Top Horror Movies Streaming This Week

Ryan Coogler's Sinners is still locked into the number one spot for the third week in a row, and it's still in theaters for its latest reissue. Jack O'Connell, who plays the character Remmick, still has two films in the top ten, and in both, he plays a villainous character with lots of charisma. One is frequently covered in blood, and the other likes wearing a tracksuit.

Remmick is a very interesting character as a villainous vampire because he can relate to the human characters in the roadhouse. He has his reasons for wanting to be granted an invite, but he also knows how to manipulate our heroes, which makes him all the more dangerous. Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, O'Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, and Delroy Lindo star in this complex and very personal film from Ryan Coogler.

Sinners is now streaming on HBO Max and Prime.

The guilt of parents and teachers who are involved in a school tragedy is one of the main themes of Weapons, where guilt drives the obsessions of Josh Brolin and Julia Garner's characters. Justine Gandy and Archer Graff spend their time trying to find the children and solve the mystery to try to make up for things they have done, didn't do, and the nagging feeling that they are responsible.

Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Toby Huss, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan also star in the film, written and directed by Zach Cregger, as part of the ensemble cast.

Weapons is now streaming on HBO Max.

An alternate version of the United States in the 70s, where fifty young men volunteer for a punishing contest to the death, where the populace can watch their deaths on television, is the world of The Long Walk. Written by JT Mollner, who wrote and directed Strange Darling, and directed by Francis Lawrence, who directed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the film gives a realistic and disturbing feel to this inhumane event. In fact, it is so realistic that you can even understand why the young men volunteer.

Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Josh Hamilton, Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill are the members of the film's excellent ensemble cast. Their performances and the direction and writing show the terrifying reality of the contest and the resilience of the human spirit, even in such a desperate situation.

The Long Walk is now streaming on Starz.

The second film in the top five that stars Jack O'Connell as Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal comes in at number 4, and also stars Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Alfie Williams, Chi Lewis-Parry, and Ralph Fiennes.  O' Connell's character managed to survive the original outbreak as a child and has formed a cult, The Jimmys, as an adult survivor. The film, directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, takes the narrative in another direction, which the previous sequel also did.

The creative team was not content to rest on its laurels and continues to push the story in new directions. While you can watch the first two films independently and still get what's happening, 28 Years Later and its sequel, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, are connected, and the second film is a continuation of the 28 Years Later story.

28 Years Later is now streaming on Netflix.

The tale of Dr. Frankenstein and his creation is one of the most influential novels in Gothic horror and, like Bram Stoker's Dracula, created a mythical archetype that is still relevant to modern audiences. The novel was written at a famous meeting of the minds at the poet Lord Byron's home on Lake Geneva that included Mary Godwin, Mary Shelley's maiden name, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary's stepsister Claire Claremont, and physician John William Polidori.  Mary Shelley published it under a pseudonym in 1818.

It makes sense that Frankenstein would be one of director Guillermo del Toro's dream projects. He has previously made the gothic romance, Crimson Peak, which was a gorgeous ghost story that dripped with gothic atmosphere and ornate costuming and set design.

Frankenstein is now streaming on Netflix.

Another film based on a story adapted many times and which has had an influence on writing for centuries is the tale of Cinderella.  This Norwegian alternative take on the fairy tale takes the viewpoint of the stepsister who longs for love and will sacrifice anything to gain beauty equal to that of her stepsister to win the love of the handsome prince. Is that prize worth the price she pays? That is the most important question.

Writer and director Emilie Blichfeldt's vision of the story is a horrifying and bloody body horror film that enumerates the lengths to which young women will go to feel worthy of love and to secure their future through marriage. Lea Myren, Thea Sofie Loch Næss, Ane Dahl Torp, and Flo Fagerli star in this Academy Award-nominated film that doesn't hold anything back.

The Ugly Stepsister is now streaming on Hulu and Shudder.

Mercedes Bryce Morgan's film, Bone Lake, has moved up in this week's top ten to capture the seventh spot. It is a rarer bird in horror these days, an erotic movie, that concentrates on the sexuality of two couples, who previously didn't know each other, but become entangled once they decide to share a lakeside rental home they both claim that they booked for a weekend.

Maddie Hasson, Alex Roe, Andra Nechita, and Marco Pigossi star as the two couples, one who is on the edge of marital commitment and another whose intentions seem to be questionable once they start to push the other couple's boundaries, while the legend of a serial killer that used the lake as a dumping ground hovers on the horizon.

Bone Lake is now streaming on Netflix.

Romance, a relationship at a crossroads, and body horror intersect in Michael Shank's debut feature film, Together. Even though the film has gruesome set pieces where the lead characters, Millie Wilson, played by Alison Brie, and Tim Brassington, played by Dave Franco, have to use power tools and narcotics as an unknown force tries to force them to stay together in a way nature never intended, the film has a grim humor that makes you laugh to stifle a scream.

The couple finds themselves in some truly embarrassing situations as the film shows a physical manifestation of the attraction that people in long-term and intense relationships feel emotionally, in a literal sense. The film also stars Damon Herriman (Mindhunter, House of Wax), Mia Morrissey, Karl Richmond, and Jack Kenny.

Together is now streaming on Hulu.

For the fourth week in a row, Black Phone 2 remains in the top ten. The film is scaring streaming viewers at home and continues the story of Finney and Gwen Blake, the two siblings who defeated The Grabber in the first film. Mason Thames, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, Miguel Mora, Demián Bichir, Arianna Rivas, and Ethan Hawke play the roles in this latest film from director Scott Derrickson.

Miguel Mora played Finney's friend Robin, and the victim of the serial killer, The Grabber, in the first film, and he was brought back for the second film to play Ernesto, Robin's brother. The same actor is rarely brought back to play a different character after the first one they played in a film series dies, but this is one of those exceptions. Mora, along with the other young actors in The Black Phone, did great work, and you can see why he made his return in Black Phone 2.

Black Phone 2 is now streaming on Peacock.

The first film in the 28 Days Later series electrified audiences when it was released in 2002 and still packs a punch today. Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland, along with DP Anthony Dod Mantle and stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns, and Brendan Gleeson, created a movie that was highly influential in horror and the zombie apocalypse subgenre, even though the infected are not zombies.

It holds up really well to repeated screenings, and if you want to catch it again, you might want to do it soon, because 28 Days Later will be leaving Shudder in 17 days. It's not clear if it will be available on another service after the end of February, so get to watching 28 Days Later if you haven't done so yet.

28 Days Later is now streaming on Shudder.