One of last year’s scariest horror movies, The Night House, is now available to stream on HBO Max. Director David Bruckner packs in the frights from the outset and never relents. This week’s streaming picks draws inspiration from The Night House; these five scary horror movies aim and succeed in delivering exhilarating chills and thrills.
These horror titles get under your skin, whether through potent jump scares, claustrophobic atmosphere, or psychological torment. Here’s where to watch them this week.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Insidious: Chapter 3 – Tubi
Writer/Director Leigh Whannell’s directorial feature debut occurs before the first two Insidious films, putting psychic Elise (Lin Shaye) in the lead. Set several years before Elise meets the Lambert family, teen Quinn (Stefanie Scott) seeks her out to contact the spirit of her deceased mother. Quinn quickly finds herself in danger, subjected to terrifying encounters with a malevolent entity, and only Elise can help her. Chapter 3 goes darker and harder on the scares. The Further may not play as prominent a role, but if you want something that’ll send shivers down your spine, Whannell more than succeeds with this one.
Satan’s Slaves – AMC+, Shudder
A loose remake/prequel of the 1980 Indonesian horror film, writer/director Joko Anwar brings the unrelenting scares. A family in a rural home struggles to survive after mom Mawarni Suwono’s long battle with illness dried up all the royalties from her once-lucrative music career. Her death triggers a series of supernatural occurrences suggesting that perhaps mom made a deal with the devil; and he’s come to collect. The isolated setting, the atmosphere, and the endless barrage of frights make this ghost story a perfect Halloween watch.
Sleep Tight – AMC+, Kanopy, Shudder, Tubi
Jaume Balaguero’s Sleep Tight gets under your skin, especially if you live alone. Luis Tosar is one of horror’s most underrated and scariest villains as apartment concierge Cesar. He’s miserable, and all he wants is for everyone around him to be discontent. He revels in making the tenants’ lives hell, and they’re typically easy to agitate. But the unflappable Clara, with her sunny outlook, becomes the object of Cesar’s fixation in his fervent desire to induce a mental breakdown in her. It means consistently breaking into her apartment – often with her at night, sleeping peacefully in her bed – to find new ways to inflict suffering without her being aware. It’s bleak, disturbing, and one of the most uncomfortable viewing experiences out there.
Shutter – Kanopy, Vudu
Photographer Tun (Ananda Everingham) and his girlfriend Jane (Natthaweeranuch Thongmee) are a happy couple in love. That changes when they open up the doors to supernatural torment when a distracted Jane accidentally runs a woman over while driving home from a friend’s wedding. Tun, who’d been drinking, convinces Jane to flee, leaving the woman alone in the middle of the road. Subsequently, strange images begin showing up in Tun’s photography. The feature debut by Parkpoom Wongpoom and Banjong Pisanthanakun brings stark moments of terror and nightmare imagery that sticks with you. If you love this one, also check out Pisanthanakun’s The Medium on Shudder.
Terrified – AMC+, Shudder
The cinematic equivalent of enjoying a haunted attraction, Demián Rugna’s feature is an onslaught of terror from beginning to end. Plot-wise, there’s not much to it, nor is there a lot of explanation for those that prefer answers. However, that doesn’t stop a cop on the cusp of retirement and a slew of paranormal experts from trying to get to the bottom of a series of bizarre activities plaguing a Buenos Aires neighborhood. With creative and innovative scares aplenty, Terrified is the type of horror film that lives up to its name; it’s freaking petrifying.