The best horror movies on Amazon Prime

Despite its grisly reputation, the horror genre is every bit as malleable as comedy or drama. What tickles the funny bone or bruises the heart is subjective; so, too, is what chills the spine. Our list of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime Video has something for everybody, from gory classics to found footage indies to slow-burning arthouse horror. Here are scariest films currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

<i>Beast</i> (2022)

Reminiscent of Hitchcock's The Birds —  if you replaced all the birds with one very aggrieved lion — Beast is a survival action horror film set in South Africa and starring Idris Elba. Seeking to reconnect with his family after the death of his wife, Dr. Nate Samuels takes his two daughters on vacation to visit the village in Africa where their mother grew up. During the trip, the family accidentally becomes the target of a rogue lion seeking revenge on the poachers who murdered his pride. Stranded, stalked, and soon to be mauled, the Samuels family must find a way to outwit the lion and make their way back to civilization. Elba is excellent in his role as a distant doctor struggling with his estranged wife's death, who must now assume the role of protective father fighting for his family's future. And while the film isn't exactly the king of the horror jungle, Beast is fun, fast, and frightening enough to make it worth your while. — Ilana Gordon

Where to watch Beast: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Baltasar Kormákur 

Cast: Idris Elba, Sharlto Copley, Iyana Halley, Leah Sava Jeffries

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<i>Black Box</i> (2020)

The mind is a terrible thing to waste, and in the horror sci-fi film Black Box, mind games run rampant. Nolan Wright is a single father suffering from amnesia after surviving a car crash that killed his wife. Struggling to remember how to perform basic tasks both at work and in his personal life, Nolan reaches out to a neurologist who deems him a perfect candidate for her experimental black box treatment.

Repeated journeys into his mind force Nolan to battle the monsters in his memories, but the deeper he delves, the more he suspects that his past is not what it seems. A Blumhouse Television production full of twists, turns, and traumas that push Nolan to horrifying realizations, Black Box questions how much control we really have over our minds, and the lengths to which people will go to keep their loved ones alive. — I.G.   

Where to watch Black Box: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr.

Talent: Mamoudou Athie, Phylicia Rashad, Amanda Christine, Tosin Morohunfola, Charmaine Bingwa

Related reading: The 19 best Blumhouse horror movies

<i>Candyman</i> (2021)

Nobody knows how to subvert horror tropes and transform them into social commentary quite like Jordan Peele, who wrote the script for the urban legend slasher movie Candyman. A sequel to the 1992 film and the fourth installment in the Candyman franchise, Peele's take — directed by Nia DaCosta — centers the story in a rapidly gentrifying area of Chicago near the now-shuttered Cabrini Green projects.

The movie's monster is Candyman, a killer with a hook for a hand who has terrorized the area for decades and can be summoned by repeating his name five times in front of a mirror. When visual artist Anthony learns the story behind the legend from a longtime Cabrini resident, he becomes obsessed with the killer, endangering both his artwork and sanity. A cult classic adapted for modern audiences and peppered with the social and cultural criticism that distinguishes Peele's work, Candyman will grab you with one hand and hook you with the other. — I.G.

Where to watch Candyman: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Nia DaCosta

Talent: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo

Related reading: Candyman sequel director releases animated short featuring iconic horror character

<i>Carnival of Souls</i> (1962)

One of the most influential horror movies ever produced was made by a small team of industrial filmmakers in Lawrence, Kansas and Salt Lake City for just $33,000 in 1962. Director Herk Harvey has said he wanted to make a drive-in movie as it might have been made by Ingmar Bergman, and Carnival of Souls is exactly that — it's obsessed with the looming specter of death and the way it ripples through every aspect a life, from our artistic passions to our relationships. It begins when a carful of friends drives off a bridge and into a river. Mary survives the crash, but can't remember how. She moves to Salt Lake City to be an organist at a church, but she's terrified by the music she produces, which is deemed sacrilegious by the pastor. She can't form new relationships, and finds herself haunted by visions of a strange man. EW's Owen Gleiberman says it "may be the ultimate horror film to watch late at night." — Randall Colburn

