Max has a broad range of programming options and features an eclectic selection of horror movies on Max. From recent blockbuster titles to drive-in classics and foreign favorites, there is something worth watching for every horror fan. Bundling together HBO, Warner Bros., TCM, and more, it expands the variety of genre films available. True to its premium cable reputation, subscribers can find the latest box office hits and modern classics to offer essential titles for on-demand viewing. Horror fans will also appreciate iconic film franchises for satisfying late-night binges.
While popular titles are given, horror movies on Max include an eclectic list of cult and foreign horror content. Favorite Roger Corman productions provide some cult cred along with early works from Brian DePalma and David Cronenberg. Home audiences can watch foreign classics with Japanese titles and movies usually saved for The Criterion Channel. For anyone who loves classic monster movies, those are included as well. From slasher movies and psychological thrillers to monster movies and supernatural terrors, horror movies on Max offer something for everyone.
25 The Nun (2018)
This entry in The Conjuring universe is so much better than it has any right to be. An offshoot of The Conjuring 2, this tale of a Roman Catholic priest and a nun investigating a “demon in nun’s clothing” is filled with spook house nonsense. The direction by Corin Hardy transcends the obvious horror trappings and creates some genuinely frightening moments in The Nun. Demian Bichir and Taissa Farmiga play the priest and nun, respectively, and have the chemistry and charm to make the creaky plot engaging enough. While nowhere near the greatness of the first two Conjuring films, The Nun remains one of the best horror movies on Max.
24 The Menu (2022)
Released in 2022, The Menu was a surprise hit and a movie that many fans never saw coming. In what looked like a movie about foodie culture, what resulted was a tense horror movie about bad people getting what they deserved. Anya Taylor-Joy continued her rise to the top as an escort hired to go to an exclusive dinner on a remote island, but what she found when she arrived was a horrifying social experiment that ended with almost no one getting off the island alive. One of the best horror movies on Max, it earned positive critical praise and even picked up two Golden Globes nominations for its success as a dark horror comedy.
23 Green Room (2015)
One of Anton Yelchin's final performances before his tragic death was also one of the few movies where Patrick Stewart played a purely evil bad guy. In Green Room, Yelchin starred as a young musician whose local band got a chance to open for a larger touring act. However, when they walk in on the main band sacrificing people in the dressing room, they end up running for their lives from a white supremacist group with dark designs. The movie delivered some gruesome action with great acting and a fantastic look, picking up several awards from genre festivals and ceremonies along the way.
22 The Faculty (1988)
While Robert Rodriguez made his name as one of the most successful independent filmmakers in history, making almost all his movies out of his home studio in Austin, Texas, he actually had one studio picture to his name. After success with El Mariachi and Desperado, Rodriguez signed on to make a studio horror movie with The Faculty. One of the few movies Rodriguez directed that he didn't write, Kevin Williamson penned the script for the alien invasion movie The Faculty. This saw aliens take over a high school and featured some huge young stars early in their careers, including Josh Hartnett, Clea Duvall, Jordana Brewster, and Elijah Wood.
21 The Witch (2015)
One of the most disturbing horror movies on Max, Robert Eggers' directorial debut The Witch is on the streaming service to freak out just about anyone who watches it. The movie stars Anya Taylor-Joy as the daughter of a farmer who lives outside a New England town, by the edge of the woods. Taking place in the 1630s, a witch from the woods kidnaps one of their babies and the townspeople begin to suspect the family might have something to do with the witchcraft. The movie is polarizing, as it does not rely on scares, but on the setting to provide unease and tension to the viewers. It was named to several best-of-movie lists in 2016 and made Eggers a star.
20 Barbarian (2022)
Barbarian was a movie that arrived in 2022 and ended up as a massive favorite for old-school horror fans. The movie has a basic horror premise. A woman goes to Detroit for a job interview and rents a house for her stay. However, she learns it was double booked and there is already someone there. After they are attacked by a naked, deformed woman and the man is killed, Barbarian starts a descent into terror for the woman. The movie was released on the streaming service the same day it was released digitally and has become one of the best horror movies on Max, with a smart story using old-school slasher horror techniques to shock viewers.
