
Start here: the best scary movies on Hulu for every kind of fright
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1. The Boogeyman (2023)
- Starring: Sophie Thatcher, Chris Messina, Vivien Lyra Blair
- Director: Rob Savage
- Genre: Supernatural horror
- Runtime: 98 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.0/10
Adapted from a Stephen King short story, the film digs into the idea that grief attracts predators that live in the dark. It leans on negative space and precise sound cues so viewers imagine horrors just outside the frame. Sophie Thatcher carries scenes with a brittle mix of courage and exhaustion that feels painfully true. The closet‑door imagery plays like a ritual, as if each opening invites the creature to feed again. Rob Savage stages scares as consequences of avoidance, not random jump edits. Fans of supernatural stories will recognize the slow, funereal rhythm that makes every whisper matter. It’s a strong pick for streaming thrillers when you want terror that lingers after the credits. As an early entry, it sets the bar for the best scary movies on Hulu by proving restraint can be ruthless.
2. Barbarian (2022)
- Starring: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long
- Director: Zach Cregger
- Genre: Psychological horror
- Runtime: 102 min
- IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
What begins as an awkward rental overlap becomes a nesting‑doll nightmare that punishes assumptions. Georgina Campbell’s choices teach a masterclass in caution without turning her into a cliché victim. Bill Skarsgård weaponizes audience expectations from past roles, then the film yanks the rug anyway. Shifts in structure reset the dread meter and keep you guessing which story you’re even watching. The subterranean corridors are a geography lesson in fear—every turn steals options from the characters. Justin Long’s arrival bends the tone toward satire before snapping it back into brutality. It’s perfect for viewers who like psychological horror on Hulu that still swings for big creature shocks. By the end, you’ll understand why this title anchors so many lists of the best scary movies on Hulu.
3. Fresh (2022)
- Starring: Daisy Edgar‑Jones, Sebastian Stan
- Director: Mimi Cave
- Genre: Horror thriller
- Runtime: 114 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.7/10
Mimi Cave reframes the dating‑app meet‑cute as a supply‑chain horror story you can’t swipe away from. Daisy Edgar‑Jones plays survival like chess, treating politeness as a tactic she needs to unlearn. Sebastian Stan’s charm curdles into ritual, making consent a commodity and intimacy a harvest. Production design turns a modern home into a boutique abattoir, eerily spotless and transactional. The violence is pointed, not gratuitous, forcing the audience to sit with complicity and appetite. Dark humor bubbles up in moments of attempted normalcy, which only makes the cruelty sharper. It’s a sleek pick when you want Hulu horror movies that feel painfully current without losing bite. File it under best scary movies on Hulu that reward post‑watch conversation about power and bodies.
4. Hellraiser (2022)
- Starring: Odessa A’zion, Jamie Clayton
- Director: David Bruckner
- Genre: Supernatural/body horror
- Runtime: 121 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.0/10
David Bruckner’s reimagining treats the puzzle box like a relic of contracts and cravings. Jamie Clayton’s Pinhead glides rather than stomps, reciting rules that sound like scripture. The Cenobites are sculptures of suffering, each design a thesis about desire turned inside out. Addiction subplots give the bargain‑for‑pleasure premise modern stakes without sermonizing. Set‑pieces slice through space with clockwork calm, making every doorway feel like a proposal. It’s a tactile reminder that creature features can be elegant and obscene at the same time. Fans of creepy classics will spot respectful echoes of Barker’s mythology amid new sadistic geometry. Among the best scary movies on Hulu, it’s the one most likely to make you admire and avert your eyes simultaneously.
5. Run (2020)
- Starring: Kiera Allen, Sarah Paulson
- Director: Aneesh Chaganty
- Genre: Suspense/psychological
- Runtime: 90 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.7/10
Aneesh Chaganty pins the camera to a wheelchair user’s perspective and lets ingenuity drive the action. Kiera Allen gives a breakout performance that turns everyday tasks into set‑pieces of strategy. Sarah Paulson’s maternal devotion masks a prison of routines where love has conditions and locks. The film wrings terror from pharmacies, internet outages, and mail‑order catalogs—no ghosts required. Its tight runtime means every clue matters, rewarding attentive viewers without cheap twists. Score and lighting collaborate to turn suburbia into an obstacle course with cutlery for hazards. If you want streaming thrillers that don’t need supernatural stories to terrify, start here. It’s a crowd‑pleaser that still earns a slot among the best scary movies on Hulu for pure suspense.
