This article is updated frequently as titles leave and enter Max. *New additions are indicated with an asterisk.
Want a good scare tonight? Check out the haunted-and-stalked section of Max (the streaming service formerly known as HBO Max), which features a dense catalogue of genre films from all eras. From legit classics in the Criterion section through the hits of the ’80s and ’90s to today’s theatrical blockbusters, Max knows a thing or two about horror. Its selection is so rich that we will be rotating out entries in this horror guide regularly, so please check back often … if you dare.
The Amityville Horror
Year: 1979
Runtime: 1h 59m
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
There have been dozens of movies that have capitalized on the allegedly true story at the center of this horror classic, a movie that spawned not just sequels but an entire brand of haunted house cinema. The first is still the best. The tale of a young couple (James Brolin & Margot Kidder) who buy a house with some very dark secrets.
Caddo Lake
Year: 2024
Runtime: 1h 44m
Director: Celine Held, Logan George
Caddo Lake has one of the craziest (and arguably best) twists of the year, but the main reason it works is that it’s grounded by great performances from Dylan O’Brian and Eliza Scanlen. It’s the tale of a girl who goes missing near the titular lake and how that disappearance ties together a seemingly disparate group of characters in a way you could never predict. The fact that it was produced by M. Night Shyamalan should give you a little warning.
Carnival of Souls
Year: 1962
Runtime: 1h 18m
Director: Herk Harvey
One of the best horror movies ever made, Herk Harvey’s film is an early cult classic, made for almost no money and became an influential masterpiece. Candace Hilligoss plays a woman who starts having terrifying visions after surviving a car accident. These visions lead her to an abandoned carnival. You can see this film’s DNA in hundreds of horror movies to follow, but it’s still wonderfully creepy when judged on its own terms.
*Cronos
Year: 1993
Runtime: 1h 33m
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Long before winning awards for Pan’s Labyrinth and The Shape of Water, the brilliant Guillermo del Toro made his directorial debut with this Mexican vampire film. A low-budget stunner, Cronos announced Del Toro as an instantly major voice in the genre and started his working relationship with Federico Luppi and Ron Perlman.
Evil Dead Rise
Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 37m
Director: Lee Cronin
A hit in theaters, Warner Brothers shuffled its horror smash over to Max, free for subscribers. Rebooting the Evil Dead series for the second time (after the successful 2013 iteration), this one moves the action to an L.A. apartment building where a single mother (the phenomenal Alyssa Sutherland) gets taken over by the same evil force that once terrorized poor Ash. Twisted and clever, this gruesome horror flick was so successful that it feels like a sixth film in the series won’t take a decade to rise from the dead.
Funny Games
Year: 1997
Runtime: 1h 50m
Director: Michel Haneke
Michael Haneke is one of the most daring filmmakers alive, willing to shock viewers to make a point. Perhaps his most divisive film remains this 1997 shocker about a family who are essentially held hostage in their vacation home in Austria. Over the course of the day, the criminals basically torture this family, and through fourth-wall breaks, Haneke interrogates why people would even want to watch something like this, illuminating what art can reveal about the dark side of humanity.
I Saw the TV Glow
Year: 2024
Runtime: 1h 40m
Director: Jane Schoenbrun
One of the best films of 2024 is already exclusively on Max. Jane Schoenbrun’s sophomore effort is the tale of a young man, played perfectly by Justice Smith, who becomes obsessed with a fictional show called The Pink Opaque, which opens him up to a new understanding of the world and his place in it. Schoenbrun’s visual language is arguably the most striking of the year, announcing them as a major cinematic talent.
It
Year: 2017
Runtime: 2h 15m
Director: Andy Muschietti
No one could have predicted how massive this film would be, one of the most successful R-rated horror films of all time. Based on one of Stephen King’s most famous novels, Muschietti divided the novel into two chapters, both of which are on Max. The first chapter is the tale of the youth of Derry, Maine known as the Losers’ Club and how they battle the terrifying force that takes the unforgettable form of Pennywise the Clown.
It Comes at Night
Trey Edward Shults is quickly becoming one of the most important directors of his generation with his personal debut Krisha and one of the more divisive films of the last few years, Waves. In between is this daring film that A24 kind of sold too much as a horror film, turning off viewers expecting something more traditional. It’s a mood piece about trust and survival starring Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo, Riley Keough, and a guy who still feels like he’s just on the verge of stardom, Kelvin Harrison Jr.
