For the most part, aside from some sporadic gems, horror went into slight hibernation in the '90s. After the genre experienced an unprecedented boom in the '80s, the decade that followed experienced a soft lull. Major slasher franchise players had burned out, Tarantino and the independent crime thriller scene was on the rise, and scary movies were no longer as much in vogue.
With a huge heyday of horror in the rear-view, scary fare had to get more creative. Horror master Wes Craven took some wild swings, first with a return to his own beloved Freddy Krueger property and then with a film that would actually revitalize the genre for years to come – Scream. At the same time, foreign-language horror began to make more of a State-side splash and, following the success of The Silence of the Lambs, terror experienced a brief window of prestige, with bigger-named directors taking a stab at the genre.
Here's a quick look at the absolute best of '90s horror that you can stream right now – from the meta-malice of Scream to the groundbreaking ghoulishness of The Blair Witch Project to actual Oscar-winning works like The Silence of the Lambs and Misery.
Scream (1996)
The second half of the '90s got a shot in the arm after A Nightmare on Elm Street's Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson unleashed Scream, a winking slasher mystery about a small town whose teens are being terrorized by a killer containing a ton of knowledge about horror movies. Yes, the same horror movies we know. This clever meta-take on beloved genre tropes and cliches was wicked, wise-cracking, and punctuated by perfect performances from its young celebrity cast.
For what it's worth, and sticking with the '90s, Scream 2 also offered up a healthy dose of diabolical fun as one of the more solid horror sequels.
Scream and Scream 2 can be streamed for free with a subscription to DirecTV/AMC or fuboTV.
They can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Redbox, YouTube, AMC On Demand, DirecTV, and Apple TV.
Candyman (1992)
A short story by Clive Barker about impoverished communities and urban myths was transposed to America, to Chicago's infamous Cabrini Green low-income housing, for a modern-day gothic dance involving a sinister specter — marked with a deep voice, hook hand, and bee-lined insides — collecting victims and targeting a grad student investigating his legend. Shifting the story to the U.S. gave Candyman a pioneering peek into systemic racism along with social and economic issues that still resonate strongly today. Two lesser sequels followed but decades later, in 2021, director Nia DaCosta and producer Jordan Peele would resurrect the franchise with an acclaimed legacy sequel.
Candyman can be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube, AMC On Demand, Redbox, DirecTV, and Apple TV.
Event Horizon (1997)
Though sci-fi and horror have notably mixed over the years, it's usually been in the form of a monster movie and not a haunted house movie. Paul W. S. Anderson's Event Horizon — starring Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill — gave us a terrifying, possessed spaceship. One that had vanished on a mission years before and had now mysteriously reemerged from God knows where. It turns out the ship, the Event Horizon, had gone to a very bad place, which spells out very bad things for the rescue vessel sent to investigate.
Event Horizon can be streamed for free on HBO Max, or watched on HBO/Cinemax platforms with a subscription to DirecTV/HBO/Cinemax.
It can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube, AMC On Demand, Redbox, DirecTV, and Apple TV.
Tales From the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995)
After striking gold with Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, director Robert Zemeckis turned to HBO and produced the star-studded pulp horror anthology series Tales F rom the Crypt. Two films were made under the Crypt branding in the '90s, and the first, Demon Knight, is an absolute blast. A rollicking adventure directed by Ernest Dickerson, Demon Knight features Billy Zane as a fun-loving demon out to get his hands on an artifact that could spell the end of humanity. In his way are William Sadler, Jada Pinkett, and the unfortunate residents of a wayward boarding house.
Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight can be streamed for free with a DirecTV/Starz subscription, or through Amazon with a Starz add-on.
It can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Redbox, YouTube, and Apple TV.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Two of the '90s biggest innovators joined forces for From Dusk Till Dawn – half hostage movie, half vampiric bloodbath. Robert Rodriguez, directing from a script by Quentin Tarantino (who also co-stars with George Clooney), assembles an outrageous and horrific tale of two outlaw brothers who think they've managed to escape the law into Mexico, only to find out that the bawdy truck stop they're resting at is a secret feeding den for bloodsuckers. Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, and Salma Hayek also star.
From Dusk Till Dawn can be streamed for free with a subscription to DirecTV/AMC or fuboTV.
It can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Redbox, YouTube, AMC On Demand, DirecTV, and Apple TV.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
You may get the occasional pushback on this — especially from the Oscar campaign that helped garner this film many Academy Awards, including Best Picture — but The Silence of the Lambs is a horror film. And it was a horror film that managed to wrangle mainstream acclaim while also scaring the absolute s*** out of those who don't regularly partake. With award-winning performances from Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster, The Silence of the Lambs is top-tier terror, featuring unforgettable scenes that every cinephile must see.
The Silence of the Lambs can be streamed for free with a subscription to fuboTV.