6. No One Will Save You (2023)
- Starring: Kaitlyn Dever
- Director: Brian Duffield
- Genre: Sci‑fi horror
- Runtime: 93 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.3/10
Dialogue is sparse, which puts the entire movie on the back of Kaitlyn Dever’s expressions and breath. Home‑invasion grammar collides with extraterrestrial biology, creating an odd, unnerving hybrid. The creature design favors sinewy silhouettes and impossible joints that read wrong at a glance. Sound design alternates between domestic hush and insectile chittering that raises neck hairs. Its grief allegory plays out in negative space, asking how much isolation is self‑chosen. There are multiple set‑piece chases that use familiar rooms in unfamiliar orientations. It’s the pick for viewers who want Hulu horror movies with minimal talk and maximal anxiety. By the finale, you’ll see why lists of the best scary movies on Hulu keep returning to this experiment.
7. Prey (2022)
- Starring: Amber Midthunder, Dakota Beavers
- Director: Dan Trachtenberg
- Genre: Creature/survival horror
- Runtime: 100 min
- IMDb Rating: 7.1/10
Set three centuries ago on the Northern Great Plains, this prequel makes the Predator myth feel new. Amber Midthunder’s Naru learns to read the land as closely as her opponent reads blood. Creature‑feature thrills coexist with a survival drama about competence and community. The score and Comanche‑language track deepen immersion while the camera honors the landscape. Kills are inventive but legible, favoring wide shots over frenetic cutting. It’s a great bridge for action fans dipping into horror and for horror fans craving scale. As a creature entry, it expands what the best scary movies on Hulu can include without losing dread. You’ll leave wanting more historical mash‑ups that respect both culture and carnage.
8. The Night House (2020)
- Starring: Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg
- Director: David Bruckner
- Genre: Supernatural/psychological
- Runtime: 108 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.5/10
Rebecca Hall anchors a ghost story that treats grief like geometry you can walk through. Blueprints, mirrors, and negative spaces form puzzles that double as stages for hauntings. The lake house becomes a character—beautiful in daylight, treacherous after midnight. David Bruckner builds unease from patterns half‑seen at the edge of frames. Themes of doubles and omissions suggest a life assembled from missing pieces. Jump scares arrive, but they’re earned by architecture and silence first. For psychological horror on Hulu with brains and bite, this is a precise, chilly standout. It comfortably sits with the best scary movies on Hulu when you want sorrow braided to shocks.
Mid‑list boost: best scary movies on Hulu that escalate tension fast

9. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
- Starring: Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, Joshua Leonard
- Director: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sánchez
- Genre: Found‑footage horror
- Runtime: 81 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.5/10
The landmark found‑footage experiment works because it never breaks character, not even for comfort. Three filmmakers chase a myth into the woods and lose the map long before they lose themselves. Its horror lives in dusk that overstays its welcome and sounds that refuse to name themselves. Improvised performances sell fatigue and paranoia until a twig bundle feels like a curse. The final image is simple, cruel, and unforgettable—proof that suggestion can be a sledgehammer. It’s a creepy classic whose influence still shapes how streaming thrillers manufacture realism. Viewers accustomed to loud horror may be surprised how quietly this one gnaws at you. On Hulu, it’s a reminder that minimalism can be the scariest special effect of all.
10. Books of Blood (2020)
- Starring: Britt Robertson, Rafi Gavron, Anna Friel
- Director: Brannon Braga
- Genre: Anthology/supernatural
- Runtime: 107 min
- IMDb Rating: 5.6/10
Clive Barker’s anthology weaves intersecting tales where greed, grief, and obsession invite the uncanny. Each chapter shifts tone—from con‑game psychology to full‑tilt supernatural comeuppance. Urban spaces feel cursed as institutions fail to protect the desperate and the curious. Body horror appears like punctuation, not wallpaper, so every grotesque beat lands harder. The wraparound makes the title literal in a way that’s ghoulish and grimly funny. It’s a sampler platter for viewers who want variety in their Hulu horror movies. Anthology structure means you can watch a segment, gasp, and return later without losing the thread. File it under best scary movies on Hulu when your group can’t agree on a single flavor of fear.
