40 Best Horror Movies On Hulu [July 2021] – Looper

With plentiful streaming services to choose from, horror hounds have a bounty of choices these days. And sure, while on-demand entertainment may carry some troubling implications for our beloved local theaters, one of the significant boons of streaming is the increased odds of stumbling across new, and new-to-you, discoveries. For a horror fan (or the horror-curious), that may mean venturing into more international waters or taking a dip into under-seen cult favorites or buzz-worthy indie offerings.

Indeed, the horror films available on Hulu cover a surprisingly diverse range. There's a little something for everyone, no matter your genre taste. But the eternal movie night question remains: what to watch?

Well good news! To make the selection process easier, we've combed through Hulu's library and selected 40 of the best horror films currently streaming on the service. Our picks may not always gel with the critical consensus, but considering horror's enduring stigma amongst its more respectable peers, stumping for appreciated gems is pretty par for the course as far as the genre's concerned.

Updated on July 20, 2021: Hulu is constantly updating its selection with new, scary titles that'll have you gasping in fright. So please note that this article is updated monthly to reflect changes to Hulu's streaming availability.

It's the end of the world as we know it and that means zombies have learned how to break into a sprint. Two weeks after a deadly virus is set loose from a British animal testing facility, Jim wakes up from a coma to find London deserted and overrun with the walking (well,running) dead. Joining up with a small group of desperate survivors, Jim and company aren't sure who to fear more: the undead, or the emboldened humans taking advantage of the apocalypse.

A deadly "rage" virus that turns people into homicidal maniacs continues to tear its way through the British isles. Six months after the nation has been quarantined from the rest of the world and effectively left for dead, the international community concludes that the plague has run its course. A group of Americans set foot on the isles, only to quickly discover that the undead scourge is very much alive and kicking.

A recluse and self-taught chemist named Sean lives in a derelict caravan in the woods. During an unexpected withdrawal from his medication, Sean finds his quiet life upended by delusions, hallucinations, and an obsession to crack a forbidden age-old alchemical secret. Launching himself headfirstdown a dark path, Sean unleashes something far more sinister and demonic than he bargained for.

After an untimely demise at the bottom of a riverbed, a young couple with unfinished earthly business wind up haunting their New England farmhouse as poltergeists. When their attempts to spook the insufferable new owners (their groovy goth daughter Lydia, exempted), they're forced to make a drastic decision and summon an expert in the matter of haunting houses:Beetlejuice,the ghost with the most and a self-proclaimed "bio-exorcist." Just when their new tactics appear to be taking effect, the couple begin to suspect that the devious Beetlejuice has an agenda of his own.

The "Midsommar"of the Midwest may lack the polish of more prestigious adaptations of Stephen King's work. But when it comes to "creepy kids" in folk horror, "Children of the Corn" deserves its due, and has proven more influential as the years have progressed. The film tells of the arrival of a grim child preacher named Isaac, who arrives in small-town Nebraska with a morbid purpose:to convince the local children to murder every adult in town.

Look, evacuation orders exist for a reason. And sure, Haley's refusal to flee the oncoming hurricane is a noble one: her father is missing and she'll be damned if she's going to leave town without him. After finding her dad in dire straits, injured and distressed, the pair are trapped by the oncoming deluge with no time to escape the storm. As the waters rise, they quickly realize drowning might not exactly be their biggest problem. There's something in the water. Something big. Something scaly.

Based on Stephen King's 1979 novel of the same name, "The Dead Zone"begins when a promising young school teacher named Johnny is involved in a car crash that leaves him in a coma for five long years. When he wakes up, Johnny finds that he has acquired a strange gift (or is that a curse?): the ability to see the past, present, and future of anyone he touches. While attempting to move on with his life and come to terms with his new powers, Johnny looks into the future of an aspiring politician, and seeing a great darkness, decides to kill him.

When a mother returns home after extensive cosmetic surgery, her nine-year-old twin boys begin to doubt that this women is really who she says she is. When their maybe-mother's behavior becomes erratic and strange, their suspicions grow. Increasingly convinced that the woman is an imposter, and with none of the other adults in their lives believing them, the twins take matters into their own hands.