Where to watch Carnival of Souls: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Herk Harvey

Cast: Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger

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<i>Children of the Corn</i> (1984)

What would you do to ensure a successful corn harvest? For the children of the rural (and fictional) town of Gatlin, Neb., the answer is murder. A slasher film adapted from Stephen King's 1977 short story, Children of the Corn tells the story of a supernatural entity known as "He Who Walks Behind the Rows," whose malevolent presence motivates Gatlin youth to ritually murder all the local adults — plus a few others for good measure — to make sure that year's corn harvest is a bountiful one. The first in a franchise that includes 10 films — including a 2023 remake directed by Kurt Wimmer — Children of the Corn is violent, tense, and only a little corny. — I.G.

Where to watch Children of the Corn: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Fritz Kiersch 

Cast: Peter Horton, Linda Hamilton, John Franklin, Courtney Gains, Robby Kiger, Anne Marie McEvoy, Julie Maddalena, R. G. Armstrong

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<i>Elvira: Mistress of the Dark</i> (1988)

One of the greatest contributions the '80s ever made to the horror canon was Elvira, a character created by comedian Cassandra Peterson, and whose work as the hostess of the local television show Elvira's Movie Macabre was so popular, it earned her a movie of her own: the 1988 horror comedy Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. In the film, TV host Elvira quits her job after experiencing sexual harassment and decides to start a new life as a performer in Vegas. To fund her show, Elvira visits the East Coast to claim her inheritance from her great aunt Morgana, but quickly discovers that the puritanically-minded residents of Fallwell, Massachusetts have taken a disliking to her fashion choices, tendency towards engaging in accidental witchcraft, and overall vibe. Also featuring '80s treasure Edie McClurg (Ferris Bueller's Day Off), Elvira: Mistress of the Dark is a good, old fashioned witch hunt — only this one features more slapstick than stonings. — I.G.

Where to watch Elvira: Mistress of the Dark: Amazon Prime Video

Director: James Signorelli

Cast: Cassandra Peterson, W. Morgan Sheppard, Daniel Greene, Jeff Conaway, Susan Kellermann, Edie McClurg 

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<i>Hell House LLC</i> (2015)

The subpar sequels have somewhat sullied the reputation of Stephen Cognetti's Hell House LLC, a low-budget mockumentary about a haunted house attraction where tragedy strikes. That's too bad. Hell House LLC is supremely creepy, centering on a group of friends who scoop up an old, abandoned hotel in the hopes of remaking it into a profitable haunt only to find out that something evil lurks in the basement. Hell House LLC is indie horror at its best, eliding fireworks and burdensome lore in favor of subtle, peripheral scares that encourage rewatches (or, at the very least, lots of rewinding). Even customary scares, like a mannequin's head that turns when the camera's not looking, are rendered fresh in a setting that's clearly as eerie in real life as it is on film. — R.C.

Where to watch Hell House LLC: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Stephen Cognetti  

Cast: Ryan Jennifer Jones, Danny Bellini, Gore Abrams, Jared Hacker, Adam Schneider, Alice Bahlke

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<i>Hellraiser</i> (1987)

Pinhead, one of horror's most memorable — and memeable — icons, recently returned via Jamie Clayton in David Bruckner's 2022 Hellraiser reboot for Hulu. Before diving into that, though, you'd be wise to revisit the franchise's first 1987 film, which introduces the Cenobites, a cadre of inhuman, sadomasochistic weirdos who find pleasure in pain (thus the pins). Written and directed by horror author Clive Barker and based on his own story "The Hellbound Heart," Hellraiser gives us a lore that, by drawing upon the taboo iconography of kink and BDSM, emerges as both singular and compelling. There's also the gore, which evokes Italian genre masters like Lucio Fulci in its meaty, unblinking exploitativeness. — R.C.

