Last Updated: July 3, 2020
Amazon Prime offers some great horror movie choices to fill a fright flick marathon, and these are the best of the best. While horror has long been regarded as a lesser genre by those inclined to snobbery, audiences at large seem to be finally waking up to horror's merits, as more and more horror (or horror adjacent) movies and TV shows earn rave reviews and/or huge profits at the box office. Just about every studio and streaming service has gotten into the horror content game, from crossover hits like Stranger Things to cult items like Into the Dark.
Every streaming service offers their own selection, and Amazon Prime is no different. The service features many terrific terror tales, both old and new. From iconic classics to indie gems, the horror offerings on Amazon Prime match up well to the many competing services out there.
Presented below are a selection of such choices, representing a range of decades and sub-genres. The films presented below are listed in alphabetical order, and aren't ranked. They're all great films, and one can't go wrong with any.
One of the most prominent filmmakers in horror today is Mike Flanagan, helmer of Netflix's popular Haunting of Hill House series. Flanagan made his name in recent years by directing films like Oculus, Gerald's Game, and Hush, but his first feature was the emotionally harrowing 2011 indie Absentia. To reveal too much about the plot would be a disservice to new viewers, as the film is best experienced knowing as little as possible. Absentia is a film that seeks to unnerve and unsettle viewers more than startle or gross them out, and is a great under the radar pick on Amazon Prime.
A Stephen King movie adaptation that tends to get unfairly overlooked among the lot is 1983's The Dead Zone, directed by David Cronenberg, and now available on Amazon Prime. Christopher Walken stars as Johnny Smith, a teacher who's sent into a coma after a particularly bad auto accident. Years later, Johnny wakes up to find his life in tatters, with his true love married to another man, and his body badly damaged. His brain, however, now has the ability to see into a person's past or future by touching them.
The Exorcist has received several awful follow-ups, but one that stands out as being worthwhile is 1990's The Exorcist 3, which has developed a large cult following over the years, and is now haunting Amazon Prime. George C. Scott takes over the role of Lt. Kinderman, as he investigates a serial killer called Gemini, who it turns out is possessed by Satan. Jason Miller, Father Karras in the original, also makes a welcome return. Viewers should be warned that The Exorcist 3 contains arguably the most effective jump scare in history.
While Halloween and Black Christmas set the stage in the 1970s, it was Friday the 13th that really kicked off the slasher craze that would consume most of the 1980s horror scene. Made as a cheap attempt to knockoff Halloween, Friday the 13th succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of anyone involved, and spawned one of the most famous horror franchises ever, and iconic killer Jason Voorhees. His mama Pamela did the slaughtering in the original Friday the 13th, a genuinely good movie and a great addition to Amazon Prime that still holds up today, full of likeable characters and great kills.
The werewolf is one of horror's oldest monsters, dating back to the Universal classic The Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney Jr. One of the most creative spins on the werewolf story is 2000's Ginger Snaps, a Canadian indie from director John Fawcett that's gone on to cultivate a large cult fanbase. Goth sisters Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigitte (Emily Perkins) are obsessed with death, that is until death comes knocking via an attack by a werewolf on Ginger. Before long, Ginger becomes a murderous beast, and it's ultimately up to Brigitte to try and stop her reign of terror. This coming-of-age horror tale is well worth howling at on Amazon Prime.
Body horror is a sub-genre unto itself in the world of horror, with movies like The Thing, The Fly, and Scanners fitting into that mold, and novelist/filmmaker Clive Barker pushed the limits within this type of film with Hellraiser. After a portal to Hell is opened, courtesy of a puzzle box called The Lament Configuration, creatures known as Cenobites - led by the soul-destroying Pinhead - unleash a course of a horrific events when one of their victims manages to escape their torturous underworld and feed on the blood of the living. Leather-clad torture and sadomasochism ensues, and it's waiting to be witnessed on Amazon Prime.
After his 2018 directorial debut, Hereditary, expectations were high for Ari Aster's 2019 follow-up, Midsommar. Thankfully, Aster didn't experience a sophomore slump. Midsommar follows a group of college students who get invited to attend an ancient celebration in Sweden. To reveal too much about the plot would be a disservice to new viewers. but suffice to say what follows is a mind-bending, startling, and frightening psychological shocker.
Directed by late genre master George A. Romero, Night of the Living Dead created and established the zombie sub-genre as fans know it today. Before Romero's film, zombies weren't the recently risen dead, they didn't live to consume human flesh, and they didn't only die by destroying the brain. To put Night Of The Living Dead's influence in perspective, nearly every piece of zombie fiction since has borrowed heavily from it, including AMC juggernaut The Walking Dead. The film is also famous for having a black lead (Duane Jones), in an era where that was almost unheard of. Any zombie fan needs to see this movie, and Amazon Prime is a great way to do so.
For about as long as there have been Stephen King books, there have been Stephen King movies. One of the most generally well-regarded of those adaptations is Pet Sematary, helmed by director Mary Lambert, and now on Amazon Prime. With a script penned by King himself, the film follows the book quite closely, although not entirely. While supernatural forces drive the plot, the tale of Dr. Louis Creed (Dale Midkiff) and his unfortunate family finds some of its most terrifying moments via a monster that's all too real and universal: the grief of losing a loved one.
Any parent will admit that sometimes raising kids can be a hellish experience, but director Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby takes that to the next level, casting Mia Farrow as a woman forced to bear the biblical antichrist. Full of upsetting and unsettling material, Rosemary's Baby is a true classic, and a film that gets under one's skin and takes up residence there. For any Amazon Prime subscriber who loves horror, Rosemary's Baby is required viewing.
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