The best horror movies on Shudder right now

Shudder is the best place for horror right now, and these are the best horror movies scaring up a storm on the streaming service.

If you’re a fan of scary movies, Shudder is the go-to streamer at present, featuring a combination of classics horror, new features, TV shows, and genre documentaries.

There are even Shudder Originals, funded by the channel, or picked up for distribution at festivals all over the world. Meaning it can be quite overwhelming the first time you log onto the service.

So to help horror hounds find exactly what they want, we’ve listed some of our favorite films on the channel.

Best movies on Shudder right now

To keep the list as simple as possible, we’re listing the best movies that are screening on both Shudder in the US, and Shudder in the UK.

We aren’t including documentaries, so the following are just narrative features. We’re listing them in alphabetical order, so they aren’t ranked. And we’re covering ever sub-genre, meaning comedy-horror rubs shoulders with the more serious and scary stuff.

So without further ado, these are the best horror movies streaming on Shudder right now.

The Changeling (1980)

Shudder Synopsis: Consumed by grief, a New York composer moves to a secluded Victorian mansion. There he finds himself haunted by a paranormal entity that may unleash an even more disturbing secret. Peter Medak’s acclaimed and celebrated The Changeling is quite simply, one of the great haunted house films.

What We Say: As sad as it is scary, The Changeling really is one of the great haunted house movies. While as the distraught composer in question, George C. Scott delivers maybe the most affecting performances of his long and distinguished career.

Hellraiser (1987)

Shudder Synopsis: A puzzle box reveals a realm of sadistic monsters led by a being named Pinhead, who torture the depraved man who unlocks it. Escaping Pinhead’s wrath, what remains of Frank hides out in his attic, until a chance encounter leads him to enlist his brother’s wife Julia, with whom he had a passionate affair, to lure victims home so Frank can feed off their blood.

What We Say: Written and directed by Clive Barker, Hellraiser is the darkest and most twisted movie on this list, wherein pleasure and pain become one. The acting is a big dodgy in some scenes, while the budget sometimes lets the film down. But Doug Bradley’s appearance and performance as Pinhead more than makes up for any shortcomings, the character immediately becoming a true horror icon.

High Tension (2005)

Shudder Synopsis: Hoping to prepare for their college exams in peace and quiet, best friends Marie and Alexia decide to spend a weekend in the country at Alexia’s parents’ secluded farmhouse. But in the dead of the night, a stranger knocks on the front door. And with the first swing of his knife, the girls’ idyllic weekend turns into an endless night of horror...

What We Say: So the twist in this one is a bit of a head-scratcher, but everything that comes before is superb. Exciting, terrifying, and exhilarating, High Tension – aka Haute Tension – announced the arrival of an exciting new genre talent in writer-director Alexandre Aja, while helping to usher in the era of French extreme.

Host (2020)

Shudder Synopsis: Six friends get togethe [during the global shutdown] for their weekly zoom call. It’s Haley’s turn to organise an activity and instead of a quiz, she’s arranged for a Medium to conduct a séance. Bored and feeling mischievous, Jemma decides to have some fun and invents a story about a boy in her school who hanged himself. However, her prank gives license for a demonic presence to cross over, taking on the guise of the boy in Jemma’s made-up story. The friends begin noticing strange occurrences in their homes as the evil presence begins to make itself known, and they soon realise that they might not survive the night.

What We Say: In the midst of the dark times in 2020, Host was a glorious highlight. The brainchild of British filmmakers Rob Savage, Jed Shepherd, and Gemma Hurley, the set-up couldn’t be more simple, the pay-off couldn’t be more frightening, and the young cast sell the sh*t out of those scares, in the process crafting a modern horror classic.

The Invitation (2016)

Shudder Synopsis: Will and Eden were once a loving couple. After a tragedy took their son, Eden disappeared. Two years later, out of the blue, she returns with a new husband… and as a different person, eerily changed and eager to reunite with her ex and those she left behind. Over the course of a dinner party in the house that was once his, the haunted Will is gripped by mounting evidence that Eden and her new friends have a mysterious and terrifying agenda. But can we trust Will’s hold on reality? Or will he be the unwitting catalyst of the doom he senses?