All right, look, we hear you: what business do we have recommending a film with azero percentrating on Rotten Tomatoes? Well, the fact of the matter is that "Graveyard Shift" a delightfully icky adaptation of one of Stephen King's lesser-known short stories is an absolute banger: a grimy working-class creature feature about a rat-infested textile mill, and the sadistic foreman who'll sacrifice anything, and anyone, to keep the mill running. With a top-shelf supporting performance by the legend Brad Dourif and some genuinely jaw-dropping creature design, "Graveyard Shift"is an underseen and clearly underappreciated genre gem. Mark our words!

Don't let that middling RT score fool you, this direct follow-up to Clive Barker's gory classic is one of the best horror sequels out there, somehow bloodier and more bananapants than its predecessor. Pickingright up where the original "Hellraiser" left off, "Hellbound"findsour tenacious final girl Kirsty has been committed to a mental hospital. But rather than dismissing her claims of a masochistic dimension of pain-loving demons, Doctor Channard jumps at the opportunity to realize his life-long dream and open a doorway to Hell.

Arrogant scientist Sebastian Caine is pretty sure he's cracked the code on invisibility, but with no available human test subjects, he volunteers his own body for the job. His fellow researchers aren't so sure someone so ... unstable ... should be allowed to exist unseen. And sure enough when the team fails to find a way to reverse Sebastian's invisibility, the scientist begins to lose what was left of his already fragile mind. A queasy, cynical, and utterly perverted look at what a depraved mind would do unobserved, "Hollow Man"is far more terrifying and devilish than its critical reputation suggests.

On an otherwise ordinary day, a giant mutated amphibian emerges out of the Han River and begins gobbling up anyone and everything in sight. Gang-du, a family man who works at a snack bar, watches as his only daughter, Hyun-seo, is carried away by the slimy creature. Later, quarantined by the military, Gang-du and his family decide to fight back against the oppressive government coverup when they receive a phone call from Hyun-seo who is still very much alive and trapped in the city's sewer system.

While spending the weekend at her mother's house in the outer reaches of Australian suburbia, whip-smart teenager Vicki Maloney is abducted by a demented couple intent on involving their new victim in their twisted games. Sensing her imminent murder, Vicki attempts to drive a wedge between her captors, hoping to secure her survival and even an opportunity for escape by driving the malicious pair apart. (Be warned this one gets really rough.)

As a narcissistic serial killer named Jack makes his way through various circles of hell, he proudly recounts the details of his most vicious crimes to his exasperated guide, Virgil. For Jack, these murders are towering works of art, created by an unappreciated genius. To Virgil and the audience, it becomes increasingly clear that Jack is a deluded (if dangerous) moron full of hot air.

In 15th century Paris, Jehen, the nefarious brother of the archdeacon of Notre Dame, is overwhelmed by lust for a Romani woman named Esmeralda.Jehen commands Quasimodo, the deformed bellringerof the church, to kidnap her. When his attempts to woo Esmeralda are foiled by the charming Captain Pheobus, Jehen abandonsQuasimodo and frames Esmeralda for the attempted murder of the captain.

The body of a young woman is discovered in an unspeakable state. She's the daughter of a retired police officer and the latest victim of a dangerous and unspeakably sadistic serial killer. Overcome by grief and an insatiable desire for vengeance, the woman's distraught fianc, a federal agent, decides to track down and eliminate the killer himself, even if that means tapping into his own monstrous, violent tendencies.

Unfairly maligned and mis-marketed at the time of its release and since reclaimed as a cult classic, "Jennifer's Body" tells of popular cheerleader Jennifer Check, whose titular body has become the new residence of an especially boy-hungry succubus. Concerned for Jennifer's sudden change in behavior (and appetites), the mouseyAnita "Needy" Lesnicki attempts to figure out what's happened to her former, and increasingly blood-soaked, friend.

Closely mimicking the uncanny gait of David Lynch's "Twin Peaks," "Knives and Skin" kicks off with a high school student in an unnamed Midwest suburb going missing under mysterious circumstances. This in turn prompts a collective awakening in the town's teenage girls. And as the ripple of paranoia spreads throughout the community, the inhabitants of the town begin to unravel in response to the increasingly surreal situation.

