A useful pre-Halloween guide!

Now that we're a couple of days out from Oíche Shamhna, we've decided to share the list of horrors on our website, in case it comes in useful ahead of the big weekend. For more great movies and TV content straight to your inbox, though, we highly recommend the JOE Film Club Newsletter.

Quick Ranking: JOE's 6 Horror Movie Picks at a Glance

Short on time? Here is our horror list before we break down why each film earned its place.

Detailed Breakdown: 6 Underrated Horror Movies You Need to Stream

The Night House (2020)

Starring: Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Evan Jonigkeit | Runtime: 107 mins | Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Our first pick is The Night House, the 2020 movie from director David Bruckner (The Ritual). Rebecca Hall (The Town) plays Beth, a widow reeling from her husband's unexpected death. Left alone in the lakeside home he built for her, Beth digs into her husband's belongings, yearning for answers. She uncovers strange and disturbing secrets.

Why it's essential viewing: Released during COVID, The Night House deserves a bigger audience thanks to its phenomenal emotional lead performance by Hall, its consistently surprising plot, and its creepy atmosphere.

Oculus (2013)

Starring: Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites, Katee Sackhoff | Runtime: 104 mins | Rotten Tomatoes: 75%

We're spotlighting the 2013 breakthrough film of Mike Flanagan, who later went on to make the horror shows The Haunting of Hill House and Midnight Mass, as well as this year's Carrie. Oculus follows a sister and brother haunted by the violent demise of their parents a decade previously. The sister (Karen Gillan) blames the deaths on a mirror in the family's home she believes is haunted.

Why it's essential viewing: A hit upon release, Oculus features many of what would become Flanagan's trademarks: a clever dual-narrative structure and a story that blends genuine human emotion and drama with proper scares.

SOULM8TE (2026)

Starring: Lily Sullivan, David Rysdahl, Claudia Doumit | Runtime: 99 mins | Rotten Tomatoes: 38%

A female lovebot prototype (a note-perfect Lily Sullivan) goes on a rampage in this very fun 2026 sci-fi horror just recently added to streaming.

Why it's essential viewing: Shot in Ireland (including right next to JOE’s offices), though set in America, SOULM8TE was conceived as a spin-off to the M3GAN franchise. Yet, because of M3GAN 2.0’s box office underperformance, its cinema release was cancelled. 

That's a real shame because Irish director Kate Dolan (Kin, You Are Not My Mother) balances darkly fun genre thrills with genuine social commentary. After all, it’s the enormous and contradictory expectations placed on women which break Sara the android's brain, with killer consequences. Honestly, we liked SOULM8TE more than both M3GAN movies.

The Empty Man (2020)

Starring: James Badge Dale, Marin Ireland, Stephen Root | Runtime: 137 mins | Rotten Tomatoes: 73%

Don't let The Empty Man's generic title stop you from seeking it out. The story follows James Lasombra (James Badge Dale), a grieving retired cop in modern-day Missouri. He's asked by a friend to investigate the disappearance of her daughter. The teen left an ominous message: “The Empty Man made me do it.”

Why it's essential viewing: Making his feature debut, David Fincher acolyte David Prior smashes together several different sub-genres. It's a neo-noir detective procedural, an urban legend story, a conspiracy thriller, a cult/cosmic horror, and lots more, all at once.

Exploring heady themes like existentialism, identity and nihilism, this nearly 140-minute epic also begins with a terrifying 22-minute opening sequence set in Bhutan. Ambitious, nerve-wracking, unforgettable.

It Ends (2025)

Starring: Phinehas Yoon, Akira Jackson, Noah Toth | Runtime: 89 mins | Rotten Tomatoes: 93%

Newly available to rent on Apple TV, IFI@Home, Rakuten TV, and the Sky Store, this horror thriller follows four young adults on a late-night drive who find themselves trapped on a forest highway with no exits that appears to go on indefinitely. Even worse, anytime they stop their car, they find themselves attacked by strange figures who emerge from the endless woods.

Under the Skin (2013)

Starring: Scarlett Johansson | Runtime: 108 mins | Rotten Tomatoes: 84%

During the chat, we explained to Eduardo and Gregg that JOE has been highlighting cool, underrated horror movies to watch in the run-up to Halloween. We asked if they had any particular recommendations.

Eduardo picked The Legend of Boggy Creek, a 1972 docudrama horror that is currently not available to stream or rent in Ireland, so you'll have to hunt that down elsewhere. Gregg, meanwhile, shouted out Under the Skin, the 2013 movie from Oscar-winning filmmaker Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest). The film stars Scarlett Johansson as an alien in a human disguise who preys on lone men in Scotland.

Why it's essential viewing: Featuring a hypnotic lead turn by Johansson, some of the most haunting sequences we've ever seen in a movie, and a powerful exploration of what it means to be human, Under the Skin is another unforgettable watch. Speaking about it, Gregg said: “I don't know if it's underrated, but I think it's underseen… I frequently bring that up to people, and they have no idea what it is.”

Under the Skin is available to rent on Apple TV, Curzon, JustWatch, Rakuten TV, and the Sky Store.