Movies
The Best Horror You Can Stream on Mother’s Day 2025
Some of my favorite unsung heroes in the horror genre are murderous mothers. These women practically yell, “fuck those kids” and set out to show us what real terror looks like. We have many like, Mrs. Voorhees in Friday the 13th (1980), Ruth Harker in Longlegs, and, of course, Nancy Loomis in Scream 2. However, some devious moms take their work more seriously than others. Some of the ladies in this genre understand that anyone can catch the business end of a knife at any time. Each of them have proven that blood is thicker than water because they have tried to kill their own spawn. I am highlighting the murder mamas who were not afraid to get their hands dirty, even when it came to their own flesh and blood.
Some of my favorite unsung heroes in the horror genre are murderous mothers. These women practically yell, “fuck those kids” and set out to show us what real terror looks like. We have many like, Mrs. Voorhees in Friday the 13th (1980), Ruth Harker in Longlegs, and, of course, Nancy Loomis in Scream 2. However, some devious moms take their work more seriously than others. Some of the ladies in this genre understand that anyone can catch the business end of a knife at any time. Each of them have proven that blood is thicker than water because they have tried to kill their own spawn. I am highlighting the murder mamas who were not afraid to get their hands dirty, even when it came to their own flesh and blood.
The Best Horror Movies to Stream this Mother’s Day
The Babadook (2014)
Essie Davis as Amelia Vanek
Where You Can Watch: AMC+, Plex, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and Shudder
A single mother and her child find themselves isolated and paranoid when an eerie children’s book manifests in their home. I do not think it is a coincidence that one of the most iconic horror movies about motherhood this millennium has our first murder mama. Amelia’s son, Samuel, is a lot to deal with, even if she was not actively grieving. So, it makes sense that her inner monster would want to go after him. It is just one more reason why that monster could not be so easily defeated and will remain with them as they figure out how to function. We support this monster mommy even if we wish she had not killed the cute little puppy.
Carrie (1976)
Piper Laurie as Margaret White
Where You Can Watch: MGM+, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and Tubi
An abused and bullied teen girl unleashes her telekinetic powers after her classmates humiliate her at prom. As awful as Carrie’s classmates were, no one was crueler to her than her own mother. Margaret White is a prime example of sometimes a child’s first bully being their parent. Aside from the constant verbal attacks and forcing her own unchecked mental illness onto her daughter, she also stabs Carrie in the back during the worst night of her life. This is why no one mourns this evil woman while wishing Carrie had survived this tragic ending.
Evil Dead Rise (2023)
Alyssa Sutherland as Ellie
Where You Can Watch: Max
A woman’s attempt to reconnect with her sister and sister’s kids is cut short by malicious flesh-possessing demons. Ellie is easily one of the best murder mommies of the decade thus far. She is terrifying, funny, and gruesome, and she is very serious about killing each of her kids, no matter how young they are. Mommy might be sleeping with the maggots now, but she will not be the only one if she gets her way. We have no choice but to stan the Mother Of All Deadites in Lee Cronin’s entry into this beloved franchise.
Hereditary (2018)
Toni Collette as Annie Graham
Where You Can Watch: Netflix
A grieving family discovers that their recently deceased matriarch has set sinister plans in motion for them. We all know Toni Collette was robbed of an Oscar for this murder mama. However, what some people forget is that even before the evil had Annie climbing the ceilings and chasing down her last living kid, she tried to commit filicide. Part of Peter’s damage is that he remembers when his mom tried to set him on fire while sleepwalking. Hereditary also stands out because Annie is not the only deadly mom in the movie because we know she picked up the torch from her mother. So, all the matriarchs are scary in this family.
Us (2019)
Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide Wilson / Red
Where You Can Watch: VOD
A family vacation is disrupted by a family of doppelgangers. Much like Hereditary, we have a couple of deadly divas running around. We also have an award-worthy lead performance(s) that was ignored by The Academy. However, that did not stop Lupita Nyong’o from playing two of my favorite murder mamas in the genre. While Red is justifiably seeking revenge and Adelaide is in defense mode, both versions of their kids are in danger. The kids are even being encouraged to live their Battle Royale realness by their matriarchs. While moms are not supposed to pick favorites, Adelaide and Red chose their respective versions of their kids and were a little too carefree with the ones they did not give birth to.
