen, nothing is too far attitude is one of the things fans love most about the franchise. There was some concern about whether that would extend to Chucky, the more recent television adaptation, but Season 1 was a hit with both fans and critics. Now it’s scheduled to return for Season 2, and if this clip is anything like what we’re going to get, we can expect a lot that won’t be safe for work.

The clip in question, which is heavy on the edited f-bombs, was tweeted out by horror favorite Devon Sawa who appeared in Season 1 playing twin brothers. He’s back for another round this time, and he called the scene in question “bananas” when he tweeted about it on Twitter. I’d have to agree. You can check the madness out for yourself below…

There’s a certain Child’s Play blending of morbid danger and humor that has always felt very original. I think one reason why so many fans of the movie franchise connected with the new series is because of how much it gets that. That probably shouldn’t come as a surprise given it was created by Don Mancini who wrote all the Child’s Play movies and directed the later ones. He was heavily involved in writing the first season of Chucky and also working with partners USA and SYFY to make sure enough foul language was allowed. Chucky voice actor Brad Dourif also returned for the series.

The goal of any television adaptation of a beloved property should always be finding the balance between honoring what’s best about the original and creating something entirely new. There’s no single guidebook to how to do that. It really depends on the specific project. Well, the first season of Chucky was able to hit that balance nicely, with lots of fun references for those really into Child’s Play but also enough of something new to entice those who may have been a bit young to have seen the original film when it dropped all the way back in 1988, though we've seen regular installments since. It also probably helps that fans are used to some changes in direction between the movies.

Season 2 of Chucky is set to return on October 5th. It’ll once again be shown via simulcast in the United States on both SYFY and USA Network.

One of the many wonderful and formidable aspects of horror movies is the genre’s ability to evolve over time with a new trend or style associated with each generation (but not without a few underwhelming hiccups here and there). Probably the most definitive era for the genre is the 1980s and the trend most commonly associated with that decade is easily slasher flicks, such as Friday the 13th - a quintessential example for the subgenre (mainly because it is one of the earliest from that specific era). Thirteen is, appropriately, the number of classic ‘80s slasher movies we have compiled below (along with tips of where to find them on streaming, available for digital rental, or to purchase on physical media), starting with the sequel to one I would have included if it wasn’t made two years too early. 

Halloween II (1981)

Just moments after surviving Michael Myers’ murderous rampage, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is taken to a hospital where she learns that the terror has not yet ended and discovers a shocking revelation about herself on a deadly All Hallow’s Eve.

Why it is a great ‘80s slasher movie: The first direct follow-up to John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece is infamously responsible for introducing the needless hidden connection between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode (which is no longer canon thanks to 2018’s soft reboot), but Halloween II is still worth revisiting for some of the most brutal and inventive kills of the Halloween movies series, all while still maintaining much of the same ominous tone. 

Rent/buy Halloween II digitally on Amazon.
Buy Halloween II on DVD/Blu-ray on Amazon.

Prom Night (1980)

A group of high school seniors are stalked and killed one-by-one by a masked assailant, bringing to light a shocking revelation about each other which they have kept hidden for years, on the night of their school dance.

Why it is a great ‘80s slasher movie: This list would not be complete without more than one entry starring the all-time greatest of the Scream Queens, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Prom Night is the most iconic and arguably best of her freaky filmography outside of the Halloween movies for its fun mystery story, visceral approach to gore, and the late, great Leslie Nielsen in one of his last non-comedic performances.

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My Bloody Valentine (1981)

The citizens of a small mining town learn that they should have listened to a decades-old urban legend about a killer out to turn any celebration on February 14th into a night of bloodlust.

Why it is a great ‘80s slasher movie: Speaking of Halloween (again), the holiday-themed horror movies inspired a huge trend of holiday-themed horror movies in the 1980s, including My Bloody Valentine - a cult favorite that redefines what it means to have your heart stolen on the most romantic of day of year and Quentin Tarantino cites as his favorite slasher.

Stream My Bloody Valentine on Hulu.
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Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

Years after witnessing his parents get murdered on by a man in a Santa suit, an 18-year-old gets a job as a department store Santa, at which point his latent homicidal tendencies are awakened and promise the opposite of a merry Christmas.

Why it is a great ‘80s slasher movie: Christmas was not safe from the holiday horror movies trend either and, despite its cheesy sequel being remembered as the more iconic installment, the original Silent Night, Deadly Night is held in higher regard as a comparatively more earnest and scary way to have a bloody good Christmas.

Rent/buy Silent Night, Deadly Night digitally on Amazon.
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Friday The 13th (1980)

Years after the murder of two young counselors resulted in its closing, a group of youths spend a seemingly normal Friday preparing to revive Camp Crystal Lake for another summer, only to fall prey to someone who will kill before that happens.

Why it is a great ‘80s slasher movie: Of course, the most successful attempt to cash-in on the success of Halloween was the very first of the long-running, beloved series of Friday the 13th movies - which many also consider to be the best of the franchise (especially for Tom Savini’s always brilliant special effects) despite a villain who is not the hockey-mask clad, machete-wielding Jason Voorhees, but someone very close to the immortal psychopath.

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Sleepaway Camp (1983)

Years after surviving a horrible accident, a shy girl (Felissa Rose) and her close cousin (Jonathan Tiersten) are sent away for the summer to a camp where counselors and campers alike suddenly begin to turn up dead.

Why it is a great ‘80s slasher movie: One of the more successful attempts to cash-in on the success of Friday the 13th was Sleepaway Camp, which, despite an infamous twist ending that many consider to be transphobic — more on that topic here —  is one of the slasher genre’s most definitive guilty pleasures for hilariously amateur acting and special effects that, while charming, certainly do not hold a candle to Tom Savini’s abilities.

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A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

A teenage girl (Heather Langenkamp) struggles to stay awake when she suspects that, if the badly burned boogeyman (Robert Englund) stalking her subconscious kills her in her dreams, he will kill her in real life, too.

Why it is a great ‘80s slasher movie: The film that skyrocketed writer and director Wes Craven into the mainstream and introduced the world to one of the creepiest horror movie villains, Freddy Krueger, is A Nightmare on Elm Street - a supernatural slasher that still holds up very well today, especially when you learn that the story was loosely inspired by true events.

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Child’s Play (1988)

A single mother (7th Heaven’s Catherine Hicks) begins to suspect that the horrifying things happening around her are somehow connected to a popular doll she bought for her son at a discounted price from a street vendor.

Why it is a great ‘80s slasher movie: Another classic supernatural slasher famous for bringing another legend of the genre to life is Child’s Play - a genuinely fun, often shocking, and clever indictment on consumerism with great special effects which jumpstarted a franchise that is still alive today with one of the newest horror TV shows, Chucky, in which Brad Dourif returns to voice the deadly doll. 

Stream Child’s Play on Starz.
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Hell Night (1981)

Two college fraternity pledges and two aspiring sorority girls agree to be locked inside a supposedly haunted house as part of an initiation ritual on a night that might see this greek life tradition come to a fateful end. 

Why it is a great ‘80s slasher movie: Speaking of legends of the genre, Linda Blair (whose performance in 1973’s The Exorcist earned her an Oscar nomination at 12 years old) leads the cast of Hell Night - another ‘80s cult favorite that is a bit of a slow burn, but concludes with one of the most exciting final acts I have ever seen in a slasher movie.

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Intruder (1989)

The overnight stocking crew at a local grocery store soon discover that they are locked inside with a murderous maniac when grisly calls for clean-ups begin to appear in the aisles. 

Why it is a great ‘80s slasher movie: Fellow horror movie legends Sam Raimi (writer and director of the Evil Dead movies) and Bruce Campbell (star of the Evil Dead movies) both appear in Intruder - another fun and clever cult classic that likely inspired one of the Fear Street movies’ most shocking and memorable kills. 

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Basket Case (1982)

A series of horrifying murders begin to happen in New York, with signs showing that they are somehow connected to a young man (Kevin Van Hentenryck) who carries around a mysterious basket wherever he goes.

Why it is a great ‘80s slasher movie: Writer and director Frank Henenlotter would become a horror legend with help from his feature-length directorial debut Basket Case - another shamelessly schlocky, gloriously gory, and thoroughly entertaining somewhat supernatural slasher favorite that, in many ways, might have inspired James Wan’s Malignant… but I will not dare spoil how.

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The Funhouse (1981)

A young couple on their first date, with two other friends tagging along, go for a visit to their local amusement park, only to be subjected to a night that is anything but amusing when they become trapped inside an attraction with a killer.

Why it is a great ‘80s slasher movie: Director Tobe Hooper was already an established horror legend years earlier with the release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but The Funhouse is one the last examples of the late, great filmmaker at his most raw and nightmarish and in a setting that is normally meant to make one feel at ease.

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The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

A (mostly) innocent night shared by a group of young ladies is interrupted by the intrusion of an escaped mental patient whose weapon of choice is giant power drill.

