It's Halloween this weekend, and if you don't have any trick-or-treating duties, what could be better than spending the colder autumn nights watching some horror-tastic films from the comfort of your living room?
Devout TV show bingers can get their Hallow’s Eve entertainment with the second season of Blumhouse's wildlife-doc-with-a-twist, Nightmares of Nature - Lost in the Jungle (Netflix); the latest Family Guy Halloween Special (Disney+); and the sophomore season of adult animated musical series Hazbin Hotel (Amazon Prime Video).
Watch on Apple TV
28 Years Later (2025)
One of the most anticipated films of 2025 (as far as the What Hi-Fi? team is concerned) is now available to stream at home, and if you didn't manage to catch it at the cinema, we would urge you to check out 28 Years Later for a must-see horror watch.
As the title suggests, 28 Years Later takes place 28 years after the outbreak of the ‘rage’ virus that turns people into mindless, bloodthirsty animals (definitely not zombies) that wrecked UK society as a whole and put the British Isles under strict quarantine. The story is focused on 12-year-old Alfie, who ventures out of a remote island community for the first time to the infected mainland, and all that he encounters.
Written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle (who helmed the original 28 Days Later from 2002), this first entrant in a new trilogy of post-apocalyptic horror takes some wild swings and ingenious creative and narrative decisions, along with a meditative, somewhat melancholic atmosphere that is all at once tense, beautiful and harrowing.
Watch on Netflix
The Elixir (2025)
The latest from Indonesian horror master Kimo Stamboel (A Thousand Days, Macabre, The Queen of Black Magic) sees a fractured family escape a zombie outbreak after one of their herbal medicine business’s innovative elixirs goes terribly wrong.
Looking to build on the strong reputation of Asia’s recent zombie flicks, led by the likes of Train to Busan, One Cut of the Dead and The Wailing, Netflix’s upcoming The Elixir looks like an epic thrill ride defined by Stamboel’s proven passion for gorgeous visuals and gory violence.
Watch on Amazon Prime Video
Prevenge (2016)
In her directorial debut, Alice Lowe (Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Sightseers) plays Ruth, who is seven months pregnant with a demonic fetus that inspires a homicidal rampage from within her.
It’s as wacky as it sounds, not least as Lowe was actually heavily pregnant during the shoot. Beneath the grizzly violence and unrelenting deadpan humour is a metaphorical exaggeration of the emotional baggage and apprehension brought about by pregnancy and the prospect of motherhood. A cult gem.
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
This 2022 A24 release is a lot smarter than its "rich 20-somethings' party game in a mansion goes awry" premise might suggest, and certainly worth a watch if you fancy your horror with a generous sprinkling of dark comedy. Specifically, Gen Z satire.
With shocks and twists aplenty and generally well-acted characters that you can truly love to hate, Bodies Bodies Bodies is fun and fresh, and an aspirational role model for all the other ‘dumb teen’ movies that fail to land.
Us (2019)
![Us - Official Trailer [HD] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hNCmb-4oXJA/maxresdefault.jpg)
After his brilliant breakout movie, Get Out, landed with such aplomb, director Jordan Peele had the tricky task of treading similarly scary yet funny tones and socially relevant narrative themes with his next project.
As it turns out, he nailed it with Us, another stylistically and thematically bold horror masterpiece that this time explores American privilege and the country’s socioeconomic inequality.
Us sees the film’s protagonists, Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) and her family, terrorised by a group of murderous doppelgängers. It's a smart and superbly acted apocalyptic sci-fi thriller that really gets under your skin.
Companion (2025)
A creative, AI-themed horror that hits all the right notes and guarantees a wild ol’ bloody time, Companion is probably the most fun you’ll have with a genre movie released this year. Really, that’s all you need to know – indeed, it’s probably best to head into this one at least partially blind.
But what we will say is that the AI theme shouldn’t put off any members of the anti-AI army – Companion is more about human toxicity than any technological one – and (providing you avoid spoilers!) you should expect to be kept guessing throughout. You’re in for a ride here – enjoy it.
Watch on Disney+
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (2025)
Sure, releases of modern remakes of horror (or any genre) classics tend to incite the kind of trepidation one may feel on their first day at a new job, but watch the trailer to this year’s upcoming The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and tell me you aren’t already won over by Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s seemingly spot-on performance as the cold, cunning, devious nanny. A match for Rebecca De Mornay’s depiction in the original 1992 psychological thriller? Maybe.
The fact that it’s directed by Mexican filmmaker Michelle Garza Cervera, whose debut feature film, body horror Huesera: The Bone Woman, was given two thumbs up by horror critics a few years ago, also inspires confidence in the modern makeover. We’re curious to see how this one stacks up.
Watch on TUBI
For subscription-free Halloween fun? We would be remiss not to bring to your attention a couple of highlights from the Terror on Tubi lineup, a curation of horror treats that are available to watch on the free service this Halloween month.
Saloum (2021)
![Saloum - Official Trailer [HD] | A Shudder Original - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tth-ZMqZMkM/maxresdefault.jpg)
A horror-action movie that we can’t describe better than The Guardian, which called it a “slick gangster horror in wild west Africa”.
It follows a group of legendary mercenaries who are shot down after extracting a drug lord from Guinea-Bissau and forced to take refuge in a nearby holiday camp, where dark secrets about the inhabitants, and themselves, are soon revealed.
Smart and unsettling from beginning to end, Saloum was the most original genre movie we watched in the year of its release.
R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead (2025)
This new Tubi Original (exclusive to US viewers) is directed by Jem Garrard (Slay) and is based on a short story from Stine’s 1990 Nightmare Hour children's horror collection.
It follows a young Sam’s fight alongside his new friends to get his brother Finn back when, shortly after moving to a new town, he disappears and everyone forgets he existed. This has all the makings of an ‘80s coming-of-age horror gem.
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