It can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Redbox, YouTube, and Apple TV.
Misery (1990)
The Silence of the Lambs may have represented the pinnacle of prestige horror in the early '90s, but just a year earlier, director Rob Reiner (who was an absolute force during this era) adapted Stephen King's Misery to huge box office dollars, critical praise, and a star-making Oscar for Kathy Bates. The story of a successful author, played by James Caan, being "cared for" after an accident by a superfan is one of the scariest and intense looks at unhinged fandom ever.
Misery can be streamed for free on HBO Max, or watched on HBO/Cinemax platforms with a subscription to DirecTV/HBO/Cinemax.
It can also be purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Redbox, YouTube, and Apple TV. It is not available to rent at this time.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
Oscar-winner Francis Ford Coppola took a lavish, lust-filled swipe at the classic Dracula tale, casting Gary Oldman in the title role as a cursed immortal vampire trying to mesmerize a woman he believes to be the reincarnation of his lost love. Anthony Hopkins, Winona Ryder, and Keanu Reeves round out this all-star adaptation of Bram Stoker's landmark horror novel from 1897.
Bram Stoker's Dracula can be steamed for free with a subscription to fuboTV. It can also be watched with ads on Pluto TV and YuppTV.
It can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Redbox, AMC On Demand, DirecTV, and Apple TV.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Blair Witch Project wasn't the first faux-horror documentary made, but it was the first to bust through the gates with enormous success thanks to a creepy premise, strong performances — which were largely improvised, guided only by directors who stayed away from the trek, which the actors filmed themselves — and an ingenious stealth marketing campaign and website that used the early days of the internet to make people believe this was a true story of found footage.
The Blair Witch Project can be streamed for free with a subscription to fuboTV or it can be watched on FX platforms with a subscription to DirecTV/FX. It can also be watched with ads on The Roku Channel.
It can also be rented or purchased on Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, Redbox, DirecTV, AMC On Demand, and Apple TV.
Cronos (1993)
Guillermo del Toro's first feature film, the Mexican independent horror flick Cronos, placed the future Oscar-winning director on the map with a gory, intelligent drama about an antiques dealer who stumbles across Cronos, a 400-year-old scarab that, when it latches onto him, grants him youth and eternal life — as a vampire. Del Toro wouldn't have another great film in the '90s, but Cronos was strong enough to gain him footing so that he could deliver The Devil's Backbone, Hellboy, and Pan's Labyrinth the following decade.
Cronos can be streamed for free on HBO Max or with a subscription to The Criterion Channel.
It can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, YouTube, and Apple TV.
Tales From the Hood (1995)
Executive produced by Spike Lee and directed by Rusty Cundieff, Tales from the Hood, like Candyman, marks an important time for African-American representation in horror, merging scares with issues like racism, police corruption, and gang violence. This groundbreaking horror-comedy anthology was recently given its first sequels, decades later, in 2018 and 2020 as director Cundieff brought the concept back in order to continue the exploration of socially relevant topics from the past and present.
Tales From the Hood can be streamed for free on Starz platforms or on Amazon and The Roku Channel with Starz add-ons.
It can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube, DirecTV, AMC On Demand, and Apple TV.
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
This total mindf*** from director Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction, Indecent Proposal) is a bizarre, trippy nerve-exploder with an ending that, well, we can't get into without giving everything up. Tim Robbins stars as a shaken Vietnam vet who begins to experience strange, fragmentary visions and haunting hallucinations and… that's all we're going to share here. Not a pure "horror" film, as some might insist, Jacob's Ladder is a nightmarish exploration of morality that developed not only a cult following over the years but also influenced the visuals of the Silent Hill game series.
Jacob's Ladder can be streamed for free with a subscription to fuboTV or on Amazon Video with Paramount+ or Epix add-ons.
It can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Vudu, and Apple TV.
The Ring (1998)
Hideo Nakata's Ringu helped popularize J-horror internationally so much that it was remade for America in 2002 and was one of the biggest horror hits of the Aughts. As a merging of ghosts, technology, and pure dread, The Ring famously revolves around a cursed VHS tape that kills anyone who watches it seven days later. The visual template and unearthly style created here still influences supernatural stories to this day.
The Ring is available to stream with subscriptions to Shudder, Amazon Video with a Shudder add-on, AsianCrush, Arrow, or on Amazon Video and The Roku Channel with AMC add-ons.
The Ring can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Alamo On Demand, YouTube, and Apple TV.
Tremors (1990)
A joyous, spirited monster comedy, Tremors follows the dusty denizens of a small Nevada town as they're terrorized by giant subterranean slug-like creatures (unceremoniously dubbed "Graboids") who can sense people's movement on the surface. Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward lead this ragtag crew of armed citizens doing battle with burrowing bugs, though Bacon wouldn't star in any of the six sequels (which all star Michael Gross, by the way). There was talk in recent years of a Tremors TV series starring Bacon but the actor himself said that the reboot was scrapped.