Why it is a great ‘80s slasher movie: B-movie legend Roger Corman’s producer credit for the stylish and creepy The Slumber Party Massacre is just one reason why writer Rita Mae Brown and director Amy Holden Jones’ vision of a nuanced commentary on female representation in the horror genre went over critics’ and audiences heads at the time, but modern audiences have luckily come to praise it as such.

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Whoever said that all slasher movies are the same has likely not seen enough of them because the 13 titles above are some of the best horror movies ever made (or, at least, in the ‘80s) as far as I am concerned.

For years I’ve spent hours watching horror movies, from some of the best horror movies out there to newer ones that have come out, like Malignant or 2021’s Candyman. However, there’s just something about the classic horror movie villains that truly make me shiver in fright every single time I watch their films over and over. 

Honestly, they deserve all the praise in the world for not only haunting our nightmares, but creating truly memorable movie-going experiences. In no particular order, here are some of the creepiest, truly terrifying classic horror movie villains that still make me shake.

Michael Myers (Halloween) 

Michael Myers is the main antagonist in every Halloween movie, created by John Carpenter. His story begins as a young boy, where he murdered his older sister, and is sent to a psychiatric hospital. But years later, he returns to his home, with one goal in mind - to murder more teenagers. 

If I was ranking this list, Michael Myers would be my number one, hands down, probably tied with one other we’ll get into later. There’s just something about him that makes me want to hide under the covers. Michael Myers isn’t this crazy-looking monster in the Halloween franchise. He’s just a man in a mask who’s really good at killing. He doesn't speak, he doesn't yell, he just stands there, menacingly, and stalks until he reaches his prey. 

Jamie Lee Curtis had her breakout role in the original Halloween films, and her interactions with Myers are truly terrifying. Even though I’ve seen the original film so many times, he still haunts me to this day. And who can forget his epic musical theme? That piano gets me excited every time I watch. 

Candyman (Candyman) 

In Candyman, the legend of Candyman is actually about the ghost of an artist and the son of a slave, who was brutally murdered for having a relationship with a white woman with a rich father. Now, he’s returning to haunt the same spot he was murdered in centuries ago. 

Candyman is definitely another instance where there’s nothing truly physically terrifying about him. From a distance, he looks like any other normal person, wearing that iconic long coat. But as he comes closer, you start to notice slowly that some things are off, and then he brings out that clawed hand. What really makes Candyman terrifying is that he’s not a physical presence. 

He’s fully a spirit, but because he has that ability, he’s able to manipulate Helen’s life, the main character in Candyman. He murders people, and then puts the blame on her, where she can’t even explain why there are murders - because the true murderer, Candyman, has vanished. Her life ruined, just like that. 

Chucky (Child’s Play) 

The story of Chucky - you know, that creepy-ass looking doll - is that he was a serial killer who was hunted down by the police, but when he is dying from a gunshot wound, he is able to transfer his soul into the “Good Guys” doll, and through that, tries to transfer to a human body. 

Ugh, God, I don’t even want to talk about Chucky, to be honest. As someone who grew up with American Girl Dolls, the idea of a serial killer hiding in dolls creeps me out enough, but just looking at the face of this doll makes it worse. Chucky is terrifying because it’s literally a child’s doll, one of the most seemingly harmless things. But then all of a sudden, the doll is straight-up killing everyone, and who would ever suspect a doll would do that? 

While there’s been remakes of the original movie, including a 2019 film where Mark Hamill voiced the iconic character, nothing will ever top the first. 

Jack Torrance (The Shining)

Jack Torrance was just a regular guy when he took on the job to watch over the Overlook Hotel with his family in Stephen King’s The Shining. But when those evil spirits start to take over his mind, drowning him in his alcoholism and past trauma, his insanity takes hold, and nothing can stop him. 

First off, I want to preface this by saying that no one else could play Jack Torrance like Jack Nicholson. No one. Nicholson brings this certain kind of crazy to the role that’s iconic and can truly never be topped. But what really makes Jack Torrance so terrifying is that he really was just a regular person prior to this. 

Did he have problems? Oh, heck yeah. But never at the beginning of the story did you think he would ever want to not only murder his wife but his child as well. It’s a slow, achingly creepy transformation, with a climatic payoff at the end, acted to perfection. 

Queen Mother (Alien)

The supreme ruler of the entire Xenomorph species of alien, the Queen Mother is one of the many antagonists in the Alien franchise, and honestly, scares the living sh*t out of me. 

Many of the classic horror movie villains on this list are normal-looking people, or strange spirits from another world or dimension, but there is just something about the Queen Mother that makes me want to jump out a window. The tentacles, mixed in with those sharp teeth, along with how quick she is - I mean, literally all of the other aliens, even other Queen Xenomorphs, bow down to her. 

She’s powerful, horrifying, and hungry for you - and that’s enough to make anyone squirm at the TV. 

The Thing (The Thing) 

In The Thing, the titular monster is a hostile shape-shifting extra-terrestrial and the primary villain of the 1982 film, with the ability to assimilate into other living forms to survive and spread. 

The thing with the Thing (see what I did there) is that it’s honestly not that scary at first glance, just like Candyman. But while Candyman was just a ghost, the Thing is something that you literally can’t see. 

It can be anyone. It’s the paranoia of who might be this terrifying, horrible creature, because it could be your friend, your wife, your husband, your daughter, anything. There are few ways to figure out who it is, but who exactly can you trust? The very idea makes my skin crawl. 

Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th)

In the Friday the 13th franchise, Jason Voorhees is the main antagonist for most of the series, except for the very first film, although his name is featured. He’s a little boy who drowned in Camp Crystal Lake when he was a camper because the counselors were too busy having sex, so he comes back to murder everyone there. 

While Jason wasn’t around in the first film and his mother was the main villain there, he ended up becoming one of the most recognizable faces in horror, thanks to that iconic hockey mask from the third film. Jason has become more of a supernatural being over the films he’s been in - even having a fight with Freddy Kreuger down in hell one time - but there’s no denying he's terrifying. 

He just doesn’t seem like he can die, even in the afterlife. He’s still terrorizing from beyond the grave. Who would have thought a machete and a hockey mask would make for one of the most iconic characters ever?

Norman Bates (Psycho)

Directed by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho features Norman Bates, a seemingly normal man who has a love for his mother and looks over a motel. But as time passes, there’s a sinister secret behind Bates - and his true insanity. 

Out of everyone on this list, Norman Bates is one of those horror movie villains that I can feasibly see happening in the real world. He seems completely normal at first, but soon, we find out that he’s literally kept his mother’s skeleton, mummifying her corpse after murdering her, recreating his mother in his mind as an alternate personality, and kills women when he’s in that personality. 

The dude is just freaking unhinged, but to be honest, this sort of strange mental manipulation can happen to people in the real world, which is what makes a character like Norman so terrifying. Who knows what would have happened if he wasn’t caught, how many other women he might have killed. Plus, you can never forget that iconic shower scene with that famous score. 

Pazuzu (The Exorcist) 

The Exorcist franchise is memorable in many ways, but no one can quite outdo the first. In The Exorcist, for a bit it's unknown what exactly is possessing Regan, but soon reveals itself to be an evil entity from Hell called Pazuzu, controlling the mind of the young girl, killing people along the way. 

Pazuzu is another case where we don’t actively see the villain. There’s really no physical presence. But we can tell how chilling and horrifying it is through the possession of Regan. It physically changes her body, her character, takes over her mind, causing her skin to rot, makes her body float, harms her - it’s truly evil. 

It even goes as far as to cause a heart attack in someone else, Merrin, because it wants to hold onto a human body so badly. 

Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street)

Last but certainly not least, we take a look at Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. Freddy is the spirit of a serial killer who uses a gloved hand with razors to kill his victims in their dreams, causing their deaths in the real world at the same time. 

My first pick on this list was Michael Myers, but if I was ranking them, Freddy would be tied with Myers for how terrifying both of them are, mainly because Freddy has a hold on one thing we truly thought would never harm us - dreams and nightmares. When we wake up from them, we’re not actually harmed from nightmares, or living in dream worlds, but Freddy can get into those nightmares and dreams and literally kill you from inside your own head, causing your death in the real world. 

That sort of thought is bloody scary to think of - to me, I always feel the safest in my bed, where I feel the most vulnerable, and to have that taken away from you with just a flick of Freddy’s wrist, and your life ended? That’s a terrifying villain, one that truly deserves the amount of movies he’s gotten. 

With so many iconic horror villains, I can only hope that all the upcoming horror movies will have just as many amazingly scary antagonists. Who knows? We might get the next horror icon in the next year or so - only time will tell.

The Child’s Play and Chucky movies have created a horror movie franchise that has it all: an iconic villain, a good blend of comedy and horror, and a dedicated fanbase ready and willing to sign-up for any project involving that killer doll. Now, fans of the red-headed monster have more to look forward to with Syfy’s Chucky TV Show.

