Peacock is the latest addition to the ever-expanding streaming landscape. NBCUniversal's platform launched this week, offering thousands of hours of TV and movies from the studio's catalogue, as well as original content, and titles from ViacomCBS. The movie selection spans early classics to modern blockbusters, and although it seems certain titles aren't sticking around long, there’s still plenty on there.
And of course, that means horror movies. While Peacock's horror launch selection isn't quite as deep as that of HBO Max, it still boasts an impressive mix of titles. Universal is, of course, the studio most associated with classic horror. Back in the '30s and '40s, it released some of the most influential horror movies ever made, and "Universal horror" is practically a genre in its own right. For fans wanting to explore the roots of the genre, there is no better place to start.
But it's not just vintage horror. Peacock's selection features classics from other points of the 20th century, including films from Alfred Hitchcock, slasher movies, and some underrated '90s gems. As for more recent movies, franchises such as Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Saw are represented, as are films from younger directors such as Adam Wingard. So we've picked 13 of the best horror movies that can be watched right now on Peacock--and all of these can be streamed with the basic free subscription.
1. American Psycho (2000)
Bret Easton Ellis's notorious novel American Psycho was met with equal parts acclaim and disgust when it was first published in 1991, and it seemed unlikely that a movie version could ever capture the mix of savage satire and explicit sexualized horror. So it was a huge surprise when the eventual adaptation turned out to be very good. Director Mary Harron made the smart move of treating the story of yuppie serial killer Patrick Bateman as a dark comedy, and while the gore is massively toned down, it still packs a splattery punch. It also features a star-making turn from Christian Bale as Bateman, who absolutely nails this charming and narcissistic sociopath--before playing the charming and narcissistic Batman years later.
2. Psycho (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock was at the height of his powers as a director of hugely popular glossy Hollywood thrillers, such as Rear Window and North by Northwest, when he took a left turn into darker, scarier territory. Psycho was low budget, independently financed, and shot in black and white, but despite initial mixed reviews, is now considered one of the greatest horror movies of all time. Anthony Perkins is unforgettably creepy as murderous motel owner Norman Bates, while the shocks, surprises, and legendary set-pieces still have an impact 60 years later.
3. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Blair Witch Project might not have been the first found footage horror movie, but it is unquestionably the most influential. It still stands as one of the most profitable movies of all time, and absolutely terrified audiences when it hit theaters in the summer of 1999. The simplicity of its story was enhanced by a brilliantly creative viral marketing campaign designed to convince audiences the film was "real." The raw visuals, naturalistic performances, and a refusal to follow traditional plot conventions resulted in a film that was copied for years to come--but rarely bettered.
4. The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Part of the initial wave of 3D films that were briefly popular in the 1950s, Creature from the Black Lagoon is a monster movie classic. This story of a geology expedition that encounters a strange humanoid creature living in the waters of the Amazon took elements of past favorites like Frankenstein and King Kong, and added its own eerie spin. There are scares, but it's the atmosphere, underwater photography, and emotional connection between the tragic and lonely Gill-Man and Kay, one of the scientific team, that makes it so memorable. It was also an obvious and acknowledged influence on Guillermo Del Toro's Oscar-winning The Shape of Water.
5. The Exorcist III (1990)
The first sequel to the horror masterpiece The Exorcist--1980's The Exorcist II: The Heretic--was so bad that it took another decade for the next movie to appear. Luckily, The Exorcist III was much, much better. Written and directed by William Peter Blatty, who wrote the original novel, this film ignores the ridiculous second movie and instead recaptures the quiet, intense religious terror of the first film. Brad Dourif gives a great performance as a serial killer who returns from the dead to possess the first film's tortured priest Karras, played once more by Jason Miller. The studio-mandated exorcism scene near the end feels unnecessary (Blatty himself hated it), but overall the film is serious, scary, and way better than anyone expected. It also features one of cinema's greatest jump scares.
6. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
One of the many, many slasher movies released during the early '80s, Sleepaway Camp is now considered a cult classic. Much of this is down to its infamous and outrageous twist ending, but the movie itself is huge fun, delivering all the gory treats you want from an '80s slasher with a weird, campy (pun intended!) vibe missing from many of its peers. While the equally-entertaining sequels aren't on Peacock, you can find those on Shudder.
7. Body Bags (1993)
Horror anthologies are a vital part of the horror genre, and this 1993 film is an underrated gem. The three stories that form Body Bags actually started life as episodes of an anthology show, but when Showtime decided not to progress with it, the completed entries were hastily assembled into a movie. Luckily, the stories are made by some big-name directors, namely John Carpenter (Halloween) and Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), and they deliver entertaining tales of serial killers, mutant hair, and possessed eyeballs.
8. Jigsaw (2017)
After a seven-year break, the Saw franchise returned to screens in 2017 with this eighth entry. Jigsaw acts as both a sequel and reboot, with plenty of nods to the original films while also offering a fresh take on the material. While it's not the best Saw movie, it's also far from the worst, and delivers all the twists and traps that made the series so popular with gorehounds. The next movie, Spiral: From the Book of Saw, has been delayed until next year, but this one should tide fans over in the meantime.
9. Dead Silence (2007)
Director James Wan is a big fan of creepy dolls--he gave us Annabelle in The Conjuring and its spinoff movies, and as the co-creator of the Saw series, he's also responsible for the iconic tricycle-riding Billy. But between those movies, Wan made another scary doll movie--2007's Dead Silence (confusingly, Dead Silence's doll is also called Billy). It's a rare commercial flop in Wan's filmography, but it's well worth checking out. Written with regular collaborator Leigh Wannel, it's a smart and spooky tale of an evil ventriloquist that never takes itself too seriously.
10. Tales From the Hood (1995)
There is an impressive tradition of Black horror directors mixing scares with social themes, the most recent examples including Jordan Peele's Get Out and Us. Back in 1995, Rusty Cundieff delivered this superb horror anthology, which dealt with some pretty heavy themes. Each of the four stories tackled a different contemporary concern--like police brutality, domestic violence, and gang warfare--and placed it in a supernatural horror context. Cundieff is best known for comedies such as the hip-hop spoof Fear of a Black Hat, but Tales From the Hood was a highly effective mix of scares, dark humor, and social commentary that feels every bit as relevant now as it did 25 years ago.
11. Last House On The Left (2009)
Wes Craven's groundbreaking 1973 film Last House on the Left remains a powerful and disturbing experience, but much of it has aged badly, with the attempt to inject silly comedy sitting very uneasily alongside the brutal scenes of rape and murder. While Dennis Iliadis's remake isn't perhaps quite as grueling, it is a far more consistent movie. The plot is the same--like the original, it's based on Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring, in which a gang of murderous criminals have the tables turned on them when they end up staying at the house of the parents of one of their victims. But the strong performances--most notably a terrifying Garret Dillahunt as the gang leader Krug--and gripping storytelling ensures this is a remake that improves on the original. Also keep an eye out a pre-Breaking Bad Aaron Paul as one of the gang members.
12. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Peacock has a host of classic Universal monster movies available to stream, including Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, and the Wolfman. You can’t go wrong with any of them, but James Whale's Bride of Frankenstein remains the standout of that era. By introducing the concept of the monster's mate, Whale added an extra level of drama and emotion to this classic story, with Elsa Lanchester and Boris Karloff making one of the screen's strangest, most iconic couples. Bride of Frankenstein was early proof that the genre was more than just monsters and scares and is rightfully remembered as one of the all-time great sequels.
13. You're Next (2009)
Director Adam Wingard's profile has been rising with every movie, and his next movie is the upcoming megabudget Godzilla vs Kong. 11 years ago he delivered this outstanding home invasion/slasher movie hybrid, in which a dysfunctional family gathering is brought to an abrupt close by animal-masked crazies who target the house. What sets You're Next apart is that far from being a cowering victim, lead character Erin (Sharni Vinson) takes matters into her own hands and starts to fight back against the attackers in a variety of creative ways.
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