Stream and scream: horror films to watch on Hulu

Hulu mainly focuses on horror during October, when they break out their Huluween collection, but they have rolled out a few scary flicks over the past few years.

In addition to adding theatrical releases to their streaming platform, Hulu has presented some original films and series that are pretty good. We won’t focus on the series right now, but The Act (which is a ripped from the headlines story starring Patricia Arquette and Joey King in a couple of amazing performances) is a good, thrilling watch. At eight episodes, it manages to keep the suspense moving right along.

But, I digress, so let’s hop right into some original films available to stream on Hulu, starting with their newest horror addition, Fresh. Marketed as a comedy thriller, Fresh possesses some pretty disturbing content.

Let’s see if we can give a quick and dirty synopsis without giving too much away: Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Steve (Sebastian Stan) meet cute in the grocery store, and start a relationship very quickly. But when the two plan a weekend getaway, Noa finds out that her new beau has an interesting “job.”

That’s it; that’s about all we can tell you without giving away the shocking news of Steve’s true nature, but suffice it to say, this Hulu film is not for the weak of stomach.

Another newer original horror film on Hulu is No Exit, which we covered earlier this month. The tense storyline in No Exit involves a young woman named Darby, who takes off from the rehab she is living at when she is told that her mother is gravely ill. She ends up stranded at a visitor’s center during a snowstorm with a bunch of strangers.

When Darby discovers a young girl tied up in the back of a van, she tries to figure out which of the strangers is responsible, while also keeping herself (and the others) from being killed. There are a couple of twists in this one, and the freezing cold atmosphere makes this a perfect winter film.

Run began streaming on Hulu in November of 2020, and it quickly became the streamer’s most successful original film. Starring American Horror Story’s Sarah Paulson as overprotective mom Diane Sherman and newcomer Kiera Allen as her sickly daughter Chloe, Run is a fun and crazy watch.

Chloe starts to figure out that she may not be as ill as her mother has always claimed; she may, in fact, only be ill because Mommy dearest has made her so. When Chloe tries to break free of Diane, the crazy really starts to come out, and, as we know, Paulson is really good at playing crazy.

In October of 2018, Hulu starting running their horror anthology series Into the Dark, with a new “film” each month. The premise was that each entry would tie in with the month it premiered. The first episode, The Body, was set on Halloween, November’s Flesh & Blood took place at Thanksgiving, etc.

Into the Dark was uneven at best. In this writer’s opinion, the strongest entries were Pooka!, which was popular enough to get a sequel called Pooka Lives!, Uncanny Annie (which gave me the creeps, yet was also fun) and Down, about a couple stuck in an elevator. But, my favorite of all was the gory and completely insane Thanksgiving film Pilgrim. In fact, I have now made it my yearly tradition to watch this crazy little film on Thanksgiving night. I have written about Pilgrim before, so I won’t go too far into it now, but if you love dark horror, give it a watch.

For those who prefer to watch theatrical releases, Hulu has plenty of horror offerings in that area as well. I would personally recommend these recently added horror films:  Antlers, Nightmare Alley, Willy’s Wonderland and Censor.

Whether you are looking for something new and different, or you prefer the comforting and familiar, Hulu has horror for every taste.

What are your favorite horror films on Hulu? Drop your top picks in the comments section.