Soon Chucky fans will be able to watch the doll do what he does best, kill, weekly. We still have a while before the Chucky TV show premieres on Syfy, but there has been plenty of information floating around, including a proposed release year. Let’s dig into all the details we have about the upcoming Chucky TV show.

Chucky Is Set To Premiere In 2021

The Chucky TV show is supposed to premiere in 2021. In July 2020, Child’s Play screenwriter and Chucky showrunner Don Mancini released an official teaser for the series. It doesn’t show much beyond Chucky’s silhouette, and starts with “coming 2021.”

The Chucky TV series was supposed to start filming in fall 2020, but got delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on cast announcements, and cast and crew social media updates, it appears that filming has begun, or will begin in March or April 2021.This would mean a quick turnaround to keep the 2021 premiere date. Because the Chucky TV show is part of the horror genre, I suspect that the aim is to premiere it close to Halloween.

Chucky Will Air On SyFy And USA Network

The Chucky TV series press release revealed that the show will air on Syfy and USA Network. Chucky airing on both networks makes sense because NBCUniversal Television owns both channels. Airing on each network should make it easier for viewers to catch it when they want to tune in, especially if it airs at different dates and times, which will add to the convenience.

No details have been released yet about whether NBC will make Chucky available on its Peacock streaming service. If it will be, we also don’t know if it’ll be available weekly or after the entire first season airs.

Brad Dourif Will Return To Voice Chucky

For the majority of the Chucky films, Brad Dourif has voiced the fiendish villain, but for the 2019 Child’s Play reboot, Mark Hamill took on the role of the iconic doll character. But, Dourif will once again voice the killer doll for the Chucky TV Show.

Many Chucky fans consider Brad Dourif as the true Chucky voice, and are excited about this news. His voice acting really helped shape the character that many loathe and love.

Chucky’s Cast Includes Devon Sawa

In March 2021, the main Chucky cast was announced. The main characters will be four teens, and will be played by Zackary Arthur, Teo Briones, Alyvia Alyn Lind, and Bjorgvin Arnarson. Deadline also released a brief summary of each main character.

Arthur plays Jake Webber, who's described as a loner. His initial storyline will revolve around the death of his mother and being an outsider among his peers and father. Briones plays Junior Webber, Jake’s cousin. He’s the opposite of Jake as an overachiever who is also a jock.

Alyn Lind plays Lexy Taylor. She’s Junior’s girlfriend and a queen-bee type who bullies Jake and runs the school, while Arnarson plays Devon Lopez. He’s a true-crime junkie who makes it his mission to solve the town’s mysteries.

Each of these characters sounds pretty interesting, so hopefully, the adult characters are just as intriguing. One of those adult main characters will be played by Final Destination’s Devon Sawa. As of March 2021, details about his character are being kept a mystery.

Chucky Includes The Return Of Some Film Characters

The Chucky TV show teased characters from Chucky’s past making appearances. Therefore, we may see many cameos from the Chucky franchise make their way to the TV series.

Chucky wouldn’t feel complete without his main love, played by Jennifer Tilly. She will once again be reprising her role as Tiffany Valentine, Chucky’s girlfriend. In March 2021, Entertainment Weekly announced that Fiona Dourif will also make her return to the franchise in the Chucky TV show.

Fiona Dourif is the daughter of Brad Dourif, so they’ll be keeping it as a family affair when she returns to play Nica Pierce. Her first appearance was in Curse of Chucky, and then she reprised that role in Cult of Chucky. No other returns have been announced yet, but more familiar faces are likely to pop up throughout the series.

Chucky Explores Charles Lee Ray’s Past

The Chucky movies have explored some of Charles Lee Ray’s (Brad Dourif) past and his Lakeshore Strangler ways before, but, according to Collider, the Chucky TV show will go as far back as Charles Lee Ray’s childhood.

We’ll get to see the origin story that turned him into the serial killer who became a doll. My guess is that Devon Sawa’s role is a mystery because he will play Charles Lee Ray’s father. If this theory proves true, then the show could switch between the present and Ray’s past.

Chucky Goes Darker Than Ever Before

In a 2018 interview with Bloody Disgusting, Don Mancini stated his plans for the upcoming series. He stated that “we are going dark, darker than ever before. It’s going to be very creepy.” He further expanded on this in a Syfy Wire interview, where Mancini explained more about the Chucky TV series' tone:

Chucky Won’t Be A Reboot

Unlike the 2019 Child’s Play movie, it won’t be a reboot, but a continuation of the original Chucky story. Mancini also said in the Syfy interview that Chucky as a character will continue to evolve in the TV series. He discussed giving Chucky new weapons, targets, goals, and strategies to show how he combats modern times with video games and social media-obsessed children.

It would make sense for Chucky to plan to become insta-famous in the series, right?

No official release date has been announced yet for the Chucky TV show, so make sure to follow our 2021 TV premiere dates schedule to keep up with all the changes and announcements.

Every once in a while, reality is stranger than fiction. More often than not, you can trust reports of supernatural entities, such as possessed dolls, to be rooted in the latter. However, that wasn’t the case for some residents of Texas who recently received an Amber alert that featured a pair of demented dolls from the Child's Play franchise.

On Friday, January 29, the Texas Department of Public Safety accidentally sent out an Amber Alert for Chucky of Child’s Play fame, as well as Glen Ray, Chucky’s son in the franchise. Check out the full alert, which describes both in more detail:

First reported by Click 2 Houston, the full alert describes Chucky as the suspect, who's 28 years old with “red or auburn hair,” a height of 3’1 and “wielding a huge kitchen knife.” His son, Glen Ray, is listed as the abducted child who's five years old, sporting his father's “red or auburn hair” and clocking in at 2’3.

Now, if this was some internet prank, it’d be one thing. But to have a system wide alert featuring two characters from an iconic horror franchise be blasted out via the Amber Alert system, it’s no surprise there were more than a few raised eyebrows.

Shortly after the alert went out, Click 2 Houston reached out to the Department of Public Safety, which later issued a statement apologizing for the error and ensuring that the alert was indeed not real. In the department's words:

Thank goodness that this entire situation ended up just being a technical error. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could handle possessed dolls becoming a reality after the year we’ve had.

Amber Alerts were originally created in Texas as a way to rapidly identify missing or abducted children. AMBER is an acronym that stands for America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, and it's been in place since the abduction of Amber Hagerman in 1996.

The use of Chucky and Glen Ray seems to be a bit of morbid humor that would be right at home in the franchise known for comedic take on the slasher genre. There must be some old school horror fans working on the dev team at the Texas DPS.

Star Wars' Mark Hamill took over as the voice of Chucky in the 2019 reboot Child’s Play. The creepy doll has been an icon of the horror genre since 1988, when the original Child’s Play by Tom Holland (not to be confused with the web-slinging Tom Holland) released in theaters.

While the Chucky-themed Amber alerts were just a technical error, fans of the series can catch up with the murderous doll on Hulu or Showtime, the latter of which has the entirety of the original Child's Play film series. For more recent film fare, be sure to check out CinemaBlend’s 2021 Release Schedule for the latest on this year’s movies headed to the big (and small) screens near you.

No one would ever hold it against you if you didn't know that YouTube was home to a sizable collection of movies that are completely free to access (with or without a YouTube Premium account), but I have to say that the platform has some of the most iconic and ridiculous '80s movies out there. So instead of the watching all those fake trailers for movies with updated titles created just to get some views, you can totally watch fun movies like the criminally underrated classic Sylvester Stallone 1987 father-son adventure Over The Top.

The fun doesn't stop there, however, as YouTube has quintessential '80s movies like Teen Wolf, Lone Wolf McQuade, and my personal favorite, Blind Fury starring the late Rutger Hauer. No matter if you have premium access or don't mind watching a few ads, here are 12 awesome '80s movies you can watch for free on YouTube.

Over The Top (1987)

The very concept of Over the Top makes it a movie worth checking out, even if you couldn't watch it for free on YouTube. Sylvester Stallone plays Lincoln Hawk, an over-the-road trucker who is on a mission to be the biggest and baddest arm wrestler/truck driver in the continental United States all so that he can win the $100,000 cash prize and a pretty sweet and chromed-out semi-truck so he can start his own business. But that's not all.

In between the insane arm wrestling scenes (who knew truck stops were overflowing with arm wrestlers with reputations that precede them), there's a ridiculous story about Lincoln Hawk getting to know his estranged son after picking him up from military school. Add in some Kenny Loggins, the absurd way Sylvester Stallone turns his hat around, and that twist of his wrist (which should be cheating), and you have the recipe for a nearly perfect '80s movie.

Stream it on YouTube here.