Please keep in mind that these are only some of the many hardworking mothers who keep the genre scary. They might never get the respect they are owed because people seem to favor male villains exclusively in horror. However, we love to see deadly women causing carnage because we celebrate women’s rights and wrongs!
Did your favorite murder mama make the list? Make some noise in the comments, and let us know!
We are finally in the midst of Shudder’s 61 days of Halloween! There are so many horror movies to consume and 31 days simply isn’t enough. Use the long Labor Day weekend to kick off your horror movie countdown and add these movies to your Shudder queue. Here is a list of what I would recommend checking out to ease into the Halloween spirit right before going into full blown premature trick-or-treating mode.
The Best Movies to Stream on Shudder This Month
The Yeti (2026)
A large creature has captured people in a remote Alaskan town in the 1940s. The sheriff has put together a search-and-rescue monster hunting party to bring back the captives. It sounds like the premise of a Cold Iron Studios co-op video game in the same vein as Aliens: Fireteam Elite. The stylization from co-directors Gene Gallerano & William Pisciotta in the trailer makes me think they have cooked up a story that blends action, horror, and wilderness survival. Sign me up, sheriff!
Leave (2022)
Hunter was found as a baby abandoned in a cemetery wrapped in a cloth covered with satanic symbols. She has been searching for answers her whole life about where she came from. Her journey to find her parents takes her down a mysterious path, and she is being warned by something from the beyond to leave this mystery alone. Can she trust who this investigation is leading her towards? It’s a mysterious, supernatural, culty film that will give you chills.
Penny Lane is Dead (2026)
One crazy night in Australia with perhaps a dash of revenge. Shudder’s latest original looks to be packed with blood and violence in this story of girls just trying to have fun until the crazy cousin drugs the party and invites dangerous people to play. The trailer promises lots of body horror (trigger warning, there may be SA or threat of it). I’m not saying it will be Evil Dead level, but there’s definitely something in the Aussie water with Lee Cronin pumping out his gory deadites and mummy films, and now Mia Kate Russel with this one.
The Others (2001)
This is a PSA to the younger readers of Horror Press; stop what you’re doing and watch Nicole Kidman go 100 miles per hour in this classic ghost story with a twist. Dreary weather, massive estate, confusing corridors, creepy house servants you don’t know if you can trust, and sad British kids. The ending is an all-timer and spoilers should be avoided at all costs. It has exactly what you need to get right into the cozy, spooky mood for 61-days of Halloween.
Dark Harvest (2023)
If The Hunger Games and The Purge had a baby and raised it during Oktoberfest. Teenage boys are tasked with hunting and killing the entity known as Sawtooth Jack on Halloween night, or it could mean certain peril for their town. Of the movies I have listed here that I have not seen, this is going to be at the top of my watchlist. Teens fighting for survival on Halloween night and the battle setting is in a cornfield?! Say less. I am there with my Sam Adams seasonal in hand. Another perfect movie to cannonball me right into the Halloween spirit.
This list has been carefully curated to watch in a specific order to gear up for a Halloween marathon. Start with the wintry monster movie, move on to a macabre supernatural thriller, followed by a ramp-up in blood and gore, to then be lulled into a spooky, bump-in-the-night classic, all to end on a ritualistic hunt taking place on Halloween night. This is just getting things started for the first 30-days. Looking forward to sharing the next list to get you through October.
Anyone who follows legendary horror author Stephen King on social media or reads the back of books knows one thing. It’s harder to find something that King hasn’t blurbed than something that he has. The dude is a voracious consumer of genre media, and he finds a lot to love. It’s an admirable quality. But, speaking as someone who saw American Ultra after he praised it, you can’t always trust his recommendations. Today, I’ll cut some of the wheat from the chaff and break down the best modern horror movies he’s recommended.
Three notes: First, I have decided to define “modern” as “2001 or later.” Second, King practices good social media hygiene and has deleted many of his old posts. A lot of them are archived elsewhere. However, it’s more or less impossible to make a truly comprehensive list of his recommendations. I’ve synthesized multiple different sources and done my best to truly encapsulate the breadth of his recommendations. Third, I have not included any adaptations of his own work. He may be outspoken about the ones he doesn’t like, but he’s still obviously biased in that department.
