Horror movies sell. They always have and they always will, and that makes them an essential part of any streaming service or cable-company library. Starz, which operates both, is no exception. Sure, it has comedies, dramas, and hit TV shows, too, but the horror section is one of its most popular for a reason. People love to be scared, and here are the ten best frightfests currently on Starz.
An American Werewolf in London
Year: 1981
Runtime: 1h 37m
Director: John Landis
John Landis is widely recognized as a comedy guy because of films like Animal House and The Blues Brothers, but he also pioneered in horror with projects like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video and this makeup masterpiece, a movie that holds up today because of its emphasis on incredible practical effects. David Naughton and Griffin Dunne play a pair of American backpackers who travel to England and discover that werewolves are very real. The original tagline: “From the director of Animal House … A different kind of animal.”
Black Phone
Year: 2022
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director: Scott Derrickson
One of the biggest hits of the summer of 2022, this horror film stars Ethan Hawke as a sociopath who kidnaps and murders children in the late ’70s. Hawke is terrifying, but the lead is actually Mason Thames as the latest victim, who discovers he has a special ability that could save his life. Taut and tight, this is a solid old-fashioned horror movie that echoes the early work of Stephen King in a good way.
The Blackening
Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 37m
Director: Tim Story
Riffing on the fate that so typically befalls Black characters in horror films, the tagline for this clever movie with an entirely Black cast was “We Can’t All Die First.” Half-comedy and half-horror, this story unfolds on a Juneteenth vacation to a remote cabin that leads to bloodshed. Co-writer Dewayne Perkins is particularly funny here in a movie that’s not really like anything else on Starz.
Brightburn
Year: 2019
Runtime: 1h 30m
Director: David Yarovesky
Before The Boys, there was this dark flick about what might happen if the child who became Superman became a sociopath instead. That’s what happens when a figure from another planet in the form of a young boy lands in Brightburn, Kansas. Let’s just say he causes more trouble than a normal kid. Developed by James Gunn, this unique flick stars Elizabeth Banks and David Denman.
Hostel
Year: 2006
Runtime: 1h 33m
Director: Eli Roth
In the mid-aughts, horror delivered a subgenre that was sometimes called torture porn: ultraviolent films about actual violence that tried to push the shock meter in ways major genre films are rarely allowed to do. This Eli Roth movie is the centerpiece of that subgenre, an underrated cautionary tale about how naïve American travelers can be. Note: The brutal sequel is also on Starz.
Jaws
Year: 1975
Runtime: 2h 4m
Director: Steven Spielberg
The movie that ushered in the blockbuster era is more often viewed in how it changed the industry than in how it’s, well, perfect. Seriously, you don’t need to change a single frame, line reading, or edit in Jaws, a film that works to raise the tension from its very first scene. There’s a reason people still write books about Jaws.
The Lords of Salem
Year: 2013
Runtime: 1h 41m
Director: Rob Zombie
One of horror director Rob Zombie’s best films is this 2012 saga of a small town that gets sucked into a coven of Satan-worshipping women. Sheri Moon Zombie stars in the central role, but this is a movie all about Zombie’s skill with atmosphere and dread. It has parts that are truly terrifying.
Nightbreed
Year: 1990
Runtime: 2h
Director: Clive Barker
It will never be Clive Barker’s most famous film, but this 1990 release has a very loyal cult following of people who see themselves in this story of outcasts and monsters. Craig Sheffer stars as a mental patient who has been tricked into thinking he’s a serial killer by his maniacal doctor (an unforgettable David Cronenberg). He flees and finds safety with literal monsters in a cemetery called Midian. It’s a bit clunky but also daringly ambitious.
Nope
Year: 2022
Runtime: 2h 10m
Director: Jordan Peele
In 2022, the genius behind Get Out and Us delivered his most controversial film, which blends an alien invasion with a commentary on movie-watching and spectacle in general. Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer are fantastic in this story of people beset by an alien species that likes to watch. Brilliantly structured and gorgeously shot, this is blockbuster-horror filmmaking at its finest.
Saw X
Year: 2023
Runtime: 1h 58m
Director: Kevin Greutert
How did this happen? How is the tenth film in a horror franchise the best since the first? Let’s be honest: Most of the Saw sequels are atrocious. The tenth kinda rocks. Getting back to the basics of the franchise — characters in a single setting, simpler storytelling, a twist ending — and giving Tobin Bell his most emotionally resonant beats to date combine to make one of the best (and easily the most unexpected) horror flicks of 2023.