Get ready to dive into the spooky world of scary movies on HBO Max! In this article, we’re going to take you on a thrilling journey through some of the best scary movies on HBO Max. From the old scary movies you love to the newest ones that’ll give you goosebumps, HBO Max has something to keep every scare enthusiast on the edge of their seat. So, grab your popcorn, turn down the lights, and get ready to indulge in some seriously chilling thrills. If you’re wondering how to access HBO Max for free, check out our article Unlocking Entertainment: How to Get HBO Max for Free for all the details.
List of Best Scary Movies on HBO Max
Before moving forward, let’s take a closer look at HBO Max. HBO Max stands out as one of the premier streaming platforms globally. As with any streaming service, HBO Max regularly updates its extensive library of TV shows and movies. This list aims to highlight the best horror movies available on HBO Max. The platform offers three subscription options: $16/month for ad-free streaming, $10/month for ad-supported streaming, and a new Ultimate ad-free plan for $20/month. Annual subscriptions offer savings of up to 20%, with the Ultimate plan priced at $200/year, the ad-free plan at $150/year, and the ad-supported plan at $100/year. You can watch John Wick 4, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Serving the Hamptons, and much more on HBO Max.
1. Carnival of Souls
Genre: | Horror, Mystery |
Director: | Herk Harvey |
Cast: | Candace Hilligoss, Frances Feist, Sidney Berger |
IMDb Rating: | 7.1/10 |
Carnival of Souls is one of the best scary movies on HBO Max ever made. Herk Harvey’s film is an early cult classic, made for almost no money, and became an influential masterpiece. Candace Hilligoss plays a woman who starts having terrifying visions after surviving a car accident. These visions lead her to an abandoned carnival. You can see this film’s DNA in hundreds of horror movies to follow, but it’s still wonderfully creepy when judged on its own terms.
2. Carrie
Genre: | Horror, Drama |
Director: | Brian De Palma |
Cast: | Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving |
IMDb Rating: | 7.4/10 |
Long before Stephen King was an entire industry, he was the guy who wrote Carrie, a 1974 novel about a bullied teen girl who unleashes hell on her classmates. Every once in a while, there’s a perfect combination of source material and creatives, and that’s what happened when King, De Palma, and Sissy Spacek combined forces here. Horror movie history would be made.
3. The Conjuring
Genre: | Horror, Mystery, Thriller |
Director: | James Wan |
Cast: | Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Lili Taylor |
IMDb Rating: | 7.5/10 |
The Conjuring is one of the best scary movies on HBO Max of the 2010s introduced audiences to Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), real-life investigators of paranormal occurrences, and launched an entire industry of horror movies. The first is still the best, anchored by Lili Taylor’s great performance as a woman whose ordinary life is turned upside down by a ghost in her farmhouse in the early ’70s.
4. Evil Dead Rise
Genre: | Horror |
Director: | Lee Cronin |
Cast: | Lily Sullivan, Alyssa Sutherland, Morgan Davies |
IMDb Rating: | 6.5/10 |
Evil Dead Rise was a hit in theaters last April, Warner Brothers has already shuffled its horror smash over to Max, free for subscribers. Rebooting the Evil Dead series for the second time (after the successful 2013 iteration), this one moves the action to an L.A. apartment building where a single mother (the phenomenal Alyssa Sutherland) gets taken over by the same evil force that once terrorized poor Ash. Twisted and clever, this gruesome horror flick was so successful that it feels like a sixth film in the series won’t take a decade to rise from the dead.
5. From Dusk Till Dawn
Genre: | Action, Crime, Horror |
Director: | Robert Rodriguez |
Cast: | George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Juliette Lewis |
IMDb Rating: | 7.2/10 |
Remember when George Clooney was a legitimate action star? There was a brief window there, and his best film with a gun in his hands is probably this Robert Rodriguez cult classic, written by Clooney’s co-star Quentin Tarantino. What starts as a straightforward crime flick becomes something else altogether when Clooney and Tarantino get to a strip club that has a very dark and supernatural secret. It is one of the best scary movies on HBO Max.
6. Funny Games
Genre: | Crime, Drama, Horror |
Director: | Michael Haneke |
Cast: | Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Mühe, Arno Frisch |
IMDb Rating: | 7.5/10 |
Funny Games, directed by Michael Haneke, is one of the most shocking movies. It’s a story about a family who is essentially held hostage in their vacation home in Austria. Over the course of the day, the criminals basically torture this family, and through fourth-wall breaks, Haneke interrogates why people would even want to watch something like this, illuminating what art can reveal about the dark side of humanity.
