Netflix: Best original horror currently streaming for scares

2 of 2

Malevolent – Courtesy of Netflix

Malevolent — Angela and Jackson are siblings living in Scotland, where they lead a fake paranormal investigation team. They regularly take money from grieving family members, then trick them with recordings and planted “evidence” of hauntings. Angela, who is marketed as the medium on the team, begins to actually experience some supernatural activity, and wants out of the operation, but Jackson guilts her into performing one last time.

As they investigate a former orphanage with a very dark past, Angela begins to see the ghosts of little girls who were murdered. While there are some plot holes in the story, I really appreciated how the movie takes a violent turn into hardcore horror territory during the last 40 minutes or so. If you can handle that sort of thing, give this one a watch.

The Haunting of Hill House – There has been a lot written about this series, and as a fan of the original novel, I think it deserves the attention it has received. The story is compelling, rich, emotional, and beautiful, and I don’t care what ANYONE says, it IS scary. I haven’t talked to a single person who didn’t jump during the car scene, and get cold chills during the Bent-Neck Lady reveal. The actors are perfectly cast (including the incredibly talented young children), and I cannot recommend this one highly enough. Watch it, then thank me for talking you into it.

The Haunting of Hill House — Courtesy of Netflix

Cam – Madeline Brewer (Orange is the New Black) gives a star-making performance in this creepy, crazy, psychological horror story of cam girl Alice, who goes by the screen name of Lola_Lola.

More from 1428 Elm

Alice is obsessed with increasing her ranking on the cam site, even simulating suicide on camera to increase her tips and popularity. One day, Alice sees that Lola is streaming, despite the fact that she is not online. When she attempts to log on, she is locked out of her account, and then sees a cam girl onscreen who looks just like her. It only gets weirder from there.

Cam was written by former cam girl Isa Mazzei, and is a rarity: a story that is actually sympathetic to sex workers. Stephen King himself lauded Brewer’s performance, and Cam holds a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

He’s Out There – This tense home invasion thriller stars The Handmaid’s Tale’s Yvonne Strahovski, and just came to Netflix recently. Laura and her two little girls arrive at their remote lake house, expecting Daddy to arrive later that day. After the girls discover a creepy tea party setup in the woods, the family begins to be tormented by a masked intruder outside.

There is nothing all that original about the story, but the acting performances are strong (especially Strahovski’s), and there are enough scary little touches to keep horror fans engaged. I watched this not really expecting a lot, but was pleasantly surprised and a little creeped out.

So, there you go, a few original movies to keep you busy for a few nights. If you decide to watch something on this list that is new to you, drop a comment and let me know what you think.

Next. Leigh Whanell plans his Escape from New York. dark

Netflix subscriber? Planning on checking out any of these can’t miss horror titles? Let the other scary streamers know what you think in the comment section below.

Home/Netflix