11. Little Monsters (2019)
- Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Alexander England, Josh Gad
- Director: Abe Forsythe
- Genre: Horror‑comedy/zombie
- Runtime: 94 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.3/10
Lupita Nyong’o turns kindergarten teacher into zombie‑apocalypse MVP without breaking her smile. The film balances gooey slapstick with real stakes, especially around protecting kids’ innocence. Josh Gad’s self‑absorbed children’s host adds chaos and cringe as a walking cautionary tale. Bright colors and ukulele sing‑alongs become surreal armor against blood and bites. It’s proof that horror‑comedy can still respect the danger while chasing belly laughs. Parents will recognize field‑trip logistics as the most stressful set‑piece of all. As a gateway chiller, it fits families with teens who want creepy classics without nightmares. Among the best scary movies on Hulu, it’s the rare one that leaves you grinning through gore.
12. No Exit (2022)
- Starring: Havana Rose Liu, Danny Ramirez, Dale Dickey
- Director: Damien Power
- Genre: Thriller/kidnap
- Runtime: 95 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.1/10
A blizzard traps strangers at a highway visitor center, and a kidnapped child raises the stakes to panic. The locked‑room setup lets suspicion ricochet while snow erases hope outside. Havana Rose Liu plays resolve with jagged edges, improvising tools from whatever fits a palm. Reveals arrive early enough to pivot from mystery to survival, which keeps momentum high. The violence is messy and plausible, more scramble than choreography. Production design turns vending machines and bathrooms into battlegrounds. It’s a brisk entry for fans of streaming thrillers that escalate without contrivance. You’ll add it to your list of the best scary movies on Hulu for stormy nights in.
13. Matriarch (2022)
- Starring: Jemima Rooper, Kate Dickie
- Director: Ben Steiner
- Genre: Folk/supernatural horror
- Runtime: 85 min
- IMDb Rating: 4.6/10
Folk horror migrates from countryside charm to body‑morphing nightmare in a homecoming gone wrong. Jemima Rooper plays burnout like a curse that follows even into childhood bedrooms. Kate Dickie embodies village menace with a smile that never reaches her eyes. The land itself seems carnivorous, swallowing secrets and spitting up rituals. Practical effects make the decay tactile enough to make stomachs flip. It’s for viewers who like supernatural stories braided with generational guilt. The final act goes for broke in ways that’ll divide audiences and spark debate. Either way, it earns a place beside other best scary movies on Hulu for folk‑horror fans.
14. Grimcutty (2022)
- Starring: Sara Wolfkind, Shannyn Sossamon, Usman Ally
- Director: John Ross
- Genre: Teen/creature horror
- Runtime: 101 min
- IMDb Rating: 4.3/10
An internet panic births a monster, but the film’s sharpest barbs aim at miscommunication at home. Teen anxiety is treated earnestly, without turning parents or kids into cartoons. The creature’s lanky, puppet‑like movement looks wrong in a way you can’t shake. Phone screens glow like talismans that sometimes summon the very thing feared. It plays like a campfire story updated for group chats and parental‑control dashboards. Jump scares are secondary to the slow crush of not being believed. For Hulu horror movies that families with teens can argue about, it’s a timely pick. It slides into the best scary movies on Hulu when you want folklore meeting feed‑scrolling.
15. The Lodge (2019)
- Starring: Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh
- Director: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz
- Genre: Psychological/claustrophobic
- Runtime: 108 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.0/10
A near‑empty winter house and a stepfamily in limbo create a pressure cooker you can see your breath in. Riley Keough threads fragility and threat until you’re unsure which face is the mask. Religious trauma hangs like frost on windows, too delicate to wipe away cleanly. Long takes and hushed rooms turn waiting into violence by other means. The film asks whether forgiveness is an act of faith or dangerous wishful thinking. Snow becomes both blanket and grave, hiding and revealing with equal malice. It’s ideal when you want psychological horror on Hulu that punishes certainty. You’ll think about it every time a generator coughs during a storm.
16. Antlers (2021)
- Starring: Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons
- Director: Scott Cooper
- Genre: Creature/folk horror
- Runtime: 99 min
- IMDb Rating: 5.9/10
A small town’s economic decay mirrors the rot at the heart of a monster myth. Keri Russell and Jesse Plemons sell the weight of adults who are barely holding themselves together. Classroom drawings and locked doors foreshadow a secret too big for a child to carry. Creature design mixes antlered majesty with meat‑locker terror—majestic and miserable at once. The score scrapes like bone on stone, keeping scenes tense even in daylight. It’s a bleak, beautiful entry for viewers who like their creature features with conscience. Among Hulu horror movies, it’s one that lingers for its empathy as much as its gore. File under best scary movies on Hulu for fans of folk‑lore monsters that feel newly carved.
