It's October, and that means it's scary movie season. But if you're like us, you watch horror all year round outside of just the classic Halloween movies. It doesn't matter if it's 100 degrees out or if the leaves have turned yellow and red and fallen to the ground. Horror runs in your blood, and you'll crank up the best horror movies all day long. However, if you're relatively new to the genre, we have the lowdown on what you should watch this holiday season, and that includes looking back at some of the iconic '90s horror movies.
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The '90s are in the middle of a major comeback, and we aren't just talking about the fashion. From memorable scream queens to new formulas that changed the horror game, the '90s were full of some of the best films in the genre. We've got high schoolers running from killers and aliens, Stephen King adaptations (also included in our roundup of the best '80s horror movies), witches and even vampires. The '90s tried a little bit of everything and we're here for all of it.
Below, we mark through 12 essential '90s horror movies and give you a recommendation on what to watch next. Grab some popcorn, and dig in. It's a spooky ride.
'Scream'
Dimension Films
"Scream" redefined the slasher genre. It took tropes, like splitting up, and reformed them into a new set of rules for the modern generation. When Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is stalked by Ghostface, her friends begin dying one by one. It's up to her to solve the case and uncover the killer's identity.
Where to watch: Max
Recommendation: 'The Final Girls'
Groundswell Productions
"The Final Girls" mostly riffs on "Friday the 13th," but its self-aware attitude clearly references "Scream." Still reeling from her mother's death, Max (Taissa Farmiga) attends an anniversary screening of her mother's '80s slasher and accidentally gets sucked into the movie. From there, she and her friends must figure a way out before it's too late.
Where to watch: YouTube, Rent on Amazon
'The Craft'
Columbia Pictures
A trio of practicing witches need a fourth to join their coven. When Sarah (Robin Tunney) moves to town, the group eyes her as one of their own and invites her to join the in their quest for power. Through their magic, they come to realize the great price that must be paid if one decides to go down a dark path.
Where to watch: Hulu, FuboTV
Recommendation: 'The Wretched'
Cailleach Productions
Ben (John-Paul Howard) is your typical teenager. With his parents going through a divorce, he moves in with his father and works at the local marina. He begins to notice something off about his neighbor and discovers him to be possessed by a witch. "The Wretched" is the right amount of entertaining and spooky.
Where to watch: Netflix, AMC+
'The Faculty'
Archive Photos/Getty Images
Aliens come to Earth to take over a local high school in this epic late '90s teen sci-fi/horror flick. A group of youths must stave off the end of the world as they know it and live to tell the tale. "The Faculty" riffs on "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" while doing something uniquely its own.
Where to watch: Peacock, Paramount+ FuboTV
Recommendation: 'The Untamed'
Mantarraya Producciones
After a meteorite crashes to earth, an unknown creature emerges from the wreckage. A couple stumble upon both the ruin and the creature - soon learning that it is the source of both pleasure and pain. What happens next is a real WTF moment.
Where to watch: Tubi, Rent on Amazon
'Bram Stoker's Dracula'
Columbia Pictures/Fotos International/Getty Images
Taking critical cues from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula," the 1992 feature film tells a similar tale about a 15-century prince (Gary Oldman) fated to live out his days living off blood for sustenance. When Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves) arrives, Dracula sees a picture of Harker's fiancée and falls in love. He then goes on a hunt to track her down, and it's a bloody good time.
Where to watch: Pluto TV, Rent on Amazon
Recommendation: 'Let the Right One In'
Magnolia Pictures
A troubled young boy named Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) befriends his new neighbor Eli (Lina Leandersson), and they strike up quite a close friendship. As they grow closer, Eli reveals a dark secret and her connection to a string of local murders.
Where to watch: Pluto TV, Peacock, Tubi, Sling TV
'The Silence of the Lambs'
Twentieth Century Fox
Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) might be the key to unlocking an ongoing investigation. Enter Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), tasked with interviewing Lecter, who is behind bars for grotesque crimes. Clarice gains insight not only into psychiatry but Lecter's own psychopathic tendencies.
Where to watch: Max
Recommendation: 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer'
Maljack Productions
Michael Rooker plays Henry, a deranged sociopath who befriends a young woman named Becky (Tracy Arnold). The two grow close, and Becky has no idea about Henry's true identity and what he does in the shadows. Ultimately, no good could possibly come from their relationship. It spelled disaster from the start.
Where to watch: Pluto TV, Peacock, Tubi, The Roku Channel, Amazon, AMC+
'Urban Legend'
Bruce Macaulay/TriStar Pictures
Various urban legends, including the killer in the backseat, lie at the heart of this 1998 slasher. A group of college students are being targeted by an unknown killer, and they must put the pieces together before it's too late.
