5 Types Of Horror Movies To Watch On Netflix This Halloween Date Night
It’s the spooky edition of date night!
So you agreed to watch a horror movie on Netflix with your date.
Big mistake.
Days later, you’re still finding popcorn that you spilled from all the jump scares. And you definitely know that you can’t go to the washroom in the dark ever again. #PTSD
Credits: pressfoto - www.freepik.com
Before you add your partner to the killcount for suggesting another horror movie, there’s hope!
The world of horror, like the convoluted world of online dating, is also incredibly diverse! You just have to find your horror type, and choose that movie type on your next date, okay?
Let’s start by figuring out your type first!
Credits: Freepik
//ONE// The Innocent
These movies are what we would call entry-level horror. They bring you some trepidation without scarring you (too much).
Credits: wired.com
Coraline (2009)
Don’t let Coraline’s stop-motion animation fool you into dismissing this movie. Coraline’s creepy adventure begins the moment she opens a door to a parallel universe. This “other world” seems jolly enough, until Coraline realizes the danger of being trapped there - forever.
Credits: Netflix
Goosebumps (2015)
Zach moves to a new town and ends up crushing on his next-door neighbor, whose dad is the creator of the Goosebumps franchise - R.L. Stine (Jack Black)! When monsters are freed from the Goosebumps manuscripts, it’s up to Stine and the teens to get the monsters back into the books.
Goosebumps Season 1 (1998), and Goosebumps 2 are also on Netflix.
Credits: APnews.com
Fear Street (2021)
This R.L. Stine adaptation doesn’t skimp on violence and gore, despite it being a trilogy that’s geared towards a YA audience. It’s unapologetic in telling the story of how the Shadyside town curse came to be and why Sunnyvale is not really what it seems.
Credits: Netflix
Resident Evil - The Animated Series
If your date is a gamer, the Resident Evil franchise from Capcom will definitely ring a bell! Milla Jovovich made film character, Alice, the zombie-killing badass we all know and love, but what might surprise you is how good the animated movies are!
The Resident Evil series chronicles what happens long after the Umbrella Corporation’s T-Virus was released on Raccoon City, zombifying the human population.
Check out Resident Evil Degeneration (2008), Resident Evil Damnation (2012), Resident Evil Vendetta (2017) and Resident Evil Infinite Darkness (2021).
Credits: DCStudio - www.freepik.com
//TWO// The Comedians
At least horror-comedies make you feel at ease before they fill you up with dread! The quippy one-liners keep you invested until it’s really too late…😈
Credits: Netflix
Vampires Vs. The Bronx (2020)
A looming threat is trying to take over the Bronx by masquerading as a development project. It’s up to the hood’s teens to annihilate the threat and prevent their neighbourhood from becoming gentrified… by vampires!
Credits: The Gate
Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018)
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are back! The duo from Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World’s End (2013) produced and star in this horror-comedy about the consequences of fracking on the environment and the students of a public school called Slaughterhouse.
Credits: Popsugar
Crazyhead (2016)
For fans of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, you’ll find a full season of funnies and monster slaying with Crazyhead.
Amy & Raquel have the uncanny ability to recognize demon-possessed humans - a skill that sparks no jealousy here, trust me. The two friends set out to kick demon butt together and stop an upcoming apocalypse, while trying not to fall in love with any demons along the way. It’s a fun watch, and Raquel will definitely make you laugh out loud!
Credits: IMBD
The Final Girls (2015)
Knowing all the slasher film tropes (i.e., masked killer, incompetent characters, literal death after sex, the final girl, etc) because her late-mom was the scream queen in a movie called Camp Bloodbath, Max works with her friends to stay alive when they all become trapped in the very movie that her mom starred in!
Credits: IMBD
The Cabin in the Woods (2011)
Like Final Girls, you’ll appreciate how Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) take all the popular horror tropes and subvert them in this hugely popular movie.
The plot follows college friends on their spring break retreat where they start to fall victim to all kinds of horrors, manipulated by a group of technicians in an underground facility.
Credits: Netflix, Letterboxd, The New York Times
Not on netflix but so worth a watch: Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil (2010, two well-intentioned dudes get mistaken for being serial killers), Cooties (2014, elementary school teachers fighting zombified children), and The Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015, how do the skills you learn in Scouts help you fight zombies?)
Credits: wayhomestudio - www.freepik.com
//THREE// The Social Commentators
Filmmakers often use the horror genre to spark social change, making these movies perfect for those after-hour discussions.
Credits: NY Times
Us (2019)
Adelaide and her family are attacked by a group of doppelgangers one night, and she remembers a secret that was buried long ago.
Us explores the concept of duality and how America lives in constant fear of letting the “other” in, when maybe, the real threat really comes from within…
Credits: Bloody Disgusting
Cam (2018)
When Alice’s online persona, Lola, starts to take on a life of its own, things turn quickly into a nightmare for this cam girl. Cam comments on our social media-obsessed culture and warns us how skewed our “reality” can become with continued use.
Credits: Vox, Screen Slate, Reddit, The New York Times, Slash Film
Not on Netflix but worth a watch:
Get Out (2017, In Peele’s directorial debut, Chris is in an interracial relationship and is meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the weekend. Her parents are overjoyed that he’s Black, and he’s going to find out exactly why that is)
The Happening (2008, Mother nature is pissed off and releases a mysterious toxin into the air that causes people to commit suicide)
The Host (2006, is an ecological horror movie. The monster was inspired by a deformed fish that made its way into the news in Korea)
Pulse (2006, what happens when ghosts start coming out of the wi-fi? This film explores the alienation we feel from being “over-connected”)
Dawn of The Dead (2004, Romero made a film about mindless consumerism and Snyder’s version is seriously fun)
//FOUR// The Dedicated Fans
Thanks to Netflix’s Next Episode autoplay function, it’s super easy to binge watch the work of your favourite horror writer/ producer. Here are three to get you started:
(Bolded titles are currently available on Netflix)
James Wan
Wan takes the chilling atmosphere of a typical Asian Horror and tones it down just enough so that you can still get through his movies! He tantalizes your fears with promises of jump scares, possessions, ghosts, and ghastly dolls.
Wan is the executive producer on I Know What You Did Last Summer (2021, currently on Amazon Prime Video) and is set to produce Stephen King’s chilling tale, Salem’s Lot.
Credits: Netflix
Dead Silence (2007), Insidious (2010), The Conjuring (2013), Annabelle (2014), Lights Out (2016), The Nun (2018), Insidious The Last Key (2018), The Curse of La Llorona (2019), Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Mike Flanagan
Flanagan has solidified his name in the horror world! Continuing to churn out hit after hit after The Haunting of Hill House, he went on to craft The Shining (1980)’s sequel, Doctor Sleep and successfully reconciled both Kubrick & King’s visions!
Not an easy task, considering it took almost 40 years to do!
Credits: Netflix + Deadline
Oculus (2013), Before I Wake (2016), Hush (2016), Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016), Gerald’s Game (2017), Dr. Sleep (2019), Haunting of Hill House (2018), The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020), Midnight Mass (2021)
Stephen King + Joe Hill
King is THE KING of horror. He’s the most prolific horror writer out there, with an astounding amount of his work adapted to the big screen.
Credits: Entertainment Weekly, Variety & Netflix
Carrie (1976), The Shining (1980), Cujo (1983), The Dead Zone (1983), Pet Sematary (1989), Misery (1990), The Mist (2007), 1408 (2007), Cell (2016), The Mist Series (2017, one season), It (2017), The Dark Tower (2017), Gerald’s Game (2017), 1922 (2017), In The Tall Grass (2019), It Chapter 2 (2019), Doctor Sleep (2019)
Who is Joe Hill, you ask? Here’s your clue: his full name is Joseph Hillström King. Hill’s style of horror is very much his own. When it comes to the tiring debate of book vs. movie adaptation, I prefer the books.
Credits: IMBD, Globe and Mail, Screen Rant
Horns (2014, starring Daniel Radcliffe), NOS4A2 (2019, series), In The Tall Grass (2019, collab with Stephen King), By The Silver Waters of Lake Champlain (2019, segment of Creepshow), Locke & Key (2020)
Definitely worth the read: Heart-Shaped Box (2007), Horns (2010), NOS4A2 (2013)
//FIVE// The Daredevils
Our last horror type chases scares for thrills. They get an adrenaline rush from it, and their resulting Netflix algorithm knows it.
Asian Horror
It’s most likely that you’ve exhausted the horror selection available in North America and have ventured towards Asian Horror. Skip the Hollywood remakes and go straight to the source if you really want your heart to pound.
Credits: Netflix, IMBD, CNET, Screen Rant
Kingdom (2019, after the King falls ill, the Crown Prince sets out to find the source of a mysterious plague that’s starting to spread across his country)
#Alive (2020, a Korean video gamer struggles to survive in his apartment during a zombie apocalypse)
Goedam (2020, a Korean horror anthology series that features urban legends such as the elevator game)
The Bridge Curse (2020, university students go out one night to test an urban legend about a female ghost that haunts a campus bridge)
Ju-On Origins (2020, if you were ever curious about how “The Grudge” started, this series focuses on the disturbing murders (based on true events) that spurred the events of the ever-so popular Grudge franchise)
Sweet Home (2020, after Cha Hyun-soo moves into an apartment, monsters begin to appear outside the building. Trapped, Hyun-soo and the other residents struggle to survive the dangers that are too close to home)
With so many choices on Netflix, there’s definitely something on the popular streaming service that will play with your expectations without you using a popcorn bowl as a shield.
Let me know what your horror type is in the comments below.
