The first three things that come to mind when you see the Blumhouse logo at the beginning of a movie are low budget, high concept, and, more often than not, a box office smash.
The budget horror empire grants distinct voices like Mike Flanagan and Jordan Peele creative control over their frightening stories with strong social and moral messages.
Due to budget constraints, these filmmakers must stretch their creativity and think outside the box to make their projects work, and this is where the true talent shines.
With years of genuinely scary films free of big-budget soullessness to choose from, we put together a list of the best Blumhouse horror movies.
There are entries from their signature franchises such as The Purge, commercial juggernauts such as Get Out and The Invisible Man, standalone features like Upgrade and Hush, and much more.
Streaming offers, IMDB ratings, plot summaries, and flash reviews are all included for each film. So unsettle in and read on for the list of best Blumhouse scary movies to keep you awake at night.
Best Blumhouse horror movies
1. Get Out (2017)
Universal Pictures
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Vudu
IMDB: 7,7
Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Catherine Keener
Director: Jordan Peele
What’s it about?
Chris, a young African-American photographer, has been invited to spend the weekend with his girlfriend Rose’s ostensibly liberal white family. Chris senses something is wrong when they arrive at their suburban mansion just in time for the garden party. He’s uneasy about Rose’s family’s extravagant welcome, as well as the strange behavior of the partygoers and two black housekeepers. His trepidation grows more and more, and as his hosts’ dark intentions become clear, it turns into terror.
What makes it good?
Jordan Peele’s clever and timely film masterfully uses camera movements, spooky jolts, and audio stingers to instill a sense of dread and paranoia. It confronts the real-life horrors of being black in America with uncomfortable laughs, psychological torment, a gory third act, and razor-sharp insight. The Academy Award-winning horror satire is a relevant take on America’s racial tensions and the hypocrisy of self-proclaimed friends and allies. And it’s because of this harsh reality that Get Out, Blumhouse’s highest-grossing horror film, is such a terrifying experience.
2. The Invisible Man (2020)
Universal Pictures
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Vudu
IMDB: 7,1
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer
Director: Leigh Whannell
What’s it about?
After fleeing an abusive relationship with optics engineer Adrian Griffin, Cecilia Kass learns that he committed suicide and left her a large portion of his wealth. Just as the traumatized Cecilia begins to recover and rebuild her life, strange coincidences add up, and she concludes that Adrian faked his death. Everyone around her begins to doubt her sanity as she desperately tries to prove that he’s alive and to fight back against the invisible threat.
What makes it good?
Whannell turned H.G. Wells’ idea into a terrifying depiction of gaslighting and abuse in the #MeToo era. He shifted the invisible villain’s point of view to his victim, transforming the Universal Classic Monster’s 2020 incarnation into her story. The Invisible Man wears its Hitchcockian influence on its sleeve, creating slick thrills and a palpable sense of unease with negative space, a nerve-jangling soundscape, and the power of suggestion. It will, however, stay with you because it reflects the terrifying reality of domestic abuse and the disbelief of women. Propelled by Elisabeth Moss’ phenomenal performance, the film delves deeply into psychological anguish and a lack of support.
3. Upgrade (2018)
BH Tilt
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Vudu
IMDB: 7,5
Cast: Logan Marshall-Green, Harrison Gilbertson, Betty Gabriel
Director: Leigh Whannell
What’s it about?
In a fully automated near-future world, a brutal attack leaves freelance mechanic Grey paralyzed and his wife Asha dead. Eron Keen, a tech mogul, offers Grey an experimental cure for his condition: a newly developed AI chip called STEM can be implanted in his spinal cord, taking control of his movements and allowing him to walk again. Grey agrees to participate as a test subject and is soon back on his feet. With STEM’s voice inside his head and being practically superhuman, he sets out to exact bloody vengeance on those who murdered Asha and ruined his life.
What makes it good?
With Upgrade, Whannell went for a high concept within a low budget, and the result was a fantastic dark blend of sci-fi thriller and cyberpunk horror with a Terminator seasoning on top. Upgrade exudes B-movie fervor, with blood-soaked thrills, stylish visuals, a gritty vibe, and sly humor. Logan Marshall-Green (no, not Tom Hardy) is kicking ass and taking names as the technophobe Grey, while lending this revenge tale an emotional center amidst all the bloodshed and body horror. Some big ideas revolve around the premise and not-so-distant-future setting, but the relationship between humanity and technology is central to this cult classic in the making.
