10 Horror Movies To Watch On Netflix If You Want A Scary Night

People watch horror movies in all kinds of ways. Some of us guys know to use them when we want a girl to cuddle up next to us (I remember trying that with The Woman in Black, and ended up being more scared than my lady companion). Many try their luck watching them to prove they're tough, while I also know plenty of people who refuse to watch a scary movie alone; safety in numbers, I suppose. But of course, the best way to watch horror, a genre which can sometimes be plagued by low-budget productions or horrendous acting, is to buy into it and give yourself up to the storytelling, the anxiety, and yes, even the jump scares. No matter how you want to spend your movie night, Netflix has a great assortment of scary tales for your displeasure. With a few selections from various franchises, there are also some blockbusters and indie films worth checking out on the streaming service, too. So, in no particular order, here are 10 horror movies available on Netflix right now that are perfect for keeping you up all night. Stephen King's The Children Of The Corn By no means the greatest book-to-film adaptation out there (it is a Stephen King rendition, after all), 1984’s The Children of the Corn still offers enough of the author’s haunting inspiration to keep everyone watching on edge. The story follows a couple, Burt (Peter Horton) and Vicky (Linda Hamilton AKA Sarah Connor), who find themselves stuck in the agricultural town of Gatlin, Nebraska. An innocent enough looking place, the two come to realize that it's overrun by a cult of children who kill anybody over the age of 18 as sacrifice for a demonic being. Led by the tantalizing Isaac (John Franklin), whose eyes are just about as creepy as his satanic agenda, and armed with your usual farming equipment, these kids are not to be messed with. Is it cheesy? Yes. Is it outdated? Yes, especially when the unseen “He Who Walks Behind the Rows” enacts his fury. But there's something about the idea of a kindergarten cult with sickles that's alarming enough to look past the technological discrepancies. The Sixth Sense Like The Empire Strikes Back, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense has a fantastic twist ending that's become so engrained in our culture that it's just about been reduced to a cliché. Nevertheless, this thriller is an exquisite piece of entertainment, whose scare factor is driven primarily by the little boy who can see dead people. He, a young man named Cole (Haley Joel Osment), sees spirits, the majority of whom met their ends brutally and abruptly. Bruce Willis plays his therapist, Dr. Malcolm Crowe, and together they form a metaphysical bond that reaches beyond the natural world. Cole, with Malcolm’s help, learns to embrace his “gift” and take responsibility for the dead, who have come to him for help. One of only four horror movies to ever be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, The Sixth Sense is a piercingly well told production with two great lead performances. However, Shyamalan lucked out with Osment, who was also nominated for an Oscar and really sealed this film’s placement in the horror genre. A less dedicated performance from a young actor could have and would have compromised the script’s overall effect. Thankfully, Netflix gives you the opportunity to see this genuine recital, which if you haven’t done already, must become a priority. The Fly A retro horror film, The Fly, released in 1958, is a cornerstone of the genre. With revolutionary visual effects and experiments, The Fly was a phenomenon, and still frightens many audiences today. It was remade almost 30 years after its release and starred Jeff Goldblum, but the original is a pure classic. The story follows a daring scientist named Andre Delambre (David Hedison). After testing his latest experiment, a teleportation device, first on inanimate objects and then on small creatures (including a cat named Dandelo…hmmm?), the satisfied Delambre decides to take it for a spin. When her husband doesn't return from his lab after a couple of days, Delambre’s wife, Helene (Patricia Owens), goes down there to check on him, or at least what’s left of him. Unfortunately for the inventor, a fly found its way into the chamber with him, resulting in a horrific metamorphosis. Worth watching for the technical achievements alone, The Fly sparked a new chapter in the horror genre. Hush An incredibly original and daunting game of cat and mouse, Hush is a thrilling indie flick that doesn't get the attention that it deserves. Maddie (Kate Siegel) is a writer who has relocated to the woods in search of inspiration. What’s so original about that? Well, Maddie is deaf, which ignites a brilliant confrontation when a masked killer (John Gallagher Jr.) shows up at her front door. An almost flip flop of Don’t Breathe, where the antagonist is blind, Hush draws the same level and brand of intensity. How can the helpless get help? It seems like it will never happen once the perpetrator decides to have fun with his victim. A brilliantly executed idea, Hush is an underrated endeavor worthy of a sleepless night. Just don’t forget to lock your doors. The Babadook Starring Essie Davis and Noah Wiseman, The Babadook is a striking psychological horror film based around the frustration and revulsions of parenthood. Davis plays a widowed mother whose husband died in a car accident on the way to the delivery room. Armed with blood-curdling screams, her son (Wiseman) has some problems. Like some real problems. And the mother is caught between the strong annoyance she has for him and the love she's supposed to provide – feelings that seem to take on a whole new meaning when a creepy pop-up book, “Mister Babadook,” shows up on