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Netflix’s horror section is about to go through a pretty major franchise swap in July. If you have been meaning to revisit the Saw movies, you may want to start clearing some time, because a huge chunk of Jigsaw’s bloody legacy is leaving the streamer. The good news? Another horror icon returns to take Billy the Puppet's place just a few days later. We’re talking Ghostface people.
According to an official release, all eight Saw installments currently listed on the service will leave Netflix's streaming lineup on July 19. Then, on July 24, the service will add the first three Scream movies, which, for my money, are still the best when I’m ranking the series. More specifically, Wes Craven’s original Scream, Scream 2 and Scream 3 are all dropping for folks with a Netflix subscription.
That is a very funny trade for horror fans, if you ask me. One franchise built its reputation on grimy traps, moral tests and Tobin Bell’s eerie little puppet speeches. The other helped revive the slasher movie by combining horror with comedy and making the fans the targets with its meta commentary.
Depending on your taste, July is either a loss, a win or a perfect excuse to squeeze in two completely different horror marathons. The Saw departure is the bigger immediate news because Netflix is losing so much of the franchise at once. Eight movies are an entire pile of traps vanishing from the service in one day. For viewers who like watching horror series in order, July 19 is the date to circle in red marker because, obviously, after that, your chance is out the window. Those first eight installments are listed as follows:
- Saw
- Saw II
- Saw III
- Saw IV
- Saw V
- Saw VI
- Saw: The Final Chapter
- Jigsaw
The first Saw remains one of the great low-budget horror success stories of the 2000s, a nasty little thriller that gradually became the foundation for one of the genre’s most recognizable modern franchises. The sequels are more elaborate and increasingly tangled in timeline gymnastics, but that is part of the appeal. Half the fun is watching the franchise try to turn every grisly device into another piece of Jigsaw mythology.
While the loss of the Saw movies will undoubtedly sting many horror fans, the arrival of the original Scream trilogy softens the blow.
The first Scream is still a landmark slasher, and it remains one of the rare horror movies that is both genuinely scary and genuinely funny without either tone cannibalizing the other. Scream 2 is also one of the stronger horror sequels out there, building on the original’s meta premise while moving Sidney Prescott’s nightmare to college. Scream 3 is definitely the oddball of the trilogy, but even its Hollywood-set chaos has its defenders. Heck, I’m a fan of that movie far more than the rebooted trilogy's latest entry, the 2026 movie release Scream 7. I think the less said about that film, the better.
Netflix also has other horror-friendly titles coming and going in July, making the month feel a little like Halloween in midsummer. Krampus, Talk to Me and The Witch are set to arrive July 1, while Night of the Living Dead leaves July 4. Later in the month, Hannibal Seasons 1-3 hits the service July 27, followed by The Exorcism on July 28. So, needless to say, horror hounds will have plenty to enjoy on the streamer this summer even with the loss of the Saw films.