The Lighthouse
Year: 2019
Runtime: 1h 50m
Director: Robert Eggers
Is this the best COVID lockdown movie? Sure, it came out the year before, but a lot of people watched it on streaming while they were going crazy with people with whom they were stuck. Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe are fearless in Robert Eggers’ black-and-white nightmare about two people who learn that nothing is scarier than being trapped with someone unbearable. It’s a twisted gem.
*Malignant
Year: 2021
Runtime: 1h 52m
Director: James Wan
This James Wan horror film is one of the weirdest major genre films of all time. How does one even capture this cuckoo bananas flick in a capsule? It’s about a girl who seems haunted by something malevolent only to learn the call is coming from inside the house. You need to see this just for the last half hour of absolute insanity.
Midsommar
Year: 2019
Amazon Prime has lost its exclusive access to Ari Aster and A24’s excellent Midsommar, which means it’s now available on other streaming services. Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor play a couple who go to Sweden for a festival that goes horribly awry. A comedy of cultures gives way to something much darker when the true purpose of the festival is revealed in a series of final scenes you’ll never forget.
Night of the Living Dead
Year: 1968
Runtime: 1h 37m
Director: George A. Romero
The movie that changed it all. It’s really hard to overstate the impact that George A. Romero’s classic black-and-white masterpiece had on not just the zombie genre but DIY microbudget horror filmmaking in general. So many people have been chasing that game-changing impact of Night of the Living Dead in the half-century since it came out, but it’s the original that’s passed the test of time.
Saw
Year: 2004
Runtime: 1h 44m
Director: James Wan
It’s hard to believe but Saw X was actually the most acclaimed film in this influential franchise. That’s right – ten movies in! Go back to where it all began in the first-and-still-best horror movie about two people who wake up in the middle of a dirty room with only one way to escape: a saw.
Scream
Year: 1996
Runtime: 1h 51m
Director: Wes Craven
The Ghostface killer came back in January 2022 with the release of Scream, the fifth film in this franchise and the first since the death of Wes Craven, and the fun continued with another sequel in 2023 (before the wheels came off in the pre-production of a seventh film). Even the makers of the new movies would suggest that fans go back and watch the original films to see how Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) got here. All four of the Craven films are available now on Max. The first movie is still a flat-out genre masterpiece.
Signs
Year: 2002
Runtime: 1h 47m
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
M. Night Shyamalan followed the success of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable with one of the biggest hits of his career, the story of an average family man (Mel Gibson) who ends up at the center of an alien invasion. Smart and thrilling, Signs is easily one of the best films of Shyamalan’s career, and one of the best genre pics of its era.
Sinister
Year: 2012
Runtime: 1h 51m
Director: Scott Derrickson
Before Doctor Strange and The Black Phone, Scott Derrickson helmed this unforgettable tale of a true crime writer (Ethan Hawke) who discovers some terrifying Super 8 home movies in his attic. What’s on the film? Why just the ritual murders of previous residents of his new house. Hawke is fantastic here in a film that really gets under your skin.
The Sixth Sense
Year: 1999
Runtime: 1h 48m
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
It wasn’t technically his debut film, but this is the movie that put Shyamalan on the map, a genre crossover hit so enormous that it was nominated for Best Picture. It’s also arguably still his best film, a ghost tale that has held up beautifully, thanks to empathetic writing, great performances, and that unforgettable twist.
The Strangers
Year: 2008
Runtime: 1h 26m
Director: Bryan Bertino
Loosely based on a true story, The Strangers is one of the best home invasion flicks of the modern era. It’s the terrifyingly relatable story of a couple, played by Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, who are attacked in their vacation home in the middle of the night. Made for almost nothing, this tense film was a huge smash, tapping into something we all fear could happen when we hear a strange sound outside in the middle of the night.
Trap
Year: 2024
Runtime: 1h 46m
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
The master of the twist is back with what is arguably one of his most traditional thrillers. Anchored by a phenomenal performance from Josh Hartnett, Trap is the story of a serial killer who the authorities attempt to capture at a pop concert. Sure, some of it is ridiculous, but we need more creators like Night who are willing to bring their crazy original ideas to the big screen.
The Visit
Year: 2015
Runtime: 1h 34m
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
It feels like everyone is back to digging Shyamalan’s undeniably original voice, but people forget that he desperately needed a comeback after the damage of films like The Last Airbender and After Earth in the early 2010s. That came in the form of this horror found footage film about a couple of kids who go to visit their truly creepy grandparents. Clever, funny, and twisted, The Visit really launched its creator back to the forefront of the horror genre.
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