7 Horror Movies to Watch on Hulu This Weekend (April 10th)

When the world feels like a scary place, some people will choose to consume as much lighthearted content as possible to distract them from their fears, while horror fans know how much of a relief it can be to tune in to a much more horrifying narrative to take comfort in immensely intense storylines to offer catharsis from our real-world stress. Even if relieving stress isn’t something you require, with the number of public spaces currently closed, plenty of us are finding ourselves with hours of free time and we’ll likely be turning to our favorite streaming services this weekend to keep us entertained.

Luckily, Hulu has a number of exciting genre films to check out, including genre classics that are worth a revisit and under-seen indie hits that might have flown under subscribers’ radars.

Scroll down to see some of our picks for what to watch on Hulu this weekend and hit up Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to share your own recommendations and thoughts about the films!

28 Days Later (2002)

In the decades since the release of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead in 1968, the zombie subgenre of horror movies covered virtually all imaginable territory, with 2002’s 28 Days Later from director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland reviving the concept in a new and horrifying way.

After waking up after nearly a month of unconsciousness, a man finds himself alone in a hospital with almost all of London abandoned. The first people he encounters are raging maniacs, who quickly give chase in hopes of killing him. The man discovers that, in an attempt to cure the “disease” of rage, a virus was created that ignites an unstoppable madness in its victims, similar to what is seen in the walking undead.

While some horror fans will argue that 28 Days Later is a pandemic movie and not a zombie movie, the film circumvents a number of zombie tropes to deliver an all-new experience for even the most seasoned of horror veteran, made all the more realistic with its gritty digital cinematography.

Let the Right One In (2008)

Based on the novel of the same name, Let the Right One In offered audiences its own take on a vampire love story at a time when sparkling creatures were dominating pop culture.

Bullied Oskar befriends the young girl who moves into his apartment complex, with one of her weirder quirks being that she will only hang out with him at night. When the girl finally lets him in on her secret, Oskar is forced to confront the terrifying reality of who she really is, which could potentially be rewarded with the connection he feels he has been seeking all his life.

Let the Right One In leans heavily into the romantic notion of vampires and the ways in which becoming such a monster is both a blessing and a curse. There’s enough bloodshed to keep the more aggressive horror fans satiated, while the love story offers a more innocent exploration of the immortal creatures.

Misery (1990)

Some of Stephen King’s most iconic stories feature bizarre and otherworldly occurrences, with Misery being an immensely effective experience that is mostly contained to one room and two people.

When author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) gets into a car accident, he is rescued by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates) due to a snowstorm making it impossible for ambulances to find him. Annie is one of Paul’s biggest fans, with the author repaying her by allowing Annie a glimpse at his new novel. When Annie is angered with the events of the novel, she refuses to let him escape until he writes a more acceptable story.

Bates deservedly won an Academy Award for her performance in the film, marking one of the few times a horror movie earned an Oscar, with the film feeling even more relevant now than when it was released as it mirrors some of the more toxic behavior exhibited by certain fan bases.

The Houses October Built (2014)

Now that we’re halfway to Halloween, few films will get you into the spirit of the spooky season as effectively as The Houses October Built.

Not interested in the offerings of major amusement parks, a group of thrill-seekers aims to uncover the most horrifying amateur haunted houses in the country, putting them in close contact with a number of unsavory characters. When they get a lead on one rumored haunted attraction, things seem too frightening to be fake, leading them on an investigation into the attraction. 

While there might be more successful horror films that center around Halloween out there, this one really captures the magic of the holiday, whether you want to reminisce about past holidays or look forward to the upcoming celebration.

Hellions (2015)

When it comes to celebrating Halloween night, no one, especially no teen, wants to spend the holiday cooped up indoors babysitting. You’ll end up being forced to answer the door over and over and pretend to enjoy all of the costumes you’re seeing, all while wishing that you were out with your friends.

Hellions takes the terror to a new level, as one babysitter realizes that she’s earning repeat customers, with their playful masks giving off a sinister vibe, only for the babysitter to realize something much darker might be happening, with her own actions seemingly inviting in the torment.

The film takes the very simple concept of creepy kids causing chaos on Halloween night and feeds into the paranoia of the situation. While the film might veer into unexpected directions, it wonderfully captures the magic of Halloween night and will make you never want to see another trick-or-treater.

Grabbers (2012)

Dating back to the earliest days of horror cinema, audiences have been given countless creature features featuring all manner of monster, which also means we’ve seen beasts with a variety of weaknesses. Grabbers makes for an entirely entertaining experience, made all the more enjoyable with its inventive exploitation of its titular beasts.

On a remote Irish island, a bizarre series of attacks from unidentified animals begin to occur, only for the town’s police force to discover that a group of tentacled aliens are responsible for the attacks. After one of the creatures attempts to suck the blood of the town drunk, residents discover that the monsters’ only vulnerability is alcohol, forcing them to keep drunk to ward off the beasts.

Grabbers not only makes for an engaging horror-comedy based solely on the narrative and performances, but the unconventional incorporation of such a hilarious weakness for the major threat really elevates the film to an even higher level, making it one of the best under-seen monster movies of the past decade.

Annihilation (2018)

Based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation used a sci-fi scenario to explain the self-destructive tendencies of humanity, which can either kill us or make us stronger.

An otherworldly event creates an area known as “The Shimmer” on the southern coast of the United States, which the government can’t seem to explain. After sending multiple teams into the region, who all go missing, one soldier (Oscar Isaac) manages to emerge, but he’s not the person he used to be. His cellular biologist wife (Natalie Portman) offers to head into the Shimmer, only to be confronted by bizarre mutations of familiar animal and plant life, as her teammates disappear one by one.

Annihilation seamlessly blended a love story with heavy sci-fi themes, in addition to a healthy dose of traditional horror. The film was ultimately about whether we let the things that can hurt us destroy the things we love or accept that we can emerge from any challenge as a new, stronger version of ourselves, yet one scene featuring a disfigured bear creature remains one of the most unsettling on-screen moments of the year, definitively making it a horror movie.