The Best Dark and Disturbing Horror Films to Stream in October

As October winds to a close, most of us have already watched classic films that get you in the holiday spirit, leaving these final days to finally plunge you into the depths of Hell.

One of the joys of horror movies is getting a group of friends together and getting scared together when a killer springs out at the story’s hero, but in the case of these films, you likely won’t want to have to be around anyone as you become emotionally unsettled. These dark and disturbing films don’t skimp on traditional thrills, though their effectiveness comes from the emotional havoc it will wreak on you.

Additionally, the filmmaking on display is some of the best in the genre, making you appreciate the film’s craft, even if you don’t ever want to watch the movie again.

Check out some of the best soon-to-be-classic horror movies available to stream on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu, and come back next week to see more suggestions!

‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’ – Amazon Prime

A reimagining of the Greek myth of Iphigenia, Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a twisted take on vengeance and sacrifice that will leave viewers putting themselves in the horrifying shoes of the main characters. 

When a doctor’s children begin to demonstrate mysterious symptoms, from loss of appetite to paralysis, a figure from the doctor’s past claims he knows exactly what is making his children suffer. The doctor is given an ultimatum that will shatter his reality or force him to make a choice no father wants to make.

Thanks to the impressive performances by Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, and Barry Keoghan, Killing of a Sacred Deer is an unsettling “Would You Rather?” scenario that gets more riveting with each scene, leading to a devastating finale.

‘Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer’ – Amazon Prime

As the name implies, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer follows a group of brutal murderers as they create carnage all across the country.

Henry (Michael Rooker) travels from city to city, killing men, women, and children all along the way. Once Henry lands in Chicago, he teams up with Otis (Tom Towles), and the two take terror to an all-new level, killing whoever they like without rhyme or reason.

One of the most terrifying performances of Rooker’s illustrious career, Henry does for middle America and the ’80s what The Texas Chain Saw Massacre did for Texas and the ’70s. While many horror movies about serial killers might attempt to depict the characters as charming, what makes Henry so fascinating is how little you empathize with the main characters, yet can’t turn away from what brutal crimes they’ll commit next.

‘It Comes at Night’ – Amazon Prime

Few things are hotter in the horror world than tales of zombie apocalypses or stories regarding the collapse of society caused by devastating viruses, with It Comes at Night focusing specifically on one family of survivors and how the downfall of society permanently impacts them.

Taking refuge in the woods, a family is doing their best to survive a deadly infection, only for another struggling family to cross their path. After initial apprehension, these strangers could offer both families a new start, or it could all be a ruse that leads to destruction.

What makes It Comes at Night so effective, and depressing, is that it glosses over the reasons for the infection and, rather than focusing on a family trying to solve their situation, explores a brief time in their lives when they are merely trying to survive. In that regard, it fits more in line with Cormac McCarthy’s The Road than The Walking Dead, with the film focusing heavily on the dread of a post-apocalyptic setting more than how cool it would be to explore abandoned cities.

‘The Eyes of My Mother’ – Netflix

When a stranger arrives at a farmhouse asking to use the restroom, the mother of the household is killed while the young daughter can do nothing but cower in fear. After the father discovers what has happened to his wife, with the intruder still in their home, he subjects the intruder to the worst fate he can conjure, effectively altering the ways in which his daughter approaches all future human connections.

While The Eyes of My Mother is undeniably a horror movie full of brutal violence, rarely do films evoke as much sympathy for the perpetrators of that violence as this narrative. Shot in beautiful black and white, the film shows you the effects of witnessing violence as a youth and how that can impact a person down to their core for the rest of their lives.

‘The Wailing’ – Netflix

A Japanese man moves into a remote cabin in the woods in a small South Korean village, which is followed shortly thereafter by an outbreak of a mysterious illness. Villagers begin to display symptoms of a rash, in addition to having violent outbursts, leaving the community concerned about what is plaguing the village. 

Reports emerge that the root of the sickness is supernatural in nature, leading a detective to attempt to track down the strange man, with some villagers claiming that a stranger isn’t the only entity descending upon the village.

The Wailing harkens back to the effectiveness of The Exorcist and its blend of drama and the supernatural, allowing the narrative to plant the question in audiences’ minds about whether there are real-world answers to the bizarre occurrences or if there’s something more horrifying at play. Add to that the fact that the film is two-and-a-half hours long, and The Wailing is one of the more exhausting horror experiences you can endure.

‘The Witch’ – Netflix

One of the more critically-acclaimed horror movies in recent years is The Witch, and it also happens to be one of the more controversial. The passionate and divisive reactions aren’t due to disturbing imagery, but rather due to the film’s deliberate pacing and its descent slowly into Hell.

On the outskirts of a New England community in the late-17th century, a family is fearful of a rumored danger that lurks in the nearby woods. When their infant goes missing, they must confront whether darker spirits are at play or if their imaginations have gotten the best of them. 

Beautifully shot and impeccably acted, The Witch fully immerses you in the paranoia of the time that actually unfolded in small New England communities. The film takes its time with the narrative, slowly chipping away at the viewer’s sanity and building to a satisfying, and disturbing, crescendo.

‘I Saw the Devil’ – Hulu

Revenge films like John Wick offer audiences a satisfying bloodbath as a hero seeks vengeance against those who have wronged him, while I Saw the Devil offers a much more disturbing exploration of devoting oneself to payback.

After the brutal murder of his wife, a secret service agent identifies the killer and confronts him for his crimes. Rather than dispatching him immediately, the agent violently beats the man and places a tracker on him, allowing him to heal enough to be hunted down again. Wanting the killer to feel as much pain as possible, the agent insists on stretching out the torture as long as he can in an act of retribution for the loss of his wife.

I Saw the Devil takes a page from Nietzsche, who claimed, “He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster.” Despite having the best of intentions, viewers are forced to decide when the special agent’s actions become too horrific for his wife’s killer as we are taken along on the disturbing ride.