5 best Netflix movies to stream this Halloween

Cue the music because this is Halloween. October is coming to a close, which means horror movies will be ramping up from now until the end of the month. No rule says you can’t watch a Halloween horror outside of October, just like anyone can listen to Christmas music in July. However, horror plays better around Halloween because of the ambiance and spooky mood.

Netflix continues to promote its “Netflix & Chills” section, a landing page dedicated to Halloween programming. Within the section, you’ll find it all, from thrillers and horrors to slasher and ghost stories. If you need help picking a movie, try watching one of these movies, including a holiday slasher, a recent supernatural trilogy, and an iconic classic.

We also have guides to the best movies on Netflix, the best movies on Hulu, the best movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best movies on Max, and the best movies on Disney+.

Scream (2022)

Paramount

Would you like to play a game, Tara? Scream fans will recognize that phrase comes from the fifth entry, the “requel” of the franchise. One night, high school student Tara Carpenter (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice‘s Jenna Ortega) is attacked by Ghostface but manages to survive. Tara’s estranged older sister, Sam (Melissa Barrera), and her boyfriend, Richie (Jack Quaid), head back to Woodsboro to check on Tara.

Sam learns that a new Ghostface killer has sights set on Tara and her friends as the “new generation” of victims. Plus, some of these friends have ties to the past, which Ghostface planned for. Sometimes, you have to go back to move forward. To defeat Ghostface, Sam needs help from some familiar faces: Dewey Riley (David Arquette), Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), and the original final girl, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). Together, these friends might stand a fighting chance against Ghostface.

Stream Scream on Netflix.

American Psycho (2000)

Lionsgate Films

This month, Lionsgate announced that Luca Guadagnino is making a new interpretation of American Psycho. Whether you like the original or not, American Psycho’s impact on pop culture — quotes, references, and Halloween costumes — cannot be denied. Directed by Mary Harron, American Psycho stars Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, a narcissistic investment banker in New York City during the late 1980s.

Patrick is obsessed with his physical appearance and social status, flaunting his wealth in his expensive suits and exclusive dinner reservations. Behind closed doors, Patrick is a monster with a rage that drives him to torture and murder. How long can Patrick keep up with his violent nature before the authorities catch on?

Stream American Psycho on Netflix.

Thanksgiving (2023)

Pief Weyman / Tristar Pictures

The title might be Thanksgiving, but it’s a slasher appropriate for Halloween. In Plymouth, Massachusetts, tragedy strikes on Black Friday when multiple people riot and enter a store early. One year later, a serial killer wearing a John Carver mask begins terrorizing the town and killing people involved in that fateful Black Friday tragedy.

Six friends — Jessica (Nell Verlaque), Gaby (Addison Rae), Bobby (Jalen Thomas Brooks), Evan (Tomaso Sanelli), Scuba (Gabriel Davenport), and Yulia (Jenna Warren) — learn they are the killer’s next targets. The killer picks them off one by one, and slowly but surely, their master plan is revealed. With Eli Roth directing, Thanksgiving is funny, gory, and violent. In other words, it’s an Eli Roth movie.

Stream Thanksgiving on Netflix.

Fear Street Part One: 1994 (2021)

Netflix

Generation X has Halloween, while millennials have Scream. Gen Z’s slasher to define their generation may end up being the Fear Street trilogy. For purposes of the article, let’s start with the first entry, Fear Street Part One: 1994. In 1994, the town of Shadyside was home to a brutal massacre with eight residents who were stabbed and killed. Many attribute the deaths to Sarah Fier (Elizabeth Scopel), a witch who placed a curse before her execution in 1666.

In the neighboring town of Sunnyvale, Deena (Kiana Madeira) does not believe in Sarah or her curse. However, a bloody car accident disturbs Sarah’s grave and resurrects previous killers in Shadyside. Now, the teens must figure out a way to survive long enough to lift the town curse and end the murders. Part One is a great start to a throwback slasher that honors the past while feeling fresh.

Stream Fear Street Part One: 1994 on Netflix.

Psycho (1960)

Universal

If you’re going to watch a movie on Halloween, why not make it one of the most influential entries in horror? The movie is Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock’s brilliant movie starring Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, and Janet Leigh. After stealing $40,000 from her employer, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) plans to drive to her boyfriend, Sam Loomis (John Gavin), and get married.

Because of a brutal rainstorm, Marion stops for the night at the Bates Motel, where she meets the proprietor, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Norman appears kind and polite, but his taxidermy interest and combative relationship with his mother draw red flags. Many will associate Psycho with the shower scene. However, Psycho remains a masterclass in suspense and a shining example of what makes Hitchcock great.

Stream Psycho on Netflix.