The Best Serial Killer Movies on Shudder

What it's about: The apparently comatose Michael Myers is being transferred from one hospital to another, but he wakes up when the ambulance crew talk about his surviving niece, Jamie. After slaughtering his attendants, Myers sets out to find his one living relative who is, fortunately, being cared for by a kind and resourceful foster sister named Rachel. Meanwhile, the ever-cautious Dr. Loomis remains on the killer's path.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Shudder) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Vudu).

What it's about: Desperate to repay his debt to his ex-wife, an ex-con plots a heist at his new employer's country home, unaware that a second criminal has also targeted the property, and rigged it with a series of deadly traps.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 2 others), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shudder, Hoopla & 2 others) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: When Sally hears that her grandfather's grave may have been vandalized, she and her paraplegic brother, Franklin, set out with their friends to investigate. After a detour to their family's old farmhouse, they discover a group of crazed, murderous outcasts living next door. As the group is attacked one by one by the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface, who wears a mask of human skin, the survivors must do everything they can to escape.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Shudder & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: What starts as a poignant medical documentary about Deborah Logan's descent into Alzheimer's disease and her daughter's struggles as caregiver degenerates into a maddening portrayal of dementia at its most frightening, as hair-raising events begin to plague the family and crew and an unspeakable malevolence threatens to tear the very fabric of sanity from them all.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shudder & ConTV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: On a black and unholy Halloween night years ago, little Michael Myers brutally slaughtered his sister in cold bold. But for the last fifteen years, town residents have rested easy, knowing that he was safely locked away in a mental hospital – until tonight. Tonight, Michael returns to the same quiet neighbourhood to relive his grisly murder again…and again…and again. For this is a night of evil. Tonight is Halloween!

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (fuboTV, Shudder & Hoopla) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: Summer is usually a time for fun and games, but some teens get much more danger than they bargained for after beginning to suspect their neighbor is a serial murderer.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Shudder, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: Seven years after the death of his wife, company executive Aoyama is invited to sit in on auditions for an actress. Leafing through the resumés in advance, his eye is caught by Yamazaki Asami, a striking young woman with ballet training.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Shudder & Hiyah) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: Henry likes to kill people, in different ways each time. Henry shares an apartment with Otis. When Otis' sister comes to stay, we see both sides of Henry: "the guy next door" and the serial killer.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Shudder & Hoopla) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A burned-out New York police detective teams up with a college psychoanalyst to track down a vicious serial killer randomly stalking and killing various young women around the city.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Shudder, Kanopy & Full Moon) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Google Play).

What it's about: A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of monsters are hiding from humanity.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Peacock & 1 other), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shudder, Hoopla & 1 other) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: The next great psycho horror slasher has given a documentary crew exclusive access to his life as he plans his reign of terror over the sleepy town of Glen Echo, all the while deconstructing the conventions and archetypes of the horror genre for them.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shudder & Hoopla) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: As a notorious serial killer is being driven to his execution, the truck carrying him encounters a bizarre accident that transforms him into a mutant snowman. The sheriff who originally caught the psychopath has remained concerned about his return, and it seems that his fears were well-founded. Before long, bodies pile up, all killed in gruesome wintry ways. Can the sheriff stop the murderer's icy reign of terror?

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Plex & 3 others), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, fuboTV, Shudder & 1 other) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: This slasher movie follows a relentless killer who is out to avenge the death of a young girl who died after being bullied and teased by four of her classmates. Now high-school students, the guilt-ridden kids have kept their involvement a secret, but when they start being murdered, one by one, it's clear that someone knows the truth. Also coping with the past are members of the dead girl's family, most notably her prom-queen sister, Kim Hammond (Jamie Lee Curtis).

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Peacock & 4 others), stream on a subscription service (Shudder, Hoopla & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Rachel, a rookie cop, is about to begin her first night shift in a neglected police station in a Scottish, backwater town. The kind of place where the tide has gone out and stranded a motley bunch of the aimless, the forgotten, the bitter-and-twisted who all think that, really, they deserve to be somewhere else. They all think they're there by accident and that, with a little luck, life is going to get better. Wrong, on both counts. Six is about to arrive - and All Hell Will Break Loose!

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Shudder) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: A frustrated Boston detective searches for the maniac responsible for mutilating a number of university coeds.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Shudder & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: A one-time (and now one-handed) master film editor toiling in the cinematic sweatshops of 1970s Italy becomes the prime suspect in a series of brutal murders.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shudder, Hoopla & 1 other) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: In New York, people are slain and strangled to death brutally on the open street. All witnesses agree that the murderer was in a cop's uniform. Soon the police search and find a suspect in its own ranks: Jack Forrest, suspected of murdering his own wife and the rest of the unfortunate individuals to die by the Maniac Cop’s reign of terror. To prove his innocence, he investigates the case with his partner, Theresa Mallory.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Shudder) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (Microsoft & Vudu).