In a morose Swedish suburb in the 1980s, a 12-year-old loner namedOskar befriends his new neighbor, Eli, a moody blood-sucking child who has been 12 for over 200 years. Relentlessly bullied at school by his sadistic classmates, Oscar finds security in his new friendship, and the pair form a deep bond as the local body count continues to climb.

Miss Caroline was able to leave her music career behind and become a children's teacher. Surely she can also handle a zombie outbreak? Teaming up with a kid's show personality named Teddy McGiggle (whose name is way too hilarious not to mention here), Miss Caroline will be damned if anything happens to her kids.

It's the late 1980s in Oslo, and an aspiring black metal musician named Euronymous would do anything to make it big with his band Mayhem. Mounting shocking and increasingly deranged publicity stunts to make a name for themselves, the band's horrific attention-seeking antics begin to spill over into reality with volatile, murderous results.

In the early 19th century, a young Irish convict nicknamed "Nightingale" pursues a British soldier through the Tasmanian bush. She's hellbent on exacting vengeance for the unspeakable acts of violence visited upon her and her family ... no matter the cost. An uncompromising modern take on an exploitation staple,"The Nightingale"is intense, hauntingly brutal, and not for the weak-stomached.

Raised in a remote all-female cult cut off from modern society, teenage Selah knows nothing of the outside world. Her whole life is ruled by the only male in the community: the Shepherd, adomineeringand increasingly volatile leader. When Selah begins to experience hellish visions and revelations during the group's pilgrimage to a new Eden, she starts to question the Shepherd's judgement.

Tasya Vos is an elite assassin; a deadly corporate mercenary who takes over the minds and bodies of unsuspecting victims to fulfil her deadly contracts. But she's beginning to lose herself in her work. Literally. And then her latest assignment gets the better of her, resisting her control and trapping her consciousness within a fleshy prison. Featuring tremendous performances and some of the most gripping gore in recent memory (a promise seldom met these days), "Possessor"is a genuine head trip well worth the crunching bones and shattered skulls.

It's Christmastime in rural Finland and a sinister archeological dig has found what they're looking for:the real Santa Claus. But this isn't the chubby, jolly Kris Kringleyou're liable to spot at a shopping mall this Santa's damn near feral, doesn't speak, eats raw flesh, and abducts children. Sure enough, local kiddies begin to disappear and the herds of reindeer begin to dwindle. When a local trapper and his precocious son capture the escaped mythological being, they attempt to sell the wretched creature back to the multinational company who sponsored the dig in the first place.

"The Relic"may not have a glowing RT score, but don't let that scare you off. This delightfully genre-shifting creature feature has imagination and bloodletting to spare. What begins as a hunt for a serial killer takes an unexpectedly primeval turn when an evolutionary biologist discovers the killer may not be altogether human. Oh, right, and it's lurking somewhere in a Chicago museum during the biggest fundraiser of the year.

An isolated teen named Chloe is confined to a wheelchair due to complications during her birth. She is homeschooled by her mother Diane, a controlling woman with a dark secret. When Chloe starts to suspect that there's something strange about her disability, she begins to ask difficult questions, kicking off an increasingly violent game of cat and mouse.

A quiet and newly devout hospice nurse named Maud becomes fixated on the idea of saving the soul of Amanda, a once-lively retired dancer whose body has become a gaunt, cancerous battleground. As Maud's obsession with Amanda's "degeneracy" twists and festers, her own not-so sanctimonious past starts to bubble up, threatening to tip the would-be saint's already ecstatic faith into a powderkeg of madness.

You know what they say:the sea holds many secrets. A marine biology student namedSiobhn finds herself stationed on a well-worn fishing trawler off the coast of Ireland. Siobhn'ssocial misgivings with crew are quickly eclipsed by the sudden realization that the trawler is in the clutches of an enormous, unimaginable creature. Stranded in the deep Atlantic, the crew begin to fall ill with a mysterious infection. It's up toSiobhn to break through the close-knit crew before it's too late.

