The Best Horror Movies to Watch on Netflix This August

Summer is coming to an end, which means it’s the perfect time to start gearing up for Halloween. And what better way to get ready than by putting on some horror movies just as the sun starts to set a little earlier?

Every month, we select some of the best horror movies that Netflix currently has to offer. Sometimes we pair them with another recent release, or we suggest a title that’s new to the platform this month.

Below are some of the scariest movies on Netflix, including an absolutely terrifying tale of the Wild West, a spooky exorcism film in a style you’ve never seen before, and an old-fashioned shark movie that’s way more fun than you’d expect.

Editor’s Choice: Bone Tomahawk

Director: S.Craig Zahler
Form: Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox

There aren’t enough horror movies set in the Wild West, but Bot Tomahawk is a good example of what the setting has to offer, and perhaps a good reason why more films aren’t made in this brutal period.

The film follows a small group of men who go in search of some local villagers who have been kidnapped. Local legends suggest that they may have been kidnapped by a cruel and murderous tribe that hides out in the local valley. And the legends are right.

Bot Tomahawk is not for the faint of heart, an exceptionally bloody and brutal film that makes it clear just how horrible the American frontier can be. It is also one of the most violent, creepiest and most disturbing horror films of the past decade, which makes it well worth watching.

The Crying

Image: Well Go USA Entertainment

Director: After Hong-jin
Form: Jun Kunimura, Hwang Jung-min, Kwak Do-won

Part murder mystery, part exorcism film, The Crying is probably one of the most unique movies you’ll ever see. The film is largely set in a small town where an infectious disease breaks out, causing the infected to lash out violently and attack those around them. While the cause of the infection is unclear, many quickly believe it to be a demonic form of possession, a curse placed on the town for unknown reasons.

This is when The Crying‘s story really goes into uncharted territory. Once the concept of demons enters the story, it stops being a police procedural mystery and becomes a fight to the death between the forces of good and evil, even if it’s not always clear who’s on whose side. All of this makes The Crying a staggering, ridiculously ambitious horror film unlike any other film ever made.

47 Meters Down: Unattended

Image: Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures

Director: Johannes Roberts
Form: Sophie Nelisse, Corinne Foxx, Brianne Tju

The first 47 meters down movie was about two divers who got trapped in a shark cage — you guessed it — 150 feet underwater. Which should tell you why “uncaged” is an absolutely perfect subtitle for this sequel. While the characters in the movie are completely different, there’s one thing we need to know that’s still the same: a group of people are trapped in a really horrible place by a whole bunch of sharks.

This time around, the shark’s unfortunate victims are a group of teenage girls who find an underwater cave and decide to take a very dangerous detour during their swim to explore the caves. Cave diving is dangerous enough under the best of circumstances, but as you might expect, this particular group of caves is full of very scary sharks. From there, the entire film is one thrilling dive, dark caverns, and lots of extremely exciting and extremely fun shark attacks.