From paranormal pregnancies to demonic dance schools, Amazon Prime has a wealth of great horror films available to stream.
We’ve combed through the platform to find the 10 best titles currently streaming on the platform.
Do you agree with our picks? Let us know in the comments below.
Prevenge
Alice Lowe – six months pregnant and determined to direct her first feature – filmed this low-budget comedy-horror in 11 days, with herself in the leading role. No damsel in distress is her Ruth, determined to leave a trail of blood at a string of obnoxious, patriarchal characters, including those she and her unborn baby blame for the death of her husband in a climbing accident and others who simply get in her way.
Prevenge walks a fine moral tightrope as Ruth bunks off lecherous and selfish characters played by some of the UK’s most notable comic actors, but it’ll be up to the viewer to what degree they’ll empathise with Ruth’s plight, while they also ponder how she hasn’t been nicked by the police yet.
Men
Alex Garland’s third film (following Ex Machina and Annihilation) has divided viewers but it’s got some pretty chilling (and gory) visions and set pieces along the way.
Jessie Buckley puts in a storming performance as Harper, who just wants some quiet time in the countryside following the violent death of her husband, but ends up having to fend off Rory Kinnear’s various apparitions.
X
‘Not everything in life turns out how you expect,’ says Mia Goth’s elderly Pearl (Goth also appears in a dual role as the much younger Maxine) in this seventies-set thriller. This sums up the plot: a gang of eager beavers rock up to a desolate farm and set about making a mucky movie. Only to find they’ve attracted the wrong kind of attention from the farm’s octogenarian odd couple.
‘It’s about high time we cut to the chase and give the people what they want to see,’ says Martin Henderson’s entrepreneurial Wayne: which, in this case, turns out to be lots of nudity, gore, killer crocodiles and an existential fear of the loss of youth and beauty. Plus, it spawned the prequel Pearl, filmed at the same time, which sees Mia Goth reprise her role and explores the roots of the titular character’s murderous ambitions.
Shaun of the Dead
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s first edition of their ‘Cornetto trilogy’ still hasn’t been surpassed in the comedy-horror stakes. With a huge, affectionate nod to the work of George A. Romero, their band of misfits attempt to survive the zombie apocalypse in London via vinyl record collections and pub lock-ins.
Paranormal Activity
Oren Peli’s found-footage shadowy slow-burner spawned numerous sequels – of varying quality – but the original remains the best. Couple Micah and Katie find their relationship issues are the least of their problems when they suspect, and subsequently try to film, a malevolent presence in their home. With not-very-good consequences.
The Others
Nicole Kidman stars in this genuinely unnerving haunted house saga set in wartime Jersey. Grieving over her missing soldier husband, Kidman’s character Grace is troubled by ghostly spectres and bumps in the night and seeks to uncover the mystery. Yes, there is a twist. And one hell of a cupboard-based jump scare, plus a chilling creepy-kid scene.
The Babadook
This Aussie modern-horror masterpiece is cloaked in grief, depression and trauma. The eponymous ghoul forms only part of the gloom, a walking metaphor for the horrors faced by a mother and troubled son dealing with the death of the family’s father figure in a horrific car accident. Nightmares abound, as the pair endure and try to find a way to live with their demons.
Dawn of the Dead
Some heavy-handed, but fun, satire is the backdrop to George A Romero’s 1978 sequel to Night of the Living Dead. The zombie hordes might be going back to the mall as consumers of human flesh rather than fancy clothes, but the director makes the most of the setting as survivors live out a short-lived blissful existence surrounded by free luxury goods, while using the plentiful props for inventive ways to kill off the horde. And it all lends itself to a tense finale in a battle for survival.
Jaws
Killer shark; fearsome soundtrack; hubristic, indifferent mayoral power figure; shocking severed-head jump scare: what’s not to love about Steven Spielberg’s 1975 masterpiece, as Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss gang up to finish off the deadly marine threat to a Cape Cod beachfront community.
Suspiria (1977)
Luca Guadagnino’s 2018 remake contained some chilling body horror and great performances from its cast. But it was a lot easier on the nerves than Dario Argento’s vivid and nightmarish original. Jarring prog-rock from Goblin soundtracks the maggot-ridden, razor-wired murder scenes, as a dance school’s students face off against the coven of witches who runs the place.
With its vivid, unnatural colour scheme, wide-eyed undead, and gruelling set pieces, nervy viewers need not apply.
There we have it, our list of 10 best horror movies on Amazon Prime. Do you agree with our picks? Or have we missed a crucial choice off the list? Let us know your thoughts about our picks in the comments below: