I tend to believe the thing that attracts people to horror movies is not only the adrenaline you feel when you see something frightening, but the gripping reality that no matter how bad YOUR individual life is, there is always someone in a horror movie who has it way worse. It is like comparative shopping. Seeing someone else suffer makes you feel less alone in your own suffering. I also believe people just genuinely like to be scared. I think it awakens some primal part in us that sleeps far too often.

So when we need a quick dose of horror and adrenaline, where do most of us turn? Horror movies. And what is one thing almost everyone has right now that offers up a ton of great horror movies? Netflix. With that very basic thinking in mind, I decided it was time to create a “best horror movies on Netflix 2017″ list for all you freaks out there like me who like to distract themselves from their own faults with situations far worse than the ones they are currently facing in real life.

Presented in no particular order, here are the 25 of the best horror movies on Netflix that you can watch RIGHT NOW!

25 Best Horror Movies on Netflix 2017 Edition

1. It Follows

Of all the scary movies on Netflix in 2017, it seemed like starting the list with It Follows just made sense as it was a horror movie that people actually saw and loved. Based around the idea that once you sleep with someone, you get cursed by a ‘something’ that can take any human form and will just follow you and follow you (literally, walking) until it finds you and kills you (in some nasty ways).

Great film, cool concept (though the comic Black Hole did it first in a way), and one of the best soundtracks since the movie Drive.

2. The Houses October Built

Do you know what “extreme haunts” are”? They are essentially haunted houses you go to and sign away permission for your life. The people spit in your mouth and lock you in coffins and shit, and the movement is real.

Granted, this ‘found footage’ movie ABOUT extreme haunts is not real but is a great scary movie to watch if you ever find yourself longing to experience one of these things.

The Houses October Built will turn you off on haunted attractions in the same way Jaws scared people out of the ocean for decades. And that dollface mask is AWESOMELY scary.

3. The Void

People may be turned off by the 80’s look of this trailer, but that is exactly what made me fall in love with The Void. It is clearly an homage to 80’s films (The Thing, especially, which it wears on its sleeve) and it reflects this by all its special effects being practical (NO CG, WOOHOO).

Based around an end-of-the-world cult that summon some nasty Cthulhu-like creatures in the night, Don’t let The Void’s campy visage throw you off. It is a fun ride and a nice love letter to the horror of yesteryear.

4. John Dies at the End

Editor in Chief of Cracked wrote the book that was adapted into this film and I would be lying if I were to say it wasn’t zany, gory fun. It is.

To even tell you too much about John Dies at the End will suck out some of the pure WTF the movie is made out of, so I will just let you see it and just tell you, going at it with some smoke and drink in you helps the experience along, just keeping it real.

Trippy as hell but fun and wholly unforgettable.

5. Creep

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYx5R6kbJTQ

Here we are talking about the scariest movies on Netflix and I am gonna come right out and say I think Creep is one of the best “found footage” films ever made. Written, directed, and featuring the brilliant Mark Duplass, Creep is about a young man who answers a Craigslist ad (boom, that is where you went wrong, dude) and ends up in one of the most awkwardly creepy weekends of his life.

I won’t say more than that but see this movie and don’t dare tell me you will EVER look at werewolf masks the same way, because you won’t.

6. Deathgasm

What goes great with blood and guts? Metal music. That is Deathgasm in a nutshell (which is a song by Alice in Chains which makes this all even more apropos).

Deathgasm is like the Evil Dead had sex with some 90’s doom metal and this film was born as a result. Anyway, evil song, opens hell, I think you can figure this one out but don’t let the simplicity of it fool you. It is funny as hell and gory as f*ck. All the elements that make great horror.

7. Train to Busan

Not only a scary movie, but also one of the best movies 0n Netflix, period. Train to Busan is a Korean zombie movie that does the impossible:

Makes zombies scary as hell again.

Think 28 Days Later stuck on a train and you have a good idea what is in store for you when you sit down with this gem. Check out the animated sequel (that is actually a prequel) if you get a chance, too. It is called Seoul Station and it almost as good as this movie. Not on Netflix, but worth seeking out.

8. The Invitation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C_h4eipyCQ

While The Invitation sorta steers from horror into Thriller category, the story that unfolds in this film is GENUINELY scary and in a way, palpable. Of all the Netflix horror on this list, The Invitation is the one most likely to come true, and that is what makes it so damn scary.

All I will tell you is a group of friends are invited to a dinner in the Hollywood Hills and they are there for a very specific reason they (and you) don’t know about until the reveal. Yes, I’m being cryptic on purpose again, I refuse to say any more.

9. The Nightmare

I have had sleep paralysis and night terrors and can tell you, nothing on Earth is nearly as scary. Hell, I have been waterboarded and would take that every day over another night terror. The reason I bring up night terrors is because that is what this documentary focuses on, and it ruined me even further by showing me that the shadow man with the hat who visited me has also visited others.

Hearing someone else describe a demon you have seen with your own eyes is terrifying. Just be very careful, sleep paralysis and night terrors are very much real conditions and eerily enough, can be passed from person to person just by talking about it.

No joke, see this and it will explain that very thing.

10. Babadook

How can you make a list of the best horror movies on Netflix and not mention the beloved-yet-feared Babadook?

Also, at this point what can I say about this movie that 1,000 other journalists haven’t said before me? Extra points for the single Moms who see it, as that is its target demographic in the sense of those who will most relate to it. But good horror, overall.

Moving on….

