Mental Floss

Netflix’s Creepiest Hidden Gems to Watch This Halloween

Have you seen all eight of these movies and shows?
BySuhaib Adeel|
Rahul Kohli and Robert Longstreet in Midnight Mass
Rahul Kohli and Robert Longstreet in Midnight Mass | Eike Schroter/Netflix © 2021

It’s that time of year again, and you might just be in the mood to watch something that creeps you out in the best ways. If you’ve browsed through the usual horror stuff and want something a bit different, here are eight hidden gems you can find on Netflix that’ll fit the bill. 

They aren’t always perfect, but these will likely subvert your expectations if you’re anticipating a typical horror movie or show. They pull off the scares, weirdness, and intensity, often with interesting themes and metaphorical storytelling, making them absolutely worth watching for Halloween. 

  1. Fear Street Trilogy
  2. His House
  3. Cam
  4. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities
  5. The Ritual
  6. Midnight Mass
  7. Apostle
  8. The Platform

Fear Street Trilogy

Released in 2021, the acclaimed Fear Street trilogy was directed by Leigh Janiak, based on the classic book series by R. L. Stine. The focus of the movies is a town called Shadyside, which has a long curse. The first movie takes place in 1994, while the second and third films shift the timelines to 1978 and 1666. 

Janiak’s films mix slasher tropes with supernatural elements. If you like a mix of fun campiness and genuine creeps, this trilogy is a fun ride. Also, the idea of releasing three films in three weeks is unusual, but it also gave it a nice binge-event feel.

His House

Directed by Remi Weekes in his feature debut, His House is about a refugee couple from South Sudan who move to England and start living in a house with a malevolent presence. The movie cleverly uses horror to explore themes of trauma and displacement.

It’s a very unique type of horror movie that mixes the genre with real-life problems that aren’t usually explored in the genre in such a way. In the film, the couple fears deportation while dealing with the house’s secrets, but they stay because leaving isn’t really an option. If you want a horror film that’s thoughtful and a bit deeper than the usual fare, this is one.

Cam

Cam is a more offbeat type of horror movie, starring Madeline Brewer. It follows a cam girl who logs into her account, only to be locked out and find a lookalike streaming in her name. Identity theft meets the horror of the internet. 

It takes modern topics of online identities that are very relevant in the age of the internet and streaming, and twists them in interesting ways. The film was inspired by the real-life experiences of its co-writer, Isa Mazzei. If you like the idea of horror in our digital age, it’s worth watching. 

Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities

This anthology series from 2022 is curated by Guillermo del Toro and comprises of eight standalone horror tales, each directed by a different filmmaker. (And del Toro himself directed the first episode.) The stories vary widely. Some lean more toward Gothic vibes, and others are creepy and weirder. 

What makes this a gem is its commitment to practical effects and rich atmospheric storytelling. Del Toro himself hand-picked each director and story, giving them a lot of creative freedom to do whatever they wanted.  If you’ve watched a lot of horror films and want something with great variety and style, this will give you lots of different flavors in one package.

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The Ritual

This one’s more under-the-radar, but worth it if you like atmosphere and folklore. The Ritual follows a group of friends hiking in the wilderness in Sweden and stumbling into something ancient and horrifying in the woods. The forest setting and isolation really add to the horror.

The movie uses its Norse mythology setting in a cool way to create a unique and truly monstrous entity. It’s not as widely talked about when it comes to great modern horror movies, but it has some solid scares. If you’re fine with a slightly slower pace and more creeping dread, this one fits well.

Midnight Mass

Midnight Mass is a limited series created and directed by Mike Flanagan. It might not be a popular as his other Netflix works, such as The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor, but it’s just as good—or even better. It takes place in an isolated island community, where a mysterious priest arrives, and strange events occur.

It also deals with faith, fanaticism, and community tensions, and uses its horror setting to ask important questions about those topics. The show draws on Flanagan’s own experiences as an altar boy, his sobriety journey, and his evolving relationship with faith, making this a very personal project for him. 

Apostle

Apostle is directed by Gareth Evans, who did the two The Raid movies, and this marked a big departure from his usual action style. He flipped genres to horror here, with great results. The story is set in 1905, where a drifter tries to rescue his sister from a cult on a remote island. 

The shift in setting, the cult elements, and the atmospheric dread all work together very well and help differentiate it from standard slashers. If you’re up for something heavy with some gore but also smartly made, this one’s worth a watch. 

The Platform

The Platform is a sci-fi horror film from Spain with a twisted and dystopian premise—inmates in a vertical prison get food from a platform that descends floor by floor. Those at the top gorge themselves, and as you go down, the amounts diminish and you’re left with very little. 

It works less on horror tropes and more on making you feel uneasy and think about scarcity and survival in a modern society, with some great metaphorical themes. If you prefer horror that is a bit more thought-provoking, this is a great option. 

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