7. Hereditary
Genre: | Drama, Horror, Mystery |
Director: | Ari Aster |
Cast: | Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Milly Shapiro |
IMDb Rating: | 7.3/10 |
Hereditary, starring Toni Collette, gives a fearless performance in Ari Aster’s debut feature, a movie that traumatizes new viewers every day. The Oscar nominee plays a woman whose life is turned upside down after her mother’s death, sending everyone into a terrifying tailspin. What starts as a family drama becomes a waking nightmare in Aster’s unforgettable vision.
Related: 12 Best Horror Movies Like Sinister | Expert Guide
8. It Comes at Night
Genre: | Horror, Mystery, Drama |
Director: | Trey Edward Shults |
Cast: | Joel Edgerton, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Carmen Ejogo |
IMDb Rating: | 6.2/10 |
It Comes At Night is a horrifying horror movie directed by Trey Edward Shults. He has quickly become one of the most important directors of his generation with his personal debut, Krisha, and one of the more divisive films of the last few years, Waves. In between is this daring film that A24 kind of sold too much as a horror film, turning off viewers expecting something more traditional. It’s a mood piece about trust and survival starring Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott, Carmen Ejogo, Riley Keough, and a guy who still feels like he’s just on the verge of stardom, Kelvin Harrison Jr.
9. The Lodge
Genre: | Drama, Horror, Thriller |
Director: | Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz |
Cast: | Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh |
IMDb Rating: | 6.0/10 |
The Lodge is about a girl named Riley Keough who is about to become stepmother to two suspicious children, played by Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh. The family goes on a trip to a remote lodge and gets stranded there after Dad leaves on business. The kids start to play with Mom’s mind, and the results are unbelievably terrifying.
10. The Menu
Genre: | Thriller |
Director: | Mark Mylod |
Cast: | Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult, Anya Taylor-Joy |
IMDb Rating: | 7.2/10 |
The Menu is a horror movie directed by Will Tracy and Seth Reiss. It is a story about a young couple who go to an elite restaurant on a remote island for a lifetime dining experience. The acclaimed chef of that restaurant has prepared an exquisite menu, but little do they know about the grand surprise awaiting them from the chef.
11. Midsommar
Genre: | Drama, Horror, Mystery |
Director: | Ari Aster |
Cast: | Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper |
IMDb Rating: | 7.1/10 |
Midsommar, starring Florence Pugh and Jack Reynor, is considered one of the new scary movies on HBO Max. It portrays a couple who go to Sweden for a festival that goes horribly awry. A comedy of cultures gives way to something much darker when the true purpose of the festival is revealed in a series of final scenes you’ll never forget.
12. Night of the Living Dead
Genre: | Horror |
Director: | George A. Romero |
Cast: | Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman |
IMDb Rating: | 7.9/10 |
Night of the Living Dead is the movie that changed everything. It’s really hard to overstate the impact that George A. Romero’s classic black-and-white masterpiece had on not just the zombie genre but DIY microbudget horror filmmaking in general. So many people have been chasing that game-changing impact of Night of the Living Dead in the half-century since it came out, but it’s the original that’s passed the test of time.
13. Orphan
Genre: | Horror, Mystery, Thriller |
Director: | Jaume Collet-Serra |
Cast: | Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman |
IMDb Rating: | 7.0/10 |
The Orphan is a story of Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard, a grieving couple who adopt a child after losing one of their own. As the tagline says, “There’s something wrong with Esther.” More than just a traditional “bad seed” movie, this is a clever thriller with great performances all around. It’s darkly humorous, too, constantly taking risks that other filmmakers would have avoided. It has held up remarkably well.
Also Read: 2024 Movie Magic: Discover New HBO Max Releases
14. Paranormal Activity
Genre: | Horror, Mystery |
Director: | Oren Peli |
Cast: | Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat |
IMDb Rating: | 6.3/10 |
Paranormal Activity is one of the most profitable films of all time, this found-footage blockbuster was notoriously made for only $15K (before postproduction) and ended up grossing almost $200 million worldwide, launching a franchise that’s still going over 15 years later. A formative film in the found-footage genre, it stars Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat as a young couple who set up cameras in their house to document the supernatural presence they feel. What they find changed indie-horror-movie history.