4. Hush (2016)
Netflix
Available on: Netflix
IMDB: 6,6
Cast: Kate Siegel, John Gallagher Jr., Michael Trucco
Director: Mike Flanagan
What’s it about?
Maddie Young is a deaf and mute author working on her sophomore novel in a secluded home deep in the woods. Her only outside contacts are a nearby couple and her sister, with whom she communicates via Skype. When a masked assailant begins creeping around the isolated area, he realizes Maddie is oblivious to his presence. The intruder with the crossbow chooses her as his target but decides to taunt her first, assuming she’ll be easy prey. His sadistic fun, however, is short-lived because it turns out Maddie isn’t so helpless after all.
What makes it good?
Hush is a home invasion thriller that proves that the subgenre is far from dead. The film makes excellent use of sound, removing it entirely in some scenes to put the audience in the central character’s POV, heightening the tension and making the whole ordeal even more terrifying. In one of Flanagan’s best horror movies to date, Maddie’s disability is not a debilitating weakness because she refuses to be a victim; she is rational, strong, and will not go down without a fight in a kill-or-be-killed situation. In a mere 82 minutes, the Netflix-exclusive survival story wastes no time jumping straight into terror. It’s a thrilling ride from start to finish, in no small part thanks to the efforts of its star and co-writer, Kate Siegel.
5. Split (2016)
Universal Pictures
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Vudu
IMDB: 7,3
Cast: James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
What’s it about?
High school misfit Casey, along with popular girls Claire and Marcia, is kidnapped and held captive in an underground bunker by an increasingly unstable man named Kevin. The terrified girls try to devise an escape plan while their captor slips out to see his therapist regularly. Through their discussions, Dr. Fletcher discloses that she has identified 23 separate personas warring within Kevin. The fact that a 24th personality, dubbed ominously as “The Beast,” is about to awaken is even more concerning. When the girls realize what is going on, the observant Casey concludes that the only way they’ll survive is to interact with their unhinged captor.
What makes it good?
Split comes from the workshop of the suspense maestro, The Sixth Sense, and Unbreakable director, M. Night Shyamalan. Although the man who made a career off trick endings treated DID as the premise rather than the twist, he still saved a few murky surprises for his second collaboration with Blumhouse. It’s worth noting that the film is not trying to portray dissociative identity disorder realistically; instead, it depicts mental illness as a source of superpowers. Driven by an award-worthy, multifaceted performance from James McAvoy, Split deserves praise for what it is: a gripping, claustrophobic, and often sad psychological thriller that plunges into straight horror at the climax.
6. Insidious (2010)
FilmDistrict
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Vudu
IMDB: 6,8
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey
Director: James Wan
What’s it about?
Josh and Renai Lambert and their children move into a large, creaky house, and things quickly spiral out of control. Dalton, their oldest son, falls off a ladder and enters a medically unexplained coma. Renai convinces the family to leave the house, believing that it is haunted. Strange occurrences persist, so they hire two ghost hunters and a medium named Elise, who tells them that their son, not the house, is haunted.
What makes it good?
The Conjuring’s James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the duo behind the Saw series, prove their mastery of the scare once more with this meticulously crafted supernatural horror film. Their PG13 franchise-starter isn’t the place to get your blood and gore fix; instead, its ghost story, timely scares, and nefarious energy will make you squirm in your seat. Insidious is a real treat for classic horror fans; it has an old-fashioned appeal and sticks close to its influences, such as the 1982 ghost fest Poltergeist. With some laughs thrown in the mix, Insidious is as entertaining as it is scary, a crowd-pleaser, and a fantastic entry into the haunted-house horror subgenre.
7. Creep (2014) and Creep 2 (2017)
The Orchard
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Vudu
IMDB: 6,3, 6,5
Cast: Mark Duplass, Patrick Brice, Desiree Akhavan
Director: Patrick Brice
What are they about?