Teen Wolf (1985)

Michael J. Fox was on the top of the world (and on top of moving vehicles) in the summer of 1985 after appearing in two highly successful movies: Back to the Future and Teen Wolf. And while I would love to go on and on about Fox's portrayal of Marty McFly, you can't watch him for free on YouTube unlike his take on Scott Howard, the awkward high school student who becomes the talk of the school after transforming into a righteous and radical werewolf who kills it on the basketball court.

Teen Wolf may not be as popular, successful, or even as well received as Back to the Future, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad movie. Its story about Scott Howard becoming a prick and essentially turning his back on everything he once stood for only to come around in the end is still one of the best performances by Michael J. Fox. Just don't fall down a rabbit hole and watch Teen Wolf Too, a movie so bad not even Jason Bateman couldn't save it.

Stream it on YouTube here.

Bloodsport (1988)

Jean-Claude Van Damme has some pretty iconic movies, but there are few that compare to the 1988 martial arts masterpiece that is Bloodsport. I don't know about you, but watching Van Damme's Frank Dux work his way into a secretive and deadly Hong Kong martial-arts tournament never gets old, even if his accent is all over the place (kind of like in Street Fighter a few years later).

Everything from Frank Dux's training (which comes in handy in his final match), to his deadly rivalry with Bolo Yeung's Chong Li, to the insane level of violence on display throughout this instant-classic, Bloodsport has a little bit of something for everyone, even those looking for shoehorned romance.

Stream it on YouTube here.

Mr. Mom (1983)

There is this level of mania that fills up Michael Keaton's body and soul in much of his early work that made the comedian-turned-Batman into one of the most likable and bankable stars of the 1980s. You could argue that Beetlejuice or Batman capture this best, but let's be honest here — nothing compares to Keaton's Jack Butler in the 1983 comedy Mr. Mom.

Watching Jack go from a father of three who's never home because he's working long hours at the Ford Motor Company to the stay-at-home dad who learns just how hard it is to keep a house in order never gets old. Add in the angle of Jack growing jealous of his wife, Caroline's (Teri Garr) newfound success at her new marketing agency, the classic chainsaw scene, and some of the great John Hughes charm, and you have yourself more than enough reasons to watch Mr. Mom (and not just because it's free).

Stream it on YouTube here.

Blind Fury (1989)

Whenever someone asks for a recommendation for an insane campy '80s action movie, the answer should always be Blind Fury. Haven't seen it? Well… the movie stars Rutger Hauer as a Vietnam war vet by the name of Nick Parker who was blinded by a mine in the jungle and was later trained by local villages in the art of the sword. Years later, Nick returns to America to find his old war buddy, Frank Deveraux (Terry O'Quinn), only to learn that he's missing. When some crooked cops and all around bad dudes come looking for Frank's kid, Billy (Brandon Call), the blind swordsman saves the boy and starts a ridiculous rescue mission.

This movie is insane. Like actually insane. The late Rutger Hauer is probably best remembered for his scene-stealing performance in Blade Runner, but seriously, Blind Fury is 86 minutes of pure insanity and everyone should stop what they're doing and watch this hidden gem of a movie.

Stream it on YouTube here.

Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)

Long before he became Walker Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris was J.J. McQuade, a lawman who likes to do things on his own and on his own terms in the 1983 action flick Lone Wolf McQuade. When tasked with locating a hijacked U.S. Army convoy and the exceptionally evil arms dealer (David Carradine) who's responsible for it, McQuade must change his ways and work with a state trooper and FBI agent to get the job done.

This is Chuck Norris at or around his prime, depending on who you ask, and he kicks more than a lot of ass throughout this modern-take on the old spaghetti westerns that made Clint Eastwood a star. Hell, even Roger Ebert loved the movie, which kind of redeems the late film critic for running some pretty great movies through the mud in his day.

Stream it on YouTube here.

The Wraith (1986)

In 1986, Charlie Sheen had a small bit role in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, a leading role in Platoon, and then a charming yet mysterious turn as Jake Kesey in Mike Marvin's supernatural action thrill-ride The Wraith. Although The Wraith isn't remembered as fondly (or really remembered at all) as his other efforts that year, the movie sill makes for a good time if you have 90 minutes to spare and want to see a masked driver who may or not be the ghost of a dead teenager seeking vengeance for those responsible for his death.

It's dark, it's mysterious, and a whole lot of fun, so why not check out a still-young and not-as-crazy Charlie Sheen?

Stream it on YouTube here.

Baby Boom (1987)

Diane Keaton is always at her best when playing a character in the middle of a major crisis or change in her life, and one of the best examples of that is in the 1987 romantic comedy Baby Boom in which Keaton's J.C. Wiatt goes from a successful New York businesswoman to the caretaker of a baby girl overnight and her life is completely thrown out of whack.

Baby Boom is one of those feel-good, can't-help-but-watch movies that you'll stumble across about 15 minutes in on cable some random Saturday afternoon, but now that it's streaming (for free) on YouTube, you don't have to deal with missing the opening moments or all those commercial breaks.

Stream it on YouTube here.

Earth Girls Are Easy (1989)

The '80s gave the world more than enough alien movies, but few have the charm or campiness as the 1989 musical comedy Earth Girls Are Easy, which follows Valerie Gail (Genna Davis) after she encounters three furry aliens (Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, and Damon Wayans) who become obsessed with women and California culture in general.

Earth Girls Are Easy is just as crazy as it sounds and further helped propel the careers of its three key aliens just years before they became household names for their unique comedic styles.

Stream it on YouTube here.

Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985)

Who knows if the Remo Williams character will ever be brought back (fingers crossed), but we will always have 1985's Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins to turn to in a tough spot. Based on a series of pulp novels, Guy Hamilton's action flick starring Fred Ward as New York cop Sam Makin (Fred Ward) who fakes his death and becomes Remo Williams is a wild, campy, and extremely fun ride through the seedy underbelly of New York City.

And sure, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins doesn't come up in casual conversation like other movies of the era, but it does feature an angry Wilford Brimley, and that's never not a good thing.

Stream it on YouTube here.

Child's Play (1988)

The 2019 Child's Play is getting a lot of attention, and for good reason, but that doesn't mean the 1988 original doesn't need a little love too. Now you can go back and see where it all began for the possessed "Good Guy" doll called Chucky. Tom Holland's (no, not that Tom Holland) cult classic is just as terrifying, hilarious, and gory as ever, and has surprisingly held up fairly well after all these years.

Stream it on YouTube here.

Runaway (1984)

Have you ever wanted to watch a science fiction action thriller written and directed by Michael Crichton with a cast that includes Tom Selleck, Gene Simmons, and Kirstie Alley? If so, Runaway, a 1984 movie about a cop tasked with hunting down dangerous robots, is the movie for you. It doesn't have the special effects, subtlety, or even charm of pretty much anything else from Crichton, but Runaway is really something else.

Stream it on YouTube here.

Those are just a few of the great '80s movies available for free on YouTube right now. You can also watch RoboCop, but it is the edited version for some reason, and that takes out most of the fun and charm of the incredibly violent and vulgar satirical action flick.

Halloween is a season meant to be enjoyed by people of all ages, which is why my younger self was thankful for horror movies that are not so scary to help me ease into it. If you want to watch something spooky but not too scary or are looking to give the genre a try, perhaps I can help. These are my recommendations for the best horror movies that are less likely to keep you up at night than your trick-or-treat candy.

Evil Dead II (1987)

Director: Sam Raimi

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry

What it’s about: Ash Williams must single-handedly fend off against the malevolent, possessive spirits that have invaded his woodland cabin.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: The original and more recent installments of the Evil Dead movies are quite extreme but Evil Dead II, arguably the greatest horror-comedy movie ever made, is a blast of cartoonish energy that younger viewers should have no trouble stomaching if they do not mind a little blood

How to watch Evil Dead II

• Stream Evil Dead II on AMC+
• Stream Evil Dead II on Pluto TV
• Buy Evil Dead II on Blu-ray on Amazon

Drag Me To Hell (2009)

Director: Sam Raimi

Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long

What it’s about: A desperate, elderly woman curses a young loan officer to be taunted by a cruel, ancient demon that will kidnap her and bring her to the underworld within days.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: Another great Sam Raimi movie with spooky, cartoonish hijinks is Drag Me to Hell, which is not quite as disturbing as it sounds but I might recommend viewers at least under 13 skip the twisted ending.

How to watch Drag Me to Hell

• Stream Drag Me to Hell on Amazon Prime
• Stream Drag Me to Hell on Peacock
• Buy Drag Me to Hell on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Sixth Sense (1999)

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment

What it’s about: A child psychologist discovers his latest patient can communicate with the dead.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: Despite a few startling moments, The Sixth Sense (arguably M. Night Shyamalan’s best movie) is not a ghost story that aims to scare as much as invoke an eerie mood as it curdles into a more heartfelt, and even inspiring, supernatural drama.

