If you're looking for some screams to stream, Netflix has quite a few good options stocked
in its library right about now.
In addition to some of the titles everyone already knows about, like It Follows, The
Babadook, The Conjuring and Hush, here are some thrillers horror fans with a Netflix
account won't want to miss.
Last Shift
Directed and co-written by Anthony DiBlasi, this indie fright flick follows a rookie cop
who's chosen to man an abandoned police station the night before it closes for good.
The place is a cold, winding labyrinth, filled with the eerie hum of fluorescent light bulbs.
And from the moment our hero steps through the door, weird things start happening in
the hallways.
There's a mysterious phone call from a frightened girl, something is banging around in the back,
and the furniture seems just a little too frisky.
Things keep getting weirder, especially when the rookie learns the history of a Manson-style
family and their weird connection to this empty building.
Soon, she's running from bloody spectres and horrific visions.
The horror never stops until the final bloody showdown, so by the end of Last Shift, you'll
be left mumbling incoherently right alongside her.
The Nightmare
This 2015 documentary is about real-life terrors, which makes it far scarier than any fictional
horror story.
The Nightmare examines the awful and upsetting mystery of sleep paralysis, a condition that
leaves its victims trapped in a conscious dream as they see all sorts of horrible creatures
around them.
The film features eight people who suffer from the disorder, and they describe in detail
how they can hear the sounds of the underworld each night, and how they're haunted by demonic
shadow-men.
If that weren't scary enough, their devilish visions are also re-created on-camera, giving
us a glimpse into the nightmare world these people experience.
Let's just say, you'll probably want to stock up on caffeine to stave off your own slumber
after this movie's over.
I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House
A love letter to Gothic fiction, I am the Pretty Thing that Lives in the House is an
atmospheric horror movie that slowly crawls past the camera like a Victorian dream.
A narrator tells us in the opening minutes that she'll be dead within the year.
Her name is Lily, and she's a hospice nurse, caring for an elderly novelist in an old house;
one full of empty spaces and strange noises which gets even creepier when Lily glimpses
an eerily beautiful ghost.
While you won't see any carnage, darkness still permeates the film, from its ominous
doorways and suspicious mold to a disturbing little mystery novel about a truly terrible
incident.
Thanks to Ruth Wilson's sad and lonely performance and a creeping sense of certain doom, this
is one spooky gem that'll leave you unnerved and more than a little worried about what
might be standing right behind you.
Under the Shadow
There are plenty of evil spirits haunting Under the Shadow, but this Iranian film knows
there are scarier things than demons, like the horrors of war or losing your kid.
Set in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq War, the film sheds light on citizens who sought shelter
underground.
That's the world our heroine finds herself in, as she tries to protect her kid from bombs...
and kidnapping djinn.
These spirits are drawn to fear and anxiety, looking for something to possess, but as a
rational woman who doesn't believe in myths or fairy tales, she has a hard time believing
these creatures even exist…
Until she starts seeing floating cloaks and creepy old men.
What result is some genuinely creepy moments that'll stick with you.
The Transfiguration
Screen vampires tend to be either hideous or completely seductive, but Milo from The
Transfiguration stands apart from the fanged crowd.
This young orphan from New York's streets lives an isolated life, running from bullies,
visiting a counselor to discuss violent thoughts, and watching disturbing animal videos online.
But Milo is far more than your typical messed-up kid.
As he might put it himself, he's a "realistic" vampire.
This boy is obsessed with everything undead and spends his spare time stabbing victims
and drinking their blood.
Despite his thirst for the red stuff, he's not a supernatural being.
He's just a mentally disturbed monster.
Without a doubt, The Transfiguration is one of the most disturbing vampire movies ever
made and features a scene so horrific you might have to stop watching.
But despite the brutality, this flick is an original take on a tired genre, so if you
can stomach some serious gore, it might just transfigure your opinion on vampires forever.
The Ritual
Forests are freaky places, and yet few films utilize the environmental fright factor as
well as The Ritual.
The film follows four British city slickers, hiking their way through Sweden, when they
make the mistake of taking a shortcut.
Their detour leads them into an incredibly dense forest, where elk are impaled on trees
and something big is moving in the woods.
They encounter a creepy cabin, and are plagued with nightmares that are a little too vivid.
Meanwhile, the thing moving in the woods keeps getting closer, just as our central hero's
guilt over the violent loss of a friend starts to take over.
As the group encounters occult symbols and pagan rituals, it becomes apparent this was
the wrong place for a vacation, and we're just as terrified as the characters when they
stumble upon horror after horror.
When they finally come face to face with the thing that haunts them, it's one of the coolest-looking
monster concepts in recent horror history.
A Dark Song
Far more than just your typical haunted house movie, A Dark Song is a deep dive into the
occult, a world of angels, demons, and complex rituals that have to be performed in just
the right way…or else.
If magic were real, it would look like this: methodical, miserable, and absolutely mad.
The plot follows a grieving, determined woman named Sophia who's prepared to spend months
locked inside a house with an angry, overbearing magician.
In order to move on from her grief, she needs to meet her guardian angel and ask it to grant
her just one wish.
But reaching out to the spirit world is a lengthy process, and if she steps outside
the house even once during the six month-long ritual, she'll jeopardize her soul.
The magic rituals are absolutely grueling, and as tempers flare and time loses all meaning,
the two characters begin falling apart, until something from the other side peeks through.
Needless to say, if you delve into black magic, things are going to get dark, but if you're
in the mood for a suspenseful slow burn and a horror movie where the occult feels authentic
and agonizing, then you should do your best to summon A Dark Song on Netflix.
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