Where to watch Hellraiser: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Clive Barker

Cast: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence

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<i>Maniac</i> (1980)

William Lustig's notorious 1980 slasher is as much a portrait of a pre-gentrified Times Square as it is a horror movie. Lustig's New York City is grimy, dark, and lonely, a fascinating and terrifying wonderland where danger lurks around every corner. In many ways, Frank, a monstrous and self-hating serial killer played by Joe Spinell, is that danger, the boogeyman you fear is trailing you through so many abandoned alleys and subway tunnels. But Frank is also complex; he's not faceless like Michael Myers, nor is he gleeful like Freddy Krueger. It wasn't the devil who made him this way, but the world he was born into. That, of course, just makes Maniac that much scarier, especially when paired with visual effects legend Tom Savini's signature splatter. (Keep an eye out for Savini's cameo; he saves one of the film's nastiest kills for himself.) — R.C.

Where to watch Maniac: Amazon Prime Video

Director: William Lustig 

Cast: Joe Spinell, Caroline Munro

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<i>M3GAN</i> (2022)

It is a truth universally acknowledged — at least in horror movies — that dolls are terrifying. But forget Chucky and Annabelle, because M3GAN isn't your average genre villain. Designed by Gemma (Allison Williams), a professional toy roboticist, M3GAN is powered by generative AI, packaged in a childlike body, and designed to be a loyal companion to the kid formally paired with her. Unfortunately, the playmate takes her role as protector very seriously, and when Gemma becomes the caretaker for her recently orphaned niece Cady, M3GAN goes rogue. Now facing off against an uncontrollable robot with a penchant for murder (and viral dance moves), Gemma and her co-workers must find a way to power their creation down forever — or risk dying at her hands. A horror comedy that never takes itself too seriously, M3GAN is self-aware, murderous, and seriously entertaining.

Where to watch M3GAN: Amazon Prime Video

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Gerard Johnstone 

Cast: Allison Williams, Violet McGraw, Ronny Chieng, Jenna Davis, Amie Donald

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<i>Messiah of Evil</i> (1973)

Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz co-wrote American Graffiti, a foundational coming-of-age movie that propelled director George Lucas to stardom and would produce a panoply of pop culture ripples that would fundamentally change the shape of contemporary pop culture. That same year, 1973, Huyck and Katz would also release Messiah of Evil, a horror movie that they wrote and directed. Eerie and atmospheric, it was something else entirely, the kind of movie that doesn't yank your collar so much as tug on the hem of your shirt. Marianna Hill stars as a young woman who travels to a remote "artist's colony" in search of her missing artist father. What she finds is a coastal town that, while not abandoned, certainly feels that way. A masterpiece of slow-burning, skin-crawling horror, Messiah of Evil is about an evil that consumes with patience, in places that would otherwise be considered safe. Just see the movie theater scene, one of horror's most under-sung set pieces. — R.C.

Where to watch Messiah of Evil: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz

Cast: Marianna Hill, Michael Greer, Anitra Ford, Royal Dano, Elisha Cook Jr.

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<i>Night of the Living Dead</i> (1968)

George Romero thought Night of the Living Dead would be a "one-off," but his seminal zombie flick has persevered to fundamentally shape the modern horror landscape. The Dead franchise spawned numerous entries and imitators, most notably Dawn of the Dead and its well-regarded remake, and one of the most successful TV series of this century arguably wouldn't exist without his low-budget lark. Named one of EW's scariest movies of all time, Romero's slow-burn, documentary-like approach to the apocalypse is as mundane as it is violent; the end comes not with an explosion, but the slow encroachment of our dead loved ones. Notable, too, is Duane Jones, a Black actor, as the film's protagonist, not to mention the film's final moments, which resonated deeper than Romero would ever have imagined. As he tells EW upon hearing how much his film had impacted Frank Darabont, co-creator of The Walking Dead, "It's still hard for me to realize how influential that film was." — R.C.

