Winter may be slowly coming to an end, but the cold and dark months haven’t quite closed out just yet. To help you pass the time indoors, Netflix has got a nice little selection of horror movies at the moment, to keep things creepy and cozy.
This month, we handpicked a few of the best horror movies on Netflix that fit the current season. We’ve got a recent zombie movie classic, a terrifying movie about the dangers of hiking in a haunted Scandinavian forest, and a complex and under-seen gem about the horrors of the British immigration system.
Editor’s pick: Train to Busan
Director: Yeon Sang-ho
Cast: Gong Yoo, Ma Dong-seok, Yung Yu-mi
Few horror movies in recent memory have hit cultural as hard and quickly as Train to Busan. The premise is obviously dynamite, following a group of passengers on a train across South Korea just as a zombie outbreak begins, but it’s the execution that really made this film a classic. It’s undoubtedly a horror movie, but by way of some of the most impressive action filmmaking of the 2010s, and an incredible physical performance from Korean action legend Ma Dong-seok — who spends half the movie punching zombies off the train. All of this makes for not just one of the best zombies movies in recent memory but also one of the most fun and unique horror movies of any subgenre. —Austen Goslin
Director: David Bruckner
Cast: Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, Robert James-Collier
Grief is a funny thing. It can just as surely bring people together as it can tear them apart. Such is the case in The Ritual; both figuratively and literally. Following the tragic death of their friend, four college pals reunite to embark on an excursion through the Scandinavian wilderness in honor of their memory. Tensions mount as the group find themselves beset by supernatural forces beyond their comprehension, tearing open old wounds and setting them against one another as some greater malevolent force ensnares them in its inscrutable designs. The Ritual is a terrific Euro-horror thriller with striking visuals and an absolutely barn-burner of an ending. What’s in the forest? Only what you take with you. —Toussaint Egan
Director: Remi Weekes
Cast: Wunmi Mosaku, Sope Dirisu, Matt Smith
Gangs of London’s Sope Dirisu and Lovecraft Country’s Wunmi Mosaku star in this supernatural horror thriller as Bol and Rial, a Sudanese couple seeking asylum in Britain. After being placed in housing, the pair grow to suspect that their new home is haunted. Hounded by the unspoken sins of their past and daunted by the callousness of an immigration system aligned against them, Rial attempts to make amends while her husband sinks ever deeper into desperation and madness. If you’re looking for a thoughtful, complex horror film with emotionally captivating performances, this is the one to watch this month. —Toussaint Egan
