Looking for something to keep you screaming streaming?
From thrillers and mysteries to slashers and ghost stories, Amazon Prime Video has a killer lineup of terrifying titles perfect for scaring up your movie night. Whether you’re in the mood for a creepy comedy with some teeth, a menacing mystery with a twist ending, or an original nightmare not so easily described, Prime Video has tons of great horror movies included free with your subscription.
You have other options too, of course. Netflix has a ton of great horror movies to choose from. So does Hulu. If you have a streaming subscription in your life, you have a library of fright-filled scarefests that you might not even know about. Amazon Prime Video is just one more option in a long lineup of them.
But what battles should you brave first? To help you get started on your binge, here are the 20 best horror movies now streaming free on Amazon Prime Video.
1. Unsane
Steven Soderbergh’s feature-length fright fest made on the iPhone 7 is claustrophobic in all the best ways. In Unsane, Claire Foy plays a woman plagued by a dangerous stalker. But when she seeks counseling for her trauma, she finds her sanity in question and her safety at risk. What follows is a nail-biting nightmare with a twist last act sure to get a big (if not entirely good) reaction out of you.
How to watch: Unsane is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.
2. Suspiria (2018)
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This 2018 Suspiria remake has been described by director Luca Guadagnino and star Tilda Swinton as a “cover” of Dario Argento’s 1977 classic — exploring rather than mimicking Argento’s perspective on supernatural horror. With this mission in mind, Suspiria is a gratifying watch that exemplifies how identical genre tropes can be employed for disparate emotional effects. Yes, it’s all fear, but fear of different kinds that present an unsettling experience unto itself.
How to watch: Suspiria (2018) is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.
3. The Love Witch
Scrolling past The Love Witch, it’s easy to mistake writer-director Anna Biller’s 2016 title with a forgotten gem of the 1960s. Designed to mirror the glamorous Hollywood of old, this story of a magical temptress looking for romance offers both camp and tragedy. Star Samantha Robinson shines as the bewitching Elaine, an understated icon of feminist horror well worth meeting.
How to watch: The Love Witch is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.
4. Come To Daddy
Top to bottom, director Ant Timpson’s Come To Daddy is bonkers. In this comedic thriller with some serious gore, Elijah Wood portrays a son visiting his estranged father, played by Stephen McHattie, when he is unexpectedly confronted by his father’s past. Full of some killer twists and turns — seriously, buckle up — this one is better left unspoiled.
How to watch: Come to Daddy is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.
5. The Lighthouse
Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson star in this absolutely baffling inquiry into sanity. Known for his feature-length debut The Witch, director Robert Eggers delivers intense atmosphere and explosive performances in this stark, black-and-white tale of a two men stationed at a remote lighthouse. (If at the end you’re left wondering what it all means, don’t worry — us too.)
How to watch: The Lighthouse is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.
6. We Need To Talk About Kevin
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We Need To Talk About Kevin is an exploration of warning signs and violence that’s sure to leave many viewers feeling unsteady. Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly lead as the parents of Kevin, a disturbed teenager played by Ezra Miller, who goes on an unexplained killing spree. More meditative than attention-grabbing, director Lynne Ramsay’s psychological thriller asks you to make sense of the senseless, even as this tale’s inescapably horrible conclusion looms large.
How to watch: We Need To Talk About Kevin is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.
7. The Neon Demon
If Vogue released an issue in collaboration with the Necronimcon, its contents might resemble something like director Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon. Starring Elle Fanning as a doomed ingénue, this stylish fever dream explores the Los Angeles modeling scene for an indictment of western beauty standards and commercialization that’s as captivating as it is biting.
How to watch: The Neon Demon is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.
8. Hellraiser
From the phenomenally twisted mind of Clive Barker, the original Hellraiser is as scary today as it ever was. Descend into this puzzling world of monstrous torture (see what I did there?) with genre icon Pinhead, played by Doug Bradley, facing off against protagonist Kirsty, played by Ashley Laurence. No matter where you stand on the most recent Hellraiser installments, it’s hard to deny that this 1987 nightmare is an all-time great.
How to watch: Hellraiser is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.
9. Midsommar
Following the critical success of Hereditary, writer-director Ari Aster returned to theaters with an eerie fairytale starring Florence Pugh. Midsommar is an atmospheric drama that turns the occult abduction formula inside out for a trippy meditation on acceptance and rejection that’s more intense than terrifying. If you’re looking for big, beautiful, haunting images accompanied by excellent characters and production design, this is your pick.
How to watch: Midsommar is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.
10. The Ring
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Director Gore Verbinkski’s The Ring doesn’t hold up in all of the ways we’d like (the film’s intentionally jarring narrative devices have aged more like continuity problems, tbh), but it remains a pivotal title in aughts horror history that’s enough fun to merit a rewatch. Naomi Watts stars as an investigative journalist who stumbles across a VHS tape with a deadly history.
How to watch: The Ring is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.
11. Rear Window
Alfred Hitchcock is the master of suspense, and nowhere is that more apparent than in Rear Window. The whole movie is confined to the apartment of L.B. Jefferies (Jimmy Stewart), a photographer stuck at home with a broken leg. He observes his neighbors through his rear window in order to pass the time, but everything changes when he witnesses a sinister act. Hitchcock masterfully uses the claustrophobia of Jefferies’ plight to build tension throughout this classic mystery, resulting in one of the greatest thrillers of all time. —Belen Edwards, Entertainment Fellow
How to watch: Rear Window is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.
12. Alien
Alien isn’t just one of the best space movies of all time — it’s also one of the best movies of all time, full stop. Thanks to Ridley Scott’s direction and visual design led by Swiss artist H. R. Giger, this science-fiction horror film is genuinely creepy and claustrophobic, taking our intrinsic fear of dark and narrow corridors and using it to masterful effect. In a lot of ways, Scott’s sci-fi behemoth set a template for future space movies. —Sam Haysom, Senior UK Culture Reporter
How to watch: Alien is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.
13. The Monster Squad
It’s really more of a comedy than a horror, and a family-friendly comedy at that. But this family-friendly comedy classic features a supernatural rogue’s gallery of household movie monsters — baddies like Dracula, Wolf Man (who, it should be noted, has nards), and the Mummy — going up against a gang of kids. Call it a cult favorite, call it the Goonies of horror movies— call it whatever you want, really. The Monster Squad kicks ass. —Adam Rosenberg, Weekend Editor and Senior Entertainment Reporter
How to watch: The Monster Squad is now streaming free with Amazon Prime Video.
This story was originally published in March 2020 and updated in August 2021.