Where to watch: Pluto TV, Tubi
Recommendation: 'Seance'
HanWay Films
Feeling as though ripped from the late '90s teen horror era, "Seance" centers around an academy for girls and follows a group after they summon the spirit of a dead classmate. What transpires next is even more tragedy when one among them ends up dead.
Where to watch: AMC+
'Misery'
Columbia Pictures/Getty Images
Based on a Stephen King book, "Misery" tells the tale of an obsessed fan who kidnaps her favorite author. It's the dead of winter, and a blizzard has cast the countryside in feet of snow. But being snowbound is the least of Paul Sheldon's (James Caan) worries. His No. 1 fan won't let him leave without a fight.
Where to watch: Philo, Sling TV, Rent on Amazon
Recommendation: 'The Fan'
Paramount Pictures
Lauren Bacall stars as Sally Ross, a famous actress readying a new musical. She's on top of the world, yet feels a deep loneliness as she's still in love with her ex-husband. Crazed fan Douglas (Michael Biehn) begins writing her letters and expressing his deep admiration for the star. But when she doesn't reciprocate his feelings, the letters grow more violent.
Where to watch: Rent on Amazon
'The People Under the Stairs'
Alive Films
Wes Craven's 1991 film explores the intersectionality of racism and classism to horrifying degrees. A Man (Everett McGill) and a Woman (Wendy Robie) have something lurking in their walls, and it takes a young boy named Fool (Brandon Adams) to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Where to watch: Peacock, AMC+, Philo
Recommendation: 'Cobweb'
Vlad Cioplea
Bearing a striking resemblance to "The People Under the Stairs," "Cobweb" stars Antony Star as Mark and Lizzy Caplan as his wife Carol, a couple with a tyrannical way of parenting. When their son Peter (Woody Norman) claims there's something knocking on his bedroom wall, he's about to discover something far more sinister than he expected.
Where to watch: Rent on Amazon
'I Know What You Did Last Summer'
Columbia Pictures/Getty Images
After Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and her friends hit a pedestrian, they assume he's dead and decide not to go to the cops. Instead, they toss his body over a cliff on the side of the road. A year later, an unknown killer stalks and kills the group, one by one. It's only a matter of time before they come after Julie, and she's the only one to stop them.
Where to watch: Peacock, Fubo TV
Recommendation: 'Sorority Row'
Michael Desmond/Summit Entertainment
With a similar set-up (an accidental death), "Sorority Row" follows a group of sorority sisters who must contend with what they did and keep it covered up. But someone knows exactly what happened and plots their revenge on the group. Lurking in the shadows, they're just waiting to pounce.
Where to watch: Max
'Candyman'
TriStar/Getty Images
The urban legend of a Candyman haunts a neighborhood in Chicago's north side. When graduate student Helen (Virginia Madsen) decides to do a research project on superstition, she finds herself in the clutches of a stalker who bears a striking resemblance to the infamous Candyman. Before long, she learns that the legend just might be true.
Where to watch: Peacock, AMC+, Philo
Recommendation: 'His House'
Aidan Monaghan/Netflix
Two South Sudan refugees arrive in London. As they try to navigate their probational asylum, littered with conditions on work and living arrangements, strange disturbances begin to torment them in their own home. It's not only a gripping ghost story but a timeless setpiece about what it means to be a refugee.
Where to watch: Netflix
'The Blair Witch Project'
Artisan Entertainment
The marketing surrounding the movie made it seem the film was real lost footage. What transpires onscreen is an exercise in gripping, nail-biting storytelling that crackles and wiggles under the skin. A group of youths hike out into the woods and stumble across the infamous witch.
Where to watch: Paramount+
Recommendation: 'As Above So Below'
Universal Pictures
Archaeologist Scarlett Marlowe (Perdita Weeks) ventures down below Paris inside the catacombs, where it is believed the Philosopher's Stone is hidden. But she discovers something far deadliner and grotesque hiding in the shadows.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
'The Sixth Sense'
Getty Images
Cole (Haley Joel Osment) claims he can see dead people. He's terrified to even be awake much less when nighttime descends around him. With the help of psychiatrist Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), Cole hopes to overcome his fears and put them to bed. But there's something not quite right with Cole, and it leads Dr. Crowe to make a surprising discovery.
Where to watch: Rent on Amazon
Recommendation: 'The Others'
Miramax
Grace (Nicole Kidman) and her two kids live a secluded life out in the country. Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley) can't step outside for fear of their skin condition, which makes them hyper-sensitive to the sun. As they go about their daily lives, unseen intruders seek to destroy their way of life.
Where to watch: Buy on AppleTV+
READ MORE: The 25 Best Halloween Movies on Netflix If You Want a Good Scare