How to watch The Sixth Sense

• Stream The Sixth Sense on Disney+
• Rent or buy The Sixth Sense on Amazon
• Buy The Sixth Sense on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Cabin In The Woods (2012)

Director: Drew Goddard

Starring: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth

What it’s about: A group of vacationing college students encounter a horrifyingly strange situation during their cabin getaway but the danger is not quite what it seems.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: Without giving too much away, The Cabin in the Woods is a great choice for entry-level horror, preparing the viewer for just about anything the genre has to offer in a light, satirical fashion

How to watch The Cabin in the Woods

• Stream The Cabin in the Woods on Peacock
• Rent or buy The Cabin in the Woods on Amazon
• Buy The Cabin in the Woods on Blu-ray on Amazon

Get Out (2017)

Director: Jordan Peele

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams

What it’s about: After being hesitant to meet his white girlfriend’s family, young, Black photographer Chris discovers that he has more to be concerned about than he could have imagined.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: Honestly, the scariest thing about Jordan Peele’s Academy Award-winning instant Black horror movie classic, Get Out, is really the real-life racial prejudice that it cleverly, and creepily, comments on.

How to watch Get Out

• Stream Get Out on Peacock
• Rent or buy Get Out on Amazon
• Buy Get Out on Blu-ray on Amazon

Child’s Play (1988)

Director: Tom Holland

Starring: Brad Dourif, Catherine Hicks

What it’s about: A single mother begins to suspect that the unexplainable, deadly events surrounding her are connected to a doll she recently bought for her son.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: While Chucky may be easier to look at than Annabelle, he has become an icon since debuting in the surprisingly clever, satirical slasher, Child’s Play, which could have easily earned a PG-13 rating today if not for the killer doll’s foul mouth.

How to watch Child’s Play

• Stream Child’s Play on AMC+
• Rent or buy Child’s Play on Amazon
• Buy Child’s Play on Blu-ray on Amazon

Gremlins (1984)

Director: Joe Dante

Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates

What it’s about: A young man witnesses the consequences of breaking the rules required to safely raise his strange, furry new pet.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: While it initially inspired backlash from parents expecting something more like E.T., if you go into producer Steven Spielberg’s Gremlins knowing the cute little Mogwais become reckless green monsters, you can easily appreciate it as a hilarious creature feature and one of the best Christmas horror movies ever.

How to watch Gremlins

• Stream Gremlins on Max
• Rent or buy Gremlins on Amazon
• Buy Gremlins on Blu-ray on Amazon

Cloverfield (2008)

Director: Matt Reeves

Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Odette Annable

What it’s about: A group of New Yorkers’ going-away party for their friend is interrupted by the sudden appearance of a large, violent beast terrorizing the city.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: Outside of one terrifying sequence in a subway tunnel, the inventive monster movie favorite Cloverfield is one of the more tame found footage thrillers, excluding the tragedy befalling our main characters that is sure to tug at your heartstrings.

How to watch Cloverfield

• Stream Cloverfield on Paramount+
• Rent or buy Cloverfield on Amazon
• Buy Cloverfield on Blu-ray on Amazon

Monster House (2006)

Director: Gil Kenan

Starring: Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner

What it’s about: A young boy suspects that the house across the street is haunted, only to discover the house itself is alive and haunting the neighborhood.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: While this animated, Academy Award-nominated adventure from producers Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis may seem like another kids movie, Monster House is straight-up, old-school B-movie horror that happens to have underage protagonists.

How to watch Monster House

• Stream Monster House on Freevee through Amazon
• Buy Monster House on Blu-ray on Amazon

Trick ‘R Treat (2007)

Director: Michael Dougherty

Starring: Dylan Baker, Anna Paquin

What it’s about: A school principal with a sinister secret, a group of teens fascinated by a disturbing local legend, and an elderly curmudgeon visited by one very passionate trick-or-treater are among the several interwoven tales taking place one fateful Halloween night.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: Light on carnage and boasting a humorously whimsical tone, Trick ‘r Treat is a cult favorite horror anthology movie that invokes feelings of Goosebumps if R.L. Stine allowed Stephen King to ghostwrite a few installments.

How to watch Trick ‘r Treat

• Stream Trick ‘r Treat on Max
• Rent or buy Trick ‘r Treat on Amazon
• Buy Trick ‘r Treat on Blu-ray on Amazon

Creepshow (1982)

Director: George A. Romero

Starring: Hal Holbrook, Leslie Nielsen

What it’s about: Five odd and fantastic tales including a man seeking revenge on his wife and her lover, a farmer encountering a meteorite with truly transformative effects, and a reclusive germaphobe suffering his worst nightmare.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: Stephen King and George A. Romero teamed up to make Creepshow, which aims for fun shlock more often than genuine fright, out of love for the creepy 1950s comic books that inspired it.

How to watch Creepshow

• Rent or buy Creepshow on Amazon
• Buy Creepshow on Blu-ray on Amazon

Coraline (2009)

Director: Henry Sellick

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Henry Selick

What it’s about: A disillusioned young girl finds a refreshing, magical world beyond a secret passage in her new house, only to discover that it is not the enchanted paradise it seems.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: Coming from the mind of author Neil Gaiman, Coraline is about as frightening as the PG rating will accept, courtesy of stunning, stop-motion fantasy imagery helmed by The Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Sellick that greatly appeals to any young Tim Burton fans.

How to watch Coraline

• Stream Coraline on Tubi
• Rent or buy Coraline on Amazon
• Buy Coraline on Blu-ray on Amazon

Beetlejuice (1988)

Director: Tim Burton

Starring: Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, Michael Keaton

What it’s about: Recently deceased and annoyed by the snobbish socialites who have moved into their house, a couple enlists a self-proclaimed bio-exorcist to help take back their home, only to immediately regret summoning him.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: Arguably, the definitive Tim Burton movie is hilariously bizarre Beetlejuice, which could have been a more run-of-the-mill ghost story if not for its inventive visuals and the rapid-fire wit of Michael Keaton’s unforgettable performance in the title role.

How to watch Beetlejuice

• Stream Beetlejuice on Max
• Rent or buy Beetlejuice on Amazon
• Buy Beetlejuice on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Lost Boys (1987)

Director: Joel Schumacher

Starring: Jason Patric, Corey Haim

What it’s about: Two brothers become involved with a gang of mischievous bloodsucking bikers, with the older sibling drawn into joining them and the younger one inspired to hunt them, in a coastal California town.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: The Lost Boys is one of the best vampire movies for its unique, humorous modernization of lore told from a child’s point of view that, despite its R rating, makes it perfect for younger viewers 13 and up.

How to watch The Lost Boys

• Rent or buy The Lost Boys on Amazon
• Buy The Lost Boys on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Faculty (1998)

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Jordana Brewster

What it’s about: A mismatched group of high school students discovers parasitic aliens are causing their teachers to act out of character.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: Writer Kevin Williamson combines xenophobic paranoia commentary from Invasion of the Body Snatchers with archetypical teenage character tropes from The Breakfast Club to craft, The Faculty – a fun, comical late-’90s time capsule which boasts shameless levels of B-movie cheese.

How to watch The Faculty

• Stream The Faculty on Paramount+
• Rent or buy The Faculty on Amazon
• Buy The Faculty on Blu-ray on Amazon

Happy Death Day (2017)

Director: Christopher Landon

Starring: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard

What it’s about: A conceited sorority girl is forced to repeatedly relive her birthday until she can identify the masked assailant that murders her over and over again.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: Despite being one of Blumhouse’s least scary releases for its time, Happy Death Day is still a clever and quite hilarious combination of the slasher genre with time loop movies.

How to watch Happy Death Day

• Stream Happy Death Day on Peacock
• Rent or buy Happy Death Day on Amazon
• Buy Happy Death Day on Blu-ray on Amazon

The Monster Squad (1987)

Director: Fred Dekker

Starring: Andre Gower, Robby Kiger

What it’s about: A group of youngsters see their obsession with classic horror movie villains finally pay off when an assortment of frightening creatures begin wreaking havoc on their town.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: This PG-13 adventure from co-writers Shane Black and Fred Dekker is often compared to 1985’s The Goonies, which I would actually cite as a genuinely more intense thriller than The Monster Squad, despite still being a winning love letter to old school horror.

How to watch The Monster Squad

• Stream The Monster Squad on Pluto TV
• Rent or buy The Monster Squad on Amazon
• Buy The Monster Squad on Blu-ray on Amazon

Scream (1996)

Director: Wes Craven

Starring: David Arquette, Neve Campbell

What it’s about: A teen whose mother was the victim of an infamous slaying fears the same fate when a masked murderer begins attacking her classmates and other local citizens.

Why it is one of the best horror movies that is not so scary: After the heart-racing opening scene with Drew Barrymore, it becomes relatively easy to get through Scream, which also serves as a perfect introduction to slasher movies for its brilliant commentary on the subgenre’s tropes.

How to watch Scream

• Stream Scream on Max
• Rent or buy Scream on Amazon
• Buy Scream on Blu-ray on Amazon

What do you think? Have we compiled the perfect assortment of horror films that are not so scary, or are you already trembling from the descriptions of these movies?