What We Say: The Invitation script by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi is masterful. The direction by Karyn Kusama wrings every last drop of tension from their words. While the film’s final shot is one of the greatest in modern horror.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Shudder Synopsis: George Romero’s original zombie classic introduced viewers to a new type of terror: the walking dead, slow moving, but determined to feast on your flesh! From the first moments of its iconic opening sequence, NOTLD changed the game for horror directors, creating a genre that – like the zombies themselves – still shows no sign of slowing down. But Romero’s most brilliant and controversial innovation was casting African-American actor Duane Jones as the lead, and offering a devastating – and still relevant – commentary on racism during the film’s final moments.

What We Say: More violent than what had gone before, but with a social conscience underpinning the gore, Night of the Living Dead is one of the most important movies in the history of horror. While George Romero followed it with two more classics – Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead – thereby crafting one of the greatest trilogies in any genre.

Phantasm (1979)

Shudder Synopsis: When Mike’s parents die, his world is turned upside down. But nothing can prepare him for the shocking discovery that a mortician (the late, great Angus Scrimm) and his dwarf army have stolen Mike’s parents’ bodies. Did we mention the flying spheres? Though the surreal scare-fest unfolds like a child’s bad dream, the terror it evokes is far more real and intense than most fright flicks. Phantasm’s success led to four sequels and a permanent place in the horror hall of fame.

What We Say: Weird and wonderful in equal measure, Phantasm is an messed-up fever dream brought to life. Like Hellraiser, both cast and effects are a little rough around the edges, but evil feels like it flows through the film. The result is horror that’s heavy on both atmosphere and scares, and one that features an awesome antagonist in the shape of The Tall Man.

Revenge (2018)

Shudder Synopsis: Jen is enjoying a romantic getaway with her wealthy boyfriend, which is suddenly disrupted when his sleazy friends arrive for an unannounced hunting trip. Tension mounts until the situation abruptly – and viciously – intensifies, culminating in a shocking act that leaves Jen left for dead. Unfortunately for her assailants, Jen survives and reemerges with a relentless, wrathful intent: revenge. A white-knuckle tale of transgression and transformation, Revenge gloriously blurs the lines of vengeance and survival while delivering a ferocious dissection of gender and genre.

What We Say: Rape-revenge movies are frequently made by men. Here, a woman – Coralie Fargeat – tackles the sub-genre, and gives it a brilliantly brutal and bloody feminist twist.

Ring (1998)

Shudder Synopsis: A group of teenage friends are found dead, their bodies grotesquely contorted, their faces twisted in terror. Reiko, a journalist and the aunt of one of the victims, sets out to investigate the shocking phenomenon, and in the process uncovers a creepy urban legend about a supposedly cursed videotape, the contents of which causes anyone who views it to die within a week – unless they can persuade someone else to watch it, and, in so doing, pass on the curse…

What We Say: That inspired premise spawned a franchise, ripoffs, crossovers, and remakes. But none bettered the original Ring – aka Ringu – which is 95-minutes of pure terror that ensures you’ll never look at your TV the same way again.

Skinamarink (2023)

Shudder Synopsis: Two children wake up in the middle of the night to find their father is missing, and all the windows and doors in their home have vanished. To cope with the strange situation, the two bring pillows and blankets to the living room and settle into a quiet slumber party situation. They play well worn videotapes of cartoons to fill the silence of the house and distract from the frightening and inexplicable situation. All the while in the hopes that eventually some grown-ups will come to rescue them. However, after a while it becomes clear that something is watching over them. 

What We Say: Skinamarink came out of nowhere to become one of the most talked about horror films of 2023. That’s partly because of the story’s ambiguity, with Kyle Edward Ball’s film precipitating much speculation and fan theories online. But also because it’s really, really scary.

Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017)

Shudder Synopsis: A haunting horror fairytale set against the backdrop of Mexico’s devastating drug wars,​ Tigers Are Not Afraid follows a group of orphaned children armed with three magical wishes, running from the ghosts that haunt them and the cartel that murdered their parents. Filmmaker Issa López creates a world that recalls the early films of Guillermo del Toro, imbued with her own gritty urban spin on magical realism to conjure a wholly unique experience that audiences will not soon forget. 

What We Say: A horror movie that’s as bewitching as it is beautiful, Tigers are Not Afraid takes a simple story and modest budget, and spins them into one of the most visually arresting horror movies of the last decade. As well as one of the best.

For more horror coverage, head here. While these are the best scary movies on Netflix, Disney+, and Prime Video.