One thing that truly scares horror fans is the idea of endlessly scrolling through streaming slop in search of a great scary movie. However, HBO Max has quietly built one of the best horror libraries around, featuring a mix of all-time classics, cult favorites, and international gems, proving that, despite all the name changes and rebrands, an HBO Max subscription still offers a ton of bang for its buck. Every movie on this list is currently streaming exclusively on HBO Max. (Yes, you might see them pop up on Hulu or YouTube TV, but only through the Max add-on.)
Videos by ComicBook.com
Since nothing lasts forever on streaming, it’s worth catching these while you still can. Here are 10 of the best horror films on HBO Max, and some of the best of all time, to add to your watchlist.
1) The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
This is one of the few horror films to have won Best Picture at the Oscars, and it remains a standout. The performances are legendary, with Jodie Foster as FBI trainee Clarice Starling, Anthony Hopkins as the cannibal Hannibal Lecter, and the tension never lets up. The scenes in the Baltimore asylum are claustrophobic and bone-chilling, and the night-vision basement finale is one of the most terrifying climaxes in any film. It’s not a slasher or a gorefest, but it gets under your skin in a way few films can. Even if you’ve already seen it, which you likely have, The Silence of the Lambs is good enough to warrant a yearly rewatch.
2) Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
An absolute classic that audiences and critics alike widely consider to be the best adaptation of the “Body Snatchers” story. Set in San Francisco, it slowly builds a sense of paranoia that feels way too relatable even now. The cast is stacked (Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Veronica Cartwright, Jeff Goldblum, and Leonard Nimoy) and the effects still hold up. The alien pods, the shrieking doubles, the ending… If you haven’t seen it, don’t Google it. Go in blind and thank us later.
3) Eyes Without a Face (1960)
For a more surreal, international pick, this French horror film is perfect; quiet, slow, and genuinely disturbing. The story centers around a surgeon trying to restore his daughter’s disfigured face by stealing faces from other women. The surgical scenes are simple but gruesome, and the daughter’s blank white mask is unforgettable. There’s almost no music in large stretches of the film, which makes everything feel real and offers no emotional catharsis. It’s one of the few horror films from the era that feels like it could have been made today, particularly in how it handles its themes of guilt and obsession.
4) Sinners (2025)
The most recent release from Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, Sinners was a critical and commercial smash hit just a couple of months ago. The vampire thriller, set in 1930s Mississippi, blends music, horror tropes, period drama, and social commentary. Michael B. Jordan stars as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, who return from Chicago to open a juke joint, only to find their ambitions invaded by supernatural predators. If you want horror that’s stylish, soulful, scary, and rooted in real American history and social politics, Sinners hits all the marks.
5) House (Hausu) (1977)
There is no movie like House. This Japanese horror-comedy is completely unhinged in the best way, and its bold experimentation has earned it a modern cult following. A group of schoolgirls visits a haunted house, and one by one they’re killed off in bizarre, surreal ways: eaten by a piano, attacked by flying lamps, chased by a cartoon skeleton. It’s even been rumored that director Nobuhiko Obayashi asked his 10-year-old daughter what she thought would be scary, then used those ideas in the movie. A far cry from some of the grounded horror on this list, but still unforgettable. House is a must-watch for experimental horror fans.
6) Scream (1996)
Wes Craven’s Scream brought horror back to life in the ’90s by being both a sharp slasher and a smart satire. It pokes fun at the tropes and rules of slasher movies while still delivering real scares, starting with one of the most iconic openings in the genre featuring a young Drew Barrymore. Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott became a modern final girl, and Ghostface’s mix of dark humor and brutality gave horror a new kind of villain. What makes Scream stand out is its self-awareness; it knows the tropes and gleefully subverts them. If you know the twist, it’s still worth a rewatch, and if you want more, Scream 2, 3, and 4 are also streaming on HBO Max.
7) Get Out (2017)
Jordan Peele’s directorial debut is a knockout social thriller and one of the most original horror movies of the last decade. Daniel Kaluuya plays a young Black man visiting his white girlfriend’s family, and what starts off as underlying racial tensions turns into something extremely terrifying. Peele’s best scenes, such as the bingo auction and the iconic hypnosis setpiece, often feel like the work of a master. Kaluuya got an Oscar nomination for his performance, and the movie helped push horror into more serious territory again. If you somehow missed it, now’s your chance.
8) Scanners (1981)
This one is best known for the exploding head GIF, but behind the meme lies a genuinely radical take on sci-fi horror. David Cronenberg’s Scanners tells the story of humans with powerful psychic abilities being tracked and weaponized by a shadowy corporation. Its unsettling atmosphere makes everything feel tense and uncanny. Michael Ironside is unforgettable as the unhinged antagonist, and the film’s practical effects deliver some of Cronenberg’s most disturbing and realistic body horror. It’s not as sleek as his later work, but it’s just as unsettling — and in some ways more relevant than ever.
9) It Follows (2014)
Heralded as a modern masterpiece, the concept of It Follows is staggeringly simple: a supernatural force follows you at a walking pace until it gets you. It can look like anyone, and it never stops. That’s it… and it’s terrifying. It Follows has a dreadful, dreamlike feel to it, with a hazy Midwest setting and a haunting synth score by Disasterpeace. There’s also a timeless quality that makes it hard to pin down. Characters watch black-and-white movies on old TVs, but one of them has a futuristic clamshell e-reader. It feels like a nightmare existing outside time, and it became an instant classic for good reason.
10) The Host (2006)
Before Parasite, Bong Joon-ho made this monster movie that features his signature genre blend, balancing horror, comedy, and class commentary. In the film, a creature mutated by toxic chemicals dumped in Seoul’s Han River kidnaps a girl, and her messed-up family has to get her back. The 00s monster effects still hold up well, and the nuanced family dynamics make the story emotionally resonant. If you love monster movies in the vein of Godzilla or King Kong, this Korean classic is an absolute must-see.
Which horror movie are you watching next? Let us know in the comments.
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Netflix