his shelf. Written and directed by Australian Jennifer Kent, The Babadook is stylish and frightening, both of which are amplified by Davis’ committed and dedicated performance. The Omen Released in 1976, The Omen is another horror classic, with plenty of suspense, violence and controversy interwoven into its ceaselessly entertaining tale. Starring the great Gregory Peck and directed by The Goonies’ Richard Donner, The Omen is an expertly told story, one that's more than capable of keeping you up. It follows Peck’s character, Robert Thorn, an American ambassador whose life is suddenly plagued by random, gruesome deaths. He turns to history to try and unravel this mystery, when it seems that perhaps the answers lie with his son, Damien (Harry Stephens). Paranoia sets in when all signs point to his kid being the Antichrist – the blood of the Devil. More of a paranormal entry than most of the other films on this list, The Omen holds up and works much better than pretty much all of the slop that has come out recently – including any of the Paranormal Activity films, or the newer Texas Chainsaw Massacre pictures. Scream A personal favorite of mine, Wes Craven’s Scream not only brought the horror king back into relevancy, but also paved way for a new kind of scary movie: the one that can laugh at itself. The teens in this film aren’t exactly the ditsy ones that Jason Voorhees comes across in Friday the 13th – they're smarter, and one of them named Randy (Jamie Kennedy) is a horror expert whose come up with the rules of how to survive a scary movie. Of course, the entertainment peaks as he tells these rules somewhere downstairs, while someone else upstairs breaks them. After an iconic opening featuring Drew Barrymore, Scream follows Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her group of friends as the serial killer Ghostface terrorizes their hometown. Eventually, their paranoia breaks down their trust in one another, and they must scramble to regroup so they can beat their stalker, who uses the clichés of classic horror flicks to kill. Do you like scary movies? Scream features a whole cast of mid- ‘90s stars, including Courtney Cox, Rose McGowan and Skeet Ulrich. Together, they make Craven’s film an intense, and surprisingly humorous adventure, with most of the jokes being at the genre’s expense. A Nightmare On Elm Street As classic as classic horror gets, Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the best teen slasher flicks ever made and proves that not all deranged killers have to be cheesy. The original Freddy Kruger, who would eventually lose effectiveness and go on to appear in eight more movies, was a horrific murderer, with knives for fingers and an inescapable site for business: your dreams. Not to shame Halloween or Friday the 13th, but this film is so much different than the other headliners of the genre. It was able to stretch the confines of what a slasher picture could be, instantly planting itself into pop culture and our minds. Because everybody knows Freddy Krueger and what he does, there’s no need to say what Nightmare is about. However, no matter how many movies this franchise spits out, the original never loses its spunk. With a cavalcade of memorable shots – from Freddy’s glove peeking out of the bath tub, to the geyser of blood (before Johnny Depp was Johnny Depp) – A Nightmare on Elm Street, 33 years later, proves that it'll haunt our nightmares forever. It Follows Independent horror has made a comeback as of late, and David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows is certainly at the front of this mini renaissance. Not only is it a creepy and unnerving viewing experience, but it proves to be as clever as any film released in the last few years. The film strongly links sex and sin together – a unique concept for a horror movie, featuring the fact that a large portion of the genre has de-evolved into a mix of arbitrary nudity and over-the-top violence. This idea is embodied by the being that lures lovers into insanity. Jay (Maika Monroe) finds satisfaction in meaningless rendezvous. However, after one lustful encounter, she's given the worst STD imaginable – a killer. This thing, “it,” can shapeshift into anything, and follows whoever has the “disease” – that is until either the prey is killed, or the victim has sex again. “It” never stops, and the only thing Jay can do is run. This relentless chase makes It Follows a vacuum for suspense, and a pleasant change of pace for the deteriorating genre. The Shining Stephen King must be the most adapted writer in film history. He also has no problem telling you how it is if you mess up his story. Perhaps the most famous example of this was Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining…talk about a couple of egos butting heads. Kubrick had no problem twisting King’s tale from right under the author’s nose – the filmmaker, with his distinctive, trademark style, had built a reputation for making any story his own. The argument rages on whether or not the adaptation built upon its source material, but there's no doubt that the master had made another gem. The story follows Jack Torrance’s (Jack Nicholson) slow and bitter descent into madness. The winter caretaker at the Overlook Hotel, Jack brings his wife (Shelly Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) along with him. With only a few major characters outside of these three, the film relies heavily on Nicholson’s eerie performance and Kubrick’s climactic direction. Again, King didn't appreciate the director’s interpretation of his work (so much so that he went on to produce his own TV special), but The Shining has sparked so much conversation since its debut that it seems like it will never cease to be, just like the hotel it’s set around.