Halloween might be just around the corner, but there’s no denying that scary movies are a good watch all year round. Throughout the past century, the medium has transformed to tickle our primal fears, going from terrifying makeup and prosthetics to bloody spectacles and startling surprises, and now, tonal terror that gradually builds upon anticipation to keep us on the edge of our seats. Everyone enjoys a good scare every now and then, but when scrolling through the seemingly endless assortment of recommendations on streaming platforms, it can be challenging to differentiate the garbage from genuine high-quality material. Hence, you hear occasional off-handed remarks such as “Horror movies are awful these days!”
So dim your lights and get cozy, as we’ve decided to handpick some of the finest spooky films available to stream this weekend, across Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, and JioCinema.
Best Spooky Films Available to Stream in India Right Now
The Witch
Robert Eggers left a distinctive mark on the indie horror filmmaking space with the utterly bleak and thought-provoking folk story, The Witch. Anya Taylor-Joy’s (The Queen’s Gambit) feature debut follows a devout Christian family in the 1630s, who get banished from their settlement for defying the local church, and move to the eerily quiet wilderness. However, when their newborn child disappears into thin air and the crops start withering, the family turns against each other, believing that a witch has cursed them and that she’s probably hiding among them. Through cheerful songs about Black Phillip, occult magic at play, demonic possessions, and escalating paranoia illuminated by oil lamps, The Witch is a deliciously terrifying experience that’s sure to linger in your mind for quite some time.
The New England set design is rustic and deeply depressing, and as an Eggers film, we cannot ignore the period-accurate dialect, which simply enhances the craftsmanship. The film also stars Ralph Ineson (The Green Knight) as the father William, Kate Dickie (The Northman) as the mother Katherine, and Harvey Scrimshaw as the brother to Thomasin (Anya).
The Witch is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix.
Hereditary
There’s no way we were going to omit Hereditary from this list, especially considering that its name is usually suggested by at least one person when you plan on having a scary movie marathon. After her estranged mother dies, Annie Graham (Toni Collette) notices some unusual activity around her house, as if some demonic entity is manipulating the family members like toys. At the same time, she has to deal with the teenage troubles of her stoner son Peter (Alex Wolff), who, in ignorance, commits a horrifying act that shocks the close-knit family – a kind of sorrow that soon blends with the supernatural to reveal disturbing secrets about their lineage.
In a way, it’s a domestic tragedy that quickly spirals into fear of the unknown, with filmmaker Ari Aster intensifying the horror with subtly chilling additions to the background and stomach-turning body horror for good measure, all while asking whether the events are mere figments of the mother’s imagination. Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects) stars as the often secretive father Steve, Milly Shapiro as the daughter Annie, and Ann Dowd (Mass) as Joan, a support group member who tries to help Annie cope with her grief.
Hereditary is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Barbarian
If you’re looking for something more mainstream, the giallo-leaning thriller Barbarian might be just what you need. Having to stay with a stranger at an Airbnb is already a nerve-racking experience, but when you discover that the house has a series of mysterious tunnels, you’d do anything for some company. That’s what happens to a young woman Tess (Georgina Campbell), who arrives in a rundown neighborhood of Detroit and uncovers some hideous-looking beings lurking beneath the house she’s rented. The events may venture into cliché territory, but I find some of its structural choices to be incredibly intriguing. Midway through, the film introduces Justin Long (Drag Me to Hell) and shifts its tone to a comedic one, poking fun at his money-hungry aloof character, providing a well-deserved break from the shocking events that came before.
This aspect of Barbarian is due to director Zach Cregger’s background in comedy, being part of the notorious sketch comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U’ Know – it’s a part of his identity that I hope continues to shine in his forthcoming projects. Despite diverting from its course, the film soon regains its horror footing and delves into themes of sexual abuse and trauma that feel gut-wrenching. It was made on a budget of $4.5 million (approximately Rs. 37 crore) and also stars Bill Skarsgård (It) in a pivotal role.
Barbarian can be streamed on Disney+ Hotstar.
The Wailing
While every film enthusiast started appreciating renowned Korean horror movies after Parasite’s sweep at the Oscars, Na Hong-jin’s The Wailing seems to be one that hasn’t received as much attention. When a Japanese stranger (Jun Kunimura) arrives in the rural village of Gokseung, a strange sickness starts spreading among the locals, causing the infected to go insane and slaughter their entire families. Soon, a clumsy cop (Kwak Do-won) afflicted by demonic dreams gets involved in the case, and the investigation starts to have an adverse effect on his daughter, who falls sick and displays symptoms of the infection.
Desperate to save his daughter, policeman Jong-goo is forced to allow a shaman to perform an exorcism on her, leading to some of the most tension-filled rituals ever depicted in cinema. True to its name, there is a plethora of wailing and the sounds of thundering drums and prayers that can become quite uncomfortable for the faint-hearted. Throughout its extensive 156-minute runtime, The Wailing subverts every expectation and showcases some beautifully haunting cinematography that’s nearly impossible to look away from. Honestly, it’s better to know as little about it as possible.
The Wailing is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, albeit with an English-language dub. A Hindi version is also available on MX Player.
Get Out
Giving his background in comedic sketches, Jordan Peele’s directorial debut surprised many by taking horror in an entirely new direction – American racism. In Get Out, young photographer Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) are heading upstate to meet her white parents, with Chris naturally concerned about their reaction to their interracial relationship. However, their response is overly accommodating – perhaps a bit too nice. It’s almost as if they’re afraid of offending him in any way, while simultaneously highlighting the achievements of black individuals in the US.
The weekend soon takes a creepy turn as he uncovers some disturbing happenings in the secluded society, which feel targeted and threatening towards people of his race. Without giving away too much, it’s the kind of fear that stems from human interactions, with Get Out primarily serving as a social commentary on an intensified experience of being a black person in the US. It won the Best Screenplay Oscar in 2018 and features an ensemble cast including Bradley Whitford (The Mentalist), LaKeith Stanfield (Uncut Gems), Catherine Keener (Synecdoche, New York), and Stephen Root (No Country for Old Men).
Get Out can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, and JioCinema.
Alien (1979)
Isolation acts as a catalyst for fear, and it becomes even more chilling when you find yourself on a spaceship hurtling lightyears away from Earth, where no one can hear your cries. In Ridley Scott’s Alien, the Nostromo crew intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet and decides to provide assistance, just like any group of young people in a campy horror flick would. Upon arrival, they encounter a deadly parasitic lifeform that sprays corrosive acid in self-defense and accidentally bring it aboard, leading to terrifying encounters as it stealthily hunts down the entire crew. Officer Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) becomes the leading force in the battle against the alien, all the while contending with a rogue android who tried to keep it alive.
It’s incredible to think that Alien has firmly established itself among the best in both the horror and sci-fi genres, partially thanks to H.R. Giger’s disturbing design work on the Xenomorph that injected life into the otherwise cold and metallic interiors of the Nostromo ship. The film won the Best Visual Effects Oscar in 1980 and features an ensemble cast including Tom Skerritt (Top Gun), Harry Dean Stanton (Inland Empire), John Hurt (The Elephant Man), and Veronica Cartwright. It’s worth mentioning that the subsequent Alien sequels do not possess the same horror vibe, with James Cameron’s Aliens taking an action blockbuster route and David Fincher’s Alien 3 being a complete mess due to production issues from the start.
Alien is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
