Are you also a fan of dark horror-thrillers or slashers movies? Well, then, so far, you’ve already watched quite a bunch of popular or notable ones so far.
And now you are just at a point thinking what more movies you can watch in these genres but knowing that movie you’re getting into is worth a watch.
Especially with hundreds of choices across streaming platforms just confuses you more.
Well, to begin with, the best approach is first to pick one streaming platform, like we are here doing with Amazon Prime Video.
Or you might just have the Prime Video subscription and are unsure what to invest your time into.
Nothing to worry about, we’ve handpicked some of the best lesser-known or just comparatively less mainstream or popular horrors, thrillers, and slashers to watch on Amazon Prime Video. Pick one and start watching!
Vivarium
Vivarium is one of those movies that leave you scratching your head, wondering what the film was actually about.
The film’s premise is interesting enough to pull you in and make you invested in this twisted world.
It is about a young couple looking for their perfect home who goes to see a real estate agent in a weird society of identical houses and gets trapped there.
They knew there was no way out from this seemingly post-apocalyptic pocket dimension or whatever it was.
The empty society has a series of identical houses, making a labyrinth world. The film gets more dramatic over time with lurking mystery.
The film is a science fiction mystery thriller with horror and bizarre elements, directed by Lorcan Finnegan and released in 2019.
Vivarium features Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots as Tom and Gemma, along with other minor role casts such as Senan Jennings, Enna Hardwicke, and Jonathan Aris.
Dracula Untold
Dracula Untold, a 2014 American dark fantasy action movie which takes you to this legendary epic vampire tale in the underworld.
You will get this Bram Stoker’s vampire version and its evil origin. The narrative of the film is set as a horror or thriller, which makes it a good watch.
What really stands out is the strong visuals and cinematics to draw this legendary tale that gives you this grandiose feel.
Luke Evan’s performance as the Dracula is something to quite spectacular to watch. Even if the film got quite mixed reviews at the time of its release, it is such a pleasure to go back to this film.
Apart from Luke Evan, the film also features Sarah Gadon, Charles Dance, Dominic Cooper, and Art Parkinson, directed by Gary Shore.
The Fly
You might not have heard or watched this 1986 lesser-known sci-fi horror gem featuring Jeff Goldblum as protagonist.
It was directed and co-written by David Cronenberg. The Fly is a story about a genius but an eccentric scientist who transforms himself into a giant man-fly hybrid when his experimentation goes wrong.
This film sometimes gets over-the-top with its melodrama and bit of ‘sci-fi B movie’ vibe, but it is too much fun to miss out on.
The Fly (1986), is actually the remake of 1958 cult classic that is not precisely entertaining but has a lot of biological ‘yucks’ and prosthetic make-up backed by an emotional core, so it connects well.
Goldblum plays a quite likable scientist, Seth Brundle, where you don’t want things to go wrong for him, especially with her sweet love interest, Geena Davis’s character.
The true horror comes from the fact that their romance gets emotionally distressed due to this gross physical transformation.
The Invisible Man
A spine-chilling thriller following Cecilia, who came to know that her rich, abusive, and obsessive ex-boyfriend took his own life, leaving his fortune behind for her but apparently known to be not dead.
It is a film based on the remains of the abusive relationship and trauma that consumes our protagonist but with a sci-fi element to the plot.
The film derives its core from H.G Well’s original The Invisible Man (1987), which hints about what if the power of invisibility is instead being used for mankind, made for fulfilling a person’s desires. What if it became a tool for moral corruption and abuse of power?
We have seen a rendition of that with the best adaption Hollow Man (2000), where the scale was much larger in terms of evil, sexual violence, power, and abuse. But with, this film, it is more restricted to this small world of our protagonist, which deals more with abusive relationships and PTSD of all trauma.
The film features Elisabeth Moss, Over Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer, and Aldis Hodge in significant roles where Leigh Whannell directs it.
Happy Death Day
Happy Death Day follows that classic fun plot element of reliving the day over and over which we have seen in different settings, but this one blends it with a slasher.
The film is about a college student, Tree, played by Jessica Rothe, who is reliving the day of her murder (also her birthday) over and over again in an endless loop.
She needs to discover the identity of her killer, and the audience gets hooked on the fact of how this loop is happening?
With the help of her friends, she tries to find the killer within the loop, where she dies every time in a different way.
It is undoubtedly a great entertainer as a horror/slasher comedy, also making it perfect for Halloween or horror/slasher movie nights.