11. Clown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M25cDzZ2DwY

Also, I cannot mention scariest movies on Netflix and not bring at least ONE clown into the mix. Coulrophobia is a very real and very common thing, and the Eli Roth produced Clown plays off that wonderfully.

Long story short, guy buys evil clown suit and slowly it melts to him and makes him into an evil clown. Sounds simple and kind of dumb but the effects are fantastic, it can be funny as hell, and it has one scene inside a Chuck-E-Cheese that might be one of the best “murder spree” scenes from any recent horror movie, period.

If you dig this one, check out Stitches, too. Also on Netflix, and also another great clown horror flick.

12. Honeymoon

Featuring the redhead from Game of Thrones, Rose Leslie, Honeymoon should be called “what really happens to every man after they get married” but I am just gonna leave that comment here and leave it alone. honeymoon is lovely, creepy, and disturbing all at once, which are hard things to merge.

It also reminds all sane people why they should never get married. B*tches be trippin’ yo!

13. Baskin

When it comes to scary movies on Netflix, Baskin us up there (for me, at least). A story about a group of men who…..you know what? No. I am not even gonna say a damn thing here. I watched Baskin blind and it freaking blew my mind and creeped me out for days afterward. I want the same damn thing to happen to you.

I will tell you this, the albino actor you see towards the end of this hellish journey is not in makeup. That is actually how the guy looks. Good luck sleeping again after seeing him.

14. The Eyes of My Mother

There should be more foreign horror films on here than there are, but that is on Netflix and not me. that said, this Portuguese (slow-moving) horror film was shot so gorgeously in the hills of Portugal that it is as gorgeous as it is ugly.

A film about a girl raised on a farm by her mother who took on some very strange habits over time, this movie is paced slowly, but deliberately, and is chilling, evocative, and original. High art with some blood and guts. It strikes a nice balance.

Check it out when you’re looking for something slow and creepy.

15. An American Werewolf in London

Gotta have some classics on the list, it is just that simple. Still the best werewolf ever made, and it never ages. What more do you need?

Moving on…

16. The Host

Another great Korean horror movie makes this list, though the Host is sprinkled with more humor and heart than most of these other films.

Without saying too much (I’m good at that) The Host is of the “giant monster” genre, but does things with it that other movies of a similar ilk do not. Well worth a viewing by all, fans of horror and non-horror fans alike.

17. Hellraiser

Again, gotta have some classics on here. Hellraiser is one helluva messed up film about love and death and sex and longing and mistakenly opening a doorway to Hell. We’ve ALL been there once or thrice.

You know, typical Tuesday stuff.

18. Ravenous

What would happen if a bunch of frontiersman turned on each other and became cannibals? That is the bold question this movie (with an AWESOME cast by the way) asks, and it also answers it.

Bloody but oddly fun, Ravenous missed a lot of people when it rolled in and out of theaters and now you can all fix that by watching it on the ‘Flix, as I now call Netflix because we are such good friends.

19. The Den

Here you have a horror film most people have not even heard of, yet if you see it, it will scare the crap out of you as it is a truly believable concept from the beginning to the end. The Den is about a young girl who captures the attention of some not-so-decent people who then sort of turn her into a form of entertainment for themselves.

Won’t say much more but check it out. Very, very unsettling.

20. Darling

If Hitchcock made a modern movie with some Polanski thrown in, you would have Darling. I also feel the need to point out the actress in this movie, Lauren Ashley Carter, who I have been lucky enough to interview, brings something otherworldly to this performance. Behind her eyes there is a darkness, and once it comes out in full reveal, you are left in awe.

Might not be as in your face as others on this list, but darling is a modern, throwback classic in my eyes with one of the greatest female horror performances in recent memory.

21. Snowtown Murders

True story, beginning to end, and maybe one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen for that exact reason. Not sure if you know how many disturbing movies I have seen, but that is kinda “my thing” so don’t take this warning lightly.

Based around the REAL Snowtown murders in Australia, this shows you how they went down, and how one young man was manipulated and turned into a monster, even though he tried to fight it. You will walk away from The Snowtown Murders changed.

Seriously.

22. Trollhunter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLEo7H9tqSM

Another foreign film that is exactly what the title implies. A man out in Norway (where Troll myths still very much exist) hunts trolls by night and decides to let a camera crew come along so people can know just how serious a threat it is.

Funny as hell, some GREAT CG and creature design, and just one helluva good movie, Troll Hunter is one of my fave fallback movies when I have nothing else to watch.

Yes. It’s THAT good.

23. Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead

Hey, another foreign horror film. Glad I really upped it since I called myself out a few entries ago. This is a sequel to the Snow-Nazi film Dead Snow, and it is just so much freaking fun. Zombies vs. Russians with a battle climax worthy of Lord of the Rings (if Lord of the Rings took place on one snowy field, that is).

Peep whole series if you get the chance. Cool movies, but this is the best one based on concept and sheer fun alone.

24. He Never Died

A horror movie starring Henry Rollins as a (redacted, spoilers).

You’re damn right this made the list.

25. VHS

When it comes to a list horror movies on Netflix, I can’t leave off one of my favorite horror anthologies of all time, VHS. All consisting of shorts that were filmed on VHS, each vignette offers a very cool and creepy mini-story that is then tied together in a story larger arc.

And if you like VHS, you are in luck because there are already sequels on the site, so this felt like the perfect entry to end on. Speaking of horror films, actually…….

5 Terrifying Horror Movies No One Saw

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