Looking for a streaming platform to have the ultimate spooky movie binge this Halloween? When you take a look at the best horror movies on Amazon Prime, you will see that it is one of the best streaming services to subscribe to for indulging in some great horror movies during this special season or any time of the year.

That being said, it can be a real nightmare sifting through all the best movies on Amazon Prime in search of the scariest cinematic favorites it has to offer. Well, allow me to help make your horror movie marathon less horrifying by picking out the genre’s finest that come available with an Amazon Prime subscription.

Terrifier And Terrifier 2 (2017, 2022)

Director: Damien Leone

Starring: David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera

What it’s about: A sadistic clown stalks unsuspecting innocents with torturous and murderous intent.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: Immediately earning their place among the most iconic creepy clown movies for their shocking gore and the brilliantly acted villain, Art the Clown, are Terrifier and Terrifier 2, which would spawn the successful third installment, Terrifier 3.

• Stream Terrifier on Amazon Prime
• Stream Terrifier 2 on Amazon Prime

The Thing (1982)

Director: John Carpenter

Starring: Kurt Russell, Keith David

What it’s about: A crew of researchers stationed in the Antarctic question who among them is still human when they discover a shape-shifting creature from another planet.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: With a faithful adaptation of John W. Campbell’s novella, Who Goes There?, John Carpenter introduces, arguably, the scariest movie alien ever with The Thing – a brilliantly crafted story of paranoia elevated by timeless practical effects.

• Stream The Thing on Amazon Prime

Dracula (1931)

Director: Tod Browning, Karl Freund

Starring: Bela Lugosi, Dwight Frye

What it’s about: A real estate agent is lured into servitude by a Transylvanian count who then moves to London searching for fresh blood.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: Playing the vampiric title role of Universal’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula made Bela Lugosi one of the greatest horror movie icons of all time.

• Stream Dracula on Amazon Prime

The Invitation (2016)

Director: Karyn Kusama

Starring: Logan Marshall Green, Emayatzy Corinealdi

What it’s about: While attending a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife and her new lover, a man begins to suspect there is a sinister agenda to the occasion.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: One of the best horror movies from a female director, The Invitation, is a masterpiece of slow-burn horror that accurately captures the feeling of being the odd one out at a friendly get-together.

• Stream The Invitation on Amazon Prime

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Director: Tobe Hooper

Starring: Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen

What it’s about: A group of traveling twenty-somethings falls prey to a power tool-wielding killer and his family of cannibals.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: By authentically capturing the feelings of a nightmare on film, Tobe Hooper made one of the best horror movies of the 1970s out of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which is not actually inspired by a real incident as it claims.

• Stream The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on Amazon Prime

An American Werewolf In London (1981)

Director: John Landis

Starring: David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, Jenny Agutter

What it’s about: After a tragic incident, a Stateside college student touring the U.K. receives warnings from his dead friend’s spirit that will transform into a vicious creature under a full moon.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: With Academy Award-winning makeup effects by Rick Baker and a slyly comical approach to lycanthropic lore, An American Werewolf in London is one of the finest werewolf movies ever made.

• Stream An American Werewolf in London on Amazon Prime

Possum (2018)

Director: Matthew Holness

Starring: Sean Harris, Alun Armstrong

What it’s about: A disgraced puppeteer is forced to confront his disturbing past when he returns to his hometown.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: If the nuanced commentary on childhood trauma of the slow-paced Possum – an overlooked recent horror movie – does not get under your skin, the grotesque titular puppet undoubtedly will.

• Stream Possum on Amazon Prime

The Return Of The Living Dead (1985)

Director: Dan O’Bannon

Starring: Thom Matthews, James Karen

What it’s about: A strange accident at a medical supply warehouse causes the dead to rise from their graves.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: One of the all-time funniest and most acclaimed zombie movies is The Return of the Living Dead, which introduced the concept of the undead craving brains.

• Stream The Return of the Living Dead on Amazon Prime

Doctor Sleep (2019)

Director: Mike Flanagan

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran

What it’s about: Adult Dan Torrance is forced to confront his traumatic past in order to protect a younger telepath from a group of vicious immortal psychics.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: Mike Flanagan’s moving and terrifying adaptation of Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep helped the author come to terms with his feelings over its predecessor, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.

• Stream Doctor Sleep on Amazon Prime

Nosferatu (1922)

Director: F.W. Murnau

Starring: Max Schreck, Alexander Granach

What it’s about: German real estate agent Knock meets a client named Count Orlok, who turns out to be a malevolent creature of the night.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: In 2024, Robert Eggers is releasing a remake of Nosferatu, which may not be the most famous (unofficial) adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula but is still widely considered to be one of the finest and scariest vampire movies of the silent era, if not all time.

• Stream Nosferatu on Amazon Prime

Barbarian (2022)

Director: Zach Cregger

Starring: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long

What it’s about: A documentarian meets a strange man after accidentally reserving the same Detroit Airbnb, which turns out to be the least concerning thing about the house.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: The Whitest Kids U’Know star Zach Cregger surprised the world with Barbarian, which was touted as one of the best horror movies of 2022 for its subversive narrative and unsettling twists.

• Stream Barbarian on Amazon Prime

Tucker And Dale Vs. Evil (2010)

Director: Eli Craig

Starring: Alan Tudyk, Tyler Labine

What it’s about: Well-meaning hillbillies Tucker and Dale are mistaken for murderers by a group of young vacationers, which creates “a real doozy” of trouble for all of them.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: By cleverly turning one of the most overused slasher movie tropes (the creepy countryman) on its head, Eli Craig makes Tucker and Dale vs. Evil one of the best horror-comedy movies of its time.

• Stream Tucker and Dale vs. Evil on Amazon Prime

The Menu (2022)

Director: Mark Mylod

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy

What it’s about: a woman unwittingly becomes involved in a dangerous situation while attending an exclusive dining experience curated by the renowned Chef Slowik.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: Once again proving that Anya Taylor-Joy is the Scream Queen of her generation, The Menu is a dazzling and deliciously demented satire of elitist dining culture.

• Stream The Menu on Amazon Prime

The Poughkeepsie Tapes (2007)

Director: John Erick Dowdle

Starring: Stacy Chbosky, Ben Messmer

What it’s about: An elusive, sadistic serial kidnapper leaves behind visual evidence of his hellacious crimes on a large collection of VHS tapes recovered in a small town in New York.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: The Poughkeepsie Tapes is one of the most unsettling documentary-style horror films for the brutally realistic way it depicts the experiences of captivity and its damaging psychological effects.

• Stream The Poughkeepsie Tapes on Amazon Prime

Lisa Frankenstein (2024)

Director: Zelda Williams

Starring: Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse

What it’s about: Lonely teen Lisa Swallows finds an unexpected romance with the reanimated corpse of a young man in the late 1980s.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: Written by Academy Award winner Diablo Cody, Lisa Frankenstein, is a charmingly macabre and deliriously funny reimagining of Mary Shelley’s seminal novel warmly wrapped in ‘80s nostalgia.

• Stream Lisa Frankenstein on Amazon Prime

Tales Of Halloween (2015)

Director: Various

Starring: Various

What it’s about: A babysitter learns why you should never eat too much candy, a stranger teaches a young trick-or-treater his own sinister tricks, a killer’s chase is interrupted by a strange encounter, and other ghoulish tales set on one fateful All Hallows’ Eve.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: With creepy, loosely connected shorts ranging from hilarious to truly horrifying, Tales from Halloween is one of the most underrated horror anthology movies of its time.

• Stream Tales of Halloween on Amazon Prime

Totally Killer (2023)

Director: Nahnatchka Khan

Starring: Kiernan Shipka, Olivia Holt

What it’s about: A modern-day 17-year-old girl is accidentally transported to the late 1980s, where she is given the chance to stop an infamous murderer’s streak.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: Picture the time travel movie classic, Back to the Future, reimagined as an ‘80s-style slasher flick and you would essentially have Totally Killer.

• Stream Totally Killer on Amazon Prime

House On Haunted Hill (1959)

Director: William Castle

Starring: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart

What it’s about: A wealthy eccentric challenges a group of strangers to spend a single night in a spooky old house for a large monetary prize.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: Not to be confused with The Haunting of Hill House, director William Castle’s House on Haunted Hill is one of Vincent Price’s most essential and fun thrillers.

• Stream House on Haunted Hill on Amazon Prime

Bones And All (2022)

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Taylor Russell

What it’s about: A pair of young road trippers bond over their shared, unusual appetites in the early 1980s.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: Timothée Chalamet reunites with Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino for another gripping period drama about forbidden love, but of a more viscerally shocking and grotesque sort, with Bones and All.

