The Best Horror Movies Streaming This Month Are All About Demonic Possession (April 2024)
We're big fans of the horror genre here at /Film. In my humble opinion, it's the best of the film genres — one that can be molded, sculpted, and altered to fit into different-sized packages. Horror can be therapeutic. It can elicit emotions in us that remind us we're still alive and kicking. Like Nicole Kidman in that annoying AMC ad, we come to this place for magic. We come to horror movies to love, to cry, to care. Because we need that, all of us. With that in mind, we're unleashing a new monthly feature where we highlight the best horror movies to stream this month. So let's get ready to scream/stream.
Late Night With the Devil
Streaming on Shudder April 19.
A horror mockumentary that plays its cards just right, "Late Night With the Devil" is one of the most talked-about horror movies of the year. Scary and effective, the film takes the form of a '70s late-night talk show in which a host (the great David Dastmalchian) decides to stage a bit of demonic possession live, on air, during a Halloween broadcast. Things don't go according to plan, and unspeakable bits of horror are unleashed upon the audience. Full of inventive slices of nightmare fuel (including a sequence involving worms that genuinely had me shook), "Late Night With the Devil" is garnering buzz for a reason — it lives up to the hype, and then some. "Late Night With the Devil" nails down its talk show aesthetic, and Dastmalchian, a dependable supporting actor for all these years, gets to shine in a lead role. This is a bit of a slow burn, horror-wise, but the film's grand finale is genuinely unnerving and, yep, scary. Don't miss this one.
Stream this if you like "Ghostwatch" and "WNUF Halloween Special."
Rosemary's Baby
Streaming on Prime Video and Paramount+.
A bonafide horror classic, "Rosemary's Baby" is about so much more than a woman pregnant with the devil's baby. It's about gaslighting, bodily autonomy, and the horrors of having really annoying nosy neighbors. When Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and her husband Guy (John Cassavetes, playing one of the worst spouses in the history of movies) move into the Bramford building in New York, they think it's the start of a brand new life. They're right, but they have no idea of the horrors that await. Rosemary is soon pregnant, and her pregnancy is not a bundle of joy. Instead, it brings with it horrifying pains and paranoia. Rosemary is right to be paranoid, because there are forces beyond her control — dark forces with ominous plans for the future of both her child and humanity itself. A horror movie that doubles as a character drama with ever-building dread, there's a reason "Rosemary's Baby" has stood the test of time.
Stream this if you like "Immaculate" and "Repulsion."
The Omen
Streaming on Hulu.
With "The First Omen" hitting theaters this weekend, you might want to go back to where it all began. Luckily, Hulu has you covered (they're streaming the other "Omen" movies, too, but you only really need to stick with the first film). In "The Omen" diplomat Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) learns that his baby has just died in childbirth. His wife (Lee Remick) doesn't know that, and, wouldn't ya know it? A baby was born at the same to a woman who died during the delivery. What if Thorn simply adopted this motherless baby as his own, and never told his wife? Thorn agrees to the idea, which turns out to be a mistake because the baby — Damien — is the spawn of Satan. Oh crap! As the child ages, terrible deaths begin befalling anyone who dares get too close, because that's just how the forces of darkness roll, I guess. Big, loud, and boasting a killer score by Jerry Goldsmith, "The Omen" is horror pulp at its finest.
Stream this if you like "The First Omen" and "The Exorcist."
Body Double
Streaming on Netflix.
A sleazy, occasionally gory take on "Rear Window," Brian De Palma's "Body Double" is perhaps most famous for its scene where a killer brandishes a gigantic phallic drill to murder an unsuspecting, unclothed woman. The main story follows a struggling actor (Craig Wasson) who is house-sitting an apartment when he happens to witness the gruesome murder. Soon, he's teaming up with a porn star (a scene-stealing Melanie Griffith) to try to crack the case and catch the killer. Like most De Palma films from this era (the '80s), "Body Double" is big on style and kink, because nobody does it like De Palma. While this isn't the best film the auteur has to offer, it's plenty of fun, in an "I feel kind of dirty after watching that" sort of way.
Stream this if you like "Rear Window" and "Dressed to Kill."
Mute Witness
Streaming on Shudder.
