Must-See Horror Titles Coming to Netflix in May

As April winds to a close and with May right around the corner, Netflix has officially released all of the titles that will be added to and removed from its streaming service for the upcoming month. The service has announced many successful and well-known titles joining its library in May, like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hoosiers, and Scarface. Sadly, films like 8 Mile, Dances with Wolves, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind will depart the service when May arrives. See the full list of films arriving here and list of films leaving here. There are some choice selections for horror fans that will be both arriving on the service in May, and, unfortunately, some great titles that will no longer be available.

No matter what your tastes are, the streaming service has got you covered. Whether you’re hoping to catch some classics that you might have missed or you’re on the lookout for your next contemporary obsession, Netflix has got you covered.

Scroll down to see our picks for the best horror coming to Netflix and remind you what to watch right now before they expire

‘Gremlins’ – Arriving May 1st

Landing in theaters in 1984, Gremlins helped establish a burgeoning trend of the ’80s by delivering viewers a healthy dose of humor, horror, and wholesome entertainment.

After Billy is gifted a cute and cuddly Mogwai, he accidentally breaks the rules of keeping the creature safe, which includes feeding “Gizmo” after midnight and exposing him to water. This results in the Mogwai cloning and transforming into horrible Gremlins who wreak havoc on the entire town.

While the film might not be a full-blown horror spectacle, the PG-rated adventure pushes the boundaries of subject matter deemed too intense for children, leading to the creation of the PG-13 rating with the MPAA.

‘Scream’ – Arriving May 1st

A series of grisly murders begin taking place with teens of the local high school becoming the victims, leaving authorities confused as to what ties the murders together. Horror-savvy teens use their knowledge of horror movies in hopes of predicting what the killer might do next, as well as develop strategies to survive the encounter. 

Slashers were one of the most popular horror movies in the ’80s, with the concept stagnating in the early ’90s. Director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson’s approach to the concept revived interest in the subgenre, inspiring countless imitators who attempted to deliver scripts that were as clever and humorous as what Scream offered, to no avail. Unsurprisingly, the unique collaborative process between the two inspired three sequels and a TV series.

‘Jaws’ Series – Leaving May 1st

The original Jaws is one of the greatest films of any genre of all time, which you may have seen already. The following three films, on the other hand, offer little of value.

Ranging from voodoo rituals to shark relatives tracking down members of the Brody family, the plots of the film’s sequels are almost too ridiculous to believe and must be witnessed with your own eyes.

We can’t quite recommend anyone track down sequels to such an iconic film, yet if you’ve ever been curious about what a 3D installment of the series would look like or how the narrative justifies one of the main characters from the original film dying from “fear of sharks,” only for his son to be killed by a descendant of the original film’s shark, you might as well watch them before you have a harder time seeking them out.

‘Zombieland’ – Arriving May 1st

Following the release of Night of the Living Dead in 1968, zombies were regularly depicted as lumbering, decaying corpses, which proved a persistent threat that were relatively easy to avoid. Zombieland utilized the emerging concept of fast zombies and injected the horrors with countless laughs to deliver a film that felt entirely fresh.

Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Emma Stone, and Abigail Breslin star in the film focusing on a group of unlikely survivors all attempting to navigate the deadly world in which they live, forming strong relationships with one another. The film not only helped bring the cast into the genre spotlight, it also helped revive interest in zombies, making a series like The Walking Dead more accessible to burgeoning horror fans.

‘Hostel’ – Leaving May 1st

Eli Roth has earned a passionate following from horror fans over the years, thanks to a number of terrifying tales. One of his biggest hits is 2005’s Hostel which, unintentionally, helped invent the term “torture porn.”

American tourists are roaming the European countryside, yet are disappointed with how many fellow tourists they are encountering. The travelers seek a more rural adventure, taking the advice of a local and visiting a hard-to-find hostel. Shortly after their arrival, they are drugged and kidnapped, becoming the victims of wealthy foreigners who want nothing more than to enact their many sadistic fantasies on the Americans.

While many films attempt to deliver viewers endearing characters, Roth offered characters who were insufferable, allowing audiences to revel in their punishment. This film, along with the Saw series and countless other imitators, resulted in the decade being dominated by films focusing more on unsettling practical effects over complex narratives.

‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile’ – Arriving May 3rd

Set in 1969, Ted (Zac Efron) is crazy-handsome, smart, charismatic, affectionate. And cautious single mother Liz Kloepfer (Lily Collins) ultimately cannot resist his charms. For her, Ted is a match made in heaven, and she soon falls head over heels in love with the dashing young man. A picture of domestic bliss, the happy couple seems to have it all figured out … until, out of nowhere, their perfect life is shattered. Ted is arrested and charged with a series of increasingly grisly murders. Concern soon turns to paranoia—and, as evidence piles up, Liz is forced to consider that the man with whom she shares her life could actually be a psychopath.

‘The Blackcoat’s Daughter’ – Arriving May 18th

A deeply atmospheric and terrifying horror film, The Blackcoat’s Daughter centers on Kat (Kiernan Shipka) and Rose (Lucy Boynton), two girls who are left alone at their prep school Bramford over winter break when their parents mysteriously fail to pick them up. While the girls experience increasingly strange and creepy occurrences at the isolated school, we cross cut to another story—that of Joan (Emma Roberts), a troubled young woman on the road, who, for unknown reasons, is determined to get to Bramford as fast as she can.

Dripping with mood and tension, the film brings together some of the best young actresses for this terrifying tale of devotion.