• Stream Bones and All on Amazon Prime

The Collector (2009)

Director: Marcus Dunstan

Starring: Josh Stewart, Andrea Roth

What it’s about: Desperate for money, thief-turned-repairman Arkin plans a seemingly simple burglary job at his wealthy new employers’ house, only to fall prey to the increasingly elaborate traps of a sadistic killer who has confined the resident family inside.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: One of the best movies that fans of the Saw movies should check out is The Collector – a brutal, subversive take on the home invasion thriller.

• Stream The Collector on Amazon Prime

Absentia (2011)

Director: Mike Flanagan

Starring: Katie Parker, Courtney Bell

What it’s about: Several years after her brother-in-law went missing, a recovering addict begins to discover the shocking truth behind the disappearance.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: Fans of Mike Flanagan’s movies and TV shows who have not seen the sadly underappreciated Absentia are missing out on one of the filmmaker’s most heartbreaking and horrifying titles.

• Stream Absentia on Amazon Prime

Hell House LLC (2015)

Director: Stephen Cognetti

Starring: Gore Adams, Alice Bahlke

What it’s about: Interviews with surviving witnesses and raw footage captured by the victims expose the mysteries surrounding a small-town haunted house attraction and chronicle the events leading to its ill-fated opening night.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: There are many great found footage thrillers on Amazon Prime, but my personal favorite of the bunch (and of all time) is easily Hell House LLC for its dread-inducing pace, indelibly creepy imagery, and remarkably convincing writing and performances.

• Stream Hell House LLC on Amazon Prime

Hellraiser (1987)

Director: Clive Barker

Starring: Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Doug Bradley

What it’s about: A young woman discovers her stepmother and uncle are lovers, and part of a conspiracy involving murder, a strange puzzle box, and sadomasochistic mutants from another dimension.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: Horror maestro Clive Barker made his directorial debut with the disturbing cautionary romance, Hellraiser – an adaptation of his own novella that introduced one of the most iconic horror movie villains, who came to be known as Pinhead.

• Stream Hellraiser on Amazon Prime

Saint Maud (2021)

Director: Rose Glass

Starring: Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle

What it’s about: Desperately seeking redemption, a young Welsh nurse believes she has found her chance when she is assigned to care for a terminally ill dancer and decides to pass her newfound religious beliefs onto her.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: Not everything is quite as it seems in the A24 horror movie, Saint Maud, which boasts masterful pacing, thought-provoking commentary on faith, Morfydd Clark’s stellar performance, and a startling ending.

• Stream Saint Maud on Amazon Prime

Suspiria (2018)

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Tilda Swinton

What it’s about: A young American woman is accepted into an elite dance company in Berlin operated by a coven of witches.

Why it is one of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime: Most missed out on Luca Guadagnino's remake of Dario Argento’s classic, Suspiria, in theaters and that’s a shame because it is a twisty, mysterious, and chilling thriller that features an absolutely remarkable and jaw-dropping conclusion.

• Stream Suspiria on Amazon Prime

The titles above might be enough to convince you to make Amazon Prime Video your prime location for a good scare.

Regardless of whether or not 2019's Child's Play reboot ends up inspiring its own cinematic universe, franchise creator Don Mancini is making sure his upcoming TV offshoot Chucky has as much in common with his original vision as possible. (Well, except for the way the Syfy and USA series will be changing up the mythology, but more on that below.) Get ready for the titular horror icon to be as memorable as ever on the small screen, because actor Brad Dourif is returning to the franchise to supply his signature vocal talents.

When Chucky arrives in 2021, Brad Dourif will have portrayed the most evil of all evil toys across 5 different decades, mindbogglingly enough. Having started things off with Don Mancini back in 1988 for the original Child's Play, Dourif returned for Child's Play 2, 3 and Bride of Chucky in the 1990s, for Seed of Chucky in 2004, and for both Curse of Chucky and Cult of Chucky in the 2010s. Not many other horror icons can boast the same kind of streak, so it's awesome that fans will be getting the purest form of Chucky in his next outing.

Although based on the recently unveiled logline, Brad Dourif's latest take on Chucky will present a mythology shift for fans to dig into. As viewers are well aware, Chucky was introduced as a doll possessed by the spirit of serial killer Charles Lee Ray (played by Dourif). That origin was maintained throughout all of the following films, save for the remake, in which Mark Hamill's Chucky becomes murderous due to tainted A.I. But check out the recently released logline for the TV show, which introduces a new piece to the puzzle.

While this new series won't necessarily retcon the Child's Play origin story, it sounds like Don Mancini is taking this opportunity to really explore a new avenue with Chucky. In the first place, it'll be strange to witness the idea that Chucky used to be a real child, or was based on a child? Is it going to be a reverse-Pinocchio situation? Will Brad Dourif be tasked with voicing a young kid?

As well, it sounds like the show will be just as much about the town at the center of Chucky as it will be about the killer doll himself. The franchise notably started off set in Chicago, but perhaps the TV show will set up this franchise's version of Halloween's Haddonfield or Nightmare on Elm Street's Springwood.

Having stated his career with his Oscar-nominated performance in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Brad Dourif has stayed active in the industry across the past 45 years. Mostly recently, he was seen in films such as 2018's fantasy horror Wildling. On the small screen, Dourif made a long-awaited reprisal of Doc Cochran for HBO's Deadwood: The Movie in 2019.

Chucky was set to go into production this summer, but filming lockdowns have stopped that from happening, but hope is alive for everything to get started as soon as possible. The show is set to premiere on both USA and Syfy in 2021, so stay tuned to CinemaBlend for updates and to see what will be showing up on TV in the months before the new year arrives.

An acclaimed actor of the stage and both the big and small screens, Brian Tyree Henry is an exceptionally talented actor who only continues to impress in a number of exceptional roles. The Tony and Emmy-nominated actor is probably best known for his work on FX's extraordinary Atlanta, though the actor's profile continues to rise with outstanding roles in several other films and TV shows – most recently Joker – all of which we'll take this time to celebrate and acknowledge.

Brian Tyree Henry has also been a standout actor in several stage roles over the years, including Romeo and Juliet, The Book of Mormon, The Fortress of Solitude, and Lobby Hero. For today though, we're moving the focus from the theatre to the theater (and television), for the following Brian Tyree Henry movies and shows that deserve recognition.

If Beale Street Could Talk (Daniel Carty)

Based on the extraordinary novel by James Baldwin, Barry Jenkins' elegant and enthralling adaptation of If Beale Street Could Talk is a heartfelt, beautifully crafted and deeply heartbreaking tale of love and injustice, particularly in regards to the prison system. While Brian Tyree Henry doesn't get as much screen time as our leads, his devastating performance is one of the keys to the movie's emotional success. As a friend of Alonzo "Fonny" Hunt (Stephan James), Daniel Carty is a falsely accused man who recently gained parole after he serving time for a crime he didn't commit. With many long-flowing lines of dialogue lifted directly from Baldwin's novel, Henry's somber and traumatized Daniel reflects many of the hidden emotions he doesn't know how to express in a moving, powerful performance. After enduring such a horrifying term, notably under false circumstances, Henry's wrenching performance is absolutely haunting work.

Widows (Jamal Manning)

In a stellar cast that includes heavyweights talents like Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Carrie Coon, Jon Bernthal, Daniel Kaluuya, Jacki Weaver, Robert Duvall and more, Brian Tyree Henry could've easily gotten left in the shuffle in Steve McQueen's crime drama-thriller, Widows. But in the role of Jamal Manning, a crime boss who is etching his way into politics, Henry gives another outstanding performance, particularly in a role that's filled with several different complexities. As a politician, Manning's platform is based on providing goods and relief for the underclass citizens and turning over unreformed policies that pollute Chicago's current well-being, as well as providing intelligent and impassioned arguments and debates. But his campaign is built by ill-gained connections and dirty money, demonstrating a power struggle that informs Henry's intriguing and nuanced performance. Even in an ensemble that's this thoroughly stacked, Henry gets many of the movie's richest, most compelling, and most thoughtful sequences.

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse (Jefferson Davis)

In what might very well be his most well-known screen role outside of Atlanta, Brian Tyree Henry lent his voice talents to the Oscar-winning animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in the role of Jefferson Davis, the father of Miles Morales who is also a police officer. While Henry claimed he was too young to portray Morales' father in the film, he agreed to take on the role after discovering that Morales is the only black, Latino Spider-Man. Certainly, Spider-Verse is made better by his winning talents. In this parental role, Henry gives Davis an emotional gravitas that is vital and meaningful in the midst of the movie's hyper-energetic zippiness. Even when Spider-Verse whizzes by at a quick, quippy rate, Henry's established talents for finding the emotional honesty of his characters was definitely heard and celebrated in this triumphant achievement in animated superhero movies.

