All scares are good scares. Highbrow or lo-fi, a bump in the night or a bucket of blood, supernatural entities or serial killers — why limit yourself to just one type of horror movie? If you want something old-school that’ll keep you up at night, the ’80s and ’90s served up many flavors of terror — films about interlopers seeking ill-advised revenge, knife-brandishing butchers (of both the masked and toy variety) hunting their victims with glee, and unwitting heroes battling preternaturally vicious beasts.
Keep scrolling for all kinds of retro horror flicks that will scare you silly, now streaming on Netflix.
A mother grizzly bear seeks revenge for the death of her cub in this 1983 monster flick. Deep in Yellowstone National Park, a group of dedicated park rangers, led by Nick Hollister (Steve Inwood), begin uncovering the grizzly’s victims. They urge the organizers of an upcoming Yellowstone rock concert to delay the event, but to no avail. With the help of the park’s director of bear management (Deborah Raffin) and a world-famous grizzly expert (John Rhys-Davies), the rangers work to tranquilize the bear before poachers can hunt her down first. George Clooney (Jay Kelly), Laura Dern (Marriage Story), and Charlie Sheen (aka Charlie Sheen) co-star as three teenagers who get caught up in the action. Deborah Foreman (Valley Girl) also stars.
The Bartel family’s new nanny, Mrs. Mott (Rebecca De Mornay), is a godsend. When mom Claire (Annabella Sciorra) and dad Michael (Matt McCoy) hire Mrs. Mott to care for their 6-month-old son, Joey (Eric Melander), she integrates herself into the young family with ease. But Mrs. Mott has an ulterior motive. As she slowly begins to sabotage the Bartel family from the inside — including inventing cheating scandals and turning the couple’s children against them — Claire and Michael uncover their two-faced nanny’s true mission: deadly revenge against the people she believes ruined her life. Madeline Zima (The Nanny), Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters), and Julianne Moore (Sirens) also star in this 1992 psychological thriller, directed by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential).
When Charles Brady (Brian Krause) moves to the small town of Travis, Indiana, with his mother, Mary (Alice Krige), he seems to be like any other teenager. Handsome and charming, Charles soon asks out Tanya Robertson (Mädchen Amick), whose friends and parents are thrilled about the budding relationship. Little do they suspect that Charles and Mary are catlike shape-shifters who prey on the life force of virginal young women. Using their supernatural powers, the Bradys terrorize the town and hunt down Tanya in order to feed on her energy. Written by horror maestro Stephen King, this 1992 flick also stars Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Jim Haynie (The Bridges of Madison County), and Mark Hamill (The Fall of the House of Usher).
Wanna play? Don Mancini’s Good Guy returns to wreak giddy havoc in this 1990 sequel. Two years ago, Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent) barely survived his run-in with Chucky (voiced by Brad Dourif), the murderous doll possessed by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray. With his mother institutionalized, Andy is taken in by foster parents Phil (Gerrit Graham) and Joanne (Jenny Agutter). But just as Andy begins to settle in and connect with his new foster sister, the disaffected Kyle (Christine Elise), Chucky arrives — he’s been resurrected by his profit-obsessed manufacturers. Can Andy endure another bloody round with his “friend to the end,” or will Chucky have the last laugh? Grace Zabriskie (Twin Peaks) and Beth Grant (Remarkably Bright Creatures) co-star.
In the sleepy town of Woodsboro, California, high school student Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) is taunted and then killed in her home by a masked, knife-wielding assailant known as Ghostface. Her death rattles the community, especially her classmate Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who’s still struggling with her mother’s assault and murder one year prior. As the media descends on Woodsboro and the local police bumble through the investigation, Sidney, her friends, and her boyfriend, Billy (Skeet Ulrich), become Ghostface’s next targets. They’ll have to unmask the horror movie–obsessed killer themselves — or die trying. Courteney Cox (Friends), David Arquette (12 Hour Shift), Matthew Lillard (He’s All That), and Rose McGowan (Charmed) also star in director Wes Craven’s 1996 meta slasher.
One year after the events of the first film, two students at the fictional Windsor College are murdered while attending a screening of Stab, a movie based on the Woodsboro killings. Their killer, wearing a familiar white mask and black robe, appears to be a Ghostface copycat. Sidney (Campbell), now a student at Windsor, is dragged back into the fray when the media, including Gale Weathers (Cox), gets hold of the story. Deputy Dewey Riley (Arquette) also arrives to offer Sidney protection. With her new friends and fellow Woodsboro survivor Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) at her side, Sidney must once again do battle with Ghostface and uncover the killer’s motivations. Sarah Michelle Gellar (Scooby-Doo) and Timothy Olyphant (Santa Clarita Diet) join the cast of this 1997 sequel.