The film is written by Scott Lobdell and directed by Christopher Landon with other cast members Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, and Charles Aitken.
If you like this film, you can also watch its sequel Happy Death Day 2U.
Fright Night
Fright Night is a delight to watch, especially if you love vampire movies and you want to watch something unique as a plot.
The film centers around Charlie, a teenage boy who discovers that his handsome charming neighbour is an ancient vampire who preys on people in the community.
He takes on the job to fight against and kill this vampire and save her mother and girlfriend in the process.
The film features a stellar cast such as Anton Yelchin, Colin Farell, David Tennant, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, Christopher Mint-Plasse, and David Franco.
This is also just a perfect movie for those who are looking for some nostalgia-driven suspenseful thrill, fun, and entertainment, all in one.
It is the remake of the Fright Night, released in 1985, a cult classic among horror fans, which consists of a perfect balance of horror and humor with a unique take on the vampire and teen horror genre.
BrightBurn
Have you wondered what happened if Superman went evil as a child when he was dropped in the spaceship on the farm in Kansas?
Brightburn explores such possibility certainly not with the Superman character but in a negative play on the origin story lines.
It is the story where a baby from another planet was crash-landed on Earth, apparently with superhuman abilities, quite similar to Superman but instead of becoming a hero, he became something sinister.
The film doesn’t only provide great premise and promising alteration of the classic superhero origin story but also delivers rightfully on it.
The movie revolves around this couple living in the countryside, struggling with fertility, and getting blessed by this mysterious baby boy from the sky.
But as he grows towards his puberty, he starts showing up his powers to abuse and act on his twisted urges.
For half of the film, you feel him be like a ticking time bomb ready to blast and rest like a classic horror movie with a child as a monster to run from.
The performances in the film are really captivating, and overall, the movie really consumes you and troubles you to the guts.
Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, and Jackson A. Dunn play notable characters in the movie which is directed by David Yaroversky.
Horns
Whether you’re a fan of Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and want to see him in a different film or just explore some unique storyline to explore, this is a good watch.
The film plays out after the mysterious death of Ig Perrish, played by Radcliffe, a young man when he finds out to be having strange horns on his forehead.
Basically, the town blames him to be his murderer where the world is against him, the evidence and even his own parents.
Suddenly, the next day when he wakes up, find these strange horns on his forehead and also that people now confess their darkest thoughts to him and even obey him. He has the power to bring their desires and memories out.
Now he tries to unravel this mystery of his girlfriend’s death and find her killer.
This Alexandre Aja directorial film features Daniel Radcliffe, Juno Temple, Maz Minghella, and Joe Anderson as primary cast members.
Jennifer’s Body
If you are into horror, slasher, and thriller genres, Jennifer’s Body is another unique take to explore, even just for its entertainment value.
The film revolves around these two high-school friends, Jennifer and Needy, two friends completely opposite of each other; one is more of an arrogant ‘cheerleader’ and another a reserved ‘nerd’ and bookworm.
Things get interesting when Jennifer becomes this bloodthirsty cursed creature with an appetite for human blood to thrive and look young and beautiful.
Everything falls on Needy to fight against none other than her friend when she goes on this bloodthirsty rampage, soon to her own boyfriend.
This is certainly not one of the best horrors or slashers out there, but it is more of a silly yet entertaining slasher horror for a casual watch.
If not, you can watch it for Megan Fox as Jennifer along with other cast members such as Amanda Seyfried, Adam Brody, and Johnny Simmons.
The film was written by Diabolo Cody and directed by Karyn Kusama.
The Lie
The Lie is an interesting mystery-thriller film which was released on Amazon Prime Video. It is the kind of film that hauntingly surprises you with its twists and hooks you with lingering suspense.
The story starts when a father and daughter, on their way to a dance camp, pick up the girl’s best friend from the road.
Soon, everything changes when this friend offends the daughter so much that, on impulse, she pushes her, only to slip and fall off the bridge and die.
After that, it all becomes her separate parents protecting their daughter at all costs, and it also becomes dealing with their empathetic daughter.
It certainly doesn’t end there, but what happens makes it a good watch for lesser-known thriller movies.
The film features Peter Sarsgaard, Joey King, Mireille Enos, Cas Anvar, and Patti Jim in significant roles, and Veena Sud directs it.
Scary Stories To Tell In Dark
Scary Stories To Tell In Dark is every horror film encapsulated in one which is about Stella and her two friends meeting this stranger Ramon on Halloween 1968 in this haunted house, finding a sinister notebook full of horror stories.