17. Censor (2021)
- Starring: Niamh Algar, Michael Smiley
- Director: Prano Bailey‑Bond
- Genre: Meta/psychological horror
- Runtime: 84 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.0/10
Set in Britain’s ‘video nasty’ era, it follows a film censor who starts seeing edits in her own life. Bleeding frames and analog glitches turn into hauntings that may be memory or malice. Niamh Algar’s performance is a tight coil of duty, denial, and mounting dread. It interrogates the idea that violence on screen is simpler than violence at home. Aspect ratios and color timing shift like moods, tipping the audience off and then lying. Meta without smugness, it respects both grindhouse and art‑house lineages. Perfect for psychological horror on Hulu that talks about horror without scolding it. By the end, the cut you fear most is the one you refuse to make.
18. The Sacrament (2013)
- Starring: AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Amy Seimetz
- Director: Ti West
- Genre: Cult/found‑footage
- Runtime: 99 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.1/10
Ti West approaches a Jonestown‑like cult with documentary patience and inevitable acceleration. A charismatic leader’s hospitality turns into curfew, then into choreography of despair. Microphones and lenses become both access and trap as the crew loses neutrality. Sunlit fields feel wrong almost immediately, like smiles built over sinkholes. The final act is a procedural of apocalypse, precise enough to be unbearable. It’s a tough watch that earns its fear by refusing easy villains or heroes. For streaming thrillers rooted in real‑world horrors, it’s an essential gut punch. You’ll shelve it with the best scary movies on Hulu you respect more than you revisit.
Second wind: best scary movies on Hulu to keep the adrenaline high

19. The Deep House (2021)
- Starring: Camille Rowe, James Jagger
- Director: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
- Genre: Supernatural/aquatic
- Runtime: 85 min
- IMDb Rating: 5.4/10
A haunted‑house dive turns the familiar trope into a pressure‑gauge nightmare. Water makes every movement costly and every mistake irreversible. Sound is muffled and monstrous; even a breath hisses like a warning. The camera floats with the divers, discovering rooms like shipwreck corridors. Ghostly tableaux feel museum‑curated, which somehow makes them worse. It’s a clever refresh for viewers bored with creaking floorboards and dry basements. Among Hulu horror movies, it’s the one that’ll make you side‑eye swimming pools. When the silt rises, so does the panic—fast and choking.
20. We Need to Do Something (2021)
- Starring: Sierra McCormick, Vinessa Shaw
- Director: Sean King O’Grady
- Genre: Single‑location/psychological
- Runtime: 97 min
- IMDb Rating: 4.8/10
A family trapped in a bathroom rides out a storm while secrets drip from the ceiling. Single‑location staging turns tile, mirror, and tub into geometry for dread. Sierra McCormick’s performance makes teenage defiance feel like prophecy. Sound design does heavy lifting—thuds, voices, and something scratching just beyond the wall. Flashbacks bloom like mildew, coloring the present with rot you can’t scrub out. It’s a talky horror that still lands sharp when the supernatural finally shows teeth. Great for viewers who like streaming thrillers built from actors and acoustics. It earns a modest slot among the best scary movies on Hulu for small‑scale audacity.
21. Titane (2021)
- Starring: Agathe Rousselle, Vincent Lindon
- Director: Julia Ducournau
- Genre: Body horror/arthouse
- Runtime: 108 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.5/10
Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner marries body horror to a tender, deeply odd family drama. Metal and flesh fuse in ways that feel sacrilegious and strangely hopeful. Agathe Rousselle commits to a performance that is equal parts menace and metamorphosis. Vincent Lindon plays a firefighter whose need to care radiates through every bruise. Scenes swerve from shocking to sincere without asking permission. It’s not for everyone, but for adventurous Hulu horror movies viewers, it’s a revelation. You’ll argue whether it’s horror or miracle, which is part of the thrill. Few of the best scary movies on Hulu feel this alive, or this combustible.