Tremors can be streamed for free with a subscription to fuboTV or on AMC platforms with a DirectTV/AMC subscription.
It can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Redbox, DirecTV, AMC On Demand, YouTube, and Apple TV.
Audition (1999)
Audition is one of the most brutal watches in horror history. A cruel combination of J-horror and seminal "Torture Porn," this killer classic from Takashi Miike features a widower who, at the behest of his son, begins to hold auditions for women to play the "role" of his new wife – in an attempt to actually find a new bride. This bizarre social experiment unfortunately draws out a monster in hiding, named Asami, who gives the poor widower way more than he bargained for.
Audition is available to stream with subscriptions to Shudder, Amazon Video with a Shudder add-on, AsianCrush, Arrow, Spectrum, or on Amazon Video with either Fandor or AMC add-ons. It can also be seen for free (with no subscription) on Kanopy or with ads on Tubi and Fandor.
It can also be rented or purchased on Apple TV or Alamo On Demand.
Interview With a Vampire (1994)
'90s prestige horror rounded things out, and partially wrapped things up, with Neil Jordan's acclaimed and mesmerizing take on Anne Rice's popular novel. Starring two megastars in Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, and introducing the world to Kirsten Dunst, Interview With a Vampire chronicles the journey of Pitt's sullen vampire Louis and Louis' sire, Lestat (Cruise, playing cruel), as they live through centuries and form a fiendish surrogate family with the addition of 10-year-old Claudia (Dunst).
Interview with a Vampire can be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube, Redbox, AMC On Demand, and Apple TV.
Bride of Chucky (1998)
After three Child's Play movies, creator Don Mancini took a wild swing with Bride of Chucky, a horror-comedy that, in the wake of Scream, had a bit more fun with the meta-aspects of the genre. And with it, Chucky was given new life and the ongoing, single-storyline franchise still exists in a huge way to this day (as Mancini still writes the new USA/Syfy series). In a great-looking flick directed by Hong Kong cinema's Ronny Yu, Jennifer Tilly enters the mix as Tiffany, Charles Lee Ray's ex, whose love/hate/love relationship with Chucky gets her trapped inside her own doll.
Bride of Chucky can be streamed for free with a subscription to fuboTV or with a subscription to NBC Universal platforms (Syfy, USA) via DirecTV. It can also be streamed on Peacock with ads, or with a subscription to Sling.
It can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube, Redbox, and Apple TV.
The Craft (1996)
Teen supernatural thriller The Craft follows four outcast teenage girls who together pursue witchcraft and must decide whether or not to use their abilities for their own personal gain. Though hit with mixed reviews at the time, The Craft has developed a healthier following over the years and is looked back on as a highly stylish and influential film of the era, for portraying the struggles of teen girls and the patriarchal obstacles they face at an important, sometimes volatile time in their lives. Neve Campbell, Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, and Rachel True star in this spooky goth-evoking revenge tale.
The Craft can be streamed with a subscription to either fuboTV or DirecTV. It's also available on Amazon Video with the Starz add-on as well as Freeform.
It can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, AMC On Demand, YouTube, Redbox, and Apple TV.
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Before Wes Craven used meta elements to launch an entirely new horror franchise with Scream, he attempted to merge a crazed, fourth-wall-breaking idea with his own creation, Freddy Krueger. Following 1991's Freddy's Dead, which essentially ended the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise (until 2003's Freddy vs. Jason), Wes Craven's New Nightmare was completely out of continuity and featured fictional movie villain Freddy (well, a dark entity taking the form of Freddy) invading the real world and stalking the cast and crew involved in the making of the films about him.
Wes Craven's New Nightmare can be streamed on HBO Max or with a subscription to fuboTV. It's also available on Amazon Video or The Roku Channel with AMC add-ons.
It can also be rented or purchased on Google Play, Vudu, AMC On Demand, DirecTV, YouTube, Redbox, and Apple TV.
The Sixth Sense (1999)
M. Night Shyamalan's breakout 1999 hit, The Sixth Sense, which immediately crowned him (for better or worse) as King of the Twist, featured one of the best child actor performances of all time mixed with a truly head-spinning final few minutes that had audiences of the era audibly gasping. The sad, disturbing story of a young boy living in constant terror of the ghosts he sees all day long resonated loudly at the box office and made The Sixth Sense one of the creepiest movie experiences of all time.
The Sixth Sense can be streamed with a subscription to Peacock or fuboTV.
It can also be rented or purchased on Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, AMC On Demand, DirecTV, YouTube, and Apple TV.
What's your favorite '90s horror movie? Let's discuss in the comments!
