How to Stream the 14 Scariest Movies of All Time, Chosen by Shudder’s Master Horror Curator
How to Stream the 14 Scariest Movies of All Time, Chosen by Shudder’s Master Horror Curator
Shudder is one of the best streaming services for scary movies. Subscribers can see demonic possessions, gruesome serial killers, psychological terror, and loads of blood and guts. The service is available as a standalone streamer or free with any AMC+ subscription, making it part of a “stealth bundle” that doesn’t get much press. The Washington Post asked Shudder’s curator, Samuel Zimmerman, to come up with his list of the scariest movies ever made. The Streamable is here to tell you how to watch them all.
Shudder Curator's Scariest Movies Ever
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The Blair Witch Project
July 14, 1999In October of 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland, while shooting a documentary. A year later their footage was found.
Zimmerman says, “Screaming and running into the void. That’s what the movie feels like — Staring into a void.”
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Lake Mungo
July 30, 2009After 16-year-old Alice Palmer drowns at a local dam, her family experiences a series of strange, inexplicable events centered in and around their home. Unsettled, the Palmers seek the help of a psychic and parapsychologist, who discovers that Alice led a secret, double life. At Lake Mungo, Alice’s secret past emerges.
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Pulse
February 3, 2001In the immense city of Tokyo, the darkness of the afterlife lurks some of its inhabitants who are desperately trying to escape the sadness and isolation of the modern world.
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Angst
January 1, 1983A killer is released from prison and breaks into a remote home to kill a woman, her handicapped son and her pretty daughter.
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The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
October 11, 1974A group of five young friends face a nightmare of torment at the hands of a depraved Texas clan.
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Terrified
May 3, 2018Police commissioner Funes and three researchers of supernatural phenomena investigate inexplicable events that are occurring in the suburbs of Buenos Aires.
Zimmerman says, “You can feel the movie darkly grinning at you, like it’s taking pleasure from how freaked out you are at every new reveal. It’s one of the great turn-all-the-lights-off kind of movies.”
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Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
June 3, 1992In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.
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Ring
January 31, 1998A mysterious video has been linked to a number of deaths, and when an inquisitive journalist finds the tape and views it herself, she sets in motion a chain of events that puts her own life in danger.
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The Ring
October 18, 2002Rachel Keller is a journalist investigating a videotape that may have killed four teenagers. There is an urban legend about this tape: the viewer will die seven days after watching it. Rachel tracks down the video… and watches it. Now she has just seven days to unravel the mystery of the Ring so she can save herself and her son.
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Ghostwatch
October 31, 1992For Halloween 1992, the BBC decides to broadcast an investigation into the supernatural, hosted by TV chat-show legend Michael Parkinson. Parky (assisted by Mike Smith, Sarah Greene & Craig Charles) and a camera crew attempt to discover the truth behind the most haunted house in Britain. This ground-breaking live television experiment does not go as planned, however.
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The Wailing
May 12, 2016A stranger arrives in a little village and soon after a mysterious sickness starts spreading. A policeman is drawn into the incident and is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter.
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The Medium
July 14, 2021A horrifying story of a shaman’s inheritance in the Isan region of Thailand. But the goddess that appears to have taken possession of a family member turns out not to be as benevolent as it first appears.
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[REC]
November 23, 2007A television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying.
Of this movie and its sequel, Zimmerman says, “These are the most perfect funhouse movies in the world. They’re so relentless. They excel in shock and jolt and nightmare imagery.” He recommends watching them back-to-back.
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[REC]²
September 15, 2009The action continues from [REC], with the medical officer and a SWAT team outfitted with video cameras are sent into the sealed off apartment to control the situation.
