Horror Movies on HBO Max in 2020
The 38 Best Horror Movies on HBO Max Right Now
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The Halloween season is officially here, and HBO Max is not playing around: the streamer's horror movie lineup is stacked with classics like Godzilla and Jaws, as well as modern masterpieces like The Witches and It. One thing is certain: no matter what kind of scary movie you're in the mood for, you're going to find something spooky to watch on HBO Max. We may be staying inside more than usual this year, but we've got plenty of titles to help us celebrate the spooky season. Instead of going to a party, stream one of these frightening films.
— Additional reporting by Maggie Panos, Sabienna Bowman, Stacey Nguyen and Kalyn Womack
Don't miss these movies, sign up for HBO Max ($14.99 per month).
1 The Conjuring 2
Ed and Lorraine Warren's second big-screen investigation is even scarier than the first. This time around, they're in London's Enfield borough investigating an alleged possession case. The movie is based on a true story, which only makes it all the more chilling.
2 Funny Games
This remake of the 1997 cult classic is even more twisted than the original. Once again, a family vacation goes horribly wrong when a couple and their son are taken hostage by a sadistic group who come up with disturbing ways to torture them.
3 Eraserhead
Time to finally watch David Lynch's bizarre 1977 directorial debut! Your college film class professor would be so proud of you.
4 King Kong
The 1933 film is just one of the many classic creature features available on HBO Max right now, but this is a good place to start!
5 Night of the Living Dead
Any horror fan worth their salt knows 1968's Night of the Living Dead, directed by George Romero, is an absolute must-see.
6 Final Destination 5
Final Destination 5 isn't the most poetic, nuanced horror film out there — it's not even the best Final Destination iteration — but it'll do in a pinch.
7 Godzilla
If you love the character of Godzilla, you're in luck: HBO has about a dozen different thrilling and campy Godzilla films. Ishiro Honda's 1954 movie is one you definitely want to have in your horror arsenal.
8 The Ruins
If your horror tastes include body horror but don't extend to torture films like Hostel, try The Ruins. A group of college students — always college students, amirite? — stumble upon an ancient evil when they trespass on sacred land.
9 Alien
HBO Max has Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection, and AVP: Alien vs. Predator. You simply have no excuse not to be caught up on this iconic franchise.
10 Blade
Wesley Snipes stars as the badass vampire hybrid in 1998's Blade. If you've already seen it a million times, try Blade II or Blade: Trinity; HBO Max has both!
11 The Blob
Witness a piece of horror history with 1958's The Blob, a favorite for drive-in movie theaters to this day.
12 Cronos
Guillermo del Toro's 1993 film is still one of his most beloved by fans. Don't read anything about it — just watch it.
13 From Dusk Till Dawn
A buddy-cop comedy with Quentin Tarantino and George Clooney — but make it vampires. You'll also catch Salma Hayek dancing with a snake in a performance that Britney wishes she could replicate.
14 Wes Craven's New Nightmare
This isn't your typical nightmare. In this 1994 sequel, Freddy Krueger goes after actress Heather Langenkamp and director Wes Craven (playing themselves) in the real world.
15 Nightmare on Elm Street
A group of teenagers are tormented by an evil entity, Freddy Kruger, who appears in their dreams garnished with two terrifying claws of blades.
16 The Amityville Horror
Based on true accounts, a family moves into a beautiful home in Long Island. However, they discover an evil entity residing in the home after a number of odd disturbances.
17 Annabelle: Creation
From the creators of the first Annabelle, this film explores the origin of how the doll became inhabited by an evil entity.
18 The Brood
When a divorced couple enter a custody battle over their daughter, a doctor's psychological experiment on the mother causes her to enter a murderous rage.
19 The Devil's Advocate
Defense lawyer Kevin Lomax takes a position at one of the top law firms in New York. As Kevin takes on case after case, he comes discover his mentor has evil intentions beyond just winning.
20 Friday the 13th
A group of teens, including Clay Miller's sister, go missing at Camp Crystal Lake. Miller then goes to the camp to find his sister but also runs into the killer who caused her disappearance, Jason Voorhees.
21 Gothika
A psychiatrist is held captive in her own mental asylum after a car accident. When she wakes, she finds she is being accused of murdering her husband. Though disoriented, she tries to escape the asylum to find the truth.
22 Poltergeist
A family's young daughter becomes possessed by an evil spirit who abducts her by way of her television screen.
23 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
A group of friends head out on a road trip before a member leaves for the military. On their way, they get into an accident with some rowdy bikers. Unfortunately, where they find shelter is where Leatherface also resides.
Watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning on HBO Max now.
24 The Collection
Sequel to The Collector, this film shows the escape of a previous captive while another is trapped by madman.
25 Scream
A killer goes after the daughter of a past victim, taunting her with phone calls. At the same time, a reporter is working to uncover the identity behind the bone-chilling mask they wear.
26 Repentance
A a self-help author tries to help a client escape the remnants of his troubled past. However, the client turns the tables exposing the author's own dark secrets through torture.
27 The Quiet Ones
A college professor takes a group of students to perform a paranormal experiment that requires negative human energy to be successful. One student becomes to main subject to activating the poltergeist, causing her to lose her sanity and unleash a greater evil than the one they were trying to create.
28 Malignant
A woman suffering from night terrors frequently envisions a serial killer with a disfigured face slashing their victim with a gold sword. She soon comes to realize the murders she dreams about are happening in reality.
29 AVPR Alien vs Predator Requiem
In this terrifying Alien sequel, two extraterrestrial monsters take their fight from outer space to Earth.
30 28 Days Later
Once a deadly virus runs rampant through the human race, all that's left is a flesh-eating group of zombies and few survivors determined to stay alive.
31 Darkness Falls
A woman accused of murdering children was killed in Darkness Falls in the 1800s. Now, her vengeful spirit has taken her wrath out on the town starting with a young boy who sees her in his nightmares.
32 The Witches
In the light-hearted film adaption of Roald Dahl's novel, a young boy who is turned into a mouse by a sinister group of witches tries to stop her from using her dangerous potion on any other children.
33 Scary Movie
After a member of a friend group is killed, the rest of the teens realize they are being hunted by a killer. In this spooky and satirical rendition of Scream, the group try to protect themselves and each other from the anonymous serial killer.
34 Cloverfield
In this found footage film, a couple young adults are trying to survive the rampage of a ruthless monster who has taken over the city.
35 The Hunt
A group of elitists trap a group of twelve people in a remote location to hunt them for sport. Their aim is to see which one of the group will turn against their own to survive.
36 The Empty Man
In a small town in the West, a series of disappearances leads an ex-cop to find the culprit to be a group of people who have summoned a dangerous spirit.
37 It
In the grand scheme of scary King adaptations, It is definitely unnerving, but it's not quite as scary as the other films on this list. The story works best as a coming-of-age tale for the Losers' Club, but it's not without its creepy moments. Seeing Bill Skarsgård in full Pennywise makeup for the first time kicks the film off with a haunting start, and watching him lure little Georgie into his trap is the stuff of nightmares. But the movie's biggest fright comes later when Pennywise manifests as Georgie in his big brother Bill's basement in order to taunt the older child with the chilling refrain, "You'll float, too."
38 Ouija: Origin of Evil
Ouija: Origin of Evil gives the poorly reviewed 2014 film Ouija a fresh backstory. In the prequel, set in the late '60s, a widow introduces a Ouija board to her seance business, unwittingly bringing out a spirit that possesses her daughter. Director Mike Flanagan wanted to work on a period piece with a family dynamic, and he did exactly that. Critics praised how the story and atmosphere here are better than the original film's.
