If the ’80s horror films were about the rise of the slashers, then the ’90s were about the rise of the horror comedies.
A handful of iconic ’80s slashers had sequels in the 1990s, but the films that stood out in this era weren’t sequels. They were the movies that took bigger chances.
To celebrate the Halloween season, Watch With Us has put together our picks for the seven best horror movies of the 1990s.
All of the movies below are available on at least one of the major streamers, and two of them can even be streamed for free.
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7. ‘The Frighteners’ (1996)
Half a decade before the first Lord of the Rings movie hit theaters, Peter Jackson helmed The Frighteners, a horror comedy starring Michael J. Fox. After a brush with death, former architect Frank Bannister (Fox) gains the ability to see and hear ghosts. He also develops an ongoing con with three ghost accomplices, The Judge (John Astin), Cyrus (Chi McBride) and Stuart (Jim Fyfe).
Frank and his spooky friends are very successful until they spot the Reaper, an evil spirit who can kill both the living and the dead. When one of Frank’s clients, Lucy Lynskey (Trini Alvarado), is targeted by the Reaper, he and the ghosts do everything they can to save her, even if it means taking a one-way trip to the afterlife.
The Frighteners is streaming on Tubi.
6. ‘From Dusk Till Dawn’ (1996)
While Quentin Tarantino has never directed a horror movie, he wrote one and gave himself a leading role in From Dusk Till Dawn. Robert Rodriguez directed this bizarre fusion of a crime thriller and horror flick, which follows Seth (George Clooney) and Richie Gecko (Tarantino), an infamous pair of bank robbers. And this time, Richie’s mental instability has ratcheted up the heat from the police so much that the brothers have to sneak into Mexico.
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After holding Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) hostage alongside his children, Kate (Juliette Lewis) and Scott (Ernest Liu), the Geckos come face-to-face with Santanico Pandemonium (Salma Hayek) and her legion of vampires. Gecko and the Fullers may not have much in common, but working together is the only way any of them will have a chance to survive the night.
From Dusk Till Dawn is streaming on Paramount+.
5. Candyman (1992)
The Candyman (Tony Todd) is just an urban legend, or at least that’s what anthropology student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) used to believe. In Candyman, Helen chases the legend of the hook-handed killer while investigating a series of copycat murders at the projects in Chicago.
Much to Helen’s shock, Candyman turns out to be a real vengeful spirit, and he’s less than pleased with her attempts to debunk his legend. That gives him the excuse to go on a killing spree to reestablish the fear he inspired in the hearts of men. It also makes Helen an easy scapegoat for his crimes. Once she’s been marked by the Candyman, there may not be any way for Helen to escape his reach.
Candyman is streaming on Prime Video.
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4. ‘The Blair Witch Project’ (1999)
Would The Blair Witch Project have been as successful without the marketing campaign behind it? In 1999, moviegoers weren’t really familiar with the concept of found footage movies, and this film was marketed as if it were really the lost footage of three college students — Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard and Michael C. Williams — who disappeared in the woods while chasing the legend of the Blair Witch.
The idea that this footage was real was far more terrifying than anything in the movie itself. Donahue, Leonard and William shot most of the film while playing themselves, and there are some genuinely spooky moments in it. The Blair Witch Project may work better as an experience than a film, but it was one of the definitive horror movies of the decade.
The Blair Witch Project is streaming on Kanopy.
3. ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ (1992)
Dracula has been a little overdone on the big screen. That’s what happens when the world’s most famous monster is in the public domain. Francis Ford Coppola‘s take on the material, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, wasn’t exactly faithful to the novel’s text. But it went a long way towards making the story scary again.
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Beyond giving Dracula (Gary Oldman) an origin at the beginning of the film, the biggest change here is that Coppola turns it into a love story between the Count and Mina Murray (Winona Ryder), a woman who looks just like his late wife. Dracula traps Mina’s fiancé, Jonathan Harker (Keanu Reeves), in his castle so he can woo Mina and eventually turn her into a vampire as well. Professor Abraham Van Helsing (Anthony Hopkins) may be the only one who can keep Dracula from damning Mina’s soul, but she has to choose who she really wants.
Bram Stoker’s Dracula is streaming on Netflix.
2. ‘The Sixth Sense’ (1999)
M. Night Shyamalan‘s first breakout success is still his best movie 26 years later. The Sixth Sense was a runaway hit, and it established Haley Joel Osment as one of the best child actors of his generation. Osment plays Cole Sear, a young boy who can see and hear ghosts, and they’re making his life a living Hell.
Child psychologist Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) views Cole as his chance to redeem himself for a previous client who suffered similar delusions. But the more time that Malcolm spends with Cole, the more he realizes that the kid isn’t crazy. The dead really do speak to Cole, and what they have to say may transform his life.
The Sixth Sense is streaming on HBO Max.
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1. ‘Scream’ (1996)
There are moments in Scream that play more like a comedy than a horror flick, but it never slips into farce like the Scary Movie franchise that parodied it. Director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson found a winning balance between laughs and scares, as well as a memorable killer with the now-iconic Ghostface costume.
Drew Barrymore‘s Casey Becker makes a very quick exit from the story, but her murder sets the film in motion for high school student Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). One year ago, someone murdered Sidney’s mother, and now she’s the Ghostface killer’s latest target. However, the Ghostface killer isn’t just after Sidney alone, and any one of her friends may be the one lurking behind that mask.
Scream is streaming on Hulu.
To be considered “the best,” these films and series can be visually engaging, intellectually stimulating or simply just fun to watch, but the one trait they must have is that they are all, in some way, entertaining. We then check which platform they are streaming on and how you can access them as a subscriber. No algorithm nonsense or paid endorsements here — our recommendations are based purely on our love and interest for the films and shows we love.