19 The Host (2006)
Thirteen years before he won an Oscar for the movie Parasite, Bong Joon-ho made the throwback monster movie The Host, which remains one of the best monster horror movies on Max. The movie never really explains where it came from or why it is here, but the movie is about a giant monster that rises from the Han River and starts killing anyone it finds. However, what makes the movie great is that it focuses on one family and their determination to stay alive and protect each other. While the monster is great and the scares are good, this movie has so much more heart than other monster movies thanks to its focus on the people.
18 Child's Play (1988)
There are a lot of classic horror movies on Max, and this includes the era of the slasher movies of the 1980s. One of the least likely slasher villains was the killer doll named Chucky. While the movie franchise ended up going straight to video, the original movie remains an integral piece of horror cinema history. Child's Play sees a serial killer gunned down by police but not before using black magic to send his essence into a doll. When a single mother buys the doll for her son, the terror starts. The movie remains a solid scare with some great laughs, and the TV series that spawned from this over 30 years later is even better.
17 Sisters (1972)
Years before she took on the role of Lois Lane in Superman, Margot Kidder starred in the Brian De Palma horror movie, Sisters. When it comes to horror movies in the 1970s, the era helped bring about the dirty violent horror of Texas Chain Saw Massacre and the slashers like Halloween. However, De Palma was more intent on making movies like Alfred Hitchcock did before him, and that is where Sisters lies. Kidder stars as a French Canadian model whose separated conjoined twin might be a murderer. With several homages to Hitchcock films, this has become a cult classic and remains one of the best horror movies on Max.
16 The Cabin In The Woods (2012)
There are a lot of movies that have subverted the horror genre in one way or another, but none have done it like The Cabin in the Woods. Written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, the movie is set up like a basic slasher, with a group of young adults (including a pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth) going to a cabin in the woods for a small vacation. However, when they end up attacked by the slasher killers everyone expects, the movie does a huge twist turn when it turns out there are scientists involved in releasing these creatures as a way to stop the end of the world. The movie has become a massive cult favorite thanks to its smart script and inventive approach to the genre.
15 Carnival of Souls (1962)
Director Herk Harvey’s only feature film, Carnival of Souls, is a true classic of the genre. Shot in 1962 on a micro-budget, this gorgeous cinematic nightmare is a must for fans of expressionistic cinema. After experiencing a traumatic car accident, young Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) moves to a small town to take a job as a church organist. She finds herself haunted by a ghoulish figure and other specters connected to an abandoned seashore pavilion. Harvey’s nightmare logic, emphasized by cinematographer Maurice Prather’s unique framing, combines the structure of a feature-length Twilight Zone with the claustrophobic mood of Night of the Living Dead.
14 Ugetsu (1953)
The horror movies on Max include some great classic and international features from the Criterion Collection. One of these is the Japanese ghost story Ugetsu. This movie actually has two different stories told in the movie, but they both tie into one central theme. Set during the Japanese civil war from 1598-1600, the movie has a potter leave home to make more money, only to end up seduced by a spirit that causes him to forget about his family. The second story is about a man who wants to be a samurai, but both stories are ghost tales that approach the idea of lost love and those who don't know they have already moved on. This is widely considered a masterpiece of Japanese horror cinema.
13 The Brood (1979)
Arguably David Cronenberg’s scariest movie, The Brood is a chilling mediation on divorce and the generational effects of child abuse. Art Hindle plays Frank Carveth, estranged from his emotionally disturbed ex-wife Nola (Samantha Eggar) who is currently seeking a new form of therapy. This new way to deal with trauma, called “The Shape of Rage”, encourages patients to manifest their anger into external tumors and growths on their bodies. Nola, who shares a young daughter with Frank, literally gives birth to her rage in the form of humanoid creatures who kill whenever she becomes angry. Oliver Reed co-stars in this tense and terrifying Canadian-produced film.