Aaron, a struggling videographer, responds to a Craigslist ad for a one-day shoot for $1000. His employer is Josef, a terminally ill man who wants to record a video for his unborn child at his remote cabin in the mountains. Even though Josef seems odd, the unassuming cameraman wants to help, but as the day progresses, Joseph’s behavior grows increasingly bizarre, leading Aaron to fear for his life. The sequel follows a similar pattern. Another cash-strapped filmmaker, Sarah, is enticed by the titular creep, but this time he may have met his match.
What makes them good?
The mumblecore indie horror Creep is a short and nasty little film, clocking in at just 77 minutes. The slightly longer follow-up delves deeper into the villain’s psyche, delivering a fresh batch of midnight-movie nightmares. Both films work brilliantly and heavily center on the dynamics between Duplass’ unforgettable creep and his victims. Filled with pitch-black comedy, suspense, and unsettling dialogue, the unlikely franchise (Creep 3 is in the works) freshened up the worn-out found-footage horror subgenre. Given the shoestring budget and semi-improvised script, Brice’s Creep and Creep 2 are not the flashiest films on our list of Blumhouse horror movies. Regardless, they are among the very best.
8. CAM (2018)
Netflix
Available on: Netflix
IMDB: 5,9
Cast: Madeline Brewer, Patch Darragh, Melora Walters
Director: Daniel Goldhaber
What’s it about?
With her online persona, Lola, resourceful Alice has her sights set on becoming a top model on a competitive camgirl network. She enjoys performing elaborate and raunchy stunts as she rises through the camgirl ranks, all while keeping her professional and personal lives separate. Soon after reaching the top 50, Alice gets locked out of her account while her doppelgänger continues to stream more and more provocative shows in her name. The authorities and the website’s tech support are of no help, but Alice refuses to sit back and watch her double life fall apart, so she takes matters into her own hands.
What makes it good?
Isa Mazzei, a former webcam model, penned CAM to expose the realities of Alice’s trade while also tackling the stigma connected with sex work. The techno-horror thriller, carried by an excellent triple performance from Madeline Brewer, also has something to say about fractured identity. The Daniel Goldhaber-directed film illustrates the camming world with candy-colored visuals, creating a divide between the online presence that Alice carefully curated and her muted-hued reality. This Blumhouse film doesn’t have many traditional horror elements; instead, it preys upon societal fears in the Internet age, wrapping the story of an avatar taking on a life of its own into a nightmarish, Lynchian package.
9. Halloween (2018)
Universal Pictures
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Vudu
IMDB: 6,5
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Will Patton
Director: David Gordon Green
What’s it about?
Forty years after her face-off with Michael Meyers, Laurie Strode is suffering from PTSD and living alone in a heavily fortified home, convinced that he’ll be back someday. Laurie has sacrificed her relationships with her daughter Karen and granddaughter Allyson to focus on training herself with various weapons, determined to protect herself and her family and get rid of him once and for all. The locals regard Laurie as insane as the masked man who nearly killed her, at least until The Shape escapes from incarceration and starts slashing his way through Haddonfield again.
What makes it good?
Halloween, directed by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express), ignores decades of sequels and reboots, emerging as a direct sequel to the John Carpenter-helmed 1978 slasher film gold standard. Michael Myers is still the slowest-walking serial killer ever, but the notorious white-masked Boogeyman gets a character makeover and is now happy to kill anyone, not just teenagers. Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her iconic Final Girl role but expands it to explore trauma and its heartbreaking aftermath. Halloween hews close to the style of its cannon with Carpenter’s music, jump-out-of-your-seat scares humor, R-rated gore, and a fittingly high body count. A bloody throwback and a scary good time from the Blumhouse 2018 assembly line.
10. Sinister (2012)
Summit Entertainment
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Vudu
IMDB: 6,8
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Fred Dalton Thompson
Director: Scott Derrickson
What’s it about?
To gather the material for a book that will revive his career, true-crime writer Ellison Oswalt moves his unsuspecting family into a house where another family was murdered under strange circumstances while their daughter went missing. Ellison comes across a cache of Super 8 films that appear to be the killer’s POV on a series of heinous family murders and continues to watch, convinced he’s onto something. He becomes obsessed with finding answers about a ghostly face seen in the shadows in each film, as well as links between the murders, putting himself and his family in the path of an ancient evil force.
What makes it good?
The disturbing Super 8 reels that set the stage for what’s to come are one of the most effective parts of Scott Derickson’s (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) film. The tightly plotted Sinister employs found-footage and haunted-house horror elements to build towards the supernatural mayhem that will haunt your screen. Looking past the terrifying imagery of snuff films, evil apparitions, creepy children, a perpetually dark house, and Ethan Hawke’s terrified face, this occult-laced horror film evokes an age-old lesson: you reap what you sow. In more ways than one, the fame-hungry author brought the hellish ordeal on himself.
11. Oculus (2013)
Relativity Media
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Vudu
IMDB: 6,5
Cast: Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff
Director: Mike Flanagan
What’s it about?
11 years after murdering his father, Tim has been released from the psychotherapy ward and is reunited with his sister, Kaylie. In contrast to his sister Kaylie, who continues to blame “The Lasser Glass,” an antique mirror in their parents’ possession, for the tragedy that has disrupted their home and family, Tim believes he overcame his delusions. Kaylie tracked down the mirror and devised a detailed plan to end the malignant force that resides within its reflection and compels those who gaze into it. All she needs now is her reluctant brother’s help.
What makes it good?
Oculus’ narrative shifts between the events that took place a decade ago and their present-day aftermath, peeling back the layers of an unsettling story of childhood trauma and family dysfunction beneath the cursed-object premise. The present-day narrative unfolds like a chamber drama with two unreliable narrators in a house with a mirror from hell. The supernatural force plays tricks with the siblings’ minds, blurring the line between fantasy and reality, and it’s messing with the audience by extension. With Flanagan at the helm, this nifty psychological horror shows that the scariest things can happen within four walls.
12. Paranormal Activity (2007)
Paramount Pictures
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu, Vudu
IMDB: 6,3
Cast: Katie Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs
Director: Oren Peli
What’s it about?
Since she was a child, Katie has sensed the presence of a ghostly entity following her. However, when she moves into a new suburban home with her boyfriend, Micah, odd occurrences begin to happen more frequently. She consults a psychic, who warns the couple not to antagonize the interference, which he believes is demonic and focused on Katie. Micah sets up a video camera in their bedroom for fun and to record evidence of paranormal activity. He tries to communicate with the demon despite the psychic’s advice and Katie’s wishes, causing it to erupt in rage.
What makes it good?
Paranormal Activity, much like the found-footage phenomenon The Blair Witch Project, is a lo-fi film triumph made on a $15,000 budget and presented as a faux documentary. The franchise-spawning horror, written and directed by Oren Peli, swept the movie world by storm after its release in 2007. Over a decade later, the movie that catapulted Blumhouse Production into the low-budget horror powerhouse that it is today holds up quite well and remains an essential experience for horror movie fans. It’s a simple but very effective horror fare with ultra-realistic performances and a thick air of dread that will confront you with lingering childhood fears that something is lurking in the darkness of your bedroom.
13. Happy Death Day (2017) and Happy Death Day 2U (2019)
Universal Pictures
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Vudu
IMDB: 6,6, 6,2
Cast: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Phi Vu
Director: Christopher Landon
What are they about?
Tree, a conceited sorority girl, wakes up on her birthday hungover in the dorm room of a guy named Carter she has no recollection of ever meeting. As she goes about her day of making bad choices, Tree gets a disquieting feeling that she has experienced all of this before. A masked killer stabs her to death in the evening, but she miraculously wakes up unharmed in Carter’s room. Tree soon realizes she’s stuck in a time loop, forced to relive the day of her murder until she solves the mystery with the help of nice guy Carter. Part two introduces a parallel universe and a new protagonist, Ryan, Carter’s roommate.
What makes them good?
Happy Death Day is a delightfully self-aware horror comedy with a kick of ’80s nostalgia from director Christopher Landon (Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse). The Groundhog-Day-meets-grindhouse flick is a blast to watch, with a great pace, a whodunnit mystery, laugh-out-loud moments, and some decent thrills. Jessica Rothe as the mean girl trapped in a miserable loop, but growing as a person as she tries to solve the mystery of her death, is the film’s secret weapon. The follow-up, Happy Death Day 2U, leans more into sci-fi territory — reminiscent of Back to the Future — and Phi Vu is just as good as the brainiac who gets stuck in a time loop of his own.
