Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman CrothersĪs an aural-visual experience, The Shining is likely the single most distinctive horror film ever made. The Exorcist is a great film by any definition. Watching it is an ordeal, even after having seen it multiple times before. Even his eventual “victory” is a very hollow thing, as later explored by author William Peter Blatty in The Exorcist III. The film constantly wears down any sense of hope that both the audience and the characters might have, making you feel as if there’s no way that this priest (Jason Miller), not particularly strong in his own faith, is going to be able to save the possessed little girl (Linda Blair). It worms its way under your skin and then stays there forever. Segments like the “demon face” flash on the screen for an eighth of a second, disorienting the viewer and giving you a sense that you can never, ever let your guard down. The film radiates an aura of dread-it feels somehow unclean and tilted, even before all of the possession scenes begin. The Exorcist is a bit of a safe pick, but then you wrestle with whether any other film on this list is more disturbing, more influential or just plain scarier than this movie, and there simply isn’t one. Stars: Linda Blair, Ellyn Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. The best horror movies streaming on Shudder The best horror movies streaming on Netflix You may also want to consult the following horror-centric lists: Here, then, are 50 best horror movies streaming on HBO Now. Regardless, of all the major streamers, HBO Max likely has the horror library most focused on what you’d call older “classics,” rather than newer releases-fine with us, considering that segment tends to be less well represented. There are also some franchise staples like Friday the 13th, and indie gems like We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. There are strange, foundational early horror films, such as Haxan or Vampyr, along with classics of world cinema like Japan’s Kwaidan, Onibaba and House. That makes for an interesting horror library indeed, one that balances total schlock from Roger Corman with acclaimed works by the likes of Guillermo Del Toro and Stanley Kubrick. Rather, almost everything here received a wide release at some point. That’s because unlike the horror selections of Netflix, Hulu or (especially) Amazon Prime, the bulk of the selections here aren’t made up of modern, straight-to-VOD, zero-budget productions with vague, one-word titles like Desolation or Satanic. The overall scope of the service might not be quite as broad as something like Netflix, but you’re likely to have heard of far more of these films.

The first thing one notices, looking at the horror genre as it exists on HBO Max, is that there’s an unusual level of genuine curation involved here.

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