Unlike "Body Double" above, "Mute Witness" isn't a Brian De Palma movie, but it sure feels indebted to him. An unsung little mash-up of slasher movie, thriller, and even dark comedy, this one is usually hard to find — but is now streaming on Shudder. Thanks, Shudder! Set in Russia, "Mute Witness" follows mute special effects make-up artist Billy (Marina Zudina), who is working on the set of a crappy horror movie. Billy gets locked in the set late one night and witnesses a snuff film being shot. She tries to alert the authorities, but the killers are able to explain their crime away as nothing more than movie magic. And as it turns out, the snuff film being shot leads to a far-reaching conspiracy that puts Billy and those close to her in mortal danger. Stylish and a little off-kilter, "Mute Witness" is the type of horror pic destined to be re-discovered.
Stream this if you like "Blow Out" and "Berberian Sound Studio."
Inland Empire
Streaming on Max.
"Inland Empire" might be one of David Lynch's weirdest movies — and that's saying something. It's also downright terrifying. Making heads or tails of this film is also nearly impossible. I tend to find Lynch's movies much more accessible than most people do (for instance: as "weird" as "Mulholland Drive" is, I still know exactly what's happening in that movie), but "Inland Empire" is almost impenitrable. That's not a bad thing — you don't have to understand a movie to enjoy it or experience its full effect. In "Inland Empire," frequent Lynch muse Laura Dern is an actress slowly going out of her mind as she becomes more and more like the character she's playing in a film. That's the most basic summation of the movie, which doesn't really have a plot or a story but is more a collection of scenes chock full of terrifying madness. The surreal illogic of it all makes "Inland Empire" all the more frightening.
Stream this if you like "Lost Highway" or "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me."
Split
Streaming on Netflix.
After falling from grace, M. Night Shyamalan kicked off a return of sorts with the found footage flick "The Visit." But it was 2016's "Split" that truly signaled the return of the filmmaker once heralded as the next Spielberg. A box office smash (it scared up $278 million worldwide on a $9 million budget), "Split" is loaded with style, particularly when Shyamalan borrows a trick from Jonathan Demme and has characters gaze directly into the camera. The narrative follows three young women, including one played by Anya Taylor-Joy and her gigantic eyes, who are abducted by a man (James McAvoy) with dissociative identity disorder. This enables McAvoy to go big, playing multiple characters inhabiting one man's body. Shyamalan also sneakily turned this into a secret sequel to "Unbreakable," but I find that to be the least interesting element of the picture. It's much more successful as a standalone thriller that builds towards a nightmarish conclusion.
Stream this if you like "Knock at the Cabin" and "The Silence of the Lambs."
The Rental
Streaming on Netflix and Shudder.
Before "Barbarian" made Air BNB's terrifying, there was "The Rental." Directed by James Franco, "The Rental" follows four friends (Dan Stevens, Alison Brie, Sheila Vand, and a pre-"The Bear" Jeremy Allen White) as they head to a weekend getaway on the Oregon Coast. Franco has fun with the premise, as at first, the film plays out like an indie drama about relationships. However, it slowly becomes clear the group is being watched by someone — a masked man who has been targeting them before they even arrived. It builds towards an unforgettable final act that will have you thinking twice about renting your next getaway.
Stream this if you liked "Barbarian" and "You Should Have Left."
The Strangers
Streaming on Max.
"The Strangers" is being rebooted with a new trilogy, but it's going to be hard to beat the original. A simple yet effective stalk-and-slash pic, "The Strangers" ends up being so scary because the titular villains have no real motive. When asked why they're doing what they're doing, the reply is chillingly simplistic: "Because you were home." Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman play a couple in the midst of a feud, but that feud will have to wait because three masked killers have just shown up on their door and they want to play. And that's it, really! There's nothing deeper lurking beneath the simple setup, and that's just fine. Sometimes, the simplest scares are the most effective.
Stream this if you liked "The Purge" and "Hush."
Cure
Streaming on The Criterion Channel.
"Cure" is one of the scariest movies ever made, and I don't say that lightly, nor do I say it with any attempt at hyperbole. A chilling slow-burn of dread, "Cure" follows a police detective (Kōji Yakusho) investigating a man (Masato Hagiwara) who seemingly has the power to manipulate others via hypnosis. Just by uttering a few words, this man is able to force people to commit horrible acts of violence for no real motive. While this idea may not be original to "Cure" — the "X-Files" episode "Pusher," which aired a year before "Cure" came out, has a similar premise — it's played to terrifying effect in the film, which hails from director Kiyoshi Kurosawa ("Pulse"). "Cure" is the type of horror movie that lingers with you long after you've seen it, like a bad dream you just can't shake.
Stream this if you like "Pulse" and "Ju-On: The Grudge."