Where to watch Night of the Living Dead: Amazon Prime Video

Director: George Romero  

Cast: Judith O'Dea, Duane Jones, Marilyn Eastman, Karl Hardman, Judith Ridley, Keith Wayne

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<i>Paranormal Activity 3</i> (2011)

The Paranormal Activity universe continues to flesh itself out in the third installment of the series. A prequel to the first two films, Paranormal Activity 3 travels back to the late '80s to establish how Katie and Kristi's family first became affiliated with the spirit world that has haunted them ever since. Joined by their mother, her boyfriend Dennis, and Kristi's imaginary friend Toby, whose presence in the family's life seems usher in a number of supernatural occurrences, Paranormal Activity 3 continues in the series' tradition of employing frozen camera set ups — in this case, home video cameras that the Dennis has spread around the house in the hopes of identifying the source of the strange incidents. A film that EW's critic watched "in a state of high anxiety," Paranormal Activity 3 continues to employ the fear-based formula utilized by the first two films, but finds new ways to raise the stakes and subvert viewer expectations. — I.G.      

Where to watch Paranormal Activity 3: Amazon Prime Video 

EW grade: A- (read the review)

Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

Talent: Lauren Bittner, Chris Smith, Chloe Csengery, Jessica Tyler Brown, Dustin Ingram, Hallie Foote, Sprague Grayden, Katie Featherston

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<i>Rec</i> (2007)

Considered one of the best additions to the "shaky-hand" category of horror found footage, Rec is a Spanish film from the latter half of the aughts, told from the perspective of a TV reporter and cameraman working for a fictional docu-reality show called While You Were Sleeping. One night, while filming in a Barcelona fire station, the two follow emergency workers as they respond to a call about an elderly woman trapped in her apartment. But the longer everyone spends in the building, the clearer it becomes that this isn't a normal emergency — and calling for backup is not an option. Critically acclaimed and commercially successful, Rec was followed by the release of three sequels (Rec 2, Rec 3: Genesis, Rec 4: Apocalypse), the last of which was released in 2014. Possessing all the hallmarks of the genre (Unexplainable contagious diseases! Running from infectious hordes! Vatican interference!) Rec is even scarier post-pandemic. — I.G.

Where to watch Rec: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza 

Cast: Manuela Velasco, Ferrán Terraza, Jorge-Yamam Serrano, Pablo Rosso, David Vert, Vicente Gil, Martha Carbonell, Carlos Vicente

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<i>Saint Maud</i> (2019)

Religious conversion often comes following a religious experience. A moment of ecstasy and understanding gives way to commitment which gives way to…what? The stark divide between before Christ and after is a source of terror for many a saint and writer-director Rose Glass' debut feature is one of the most effective genre pieces about the complexities of conversion. Morfydd Clark stars as the titular Maud, a shy nurse with a murky past who can't help but worm her newfound faith into her work with hospice patients. EW lauds Saint Maud as a "remarkable feature debut for Glass, who conjures an intimate mood of psychological horror before veering assuredly into a more extreme freakout." — R.C.

Where to watch Saint Maud: Amazon Prime Video

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Rose Glass 

Cast: Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle

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<i>Shaun of the Dead</i> (2004)

Battling the undead has never been as funny as it is in Edgar Wright's romantic zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead. Shaun (Simon Pegg) is a man going through the motions — phoning it in at his dead end job and in his dead end relationship with his girlfriend of three years. But when London falls victim to a horde of zombies, Shaun finds new purpose in attempting to save himself and his loved ones from the staggering, dead eyed infiltrators. An intensely British comedy that uses the undead as a metaphor for the feeling of cruising through the adult years on autopilot, Shaun of the Dead is at its best when Shaun and his slacker best friend Ed (Nick Frost) come alive, arguing about zombie murder etiquette and wielding whatever weapons are nearby with varying degrees of success. — I.G.      

