10 Best Scary Movies on Netflix 2021

If you're here, it must mean you love horror as much as I do. From one horror enthusiast to another, can we just get real for a sec? A lot of the genre we love is garbage.

Like the best psychological thrillers, there's just something about a solid scare and nightmarish situation that helps you escape the grim reality of the world around you. Unfortunately, scary movies on Netflix is probably the most oversaturated movie genre on the streaming platform, especially when it comes to the influx of B-rated horror movies that rely way too much on predictable ploys and cliched plotlines. I've probably watched so many horror movies at this point that I've become immune to the majority of scare tactics, making it that much more impressive when I find something that actually works. And because horror tastes are so individual, it's hard to cut through the noise when it comes to horror movies based solely off Rotten Tomatoes scores alone.

TBH, I've found that the best horror movie references have always come from fellow horror movie fanatics instead, so as one myself, I'm here to share some of my most frightfully memorable favorites. From freakishly dedicated cults and bloody apparitions to twisted games of gore, here is the cream of the horror movie crop, all streaming now on Netflix.

01 of 10

His House

What could be worse than a violent, war-torn country? Try a haunted house with ghosts and apparitions who live in the walls. When an exhausted but hopeful refugee couple come to England in hopes of a better life, they're met with some pretty oppressive conditions, including that they must not work or leave the (very haunted) house which they are assigned. Full of genuinely unsettling images, thought-provoking metaphors, and elements of Sudanese myth, it's a film horror fans won't want to miss.

02 of 10

Suaha The Middle Finger

Although this Korean thriller/mystery isn't technically classified as a horror movie, it has a lot of jarring scenes that will leave a more long-lasting effect than your traditional jump scare. The premise: A pastor (played by Lee Jung-Jae, i.e. the main character of Squid Game) who investigates and exposes religious cults begins to uncover increasingly disturbing clues connecting a mysterious new group to a series of murders involving teenage girls.

03 of 10

1BR

TBH, this movie still makes me a bit scared of exclusive apartment communities. When a shy aspiring designer moves into a seemingly safe, one-bedroom apartment in Los Angeles, she finds out that the complex is actually controlled by a cult that uses mental and physical torture to enforce conformity and unity amongst the residents.

04 of 10

Malevolent

Starring Florence Pugh (AKA the queen of emotional faces), a sibling duo work as scam artists who run a fake medium scam on clients who believe their houses are haunted. But when they accept a job at a remote country house, they soon realize this "fake" assignment is actually very real as they start seeing things and losing their grip on reality.

05 of 10

Crimson Peak

Guillermo Del Toro's gothic horror film is art just as much as it is a horror movie, which explains the cult following it has amassed since its release. After marrying a handsome British aristocrat, a young heiress moves into his ancestral home. Considering that it's the creepiest house you've ever seen in the middle of nowhere and atop a mountain of blood-red clay, I'm sure you can deduce that it's not exactly the place of post-marriage dreams. In true Guillermo style, it's not your conventional horror movie, but the hauntingly beautiful imagery will certainly stay with you.

06 of 10

In The Tall Grass

Stephen King is undoubtedly the king of horror, both in book and on screen, but this film adaptation is probably one of my all-time favorites. When two siblings hear pleas for help from a small boy lost in a field of tall grass, they enter the green abyss only to realize they can't find a way out. This isn't a situation that a compass or Google maps can solve; aside from the fact that there isn't a WiFi connection, something supernatural lurks in the grass, creating an endless infinity loop and time disconnect that can't be escaped.

07 of 10

Eli

As you can deduce from the title, the movie is all about Eli, a boy that is forced to live in a bubble wearing only sterilized, vacuum-packed clothing because he's allergic to the world. His parents take him to see a supposed "special cases" specialist who might offer a cure to his genetic abnormalities, but everything is not as it seems in this cold, high-tech facility.

08 of 10

Would You Rather

The classic game gets a sadistic twist, to say the least, when it's announced that the winner will be awarded obscene amounts of money. Sounds swell, but as the game progresses, it becomes clear why there is only one winner—mainly because there is only one winner left standing.

09 of 10

Hush

The slasher-horror genre gets a refreshing take when the main protagonist is a deaf woman. As if fighting a deranged killer in the woods isn't hard enough, this writer has to do it in complete silence. The killer is a lunatic murderer who murders for fun, but Maddie (Kate Siegel) uses her sharp writing abilities to predict his next movements and try to outsmart him. Like a lot of movies on this list, this one doesn't resort to the jump-scare tactics that mar so many slasher movies.

10 of 10

#Alive

The zombie film teeters on the edge of horror since zombie movies have become an entire movie category of its own, but I just had to include it for how good of a zombie horror movie it is. The premise: A video game live-streamer is trapped alone at his apartment in Seoul during the outbreak of a zombie apocalypse. As the infected hordes multiply, he soon discovers that the bigger enemy may be the humans left alive.

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