#10 Snakes on a Plane (2006)
To quote King himself (defending putting 2012 among his top 2009 movies), “no filmgoing diet is complete without some cheese.” Snakes on a Plane is a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin movie, delivering high-flying serpentine thrills. However, it’s also a remarkably faithful resurrection of the atmosphere of old 1970s airplane thrillers.
#9 Final Destination 5 (2011)
In his Best of 2011 entry on Final Destination 5, King called it “the best since the first,” and he’s absolutely right. While the sequels probably peaked with the highway prologue in Final Destination 2, the fifth installment is pound-for-pound the most thrilling entry. Between the bridge collapse, the laser eye surgery, and the nail-biting sequence where a screw falls pointy-side-up on a balance beam, there’s no denying there’s real power here. And that’s not even mentioning the fun final twist!
#8 A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
In a since-deleted Tweet, King called Day One “the rare ‘big Hollywood film’ that is both intimate and textured.” It’s true. A Quiet Place: Day One is a mini miracle of horror filmmaking. An IP-drenched prequel to a duology of good-not-great post-apocalyptic popcorn blockbusters shouldn’t be this genuinely stirring. Plus, relative newcomer Joseph Quinn holds his own against the awe-inspiring Lupita Nyong’o, resulting in an all-timer two-hander.
#7 The Strangers (2008)
After watching The Strangers, King took to Entertainment Weekly to pontificate about what makes good horror. If you inspire someone who literally wrote the book on horror to think about it more, you’ve done something right. Bryan Bertino’s home invasion movie is one of the grimmest movies of the 2000s, but its desperate existential dread is terrifying and perfectly in line with King’s best works.
#6 Splice (2009)
King included Splice on his Top 10 list for 2010, particularly praising the “talented actors… who take the material seriously.” How did this grotesque genetic-experimentation horror movie directed by the guy who made Cube land Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley? Who knows. But they breathe life into some already super solid material. What Brody in particular gets up to feels even more twisted because it’s the guy from The Pianist doing it.
#5 Smile (2022)
In a since-deleted Tweet, King called Smile a “good, scary horror film.” He added that “the real surprise is Sosie Bacon as Rose. What a hell of a performance.” Bacon really was a revelation, but so was debut director Parker Finn. His control over tone and pacing leads to some of the best scare sequences of the 2020s.
#4 The Rule of Jenny Pen (2024)
King’s not fucking around about the New Zealand horror film The Rule of Jenny Pen. It’s one of just two horror movies on his New York Times ballot for the best of the 21st century. The underseen movie is a real corker, too. It follows a judge (Geoffrey Rush) recovering in a care home after a stroke. However, his relaxation is ruined by a sadistic retiree (John Lithgow) who is obsessed with his baby doll puppet. Lithgow’s performance is stunning, and his thrillingly dark energy commands the screen every second he’s in front of the camera.
#3 Barbarian (2022)
In a since-deleted reply to a fan’s Tweet about Barbarian, King said “Yeah, that movie blew me away. It was crazy! Crazy GOOD!” This movie contributed what is perhaps the definitive scary basement in horror, which is no small feat. That’s all thanks to director Zach Cregger’s control over onscreen darkness (one of his many skills). The man must be a shadowmancer of some kind.
#2 Train to Busan (2016)
Train to Busan is the only other horror movie on King’s NYT ballot. It has received a lot of international recognition over the years. Perhaps more than any other non-Parasite movie from South Korea. That’s because it’s flipping amazing. Its crackling energy makes it one of the scariest fast-zombie movies in history. But it also marries that with a compelling father-daughter story. There’s really nothing Train to Busan can’t do.
#1 The Descent (2005)
King put The Descent on his 2006 best-of list, calling it “the best horror movie of the year.” Forget that. It’s one of the top horror movies of the century so far. It’s a bloody good monster movie nestled into a skin-crawlingly claustrophobic spelunking movie.
Honorable Mentions:
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) – I’ve never seen it, so I can’t in good faith recommend it
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – A masterpiece, but it’s not really “horror”
Obsession (2026) – We gotta let this one sit, in order to avoid recency bias
