We can always rely on Netflix to provide us with endless original rom-coms [1], but the streaming service doesn't get nearly enough credit for its terrifyingly awesome array of original horror flicks [2]. From adaptations (including many derived from master of macabre Stephen King) to complete originals, some scary Netflix originals are just as terrifying (if not more so) than horror movie classics [3], and if you're looking for something new to watch this Halloween [4], we've got some movies that are guaranteed to leave you with chills. Here are some of Netflix's most horrifying original movies, and don't be surprised if you have to sleep with the light on after watching these.
Gerald's Game
If twisted thrillers are your thing, then you'll love this adaptation of Stephen King's novel by the same name, telling the story of a woman (played by The Haunting of Hill House actress Carla Gugino) who accidentally kills her husband during a kinky sex experience, leaving her stranded in their remote lake house and chained to their bed.
Watch it now [5].
1922
This horror is another Stephen King adaptation, telling the story of a farmer in Nebraska, a domestic dispute over inherited land with his wife, and a decision to commit murder — with the reluctant help of his 14-year-son, of course.
Watch it now [6].
Open House
Starring 13 Reasons Why [7]'s Dylan Minnette, this (admittedly terrible but still entertaining) thriller follows a teenager and his mother as they settle into a new home, only to find themselves troubled by their elderly yet eerily eccentric new neighbour.
Watch it now [8].
Apostle
This period horror film — which features Downton Abbey's Dan Stevens and Sierra Burgess Is a Loser's Kristine Froseth — tells the story of a man who must travel to a remote island to rescue his sister after she's held for ransom by a religious cult.
Watch it now [9].
Cam
In this new Netflix psychological horror film set in the world of webcam pornography, Madeline Brewer from The Handmaid's Tale [10] stars as an erotic cam girl who finds her popular channel hijacked by a look-alike. What's even better: Cam is one of the few films about sex work written by a former sex worker, resulting in a story that doesn't glamorise, glorify, or romanticise the profession.
Watch it now [11].
The Perfection
Allison Williams stars in this intense thriller as a cello prodigy who is forced to abandon music after a family tragedy, only to return to performing years later with the help of a rising new star (and an insanely freaky reunion).
Watch it now [12].
Velvet Buzzsaw
With an insane cast that includes Jake Gyllenhaal [13], Natalia Dyer, Toni Colette, Rene Russo, and John Malkovich, this horror-thriller tells the story of a series of paintings by an unknown artist, which, after they are discovered, release a supernatural force that exacts revenge on those who value profit over art for art's sake.
Watch it now [14].
Bird Box
With a cast that includes Sandra Bullock [15], Sarah Paulson, and John Malkovich, this post-apocalyptic horror film follows a woman and her children in their attempt to find sanctuary after a mysterious force decimates most of the population. However, there's a catch — to avoid succumbing to the same fate, they must complete the trip blindfolded.
Watch it now [16].
I Am Mother
Starring Hilary Swank [17] and Rose Byrne, this sci-fi thriller tells the story of a teenage girl raised by a robot designed to repopulate the earth, but an unexpected encounter with a gravely wounded human woman forces the teen to question everything she was told by her robot Mother about the outside world.
Watch it now [18].
The 3rd Eye
When two sisters move back into their childhood home after the death of their parents, one of the sisters senses that the house may also be inhabited by a dark, unseen presence in this Indonesian supernatural thriller
Watch it now [19].
The 3rd Eye 2
In this follow-up to The 3rd Eye, Alia takes a job in an orphanage, where she meets a teen named Nadia who claims that she possesses the same inner eyes that Alia does and that she hears eerie voices in the walls, the source of which they try to find together.
Watch it now [20].
Malevolent
This paranormal thriller is centred around a brother/sister con artist team, Jackson and Angela, who run a lucrative (and fake) "ghostbusting" business, but encounter very real spirits on their latest job.
Watch it now [21].
May the Devil Take You
This Indonesian horror flick tells the story of a young woman who, upon learning about her estranged father's mysterious illness, returns with her stepsister to her family's old villa to uncover the secrets of her family's demonic past.
Watch it now [22].
Sabrina
Not to be confused with Chilling Adventures of Sabrina [23], this equally chilling horror flick follows a toymaker and his wife, who find themselves terrorised by a demon doll after their niece tries to summon her late mother with a Spanish paper-and-pencil game called Juego de la Lapicera.
Watch it now [24].
Animas
In this totally trippy horror film, a young woman named Alex finds her world changed after her best friend Abraham's father, Daniel, is killed in a mysterious accident, which sends her on a hallucinatory descent into hell.
Watch it now [25].
Suzzanna: Buried Alive
In this totally creepy Indonesian flick, a robbery turns into a murder when a pregnant woman's employees discover that she is unexpectedly home during their heist, and though they bury her body in the backyard, she returns to haunt them in increasingly terrifying ways.
Watch it now [26].
The Silence
Starring Kiernan Shipka and Stanley Tucci, this horror film tells the story of a deaf teen named Ally who moves with her family to escape terrifying creatures who hunt humans by sound, but in their remote new town, they face a new threat: a cult that wants to exploit Ally's heightened senses. If this isn't the new Bird Box, then we don't know what is.
Watch it now [27].
Secret Obsession
Former Disney Channel darling Brenda Song stars in this psychological thriller as Jennifer, a young woman who suffers from amnesia following a violent attack, and as her memories start to come back, she finds that she no longer knows who to trust.
Watch it now [28].
In the Tall Grass
Based on the novella of the same name by Stephen King and Joe Hill, this thriller tells the story of a brother and sister who follow the cries for help of a young boy into a field of tall grass, only to find themselves separated and at the will of some malevolent force.
Watch it now [29].
Before I Wake
Kate Bosworth [30] and Thomas Jane star in this movie as foster parents who take in an eight-year-old boy, Cody (played by Jacob Tremblay), only to learn that the young boy's dreams can turn into reality — and so can his nightmares.
Watch it now [31].
I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House
In this creepy flick, a retired horror writer suffering from dementia hires a live-in nurse to care for both her and her Braintree, MA, estate. However, what the writer fails to mention to her new caretaker is that Polly, the fictional protagonist of her most popular novel, The Lady in the Walls, is not actually be fictional, and that she may have been killed in the estate the writer now inhabits.
Watch it now [32].
Hold the Dark
In this thriller starring Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Skarsgard, and Riley Keough, a naturalist is brought to a desolate Alaskan village to search for the wolves that are suspected to have killed three children.
Watch it now [33].
Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil
This fantasy horror film, set in 19th-century northern Spain, offers a terrifying retelling of an ancient fable about a blacksmith who finds himself in a vicious battle with the devil.
Watch it now [34].
Munafik 2
In this sequel to the 2016 Malaysian supernatural film (and the second instalment in a planned trilogy), a Muslim medical practitioner continues to heal after the death of his wife and son, and becomes a freelance preacher, though he is now haunted by a mysterious woman who questions him about faith and destiny.
Watch it now [35].