Don't ask us why, but there's something about teen scream movies that makes them totally irresistible. Whether the flick revolves around high schoolers pursued by a masked villain through the woods or picked off one by one by a mysterious menace, teen horror movies are oftentimes predictable, but somehow totally absorbing.
From "The Craft" to "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Scream," the '90s may have been the peak of freaky teen movies, but plenty of other great movies have followed in their footsteps. More modern flicks like "Cam" have harnessed the scary capabilities of modern technology to spin truly bone-chilling stories, while others that rely on more well-known horror tropes — like the vengeful spirits of "Ouija" or the good old-fashioned serial killers of "Prom Night" — will still manage to keep you up all night.
While there are plenty of extremely scary movies that don't revolve around teens, there's always something extra freaky and fun about a blend of teenage nostalgia and monsters. If you're in the mood for a good scare, we've rounded up the best teen slashers, psychological thrillers, and supernatural horror movies available to stream on Netflix.
— Additional reporting by Kalyn Womack and Eden Arielle Gordon
A group of teens addicted to technology are sent to a rehabilitation center meant to ween them off of it, but while at the remote camp, they are tormented by a sinister force that aims to disconnect them from not only their cell phones, but life itself.
This Netflix original horror-comedy stars Samara Weaving (whom you may recognize as Claire from Netflix's "Hollywood") as Bee, a teenage babysitter who happens to dabble in the occult. When her 12-year-old charge discovers what she and her friends get up to after he goes to sleep, he finds himself pursued by Bee's fellow cult leaders, and things get pretty messy.
In this totally trippy thriller from Spain, a high school senior named Alex finds herself haunted by increasingly terrifying visions and hallucinations that she can't control. What's worse is that she can't even talk to her best friend, Bram, about what's happening, because his new girlfriend wants him to keep his distance from Alex, especially as her behavior becomes increasingly erratic.
This thriller stars Bella Thorne as Holly, a teen who decides to go to great lengths to get close to a guy after they have a one-night stand. From transferring to his high school to befriending his girlfriend (whom he'd been broken up with when they slept together), Holly is determined to show Tyler that he can't get rid of her as easily as he hoped.
Netflix's first-ever Philippines-made original is a crime thriller based on a true story, revolving around a socially awkward teen who gangs up with some fellow misfits after he learns that they plan to kidnap an obnoxious (but very wealthy) classmate and hold him for ransom. It isn't long before the teens find themselves in way over their heads — and eventually, the kidnapping turns deadly.
Loosely based on the Japanese manga of the same name by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, this supernatural thriller stars Nat Wolff as Light Turner, a high schooler who discovers a mysterious leather-bound notebook that has the power to kill anyone who's name is written in its pages. He and his girlfriend (who's played by Margaret Qualley) team up to eliminate all criminals, while an eccentric detective (played by Lakeith Stanfield) attempts to stop them.
Part one of the Fear Street trilogy begins with a series of killings that trouble the citizens of Shadyside. A group of teenagers discover the culprit behind the killings is a century-old witch who is seeking vengeance.
In part two of the Fear Street trilogy, the plot goes back 20 years to explore the perspective of the survivor of a camp massacre, another deadly result of the vengeful spirit of Sarah Fier.
A group of teens who drive a girl to kill herself become targeted by a stalker. They witness each other disappear one by one on their webcams.
A small colony becomes invested in a witch hunt once their crops and livestock spoil and die. The wrongful hanging of a young woman becomes the root of the spiritual vengeance that has terrorized Shadyside for centuries.
A group of kids living in a gentrified part of the Bronx encounter a few vampires who plan to drain the life from their home.
In this Netflix psychological horror film set in the world of webcam pornography, Madeline Brewer from "The Handmaid's Tale" stars as an erotic cam girl who finds her popular channel hijacked by a look-alike. What's even better: "Cam" is one of the few films about sex work written by a former sex worker, resulting in a story that doesn't glamorize, glorify, or romanticize the profession.
A brother and sister aim to make some money by pretending they are ghost hunters and can expel the spirits from an elderly woman's home. Things take a turn for the worst when they encounter what they thought was a joke.
"Prom Night" follows a girl named Donna (Brittany Snow) whose family was murdered by her former biology teacher when she was a freshman in high school. When a masked killer shows up at her senior prom, she's forced to revisit parts of her past she'd like to forget.
Sydney Park stars as a transfer student who moves from Hawaii to Nebraska in this film. Her adjustment to her new school is soon made more complicated when several of her new classmates are murdered — and she begins a quest to find the killer.
"Ouija" follows a group of teenagers who try to contact a dead friend using a Ouija board. Things go very, very wrong and soon a horrifying sequence of paranormal events ensue.
In this German-language teen horror movie, a group of wealthy high-schoolers attending a private school plagued by strange supernatural events uncover a sinister conspiracy.
"The Babysitter: Killer Queen," a sequel to "The Babysitter," stars Judah Lewis as high schooler Cole, who claims his babysitter was a devil-worshiping madwoman. No one believes him — but then some of his old classmates wind up running into more than a few ghosts from Cole's past during an ill-advised boating excursion. When a new girl (Jenna Ortega) gets pulled into the fray, Cole finally has to stand up to the demons that have been pursuing him.