It’s that time of the year where even the most timid of movie viewers might watch a horror movie or two. It’s also inconvenient to leave the house or wait around for a movie to show up in the mail from Amazon. The days of us being at the mercy of cable television or renting a terrible movie that one would normally never bother sitting through other than the fact that they spent $3 renting it and will have to return it the next day before work, but forget about it as they head out the door resulting in late fees and avoiding the movie store for months are over. We forget what people did before Netflix during the colder months. It probably involved canning food or honing a valuable life skill or something like that. If you don’t constantly watch everything that is even remotely worth watching with the cat like we do, then here are a few things that might be of interest.

We’ll start this off with our top ten picks and throw in a few other things to help you transition into these months of darkness. Keep in mind that our tolerance for horror is fairly high so use your own discretion.

The Babadook

Sometimes we sit through some pretty crappy movies. The Babadook isn’t particularly violent or gory, but it is fairly scary and well done. We could see some people turning it off mid-way through if they are alone while watching this creepy film.  

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead

This movie might be our new favorite zombie flick. There are plenty of original concepts going on here as an Australian family man fights zombie hoards to find his kidnapped sister only to discover an interesting twist upon finding her.

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil

We’ve mentioned this in past Halloween horror suggestions. While it certainly has some gore, it’s a pretty light hearted twist on the “hillbilly horror” film.

 American Mary

This strange tale about a medical student who begins doing underground surgeries is an original concept and is plenty disturbing in parts (no pun intended).

Contracted

This movie doesn’t really fully make sense until the end. If you think watching a young woman fall apart due to a mysterious disease and the unsettling moments that surround that, then this movie is worth a watch. There’s a sequel and apparently things get out of control.

Zombeavers

The title is self explanatory. While not particularly scary, this fun horror flick is pretty entertaining and funny at times. It’s still not for the kids with plenty of gore, drug use and yes, beaver jokes.

Tremors 5

This movie is not the best and doesn’t really hold up to the first Tremors. With that being said, it is a lot better than most of the other sequels and is worth a watch if you loved the first one and sat through the others.

V/H/S Viral

All of the V/H/S movies are worth a watch for those trying to fill out their horror repertoire and they are currently all on Netflix. The first is debatably the best and is probably some what important to watch before the other two sequels to get a feel for this pretty twisted collection of short films.

Wolf Creek 2

This movie probably won’t make for a good date flick. It moves pretty fast and is filled with plenty of disturbing material. It’s a pretty raw take of a newer psycho-slasher film.

Nightbreed: The Director’s Cut

There’s a few Clive Barker inspired movies currently on Netflix. Most are aware of the Hellraiser series. The first Hellraiser is a must watch for anyone interested in horror cinema. Not everyone may be as familiar with the film Nightbreed. It has the early 90s feel, but overall, is a pretty cool movie for what it is.
Shows:

Walking Dead (5 Seasons)

This is pretty much the most in depth zombie experience that we’ve ever seen. The second season drags a little, but we’re giving the thumbs up overall on the character development as the cast slowly evolves due to experience and new comers who replace the ones that don’t make it.

American Horror Story (4 Seasons)

We have friends who could not watch the latest “Freakshow” addition that was recently added. It didn’t bother us much, but this show is fairly well written and has plenty of graphic violence and themes.

The X-Files (9 Seasons)

Sure, you’ve probably watched an episode of X-Files or two, but it’s unlikely you’ve watched all of it. Two FBI agents run into a variety of paranormal situations in this show. Agent Fox Mulder wants to believe and agent Dana Scully tries coming up with rational explanations, but is often at a loss.

For the Kids:

We’d consider most of the above suggestions to be a little too intense for most kids. If you let your kid watch the Saw series, that’s your business. We got freaked out when we watched Michael Jackson’s Thriller when it came out back in the day.

Corpse Bride (PG)

A kind of endearing tale about an unexpected relationship and a well done stop motion movie.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG)

Yes, another Tim Burton stop motion animated movie. It’s a visually stunning flick that was cutting edge for its day. It carries its own vibe of Halloween fun.