14. The Purge: Anarchy (2014) and The Purge: Election Year (2016)
Universal Pictures
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Vudu
IMDB: 6,4, 6
Cast: Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Elizabeth Mitchell
Director: James DeMonaco
What are they about?
The Purge, an annual holiday in which all criminal activities, including murder, are made legal for 12 hours, was instituted in the not-too-distant future by the New Founding Fathers of America. On a maniacal purge night in Los Angeles, Sergeant Leo Barnes is on a revenge mission when he crosses paths with four innocent strangers who desperately need his help to survive, and his conscience intervenes. In The Election Year, Leo is the head of security for Charlie Roan, an idealistic presidential candidate who has promised to end the Purge. But, to make it to election day, she’ll have to survive the annual massacre, which now includes government officials.
What makes them good?
The first Purge film, released in 2013, established the dystopian concept of the purge night but confined its plot to a home-invasion horror. With Anarchy and Election Year, writer/director James DeMonaco took it to a new level by dramatizing the mayhem on the streets and examining the gruesome tradition and its sociopolitical implications. Anarchy — led by the Hollywood badass Frank Grillo — is a disturbing depiction of America’s societal collapse, and it may be the best film in the long-running franchise. Election Year brings back the American savagery, violence, and hordes of bloodthirsty masked brutes while taking aim at the political underpinnings of the legalized chaos.
15. Ouija: Origin Of Evil (2016)
Universal Pictures
Available on: Hulu, Prime Video, Vudu
IMDB: 6,1
Cast: Annalise Basso, Elizabeth Reaser, Lulu Wilson
Director: Mike Flanagan
What’s it about?
To pay the bills, widowed Alice runs a home-based faux séance business with the help of her daughters, teenager Lina and 9-year-old Doris. Alice adds an Ouija board as a new prop to keep it fresh for her clientele, and by breaking the rule of playing alone, she unwittingly opens a portal to the spirit world. Much to Lina’s dismay, Doris makes contact with a spirit that she and her mother believe is their deceased patriarch. The little girl starts to act strangely soon after, and the entity residing within the house reveals itself to be anything but friendly.
What makes it good?
Serving as a prequel to 2014’s Ouija — a forgettable teen-centric horror flick — the Origin Of Evil follows the “meddling with things people should leave alone” formula and plunges a family into demonic trouble. However, the movie is also grounded in reality thanks to Flanagan’s knack for crafting likable characters and strained family dynamics. Origin Of Evil has all of the makings of a Blumhouse horror classic: a creepy atmosphere, a haunted house, a priest, and bursts of some terrifying scenes thanks to Lulu Wilson’s seamless transitions from cherub-faced innocence to the intensely creepy kid.
16. Unfriended (2014) and Unfriended: Dark Web (2018)
Universal Pictures
Available on: Netflix, Prime Video, Vudu
IMDB: 5,5, 6
Cast: Shelley Hennig, Moses Storm, Colin Woodell
Director: Leo Gabriadze, Stephen Susco
What are they about?
Blaire and her friends are on Skype when a faceless user known only as “billie227” joins them, which they dismiss as a technical glitch. But the digital ghost refuses to leave, and it’s all because of Laura Barns, a classmate who was bullied into suicide one year ago. The Skype session descends into a nightmare, forcing the clique to confront their shameful secrets and lies. In Unfriended: Dark Web, Matias, a college student, acquires a new laptop, which implicates him and his friends in a sadistic darknet scheme on an online game night.
What makes them good?
Unfriended takes place entirely on a desktop screen, which proves to be very effective thanks to Greaves’ and Gabriadze’s craft and creativity. The mean-spirited indie horror cleverly weaves its premise of supernatural revenge into the real world of teenage social anxieties, social media, and cyberbullying, making it all the more frightening. Dark Web — directed by Stephen Susco — expands on the screenlife dread by removing the supernatural element and introducing a different film with a whole new level of disturbing: human evil lurking in the dark corners of the Internet.
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