Top Horror Movies Streaming This Week

This adaptation of Stephen King's novel, written under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, is a brutal story of a yearly contest held in an alternate history of the United States in the 1970s under a totalitarian military government. Every year, the head of this government holds a contest for 50 young men to walk as far as they can. The contest has no finish line and only one winner. It was released quietly on Starz's streaming service and immediately shot to the top of the service's top ten and number one on this week's list.

Directed by Francis Lawrence and adapted for the screen by JT Mollner, it stars an excellent ensemble cast including Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Josh Hamilton, Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill.

The Long Walk is now streaming on Starz.

As awards season gets underway, Sinners, writer and director Ryan Coogler's box office hit, is also being acknowledged as one of the best films of the year. Today, Ryan Coogler was nominated for Directorial Achievement in a Theatrical Feature Film by the Directors Guild, Casting Director Francine Maisler and her team were nominated by the Casting Society of America for the Artios Award for Casting in a Feature, Big Budget-Drama, and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw for Best Cinematography – Theatrical Feature Film by the American Society for Cinematographers.

At the Critics' Choice Awards,  “Sinners” won Best Young Actor/Actress for Miles Caton, Best Original Screenplay for Ryan Coogler, Best Casting and Ensemble for Francine Maisler, and Best Score for Ludwig Göransson. Just think of it, Coogler's first horror film about a juke joint attacked by vampires and blues music is a serious awards contender. It's wonderful to see.

Sinners is now streaming on HBO Max and Prime.

Horror films have been passed over by mainstream awards for decades; of course, Fangoria's Chainsaw Awards have never failed to give scary movies their due, but this year seems to be the year that mainstream awards have started to acknowledge the excellence of horror movies, actors, and filmmakers. On Sunday, Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress at the Critics' Choice Awards for her chilling and hilarious performance as Aunt Gladys.

Writer and director Zach Cregger constructed a film where the many characters in the film, flawed as many of them are, are people that you can relate to and understand why they do the horrible and irresponsible things that they do.

Weapons is now streaming on HBO Max.

Now that Together has finally been released on streaming, the film, written and directed by Michael Shanks, has shot into the top ten. The supernatural body horror film is an exploration of a relationship that has hit a wall and the terror of the idea that two people become one in a literal sense. The stars, Alison Brie and Dave Franco, are married in real life, and both give touching and heartfelt performances that give the film another dimension.

Because both of the lead actors have worked in comedy, part of that extra dimension is the grim humor that their natural light touch brings to the proceedings.

Together is now streaming on Hulu.

28 Days Later was one of the first mainstream films to be shot on digital cameras, and 28 Years Later continues the tendency within the film series to push the envelope with how the film is shot. In this case, cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, who shot three of the Dogme 95 films, put in prep time and decided to use iPhone 15 Pro Max cell phones to shoot the film. They even had an array of iPhone 15s for certain shots.

The film series helped popularize the use of handheld digital cameras, which are considered a standard in today's cinema. All the better for when the actors Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams, Chi Lewis-Parry, and Ralph Fiennes have to run either towards their prey or away from the infected. 

28 Years Later is now streaming on Netflix.

Speaking of nominations, Frankenstein has received two as well; cinematographer Dan Laustsen has been nominated for Best Cinematography by the American Society of Cinematographers, and the Directors Guild of America has nominated Guillermo Del Toro for Directorial Achievement in Feature Film.

At the Critics' Choice Awards, Frankenstein won in four categories: Best Supporting Actor for Jacob Elordi, Best Production Design for Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau, Best Costume Design for Kate Hawley, and Best Hair and Makeup for Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, and Cliona Furey.

Frankenstein is now streaming on Netflix.

Stuart Ortiz (Grave Encounters) wrote, directed, edited, and produced this scary mockumentary about a serial killer, named Mr. Shiny, who returns after almost twenty years to resume their killing spree in the Inland Empire, or San Bernardino County, and the two detectives trying to stop the killer. It was also released this month and has quickly joined the top ten. Peter Zizzo, Terri Apple, Andy Lauer, Matthew Peschio, Janna Cardia, Travis Wolfe Sr., and Christina Helene Braa star in the film.

The cast is a large part of what makes this film work. The work of the two actors playing the detectives is very believable and gives realistic and lived-in performances that enhance the scares.

Strange Harvest is now streaming on Hulu.

This heartbreaking and violent film has reappeared deservedly once again in the top ten. Bring Her Back is as emotionally intense as Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou's first feature, and viewers have reacted strongly to the fates of the characters. It is another example of a film that the creators achieved, drawing the audience into the story and the characters to the point where many became personally invested in the film.

Billy Barratt, Sora Wong, Jonah Wren Phillips, and Sally Hawkins gave excellent performances so that even the person who is the villain in the movie can be understood and sympathized with even when you don't approve of the character's actions.

Bring Her Back is now streaming on HBO Max.

Ben Leonberg's feature debut, which is filmed from the viewpoint of a dog, has really struck a chord among viewers and remains in the top ten. While the lead character can't speak, the dog and human actors' performances and framing of the film communicate so much about the story and the dog's character. Human beings can empathize with a non-human character, obviously, but the film has been quite successful in forging the connection between the audience and a dog in a way that shows the bond between humans and canines.

Clearly, many dog lovers can relate to the love between a pup and a human being.

Good Boy is now streaming on Shudder.