What it's about: An 18-year-old high school girl is left at home by her parents and decides to have a slumber party. Meanwhile, a mass murderer with a propensity for power tools has escaped from prison, and eventually makes his way to the party where the guests begin dropping off one by one.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & PopcornFlix), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shudder, The Criterion Channel & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (Google Play, Prime Video & 3 others).

What it's about: Four college pledges are forced to spend the night in a deserted old mansion where they get killed off one by one by the monstrous surviving members of a family massacre years earlier for trespassing on their living grounds.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shudder, Hoopla & 1 other) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: A sprawling, psychedelic ensemble piece that follows several serial killers over the course of a single night.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shudder & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: Slightly disturbed and painfully shy Angela Baker is sent away to summer camp with her cousin. Not long after Angela's arrival, things start to go horribly wrong for anyone with sinister or less than honorable intentions.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi, PlutoTV, Peacock & 1 other), stream on a subscription service (Shudder & Shout Factory TV) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: A reporter and a blind retired journalist try to solve a series of murders. The crimes are connected to experiments by a pharmaceutical company in secret research. The two end up becoming targets of the killer.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shudder & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: After being traumatized by his brother Billy's murderous rampage years earlier, Ricky Caldwell has become a serial killer himself and is now living in a mental hospital. Relating his story to a psychiatrist, Ricky recounts the details of their murder sprees and vows to avenge his brother's death.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi & PlutoTV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Shudder) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Three teenage thieves infiltrate a mansion dinner party, unaware that it is secretly being hosted by a serial killer cult for the social elite.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Shudder & Hoopla) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: An elderly heiress is killed by her husband who wants control of her fortunes. What ensues is an all-out murder spree as relatives and friends attempt to reduce the inheritance playing field, complicated by some teenagers who decide to camp out in a dilapidated building on the estate.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Shudder & Kanopy).

What it's about: A masked serial killer with psychosexual issues strangles female coeds with scarves before dismembering them. When a wealthy student identifies one of the scarves and thinks she has a lead on a suspect, she becomes the killer's next target, retreating to her family's remote cliffside villa with three of her girlfriends.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a subscription service (Shudder & Full Moon) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Microsoft).

What it's about: Eric Binford watches a lot of movies. He is the truest definition of a film geek. One day, his sanity takes a turn for the worse and he begins acting out his favorite scenes from the movies. In doing so, he manages to involve his enemies and the scenes usually result in death.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Shudder) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: In the summer of 1979, gay porn producer Anne sets out to film her most ambitious film yet, but her actors are picked off, one by one, by a mysterious killer.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Shudder & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: A killer is released from prison and breaks into a remote home to kill a woman, her handicapped son and her pretty daughter.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shudder & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: When socialite and heiress Julie Wardh begins receiving blackmail letters attributed to a mysterious serial killer, she suspects her cruel and sadistic former lover Jean is behind them. With her husband Neil frequently out of town, she falls into the arms of her friend's cousin George, and as the unknown assassin begins to make his move, she fears that one of the three men in her life may be the killer.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & stream on a subscription service (Shudder).

What it's about: A former nazi child-killer is confined in an iron lung inside an old mansion after a suicide attempt. His wife hires him a full-time carer, a mysterious young man who is driven slowly mad by the old man's disturbing past.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & stream on a subscription service (Shudder).

What it's about: In the film, an age-old family curse hits sisters Kitty and Franziska following the death of their grandfather Tobias. Every hundred years, the legend goes, the bloodthirsty Red Queen returns and claims seven fresh victims. Was Tobias just the first... and are Kitty and Franziska next?

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Shudder) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: A teenage girl is abducted by a serial killer couple and manages to escape and find refuge in an isolated farmhouse, only to discover it is home to greater horrors and a malevolent spirit.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Shudder & ScreamBox) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Vudu).

What it's about: A young Vienna-based taxi driver of Turkish origin witnesses an extremely brutal murder. The perpetrator, a serial killer, makes eye contact with her; a deadly game of cat-and-mouse ensues.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a subscription service (Shudder) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: Chris Miller lives with her stepmother Ruth in a large secluded mansion in the countryside. Both women have been traumatized by the mysterious disappearance of Chris’ father but their isolation is soon interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious young drifter, Barney, who they take on as a handyman. All the while, an unknown scythe wielding killer has been stalking the area, leaving an ever growing body count, and it’s not long before the women grow increasingly suspicious of Barney…

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi) & stream on a subscription service (Shudder).