The best horror to watch on Netflix this December

We’ve reached the final month of 2024, and for many people that means holiday traditions, family gatherings, and time off from work to fill with movies on the couch. So to help you figure out how to spend your hours on Netflix this month, we’ve curated a list of some of the platform’s best horror movies, just in case you’re in the mood for a little scare this holiday season.

Our picks this month include a great home invasion slasher you might have missed, one of the scariest found-footage movies of the last decade, and an undisputed classic that’s perfect for the right family gathering.

Editor’s Choice: You’re Next

Working hours: 1 hour 35 minutes
Director: Adam Wingard
Cast: AJ Bowen, Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg

Director Adam Wingard (Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire) and written by Simon Barrett (Azrael), a duo that worked together on Guest, You’re next follows Crispian Davison (IJ Bowen), a young man who reluctantly agrees to travel to a remote country house with his new girlfriend (Sharni Vinson) to meet his wealthy parents and siblings for the holidays. However, one evening in the middle of dinner, a group of masked assailants begin terrorizing the family and killing them one by one.

You’re next great frankenstein movie. Part comedy, part horror film about returning home to your horrible family for the holidays, part home invasion thriller, the film switches perfectly between these modes without missing a beat. —Austin Goslin

Working hours: 1 hour 33 minutes
Director: John Eric Dowdle
Cast: Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge

Both above and below follows a group of urban explorers who make their way into the roped-off sections of the Paris Catacombs—a vast underground ossuary containing the bones of more than 6 million people—to investigate just how deep the tomb is. As it turns out, it’s deeper than they thought, and can go all the way to Hell itself. The premise and setting alone should be enough to convince you to see the movie, but if it isn’t, it helps that the movie is genuinely scary.

This film is the last gasp of the found footage era, and it makes the most of its perspective. The first half is full of strong claustrophobic moments. Watching the intrepid explorers push through piles of human skulls or get stuck in a tangle of bones is undeniably creepy, and the film’s almost first-person perspective adds an extra layer of suspense and dread. In the second half, the space opens up, and the film switches to something more strange and supernatural, but no less spectacular. —AG

Working hours: 2 hours 4 minutes
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss

Look, you don’t really need to recommend anyone Jaws. It’s a true classic, one of the best movies ever made, and absolutely fantastic. However, we remind you that this is a Netflix movie. Perhaps even more importantly, I remind you that this is a terrific movie for a family get-together this holiday season, especially if you want to pause the conversation for a bit and just enjoy some great filmmaking and some of the best suspenseful music in cinema. —AG