12 Sinister (2012)
Scott Derrickson has moved on to bigger things with his work in the MCU on Doctor Strange and his recent Ethan Hawke horror movie The Black Phone. However, his first movie while working with Blumhouse remains proof that he knows how to scare people. One of the best horror movies on Max, Sinister stars Hawke as a true-crime writer who moves his family into a house where a previous family was all murdered in the past. What he doesn't realize is that their deaths were tied to the house itself, and now his family is now in danger. A Sinister sequel without Derrickson was released but never touched the terror of this original horror movie.
11 Eraserhead (1977)
Auteur David Lynch’s first film is a cult classic for a reason. One of the few films to ever capture the pure hopelessness of a nightmare, Eraserhead still unsettles over 40 years after its release. Henry (Jack Nance) discovers that his girlfriend Mary has given birth to their child, though they are not certain it is human. The two move into Henry’s dank apartment where they care for the infant, which has a head that resembles a featherless bird. Its incessant crying and neediness drive Mary from the apartment, leaving Henry alone to care for it. He begins to have visions of bizarre images including a bloated-cheeked lady in his radiator who sings to him about heaven. This unforgettable and uncomfortable visual odyssey into darkness is essential viewing for cult movie fans.
10 The Conjuring (2013)
James Wan created a horror dynasty in 2013 when he directed the first movie in The Conjuring franchise. The series is based on the real-life stories of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. While the real stories remain disputed to this day, the movies with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as the couple remain some of the scariest and most haunting ghost and exorcism movies made in recent years. The first movie remains the best of the best, with the couple helping a family who have become targets of a haunting in their farmhouse in 1971. The franchise has had highs and lows, but this first movie was a masterpiece.
9 Eyes Without A Face (1960)
Max presents Criterion’s gorgeous print of Georges Franju’s influential shocker, Eyes Without A Face from 1960. Based on the novel by Jean Redon, it was a controversial film upon its original release in Europe. A plastic surgeon, played by Pierre Brasseur, has become fixated on performing a face transplant on his daughter who was disfigured in a car accident. He begins to abduct young women with the hopes of replacing his daughter's face, but his attempts lead to violence and death. Originally released in the U.S. in a dubbed and heavily edited version titled The Horror Chamber of Dr. Faustus, Max presents the original, uncut edit with subtitles.
8 House (1977)
House, a gonzo Japanese classic from 1977 was written, produced, and directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi. Obayashi based the movie on ideas from his young daughter. Watching the surreal events play out, it’s very apparent that a playful, childlike vision was a driving force. Gorgeous (Kimiko Ikegami) decides to spend the summer with her aunt after the surprise marriage of her father. She invites six of her friends to join her, each of whom has a skill or passion that defines their personality. Once at the house, the girls discover that it contains supernatural traps with the intention of consuming them all. Called less a film than an experience, this whimsical and sometimes disturbing live-action cartoon is an ideal selection for a group Zoom party.
7 Hereditary (2018)
Ari Aster is one of the most exciting and polarizing horror filmmakers working today. Hereditary might be his masterpiece and is one of the most terrifying horror movies on Max. The movie sees a family suffer a tremendous loss in their lives and then realize that they can't move on because a cult might have their sights set on them. This is one of the rare horror movies that play things subtly, and it remains imminently re-watchable thanks to little things Aster added to scenes in the movie that leads to a road map to the shocking conclusion. This was one of A21's highest-grossing movies and remains a masterclass in building tension.
6 The Fly (1986)
There are a few horror movies that prove that remakes are not always a bad thing. Often mentioned in the same breath as The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, David Cronenberg's The Fly is one of the best remakes of a classic movie that is actually better than the original. Jeff Goldblum stars as a scientist named Seth Brundle, a man who created a teleportation device. However, when testing it, a fly joins him in the pod and when he comes out, he and the fly combined, and he begins changing into a horrific creature and losing his humanity. One of the most disturbing and gruesome body horror movies, it won an Oscar for its makeup effects.