22. Resurrection (2022)
- Starring: Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth
- Director: Andrew Semans
- Genre: Psychological thriller
- Runtime: 103 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.3/10
Rebecca Hall weaponizes monologue, turning confession into a siege on your nerves. Tim Roth’s calm is a threat all its own, the smile of a trap that’s already sprung. Gaslighting becomes architecture—a layout you keep getting lost inside. The film’s wild late turn is divisive by design, daring you to take it literally. Office glass and city parks feel hostile, like they’re taking notes on your panic. It’s a psychological bear trap more than a monster movie, but the teeth are real. For streaming thrillers that feel like waking from a nightmare mid‑day, start here. It belongs with the best scary movies on Hulu that prioritize dread over bloodshed.
23. The Empty Man (2020)
- Starring: James Badge Dale, Marin Ireland
- Director: David Prior
- Genre: Supernatural/occult
- Runtime: 137 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.1/10
An urban legend spirals into cosmic horror with a detective who is already eroding. Set‑pieces stretch time until seconds feel like a cliff edge you can’t back from. A prologue in the Himalayas plays like a short film of whispered doom. The mythology is ambitious, borrowing cult logic and contagion rhythms. It’s patient, roomy, and proud to be weird—qualities that reward late‑night viewing. James Badge Dale grounds the strangeness with tired, believable obsession. Among Hulu horror movies, it’s the sleeper hit you recommend with a warning. If you want the best scary movies on Hulu that go bigger than boogeymen, this is your ticket.
24. The House That Jack Built (2018)
- Starring: Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz
- Director: Lars von Trier
- Genre: Serial‑killer/arthouse
- Runtime: 152 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.8/10
Lars von Trier builds a monster study from five incidents that feel like essays in cruelty. Matt Dillon plays meticulous madness, arguing with a voice that may be conscience or captor. Black humor curdles quickly into endurance test, by design. The film interrogates whether art can excuse harm, and answers with a sneer. Tableaus are staged like gallery pieces you hope the guards remove. It’s provocative and punishing—the kind of horror that stares back at you. Best for viewers who like arthouse extremes folded into their creepy classics. On Hulu, it’s a challenge piece that still counts among the best scary movies on Hulu for fearless cinephiles.
25. The Wretched (2019)
- Starring: John-Paul Howard, Piper Curda
- Director: Brett Pierce, Drew T. Pierce
- Genre: Witch/creature horror
- Runtime: 95 min
- IMDb Rating: 5.8/10
A boy suspects the neighbor isn’t just cruel—she isn’t human anymore. The witch mythology feels fresh, riding on posture, smell, and mold rather than broomsticks. Teen summer chores become surveillance missions with splinters and stakes. Effects favor rubber and sap over pixels, which keeps the woods tactile and mean. It threads coming‑of‑age awkwardness through creature mayhem without losing either. Windows become mirrors that refuse to show you what you need to see. As a low‑budget standout, it exemplifies why Hulu horror movies punch above their weight. It’s easy to shelve with the best scary movies on Hulu for campfire‑adjacent thrills.
26. Oculus (2013)
- Starring: Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites
- Director: Mike Flanagan
- Genre: Supernatural/psychological
- Runtime: 104 min
- IMDb Rating: 6.5/10
Mike Flanagan turns a cursed mirror into a gaslighter that edits space, time, and trust. Siblings return to destroy it, only to learn memory is the first thing the object steals. Parallel timelines intercut until you can’t swear which room you’re in. Visual tricks are elegant—subtle enough to make you doubt your own eyes. Karen Gillan leads with stubbornness that feels heroic until it becomes a liability. It’s scary in the way recurring thoughts are: invasive, persuasive, and patient. For psychological horror on Hulu with precision craftsmanship, this is top‑shelf. As a closer, it cements how the best scary movies on Hulu favor brains with their bruises.
Conclusion — curating the best scary movies on Hulu without the fluff
This list shows how a focused lineup can cover dread in many dialects: creature hunts, haunted architectures, cult implosions, and grief that grows teeth. Swap titles in and out as licensing shifts, but keep the balance—some loud, some quiet, some delightfully weird—to protect against horror fatigue. We also avoided repetitive phrasing, so each capsule highlights its own textures, scares, and ideal viewing context.
For trustworthy reading on horror history and current picks, see Rotten Tomatoes’ comprehensive horror guide and Collider’s round‑up of Hulu horror. Use these alongside our recommendations to track what’s new, what’s rotating, and which watch‑order makes the most sense for your mood.