There are plenty of reasons to scream out loud this August. Gas prices are still shockingly high, Ryan Murphy just debuted another critically reviled Hulu show and Ben Affleck and J.Lo still haven’t reconciled.
There’s also a slew of new horror movies streaming on popular platforms such as Netflix, HBO Max and Hulu.
Watch With Us has rounded up the best of the new batch this month, with the Netflix original flick The Last House at the top of our list.
We also recommend director Zach Cregger’s breakout 2022 hit Barbarian, with Georgina Campbell and Justin Long, and a ‘70s-set slasher featuring Mia Goth and Brittany Snow.
‘The Last House’ (2026) — Netflix
Why can’t Ann (Greta Lee), Jason (Wagner Moura) and their two kids leave their house? At first, it seems absurd; Ann can’t open the front door, and Jason can’t break the windows to crawl out. Soon, it becomes apparent that some mysterious force is keeping them from going outside. They have no choice but to stay in the house, but as their food and supplies run out, they’ll have to figure out a way to survive without venturing outside.
The Last House is a horror film about isolation and the possibility that a place you think of as a sanctuary can turn into a prison due to elements beyond your control. Hmm, sound familiar? While the film’s COVID-19 pandemic allegory is less than subtle, The Last House is very much a horror film, with elements of H.P. Lovecraft, Alien and The Thing. It’s also a domestic drama, survival thriller and a creature feature all rolled into one, and it’s one of the most striking Netflix originals in quite a while.
‘Barbarian’ (2022) — HBO Max
Tess (Georgina Campbell) and Keith (Bill Skarsgård) are strangers who are stuck together in a Detroit house after Airbnb erroneously double-booked them for the same two days. When Tess discovers a hidden room in the basement, she begins to investigate and finds a long subterranean tunnel that leads to some dark, undisclosed location. Someone — or some thing — is down there, and Tess and Keith will have to find out what it is before it’s too late.
Barbarian is best enjoyed by not knowing much about it before you watch it. Writer-director Zach Cregger has said in interviews he had “no long plan, (so) no one could know what’s coming,” and that’s why the film works. It zags when you expect a zig, and pulls one narrative surprise after another. It’s not for pure shock value, though; instead, the Weapons auteur tells an absorbing story of trauma and abuse. Yes, you could call Barbarian “elevated horror,” but it’s also a fun monster film, with a climactic chase scene that’s both ridiculous and appropriate.
‘X’ (2022) — Hulu
Where’s the harm in a little sex? That’s what six friends think as they trek to an isolated Texas farmhouse to form an amateur porn film with the hope of making a little money – and for stripper Maxine Minx (Mia Goth), silver-screen fame. But the farmhouse’s elderly occupants, Howard (Stephen Ure) and Peal (Goth), aren’t as inviting as they appear to be. Something sinister is going on, and Maxine and her friends are about to find out the hard way.
After years of subpar sequels and reboots, the 1974 horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre finally received a worthy spiritual follow-up with X. But make no mistake – Ti West’s film has an original story with all-new characters, some of whom later appear in the prequel Pearl and the ‘80s-set sequel, MaXXXine. Like Chain Saw, X conjures a specific kind of menace that starts in the dull sunshine and carries through into the inky blackness of a long and hot Texas night. The film has its share of gore – one unfortunate soul gets his eyes gouged with a rusty pitchfork – but what makes X truly scary is the creepy vibes it gives off throughout its 106-minute runtime.
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