15 . Pet Sematary
Genre: | Horror, Thriller |
Director: | Mary Lambert |
Cast: | Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby, Fred Gwynne |
IMDb Rating: | 6.6/10 |
Pet Semetary is based on Stephen King’s 1983 novel of the same name, which is about a cemetery that brings pets back to life. It is a timeless tale about not messing with the power of life and death, in which a family makes an impossible decision after a tragedy and learns their lesson the very hard way.
16. Piranha
Genre: | Comedy, Horror, Thriller |
Director: | Alexandre Aja |
Cast: | Elisabeth Shue, Adam Scott, Jerry O’Connell |
IMDb Rating: | 5.4/10 |
Piranha, directed by Alexandre Aja, is a remake of the B-movie classic about a school of piranha that causes bloody chaos at a waterside resort. Starring Elisabeth Shue and Adam Scott, who totally understand that this movie needs to be as over-the-top as possible, and they play along wonderfully with the tone of this entertaining remake.
17. Scream
Genre: | Horror, Mystery |
Director: | Wes Craven |
Cast: | Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette |
IMDb Rating: | 7.3/10 |
The Ghostface Killer returned in January 2022 with the release of Scream, the fifth film in this franchise and the first since Wes Craven’s death. The fun continued with another sequel in 2023. Even the makers of the new scary movies on HBO Max would suggest that fans go back and watch the original films to see how Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) got here. All four of the Craven films are available now on Max. The first movie is still a flat-out genre masterpiece.
You may also like: Engage Your Mind with the Best Documentaries on HBO Max — Our Top 25 Picks
18. Seven
Genre: | Crime, Drama, Mystery |
Director: | David Fincher |
Cast: | Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow |
IMDb Rating: | 8.6/10 |
Directed by David Fincher, Seven is already a masterpiece. It is the story of two detectives (Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman) hunting a serial killer who bases his crimes on the seven deadly sins. When it was released, it shook the movie world, and it’s still influencing thrillers a quarter-century later.
19. The Shining
Genre: | Drama, Horror |
Director: | Stanley Kubrick |
Cast: | Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd |
IMDb Rating: | 8.4/10 |
The Shinning is the most popular adaptation of a Stephen King novel. It is the story of a boy named Jack and his family. They relocate to an isolated hotel that has a reputation for being notoriously violent. A few months into staying, Jack starts to lose his sanity, affecting his family badly.
20. The Silence of the Lambs
Genre: | Crime, Drama, Thriller |
Director: | Jonathan Demme |
Cast: | Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn |
IMDb Rating: | 8.6/10 |
Directed by Jonathan Demme, The Silence of Lambs is a thriller about Clarice Starling, an FBI agent, and Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a psychopathic serial killer. Together they try to catch a notorious serial killer who skins his victims. The Silence of Lambs has set a precedent for all horror thrillers to come ahead.
21. Under the Skin
Genre: | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi |
Director: | Jonathan Glazer |
Cast: | Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams, Lynsey Taylor Mackay |
IMDb Rating: | 6.3/10 |
A trippy sci-fi masterpiece, this flick stars Scarlett Johansson as an alien being exploring the world around her and, well, doing some terrifying things to the men she comes in contact with — though that description only scratches the surface of why this is a special movie, a terrifying tone piece that has more in common with Twin Peaks than with Species. It’s unforgettable and the best scary movie on HBO Max.
22. The Visit
Genre: | Horror, Mystery, Thriller |
Director: | M. Night Shyamalan |
Cast: | Olivia DeJonge, Ed Oxenbould, Deanna Dunagan |
IMDb Rating: | 6.2/10 |
The Visit is a horror-found-footage film about a couple of kids who go to visit their truly creepy grandparents. Clever, funny, and twisted, It really launched its creator back to the forefront of the horror genre.
23. The Witch
Genre | Horror, Mystery, Thriller |
Director | Robert Eggers |
Cast | Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie |
IMDb Rating | 6.9/10 |
The Witch, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, made her film debut in this tale set in the 1630s as a Puritan family faces an evil entity in the woods near their home. With stunning sound design and unforgettable visuals, it’s one of the best scary movies on HBO Max of its era.
Wrapping Up
To wrap it up, HBO Max is the place to be for all your scary movie cravings. Whether you’re into old classics or the newest spooky releases, there’s something for everyone. With easy subscription options and a wide range of movies, HBO Max makes it simple to get your scare on. So, grab some popcorn, turn off the lights, and get ready for a thrilling movie night with the new scary movies on HBO Max!
Suggested: Get Spooked with the Top 15 Scary Movies on Paramount Plus