It is a horror film based in a small town of Mill Valley where in a mansion, a young girl with dark, troubled secrets turned her tragic life story into a series of scary stories put together in a book.
This dark-magic cursed story book has powers to make the horrors accurate as per the stories to people who read it.
It is a casual horror watch, tried with a unique approach and visually appealing as well.
The film features cast members Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Abrams, Dean Norris, and Gil Bellows.
Another highlight about the film is that, the screen story is written by known director Guillermo del Toro, whereas it is director By Andre Ovredal.
Fantasy Island
Another exciting plot-driven film from Blumhouse is the 2020-released Fantasy Island streaming on Prime Video.
The film’s premise is good enough to pull you in; what keeps you there is the lurking mystery which hooks you right in, and you just want to know what’s going on.
It begins when an owner and operator invites a collection of guests to live on a secluded exotic island to celebrate their most extravagant fantasies, but as the mystery unfolds, chaos ascends towards the climax.
These guests are supposed to live out their fantasies in much more elaborate ways, as told by the enigmatic, secretive host Mr. Roarke.
But these fantasies turn out to be nightmares connecting these guests to each other and a tragedy that is to unfold.
This movie immediately engages you and pulls you into this mystery, where you get invested in knowing the truth.
The film features cast members Michael Pena, Maggie Q, Lucy Hale, Austin Stowell, Jimmy O. Yang, Portia Doubleday, Ryan Hansen, and Michael Rooker in significant roles.
Jeff Wadlow directed the film and co-wrote with Christopher Roach and Jillian Jacobs.
Identity
This 2003-released mystery thriller movie is unpredictable, exciting, and a perfect psychological thriller-cum-horror.
It is among the lesser-known best psychological mystery thrillers to be known amongst movie watchers.
The whole story unravels in a desolate motel in Nevada during a heavy rainstorm where ten different strangers come together, only to find out that there is someone amongst them killing people one by one.
This is a highly recommendable thriller film if you really enjoy mind-bending psychological thrillers and twisted narratives.
The film features a talented cast such as John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, John Hawkes, Alfred Molina, Clea DuVall, John C. McGinley, Jake Busey and more.
Identity (2003) was directed by James Mangold and written by Michael Cooney.
Truth or Dare
The film’s premise, as the title suggests, is based on the game ‘Truth or Dare’ but only much more serious, so much so that you will be punished to death.
It starts between a group of friends just like anytime, but they soon to be realize that everytime they fail to tell the truth or fulfill a dare, they get punished by a sinister force.
These friends Olivia, her friend Markie, Lucas, who is Markie’s boyfriend of Markie, Penelope and her boyfriend Tyson, along with Brad, went on this trip to Mexico.
They are being tricked into playing this supernatural version of truth or dare by a man who stood up against a student who harassed Olivia there.
Soon, they came to find out how this game worked and what was the role of that man which got them caught up in this vicious killing game.
Truth or Dare features cast members such as Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Hayden Szeto, Sophia Ali, Nolan Gerard Funk, Landon Liboiran and more.
The film is directed by Jeff Wadlow, who is known for directing films like Kick-Ass 2 (2013), True Memoirs of an International Assasin (2016), and Fantasy Island (2020).
Knock Knock
Knock Knock is a film whose plot is basically a ‘fantasy goes wrong’.
It is about this devoted father and husband helping two stranded young women who knock at his door in the night, but this turns out to be a grave mistake.
These women start playing games of their seduction and then take over playing cat and mouse with this ‘honest family man’.
At beginning, you might not think of what could go wrong even though the vibe this premise gives is quite off and eerie but soon the film takes a u-turn with its approach bringing chaos and violence.
The film has a stellar cast such as Keanu Reeves, Lorenza Izzo, Ana de Armas, Aaron Burns and Ignacia Allamand in important roles.
It is directed by Eli Roth, a known producer, and director, and co-written with Nicolas Lopez and Guillermo Amoedo.
Orphan
Orphan is a gut-wrenching mystery horror thriller that hooks you right in as the story begins and makes you uncomfortable more than a few times.
This is one of most underrated horrors; however, recently, it got its prequel, Orphan: First Kill, which received mixed reviews and was also called out to be not as good as the original.
So, if you haven’t Orphan, you are definitely missing out on a good horror on the table. It is a story about a couple who recently lost their baby and want to adopt one, but end up adopting this 9-year-old seemingly innocent girl but not really.
Once they brought her home, things started to get out of hand, and we came to know the truth that was hardly expected.
Jaume Collet-Serra directed this film with great performances from Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, and more.
