As I write this, I must admit – as much as I love film, horror is my least favorite genre. When I was asked to write a Top 10 Streamable Horror Movies List, I took it as an opportunity to reevaluate my ongoing perceptions about the horror genre. Most of the time, I tend to call it “torture porn”; or “derivative” of earlier horror cinema. Most of the titles on Netflix streaming horror are B-grade: the logical result of low-cost production values. Therefore, these titles are a cheap license for Netflix.
Now, for most of October, I watched quite the number of horror films listed in the Netflix horror page. While there are quite a number of watchable films, I felt it best to create a Top 5 list. The intent is to give a fine focus to some exceptional films that are perfect watching for this All Hallow’s Eve.
Honorable mentions – Evil Dead, Red State, American Werewolf in London.
5. Audition – A suitable introduction into the warped filming of Takashi Miike.
4. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil – Taking a horror-genre trope (kids on a camping trip amongst rednecks) and flipping it right on its ear.
3. Let The Right One In – In my opinion, the only vampire film to come out in the last ten years that’s worth a damn. It was so good that Hollywood immediately remade it.
2. The Omen – Starring Gregory Peck, the film is so affecting and scary that it’s on my list of films I never need to watch again (along with Fight Club, Exorcist, and A Clockwork Orange).
1. Nosferatu – The granddaddy and gold standard of cinematic horror. Max Schreck’s commitment to the look and performance of the vampire lead to the movie Shadow of the Vampire (which supposes Schreck was an actual vampire).
Also – do yourself a favor and watch the British miniseries Ultraviolet, which stars up-and-coming actors Idris Elba, Jack Davenport, and Stephen Moyer.
