Spooky season has arrived and we are as excited as ever. Sure, we might watch horror movies all year round but now is the time when I can make it my whole personality. What might be weird, creepy, or frightening the other eleven months of the year is just fine in October. We like pumpkin spice as much as anyone else, but movies are the true gift of fall. The key to making the most out of you horror movie binge, of course, is variety. Slashers, thrillers, creature features, and more are all welcome here and, as we well know, there are plenty to choose from. So grab your warmest blanket, light those candles, and check out our list of the ten best horror movies currently streaming on Showtime, ranked from worst to best.
10. Werewolves Within (2021)
The perfect highlight to any horror movie marathon is something to break the tension a bit and Werewolves Within is just the ticket. There will be plenty of gore, mayhem, and bloodshed on our list, so why not start with something fun? Werewolves Within is a wonderful, spunky little horror comedy, the kind that, while not without its share of thrills, is a way to poke some fun at some of horror’s more cliched moments. Starring Veep’s Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub as a duo tasked with saving the small town of Beaverfield from a mysterious beast and from the dastardly oil man who wants to build a pipeline through town. Things aren’t — as you might imagine — all that serious, which is what makes it a nice change from the more gnarly movies on this list.
9. Scream (2022)
We couldn’t have gotten through this list without including at least one legacy franchise. Scream movies have always been referential but here, in what is the fourth installment in the Scream series, they have not only horror movies of the past to reference but the Scream movies themselves. Bringing back much of the original cast members as well as some welcome newcomers, including Jenna Ortega, this Scream hits all the beats you’d expect from one of our most lasting franchises without ever becoming overly exhausting.
8. Let The Right One In (2008)
Though this Swedish movie concerns vampires and other horror conventions, Let The Right One In is much more focused on the psychological than the visceral. Telling the story of two lonely, forgotten 12-year-old children, Let The Right One In is certainly not a child’s movie, but does do an excellent job of expressing how lonesome that time can be for some, even if it uses a fantastical set-up to achieve this. Some viewers may push against a foreign language movie but we promise this is worth the effort.
7. The Crow (1994)
Part superhero movie, part fantasy, and plenty of horror, 1994’s The Crow is known as much for the horror that took place off the screen as on. During the filming of The Crow, the movie’s star, Brandon Lee, was accidentally shot on set during filming due to a mishap with a prop gun. It’s a tragic story, to be sure, but that shouldn’t take away from what remains an effective movie in its own right. Lee stars as Eric Draven, a man who, along with his fiancee, is shot and killed only to be resurrected in the form of The Crow, poised to dole out some much-deserved justice. The movie was roundly praised for its inventive and haunting visual style which added weight to the fantastical plot. Though it was a modest success at the box office around the time of its release, it has since become a cult classic.
6. Mother! (2017)
Darren Aronofsky’s Mother! is the kind of horror movie that will truly mess you up. Nothing in this film is as it appears until, that is, things truly reveal themselves, and then the real terror begins. Jennifer Lawrence stars here as the titular mother, known only by that moniker. But that’s not just her character, every person in this movie is known by a simple descriptor. We have “him”, her husband played by Javier Bardem, “man” and “woman”, played by Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer, etc. To describe the plot of this film is akin to telling a stranger about a fever dream, something gets a bit lost in the translation. That said, you’ll want to mostly go into this blind, just be prepared to go to some dark places along the way.
5. X (2022)
If you’ve yet to check out this 2022 slasher flick now is certainly the time. Directed by Ti West, X tells the story of a group of aspiring filmmakers who set out to film a pornographic movie in a guesthouse on a remote farm. If that sounds like a questionable decision (you know, isolating yourself on a desolate farm), it is, and X is very much one of those movies where you find yourself imploring characters to, “please, don’t go in there!” The star of the movie, both the internal X-rated flick and X proper, is Mia Goth, who plays both Maxine Minx and Pearl, the old woman who lives at the farm. As you might have already heard, there is a sequel to this film already in theaters, titled Pearl, so you can imagine the crucial role this mysterious old lady plays in X. Ultimately, this movie works best because it knows exactly what it is, a classic slasher with jump scares and some gnarly scenes of bloodshed.
4. Midsommar (2019)
Midsommar marks the first, but not last, movie on our list directed by Ari Aster, the hottest auteur working in horror today. More than anything, he has a knack for the singular, creating movies that not only cut through the constant glut of horror but stake out a place all their own. Midsommar takes place largely in a secluded Swedish village where our protagonist, Dani (Florence Pugh), her boyfriend, and his ragtag group of friends are visiting during the town’s summer festival. But, as the group soon finds out, ‘summer festival’ does not exactly do justice to the pagan, ritualistic, cultish ceremonies the townspeople enact. What ensues is something barely describable but altogether entrancing, beautiful, and terrifying to witness.
3. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Rosemary’s Baby is a troubling movie for many reasons, not least of which is director Roman Polanski, an accused rapist. Marking the oldest movie on our list, it is a suspense tale in the tradition of Alfred Hitchcock, though this one goes darker than even he is willing to go. This is a movie all about suspicion and suspense and even if we might see some of the plot twists coming, it doesn’t make things any easier to swallow. It certainly isn’t the only horror movie to explore satanic worship and the occult but it may be one of the best. While you may think something this old won’t be able to scare as much as a contemporary movie, Rosemary’s Baby will definitely prove you wrong.
2. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Seemingly hundreds of horror movies are released each year, so fans of the genre always have something new and excited to check out. That said, sometimes you have to throw in a classic to truly get the season going. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is without a doubt in the pantheon of one of the greatest slasher movies of all time. Even if you’ve never checked out the original you know Leatherface and, if you are anything like me, you’re haunted by his image. Directed by Tobe Hooper — who would go on to direct Poltergeist — Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the definition of a low-budget movie, made for less than a hundred thousand dollars and going on to earn over $30 million. There’s a reason this film has birthed so many sequels and remakes, because it is freaking terrifying.
1. Hereditary (2018)
We’ve arrived at the top spot on our list, the cream of the crop, the best Showtime horror has to offer. You can’t really overstate how affecting — and often terrifying — this movie truly is. For those who’ve seen Hereditary there exists a strict dividing line; before you arrived at the devastating midpoint twist and after you finally uncovered your eyes to watch the remainder of the film. If you’ve yet to check this one out – go now! You will know exactly what we mean. But Hereditary does not rely on one moment, instead slowly unspooling an increasingly nightmarish tale of a family with, let’s say, some issues. This is truly a masterclass in filmmaking, horror or otherwise. Everything director Ari Aster does here is pure genius and meticulous, from the miniature set-pieces the family’s matriarch constructs, to the subtle creeping madness of the children. If you are looking for something that will haunt you for days to come — and come on, that’s why we are really here is it not? — this is the perfect movie for you.