Best Horror Movies on Max (December 2024)

Max (formerly HBO Max) is a one-stop-shop for horror enthusiasts’ every wish. From contemporary frights that interweave sociopolitical issues with startling jump scares to the classics that have sculpted the genre across decades, the collection is quite unique among the streaming platform’s contemporaries. 

The likes of Netflix and Hulu offer a seemingly never ending onslaught of horror movie options, but the majority never made it to the silver screen; they often feature old-hat horror contrivances, low-budget special effects, and unfamiliar faces. They’re okay in an hour of gore-hungry desperation, but they don’t exactly move the needle forward concerning genre experimentation. 

On the contrary, Max’s curation is pointed. Almost every offering seems to exist with a specific intention. Smaller, more intimate features also have a place on the platform. Movies like The Menu (2022) reign in the scope of Max’s higher-budget ventures but present incomparable performances and taut scripts that supersede the need for visual grandeur. 

The horror movies offered on Max and the platform’s impeccable curation are best described as “masterclasses in the genre,” and this list highlights some of the most notable freaky films the streamer has to offer.

Release Date: May 3, 2024

Why Watch It? MaXXXine is a fitting ending to the Ti West’s Trilogy of movies that also includes X (2022) and Pearl (2022).

Official Description: Adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break, but a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past.

Release Date: May 3, 2024

Why Watch It? I Saw the TV Glow is a beautiful movie with layers of meaning should you choose to dig deep into the story.

Official Description: Introduced to a mysterious late-night TV show — a vision of a secret, supernatural world — teenage Owen’s reality begins to crack.

Release Date: September 8, 2023

Why Watch It? If you’re a fan of The Conjuring universe, The Nun II is practically required viewing. It’s also a pretty good jump-scare movie with a decent story.

Official Description: The sequel to the worldwide smash hit follows Sister Irene as she once again comes face to face with Valak, the demon nun.

Release Date: August 4, 2023

Why Watch It? Sure, Meg 2: The Trench is utterly ridiculous, but that’s why it’s so much fun. With multiple Megs and various other monsters in the water and on land, Meg 2 is a top-tier campy-action-thriller.

Official Description: Jason Statham and Wu Jing lead a daring dive into the deepest depths of the ocean where they are pitted against colossal Megs.

Release Date: April 21, 2023

Why Watch It? Violent, scary and sometimes darkly funny, Evil Dead Rise is the latest in one of horror’s best franchises. This installment is a (very gory) meditation on motherhood as the main character Beth contemplates parenthood while fighting deadites.

Official Description: A twisted tale of two estranged sisters whose reunion is cut short by the rise of flesh-possessing demons, thrusting them into a primal battle for survival as they face the most nightmarish version of family imaginable.

Release Date: September 10, 2021

Why Watch It? A distinct salute to Giallo cinema — a mystery subgenre containing gore, psychological thrills, and crime fiction — Malignant prioritizes atmosphere over narrative. It eschews jump scares in favor of stomach-churning visuals and an eerie score. 

The film is quintessential James Wan, exposing the director’s penchant for frenzy filmmaking with camera angles that zoom through peepholes and ricochet down corridors. The film’s beautiful lunacy culminates in an utterly bonkers final twist that left critics divided as to whether it was effective or simply ineffable. 

Official Description: From James Wan comes this innovative horror film about a young woman whose shocking visions are in fact terrifying realities.

Release Date: January 31, 2021

We’re Going to the World’s Fair is a thought-provoking journey through the isolation tied to adolescence in a rapidly-expanding digital age. The story unravels slowly and with precision. Here, the frights are subtle and cerebral. If you know what Creepypasta is, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair will hit just right.

Why Watch It? The coming-of-age horror venture puts teenage anger on display while maintaining an artsy, haunting atmosphere. Though it can be a little weird and too Indie for slash-and-bash horror enthusiasts, it benefits from an original twist on the “body horror” concept. 

Official Description: Alone in her attic bedroom, teenager Casey becomes immersed in an online role-playing horror game, wherein she begins to document the changes that may or may not be happening to her.

Release Date: 21 May 2019

Why Watch It? This South Korean black comedy thriller is the first non-English language film to ever win the Academy Award for Best Picture. It also won Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. Turning the home invasion trope on its head, Parasite sympathizes with the “invaders” of the Park family’s home. Bong Joon Ho’s monster movie, The Host (2006), is also streaming on Max.

Official Description: Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.

Release Date: December 25, 2015

Why Watch It? A grittier take on mermaid lore, The Lure seamlessly merges its fantasy elements with cannibalistic horror. The film spotlights female protagonists and eschews The Little Mermaid trope in favor of women with power who boast their own agency. 

These are not the innocent mermaids of dreams, but the sirens of nightmares. However, the two mermaid sisters who lead the film never become villains. The complexity of their relationship and their individual goals keeps this film from becoming a tale that merely glamorizes its antagonists. It’s perverse, intense, and a strong example of controlled ambition.

Official Description: Two mermaid sisters become caught in a love triangle when they fall for the same man.

Release Date: December 3, 2010

Why Watch It? Black Swan is as beautiful as it is uncomfortable. It is a psychological horror movie that explores obsession and delusion in ways that will stick with you long after the movie is over.

Official Description: Obsession drives a devoted ballerina (Oscar-winner Natalie Portman) to the brink of madness in this compelling masterpiece.

Release Date: May 30, 2008

Why Watch It? The Strangers is one of the best horror movies of the 2000s. It builds incredible tension, and the underlying theme of random acts of violence is chilling.

Official Description: A young couple become the unwitting victims of a horrific late-night home invasion in this harrowing thriller. Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman star.

Release Date: March 11, 1998 

Why Watch It? All you want to do is look away. The nightmarish incidents are ceaseless and chilling. The violent torture is repulsive and breaches (if not fully ventures) into snuff territory. Each fourth wall break is more disturbing than the last, as they serve to catalyze a chain of heinous abuse. Funny Games is a clear commentary on audience desensitization to on-screen violence. 

The film begs viewers to look within, as we become participants in the antagonists’ amoral and macabre game. The terrifying movie is so provocative, so ingeniously paced, and so well-acted that, despite how emotionally unbearable it is, your eyes remain fixed on the screen. 

Official Description: An innocent family stumbles upon a holiday in hell. Anna, George and their son arrive at their lovely lakeside home on vacation and meet a strange young man, a guest of their neighbors, who turns out to have rather violent tendencies.

Release Date: July 30, 1977

Why Watch It? If you’re interested in bizarre Japanese haunted house movies, House (aka Hausu) is where you should begin. Directed in an experimental style by Nobuhiko Obayashi and inspired by ideas from Obayashi’s young daughter, House is one of the most wildly original and entertaining ghost movies ever. It’s silly, but it has some serious themes. It’s goofy, but it’s so, so good. The official description can’t do this ingenious movie justice, so you’ll just have to watch it yourself and find out why so many people have fallen in love with it.

Official Description: A schoolgirl spends her summer vacation in a haunted house.

Release Date: March 26, 1953

Why Watch It? Though more of a drama than a horror movie, Ugetsu is one of the greatest and most influential films of Japan’s extensive history of making ghost movies. During the period of civil war in Japan, a potter is tempted by the luxurious life offered to him by a mysterious woman. The offer seems too good to be true, and guilt begins to nag at the potter when he thinks about his wife and child back home. Ugetsu is a beautiful and heartbreaking movie.

Official Description: Two peasants try to make their fortune during a civil war.