Joker (Carl)

Unfortunately, Brian Tyree Henry only gets one scene in Todd Phillips' Joker. As Carl, the Arkham Asylum clerk who has an intense and heated confrontation with Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), the actor doesn't get nearly as much time as his co-stars to shine. Nevertheless, in this suspenseful sequence, Henry's commanding authenticity helps to hurtle over some of the clunkiness of Phillips and Scott Silver's intriguing, but limited screenplay. While that's not to say that their script is without merit, Henry's scene doesn't necessarily give the actor his full due in this massively popular retelling of the title character's origins. But like any great actor, Henry finds the emotional truth of the scene, bringing so much life and intrigue to even a minor scene like this one, conveying depths that aren't fully realized on the page for this supporting role and bringing a more authentic realism to the movie's bleak aesthetic.

2019's Child's Play (Mike Norris)

While 2019's Child's Play is ultimately a mixed bag as a reboot, providing an interesting modernized spin on 1988 horror favorite, but never making the same indelible impression, Brian Tyree Henry's humorous and commendable performance as Detective Mike Norris doesn't deserve any criticism. In fact, along with Aubrey Plaza and Gabriel Bateman, Henry's work is one of the main reasons why this reboot never totally falters the way so many other horror remakes do. Though he ultimately is left in a substantial supporting role, Henry's mindful, good-natured character is given humor and heart through Henry's surprisingly tender performance. The actor could've easily half-assed his performance in this half-inspired attempt to bring the Chucky property back to cultural relevance, but instead, Henry makes the performance seem sincere and believable, giving 2019's Child's Play more authenticity than you'd expect any killer doll movie to have.

Atlanta (Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles)

In what is certainly his most recognizable and revered role to date, Brian Tyree Henry plays Alfred Miles, i.e. Paper Boi, in Donald Glover's acclaimed FX series, Atlanta. As an up-and-coming rapper who is managed by his cousin, 30-something Earn Marks (Glover), Henry conveys the nuances of this late-in-the-game rapper with humor and pathos, providing a rich, honest sincerity to Miles' ambitions and desires, while also showcasing his sharp wit and comedic timing in the right moments. Certainly in Season 2, Henry is giving more time to shine, practically becoming the show's lead in a few key episodes. While the actor continues to gain notice and more outstanding roles, he hasn't gotten too many leading man roles in the process, which is a great shame. As seen in this series, Henry is capable of commanding the center stage with both levity and gravity.

These are only a few of Brian Tyree Henry's noteworthy performances to date. He has also received acclaim for his work in Hotel Artemis, Relive, Crown Heights, White Boy Rick and more. The exceptionally talented actor continues to gain prominence and acclaim with a number of standout roles, many of which should (hopefully) come out later this year. But what is your favorite Brian Tyree Henry role? Let us know in the comment section!

‘Tis the season to be spooky readers, as Halloween movies are out there and ready to liven up any and all parties and movie nights that celebrate the season of the witch. Netflix, Prime Video, and Hulu are going to be horror fans' friends in the coming month, along with all the other streaming services that have genre titles ready without any fuss or muss.

What you see before you are 15 tales of frightful terror that are primed for viewers to enjoy their haunted delights. Why 15, you may ask? Well, you’d perhaps expect 13 scares from a list like this; so naturally we had to go the extra mile to be even spookier! After all, it’s the scares you don’t expect that rattle us all the most.

Halloween - 1977 (AMC, Shudder)

What better way to kick off a list of Halloween movies than with an actual Halloween movie? More specifically, director John Carpenter’s 1977 classic that started it all is available through two AMC network-owned platforms. If you’re looking to see the TV edit of the adventures of Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode, you can use AMC’s cable streaming platform. But if you’re a purist who loves the R-rated original, AMC’s horror streamer Shudder has you covered.

The Blair Witch Project (Starz)

20 years ago, independent horror got a serious wakeup call in the form of Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick’s The Blair Witch Project. Whether you saw the film when pop culture was caught up in the middle of its original viral marketing hoax, or you caught it years after the fact when other films in the franchise intended to capture the throne, the creepy camping picture remains frozen in time, and is available with a Starz subscription or premium add-on.

John Carpenter’s The Thing (Starz)

History, as always, laughs last when a film like John Carpenter’s The Thing bombs for its theatrical release, only to go on to become iconic genre classic. Kurt Russell, David Keith, Wilford Brimley, and an ensemble cast get rattled by paranoia at a research base in Antarctica, thanks to a shapeshifting alien entity that can take the form of anything, or anyone. Ghoulish practical effects, and Carpenter’s nightmarish skills of drawing tension out of the simplest of situations, rule this atmospheric haunter, which boasts one hell of a finale.

Psycho - 1960 (Starz)

A lot of Alfred Hitchcock movies will be making their way to Starz throughout the month of October, and the master of suspense’s catalog has tons of thriller and horror-adjacent titles to choose from. Quite possibly the most horrific film in Hitchcock’s oeuvre is Psycho, adapted from author Robert Bloch’s infamous novel involving a secluded hotel, a seemingly meek young man, and a couple of the women in his life. It’s a classic in every way, and if you don’t know where it’s going, stay away from spoilers and enjoy this one as cold as possible.

The Exorcist (Max Go)

One of the most legendary chillers in horror history, director William Friedkin never considered he was directing a horror film when The Exorcist was being made. Generations of fans would spray pea soup on that assessment, though, as the story of Linda Blair’s young Reagan and her gradual demonic possession is quite well-known as a movie that can still terrorize first-time audiences. If you’re a Cinemax subscriber, Max Go is set for you to relive, or to discover, author William Peter Blatty’s truly devilish horror tale coming to live.

Night Of The Living Dead (Tubi, Prime Video)

George A. Romero’s seminal Night of the Living Dead didn’t always feature that title, and thanks to the last-minute switch from the original title, Night of the Flesh Eaters, the film went into public domain. So fans can probably find Romero’s zombie-creating classic through many different sources. No matter where you watch it, the story of a group of disparate people just trying to survive the terror of an undead apocalypse is still as chilling as it was back in the day. "Barbra..."

Candyman (Netflix)

A cult classic of truly haunting ‘90s horror, director Bernard Rose’s Candyman is available for those who dare to seek it on Netflix. With Tony Todd’s hypnotic and seriously unsettling specter at the center of this parable on urban renewal, his monster's borderline-romantic enticement of Virginia Madsen’s protagonist makes this adaptation of Clive Barker’s book The Forbidden more than just a slasher fest. But trust us, Candyman – that's three times – has more than enough blood and scares to satisfy you horror hounds out there.

Carrie - 1976 (Netflix, Prime Video)

“If you’ve got a taste for terror… take Carrie to the prom.” That's the setup of a lifetime, right there in the tagline of Brian De Palma’s landmark adaptation of Stephen King’s horror classic. Young Sissy Spacek’s psychokinetic journey filled with death and vengeance can be spotted on both Netflix and Prime Video. Depending on which one you choose, you could be led into bit of a King-flavored binge. Should that happen, don’t forget who first took you to the dance… because she bloody well hasn’t forgotten you!

The Scream Franchise (Netflix)

All of the Scream films have just recently been reunited as a whole on the Netflix platform. So if you’re one of those folks who loves to relive Neve Campbell’s perils and pitfalls as Sydney Prescott, you’re going to be in luck this Halloween! All four Wes Craven-directed entries in the series, from 1996’s Scream to 2011’s Scre4m, are yours for the binging, which means it’s a good time to memorize the rules of any good horror film before falling prey to one of several Ghostface killers.

Child’s Play - 1988 (Hulu)

Yes, there was a Child’s Play reboot this year; and it's something we recommend for those interested in a totally new spin on Chucky’s killing spree. But if you're a diehard fan of the O.G. dark magic of Charles Lee Ray’s possessed killer doll, then the original Child’s Play is available for a playdate on Hulu. Anyone who wants to follow up with any of the Chucky follow-ups will have to do some digging, as the sequels show up in different streaming libraries. Don’t let that turn you away from this classic though, as it’s quite possibly the best of Brad Dourif’s run in the role so far.

Saw (Hulu)

Much like the previous entry Candyman, the Saw franchise is about to get a new lease on life through a legacyquel, so now is the right time to reacquaint oneself with the box office smash that started it all. Director James Wan and writer/co-star Leigh Whannell turned an independent horror hit into a cottage industry, as the twisty torture-porn spawned several sequels and imitators that would fill the early Aughts with enough blood to even worry Bev Marsh. Play the game with the original Saw on Hulu, and don’t forget to follow the rules.

Hellraiser (Hulu, Tubi, Prime Video)

Clive Barker isn’t just a legendary writer of horror tales; the man’s directed quite a few of his own. Case in point: the author's classic tale of pains, pleasures, and punishments in-between known as “The Hellbound Heart” became Barker's equally memorable film Hellraiser. His first film, the disturbing introduction to Pinhead and his Cenobites still stands out as a directorial debut that left its puzzlebox-shaped mark on the world. Even Stephen King himself was impressed, reacting to the 1988 film by saying “I have seen the future of horror, and his name is Clive Barker”.