A young woman named Amy is certain she is going to die tomorrow. She shares this revelation with her skeptical friend Jane, who shrugs off her emotional spiral as another alcoholic flare-up. Then, to her horror, Jane realizes that Amy's unshakable sense of imminent death is contagious. Together, Amy and Jane set off on what may very well be the last day of their lives, unwittingly spreading their infectious morbid conviction among their friend group.

A young Romanian woman named Elena works as a housekeeper for a wealthy Danish couple who cannot bear children. Desperate to own a home of her own, Elena agrees to act as a surrogate for the couple in exchange for an apartment for her and her son. While the doctors assure Elena that the pregnancy is normal, she becomes increasingly unnerved by strange events that seem to suggest otherwise.

Look, if you come into the possession of the 150-year-old skull of the Marquis de Sade, you should fully expect for things to get spooky. A collector and writer on the occult is offered the skull by an antiques dealer, only to learn that it was stollen from a fellow scholar and close friend. But disconcertingly, its former owner doesn't want it back, claiming that it has an evil, and even deadly, power.

Love is in the air. No, wait, that's liquified teenage flesh. Wait, what the heck is happening?A rom-com with an explosive twist, "Spontaneous" sees Mara's senior year become less about looking forward to the future and more about dodging the bloody remnants of her classmates when one of her peers blows up without warning. Before the powers that be can diagnose the unexpected explosion and scrape the viscera off the walls, another kid goes boom. With teenage angst now the least of her troubles, Mara begins to appreciate the smaller things in life.

A young American named Evan is looking to re-center himself after losing his mother to cancer and travels to Italy. There, he meets a beautiful, flirty genetics student named Louise. The pair hit it off and begin a spontaneous romance. Louise has a secret, and a monstrous one at that, but Evan is determined to make their relationship work, warts (and fangs, and tentacles ...) and all.

Overwhelmed by visions of the apocalypse, CurtisLaForche's small, but happy, life in rural Ohio begins to fall to pieces. As his terrifying dreams become more and more intense, he begins constructing a storm shelter in his family's backyard. With his erratic behavior becoming increasingly worrisome, the god-fearing Curtis is unsure if he is dealing with schizophrenia, supernatural telepathy, or something in between.

While accompanying his daughter on an express train to Busan, a selfish businessman finds himself in the midst of a viral outbreak that launches the country into chaos in the span of a few hours. As he and his fellow distraught passengers hurtle down the tracks, everyone must fight to survive and protect their loved ones as the horrors creep closer and closer, car by car.

Unbeknownst to humanity, a nocturnal war between vampires and werewolves has been waged for centuries. A proficient vampire warrior named Selene falls for an enigmatic human doctor named Michael, who has been targeted by the werewolves for unknown reasons. When it becomes clear that Michael is part of a bigger plan, Selene must choose between the man she loves and the vampire elders she serves. A surprise commercial hit that spawned four more films, "Underworld" is a camp-filled, gothic delight. Don't let that limp RT score fool you this is a stupendous, leather-clad slice of cheese.

A mysterious disease strikes a rural village in South Korea, inflicting its victims with a violent rash, homicidal behavior, and ultimately death. The locals claim the plague has something to do with the arrival of a strange outsider, and that the infection that grips the land is the result of spiritual, rather than physical, rot. A bumbling cop is on the case, overwhelmed by the task of separating fact from superstition to save his community and infected daughter.

A quiet man minding his own business finds himself stranded in a remote down after his car is damaged. To make some quick cash to pay for the repairs, he accepts a night shift as a janitor at Willy's Wonderland, an abandoned family entertainment center in desperate need of a good cleaning. But it turns out Willy's Wonderland was abandoned with good reason, and the man finds himself duking it out with the demonic, and very much alive, animatronics.

The wealthy but woefully dysfunctional Davison family are attacked by three crossbow-wielding masked men during a weekend getaway. While the assailants pick the Davisons off one by one, Erin, one of the children's significant others, turns out to be a born and bred survivalist. As she wields her talent for improvised home security, the hunters swiftly become the hunted.

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40 Best Horror Movies On Hulu [July 2021] - Looper

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero