Entertainment
Scaredy-cat. Coward. Wuss. If you're one of the many people who take no joy in watching blood splatter or struggle to appreciate the craftsmanship behind a well-executed head explosion, you've likely heard these names before. Nothing seems to spoil movie night faster than a friend with sensitive soul objecting to chainsaw guttings, but isn't it strange that a group of people plopping themselves together to revel in bloody death is considered the norm? But we're not here to weigh the merits of gory genre filmmaking, we're here to help everyone have a good time! To that end, here are 24 fun slasher movies for people who are easily scared.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with cringing at people being dismembered or strangled. It's horrifying, that's why it's called horror. But just as some people get a thrill from riding a roller coaster, reveling in their relative safety while enjoying the speed and jostle, some people find watching ludicrously over-the-top ways to dispatch humanity cathartic, in spite of — or perhaps especially — in light of how awful the actual world around us can be.
The films on this list mostly shy away from, shall we say, more creative ways of cutting folks up, but they retain the core thrill of a mystery murderer coming for others while you watch omnipresent and safe. Some of the films, like Murder By Death, Scream and The Old Dark House, poke knowing fun at these tropes, reflecting back what draws people in to these films in the first place. There's no shame in being scared, but it's also no reason you have to avoid the fun.
1
'The 'Burbs'
America's Sweetheart Tom Hanks stars as a man trying to take a staycation. Are his strange new neighbors actually pulling dirty deeds, or his he just a man in the middle of a midlife crisis?
Streaming on Kanopy, Shudder, and Amazon Prime.
2
'Phantasm'
When a kid investigates his town's strange deaths with the help of his brother, he uncovers a creepy mortician's strange plot. Fine if you're not orb-phobic.
Streaming on Shudder.
3
'Hausu'
It's hard to be scared when you have no idea what's happening. And when the movie looks as gorgeous as this bonkers ghost story, it almost doesn't matter.
Streaming on the Criterion Channel.
4
'Dolls'
A sudden downpour traps a family and punk hitchhikers in a spooky old house filled with homemade dolls. They'll be fine... as long as they don't make the tiny terrors mad.
Streaming on Amazon Prime.
5
'The Frighteners'
An early, sillier film from Peter Jackson focuses on Michael J. Fox's faux-spiritualist and real ghost-seer, who encounters a murderer from beyond the grave.
Streaming on Starz.
6
'The Cat And The Canary' (1927)
This wild silent film is filled with creative cuts and titles, as a family settling an inheritance find themselves menaced by a mysterious murderer.
Streaming on Amazon Prime.
7
'Idle Hands'
Another film that's more goofy than gory, this one is about a stoner whose hand becomes murderously possessed.
Streaming on Sony Crackle.
8
'Horror Express'
Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing play rival anthropologists who team up to solve increasingly strange murders on a train. The above should give you a pretty solid idea of the "horror" level.
Streaming on Fandor.
9
'The Gate'
Lil' baby Stephen Dorff stars in the rare horror movie where black metal saves the day, helping close a rift of creatures that opens up in an unsuspecting family's backyard.
Streaming on Hoopla, Roku, and Tubi.
10
'Chopping Mall'
'80s mall teens meet uncontrollable security robots in this slightly gory, mostly silly film. With a bonus Eating Raoul coda at the beginning!
Streaming on Amazon Prime, Hoopla, and Tubi TV.
11
'House On Haunted Hill' (1953)
Originally shown in theaters in terrifying EMERGO-VISION (OK, it was just a skeleton that zipped to the front of the screen from the back), this Vincent Price delight has always been more about the scene-chewing fun than the actual scares.
Streaming on Amazon Prime, Roku, Tubi, Kanopy, Mubi, and Epix.
12
The Final Destination Series
A horror movie where the killer is Death seems like a raw deal for the protagonists. The house is always gonna win with this one. But watching Clear Rivers and co. spend their remaining days trying to flee Death's mousetrap murder contraptions is as fun as it is frightening.
Streaming on Netflix.
13
'Rubber'
The idea of a killer tire with telekinesis is more WTF than worrisome, though there is plenty of gore in this strange tale.
Streaming on Hoopla, Tubi, and Magnolia Selects.
14
'Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory'
"This is a children's classic, not a slasher," you say. Oh really? A group of people enter an isolated house (fine, factory) and start disappearing one by one while a distinctly dressed madman flits about? Yeah, that's what I thought.
Streaming on Fubo.
15
'The Old Dark House'
Playing on the horror trope it's named after, this tale of newlyweds trapped in a home with Boris Karloff and his ilk is spooky fun.
Streaming on Kanopy and Shudder.
16
'Happy Death Day'
The rarest of rare: a PG-13 slasher movie. College student Tree navigates time travel shenanigans as a masked murderer kills her again...and again...and again.
Streaming on FXNow and Fubo.
17
'Hot Fuzz'
True, this is more heartfelt homage to '90s buddy cop films than a slasher movie, but Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's police partners are trying to solve a series of mysterious (and goofily bloody) murders in a small town.
Streaming on Netflix.
18
'Evil Dead II'
Far sillier than its predecessor, Ash once again faces off against the Evil Dead. This time the vibe is more Three Stooges than Last House On The Left.
Streaming on Vudu, Tubi, and Fubo.
19
'Scream'
The scares are tempered by meta-analysis of the entire slasher genre in this reflexive film.
Streaming on Netflix and Hoopla.
20
'Unfriended'
The scariest thought is, what would this vengeful creature do if the wifi was out?
Streaming on FXNow.
21
'Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers'
The blood and guts are mitigated by an insanely chipper lead camper determined to have the BEST SUMMER EVER, even if it means taking heads.
Streaming on Amazon Prime.
22
'Re-Animator'
This one's not exactly for the squeamish, but it's too fun a film to pass up.
Streaming on Showtime.
23
'Murder By Death'
Another meta take, this one on the murder-mystery genre, featuring an all-star cast including Alec Guinness, Peter Falk (Columbo!), and Peter Sellers.
Streaming on Fubo.
24
'I Bury The Living'
The "killer" here is a cemetery caretaker who believes he has power of life and death pending the placement of a pin on the cemetery map.
Streaming on Shudder.
There's no need to feel bad about not wanting to watch bodies being dismembered, but anyone can enjoy these films, which emphasize the fun thrills instead of the bloody chills.