Where to watch Shaun of the Dead: Amazon Prime Video

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Edgar Wright

Talent: Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Nick Frost, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, Penelope Wilton

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<i>The Black Phone</i> (2021)

Horror fans know that when the call is coming from inside the house, picking up is rarely a good idea. In Scott Derrickson's The Black Phone, however, answering might be the only way to escape certain death. Set in the murder happy 1970s, The Black Phone follows 13-year-old Finney Blake, the latest child to be abducted by "The Grabber" (Ethan Hawke), a serial kidnapper, murderer, and terrifying masked giggler who is haunting the kids in Finney's town. Unable to count on law enforcement or his alcoholic father for help, Finney's only shot at survival comes from the psychic dreams his sister Gwen is experiencing and the broken pay phone that keeps ringing with advice from The Grabber's dead victims, all of whom have remained on this Earthly plane to help Finney escape the same violent ending. EW's Leah Greenblatt calls The Black Phone a "blunt but brutally effective little slice of supernatural horror," describing it as "Home Alone for the Blumhouse crowd." — I.G.

Where to watch The Black Phone: Amazon Prime Video

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Scott Derrickson  

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone

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<i>The Burning</i> (1981)

"What happened one summer five years ago is about to happen again and again," warns the trailer for The Burning, an '80s slasher film set at an American summer camp. Five years earlier, several campers pulled a prank on Camp Backfoot's caretaker, Cropsy, that caused him to suffer horrific and disfiguring injuries. Released from the hospital and determined to seek vengeance, Cropsy begins terrorizing the campers at another summer camp — Camp Stonewater. Notable for serving as the film debut for young actors like Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter, and Fisher Stevens (all of whom appear in small roles), The Burning is violent, sadistic, and gives off strong Friday the 13th vibes. Genre snobs may feel shortchanged by the similarities between The Burning and the film's more popular predecessor, but if what you're after is watching  American teenagers suffer at the hands of an unhinged maniac, then The Burning is sure to provide you with your fill of guts, gore, and garden shears. — I.G.  

Where to watch The Burning: Amazon Prime Video

Director: Tony Maylam

Cast: Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres, Brian Backer, Larry Joshua, Lou David, Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter, Fisher Stevens

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<i>The Devil's Backbone</i> (2001)

Supernatural encounters are terrifying, but they're nothing when compared to the horrors of war — and Guillermo del Toro sought to explore both in his gothic film The Devil's Backbone. Brilliantly centered through the eyes of a child struggling to make sense of his destroyed, distorted reality, The Devil's Backbone deftly balances heartbreak and horror, hatred, and heroism. Set in Spain during 1939 — the final year of the country's Civil War — the movie follows a young boy named Carlos who is left at a rural orphanage where he finds himself coming into contact with an apparition of a small boy with a head injury. Meanwhile, the adults running the orphanage attempt to support Republican loyalists by hiding a cache of gold on the grounds, but realize they have been compromised by one of their own. As the nationalists close in on the orphanage in pursuit of the gold, Carlos must help the spirit avenge its death if he and the other orphans are to survive. — I.G.

Where to watch The Devil's Backbone: Amazon Prime Video

EW grade: A- (read the review)

Director: Guillermo del Toro 

Cast: Marisa Paredes, Eduardo Noriega, Federico Luppi, Fernando Tielve, Íñigo Garcés 

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<i>Train to Busan</i> (2016)

The only thing faster than a bullet train is the zombie infection overtaking its passengers. In the South Korean action horror film Train to Busan, Seok-woo (Gong Yoo) is a work-obsessed hedge fund manager and absentee father who agrees to accompany his young daughter Su-an (Kim Su-an) on a bullet train from Seoul to Busan so she can spend her birthday with her mother. As the train departs, a sick woman begins transitioning into a zombie — and infecting everyone around her. Now barreling full-speed across the country, Seok-woo, Su-an, and the other passengers must find a way to survive the apocalyptic journey in order to find refuge in Busan. These zombies seem to have studied at the World War Z School of Swarming; they move at the same frenetic speed, infecting the entire country during the course of the movie's under two-hour run time. — I.G.

Where to watch Train to Busan: Amazon Prime Video

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Yeon Sang-ho 

Cast: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an, Choi Woo-shik, Ahn So-hee, Kim Eui-sung

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