Ma
Ma is an unexpectedly thrilling horror from Blumhouse that is much more grounded in its nature but quite unique in its premise and plot.
It is about this group of teenagers who do not have a place to party until they are befriended by this lonely woman allowing them to party at her residence.
These teenagers are unaware of the obsession of this lonely woman growing towards these teenagers that doesn’t understand any boundaries.
Soon, they started getting weary of her, making her more agitated and desperate to make more questionable steps.
The film plays brilliantly on the scary notion of strangers getting friendly with kids or teenagers.
Octavia Spencer, who plays Ma delivers an extraordinary performance along with another stellar cast such as Diana Silvers, Juliette Lewis, McKaley Miller, Corey Fogelmanis, Gianni Paolo, and others.
The film was written by Scotty Landes and directed by Tate Talyor.
Escape Room
Taking a leisure game or activity and creating a daunting horrifying plot for the film, something can be best learned from this 2019 film Escape Room.
This action-adventure horror thriller is about six strangers coming together to participate in solving these escape room mysteries or puzzles. The only twist is if you don’t, you die.
These six strangers were invited through mysterious black boxes with a ticket for this escape room challenge that allows them to win lots of money.
You certainly get attached to these characters, at least some of them, or at least invested in seeing what happens to them and who makes it.
Escape Room features an ensemble cast such as Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Jay Ellis, Tyler Labine, Deborah Ann Woll, Nik Dodani and more.
It is directed by Adam Robitel and written by Bragi. F. Schut and Maria Melnik.
10 Cloverfield Lane
10 Cloverfield Lane is one of those films where the backdrop or the premise of the story is way different than the plot.
It is set in the time and place where the aliens have attacked or something of those sort happened making the surface of the earth inhabitable.
Using this, the movie however, is based on this young woman who is held captive or hostile in an underground bunker by this man who tells her that the surface is inhabitable.
The protagonist is unsure whether or how much this man is telling the truth or it’s the case at all, and the same goes for the audience upto a point too.
Usually alien invasion or hostility is used as a plot device in a film, but here it is merely a background story or a premise on which the actual, much reserved story is based.
The film makes you question what is true and what is really going on, whether this man is genuine, psychotic or just a liar.
The film features talented casts such as John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr. and others where Dan Trachtenberg is the one who directed it.
Freaky
Freaky is not much of a horror or slasher as much as it is a comedy, but it is still an entertaining balance of both and more packed in a teen thriller drama.
The film is about how a deranged serial killer in town got body swapped with a high school teenage girl.
As she learned about this significant change, she also discovered that she had only 24 hours to re-swap back to her body. Otherwise, the change will be permanent.
So she ( in a serial killer’s old man’s body) and her friend set out to find this serial killer ( in her body) before more chaos happens.
The film features Kathryn Newton, Vince Vaughn, Celeste O’Connor, Misha Osherovich, Emily Holder and more.
Freaky, released in 2020, is directed by Christopher Landon and co-written with Michael Kennedy.
Victor Frankenstein
This is a film based on the old legend of Frankenstein, with its rendition set in a pre-historic era.
Victor Frankenstein deals with the subject matter with much more thriller and horror elements than ever, making it a good watch.
It is about this radical scientist Victor Frankenstein who takes in to-be protege Igor sharing a similar vision about finding the secrets of immortality for humankind.
But things go wrong in their experimentation, where he is set on the path to bringing back his friend after losing him in his obsession.
This one is quite a unique take on the adaptation of the old tale, quite intriguing and entertaining, totally worth a watch.
Not to mention a stellar cast in the film such as Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy, Jessica Brown Findlay, Andrew Scott, Bronson Webb and Daniel Mays.
Spiral: From The Book Of Saw
Spiral: From the Book of Saw, as the name suggests, is a spin-off of the well-known Saw movie franchise.
The film revolves around the Detectives Zeke and Max who takes the charge of an investigation of gruesome murders that resembles well with the past cases of ‘Jigsaw Killer’.
Chris Rock, who plays the central character Zeke was a fan of the Saw franchise, and he was the one to pitch this idea to Lionsgate.
As a result, he became one of the lead actors, co-writer and executive producer for the film as well.
It is certainly not as good as the Saw franchise but it certainly has moments to shine. This one is a good watch, especially if you are a Saw fan.
Apart from Chris Rock, the film also features Samuel. L. Jackson, Max Minghella, Marisol Nicholas, Dan Petronijevic, and others, where Darren Lynn Bousman directs it.
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