If you don’t want a certain hockey-masked mummy’s boy to be disappointed in you this Friday 13th, you should be watching horror movies on Netflix tonight. That doesn’t even have to be an official Friday the 13th, either (which is a good job, as Netflix currently isn't showing it).
Just like Halloween, Jason Voorhees’ many bloodied adventures at camp have inspired countless masked slasher movies. These, it has to be said, vary greatly in quality, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some genre classics to enjoy.
So grab your popcorn and get ready to pay homage to the slasher genre with the best horrors to watch on Netflix this Friday the 13th. You won’t be right back...
1. Scream 4 (2011)
If you don’t want to wait until March 2023 for even more Ghostface after the success 2022’s (somewhat confusingly-titled) Scream, it’s time to revisit this excellent sequel on Netflix.
In Scream 4 an older and wiser Sidney Prescott returns to Woodsboro to promote her new book on surviving trauma. It’s no spoiler to say that this, ironically, doesn’t go well, and a whole new generation of teenagers become lambs to the stabby slaughter.
This was the last movie of the legendary Wes Craven, and is another perfect combo of meta horror and wry comedy. You’ll also want the origin story for a character confirmed to return for Scream 6 in 2023...
2. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
The original 1974 Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a tour de force of true horror. A perfect masterwork of terrifying proportions (but it's not on Netflix at the moment, g'darn it).
This 2022 sequel? Well, it’s definitely not that, but it does have some spectacularly gory set pieces – believe us when we say you won’t want to miss the party bus – and a slew of on the nose commentary about millennials who just want to find somewhere new to brunch.
This modern slasher might not have quite the visceral effect of its predecessor but, in the spurting vein of the best slasher movies, there’s an infectious sense of gory fun here that'll suit any Friday the 13th fan's horror movie night.
3. Halloween (1978)
You can’t beat a stone cold classic of the horror genre. Halloween was one of the key influences on the Friday the 13th series and pretty much the reason we’re all still watching slasher movies and still learning their rules now.
Nothing compares to the menace of Michael Myers scored with John Carpenter’s ominous synths. Plus, revisiting Jamie Lee Curtis’ debut as a scream queen makes up for the incompetence of the recent Halloween Kills.
Every shot of this Halloween has a palpable sense of dread. And, yes, it’s just a spray-painted William Shatner mask – but Michael Myers is still a terrifying presence.
4. Hush (2016)
Few directors have defined 21st century horror in the same way as Mike Flanagan. And before he even started on The Hauntings of Hill House or Bly Manor series, Hush was his ultra tense take on the slasher genre.
Kate Siegel plays Maddie, a deaf and mute writer living in an isolated house in the woods. If being miles from the nearest Dominos sounds bad, it becomes even worse when she ends up fighting for her life after the arrival of a sinister masked man.
This is a nail-biting cat-and-mouse game and a relentless 90 minutes of pure slasher cinema. A top horror movie watch on Netflix right now, that's for sure.
5. Sinister (2012)
Okay, so Sinister is more of a supernatural horror than an official slasher, but given that it’s scientifically one of the scariest movies you can watch this Friday 13th – only dethroned in 2020 by Zoom-based horror, Host – it can’t be ignored.
And, hey, there’s a thing with a horrible face and nasty garden equipment murder so it kind of counts. We can’t blame poor Ethan Hawke for the incident. It’s not even on our list of the Mistakes everyone makes with lawnmowers…
Jokes aside, Sinister sees a writer moving his family to a new house so he can get to work on a new true crime novel. What he finds in the attic makes him wish he worked in a different genre.
This isn’t one to watch alone. We did warn you… it might make sense that people are unsubscribing Netflix for Disney+ after you allow this one to penetrate your eyeballs this Friday 13th.
