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Streaming Video Guides

Use this guide to find streaming alternatives to Media Services DVDs.

Horror Movies

Titles Available as of July 2022

This is a selective list of streaming video holdings in the American University Library. Streaming guides are created by doing multiple keyword searches in the library catalog to capture as many titles on a topic as possible. For complete up-to-date streaming holdings, please refer to our streaming catalog.

Alien

When commercial towing vehicle Nostromo, heading back to Earth, intercepts an SoS signal from a nearby planet, the crew are under obligation to investigate. After a bad landing on the planet, some crew members leave the ship to explore the area. At the same time as they discover a hive colony of some unknown creature, the ship's computer deciphers the message to be a warning, not a call for help. When one of the eggs is disturbed, the crew do not know the danger they are in until it is too late.

Before I Wake

A well known psychologist in denial over the death of her sister begins to take on the mental issues of her patients. This film is about what happens when the relationship between two people who were as close as two human beings can get, falls apart. It’s about what happens when people you love the most turn away from you. And then what happens when, before anything can be repaired, one of them dies. This leads to the film’s theme, which is guilt and ultimately denial.

Chronicle

Three high school students make an incredible discovery, leading to their developing uncanny powers beyond their understanding. Even as they learn to control their abilities and use them to their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control because their darker sides begin to take over. 

The Color Out of Space

Arkham, 1975: Jonathan Davis' father has disappeared. His tracks lead to Germany, to the Swabian-Franconian Forest where he was stationed after the Second World War. Jonathan sets out to find him and bring him home, but deep in the woods he discovers a dark mystery from the past. Based on H. P. Lovecraft's short novel The Color Out of Space. 

A Cure for Wellness

An ambitious young executive is sent to retrieve his company's CEO from an idyllic but mysterious "wellness center" at a remote location in the Swiss Alps. He soon suspects that the spa's miraculous treatments are not what they seem. When he begins to unravel its terrifying secrets, his sanity is tested, as he finds himself diagnosed with the same curious illness that keeps all the guests here longing for the cure. 

Daughters of Darkness

International screen icon Delphine Seyrig stars as Elizabeth Bathory, an ageless countess with a beautiful young "companion" and a legendary legacy of perversion. But when the two women seduce a troubled newlywed couple (Danielle Ouimet and John Karlen), they unleash a frenzy of sudden violence and depraved desire that shocked both art house audiences and grindhouse crowds worldwide. 

Devil's Due

After a mysterious, lost night on their honeymoon, a newlywed couple finds themselves dealing with an earlier-than-planned pregnancy. While recording everything for posterity, the husband begins to notice odd behavior in his wife that they initially write off to nerves, but, as the months pass, it becomes evident that the dark changes to her body and mind have a much more sinister origin. 

Doctor and the Devils

The Doctor and the Devil is a gruesome Gothic thriller inspired by a true story. Dalton stars as an unorthodox Victorian-era anatomist whose obsessive quest for scientific truth compels him to enlist the aid of two murderous grave-robbers.  

The Fly

Acclaimed horror director David Cronenberg brings his unique style to this startling remake of the 1958 Vincent Price shocker. A Brooks film Presentation starring Jeff Goldblum, The Fly is the horrifying story of an unfortunate scientist whose molecules are scrambled with those of a common housefly during an experiment in matter transmission. Goldblum is transformed, step by hideous step, into a gigantic fly -- incredibly agile, super strong, and driven to murder by appetites he cannot control. A frightening tale of technology gone awry, The Fly is destined to become a horror classic. 

Ghost in the Machine

“Ghost in the Machine” is a techno-thriller about a family being stalked by a serial killer who has taken the form of a computer virus and is pursuing them through the common electrical devices around them. 

The Happening

A paranoid thriller about a family on the run from a natural crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity. 

The Hills Have Eyes

A new take on Wes Craven's 1977 film of the same name, THE HILLS HAVE EYES is the story of a family road trip that goes terrifyingly awry when the travelers become stranded in a government atomic zone. Miles from nowhere, the Carters soon realize the seemingly uninhabited wasteland is actually the breeding ground of a blood-thirsty mutant family...and they are the prey. 

The Innocents

In Victorian England, the uncle of orphaned niece Flora and nephew Miles hires Miss Giddens as governess to raise the children at his estate with total independence and authority. Soon after her arrival, Miss Giddens comes to believe that the spirits of the former governess Miss Jessel and valet Peter Quint are possessing the children. Miss Giddens decides to help the children to face and exorcise the spirits.

Jennifer's Body

When small-town high school hottie Jennifer (Megan Fox) is possessed by a hungry demon, guys who never stood a chance with her, take on new luster in the light of Jennifer's insatiable appetite. From the Oscar-winning screenwriter of "Juno." 

Lake Placid

Billed as an action film with comic elements, the story tells of a New York paleontologist (Bridget Fonda) who travels to Maine to investigate the mysterious death of a man near a remote lake. With the help of a fish and game warden (Bill Pullman), a battling sheriff and a wildlife expert, she discovers that a 35-foot crocodile is responsible for the havoc. 

M = 1951

In this Americanization of the 1931 German thriller, both the police and the criminal underworld stalk a mysterious killer who preys on small children. 

The New York Ripper

A blade-wielding psychopath is on the loose, turning The Big Apple bright red with the blood of beautiful young women. As NYPD detectives follow the trail of butchery from the decks of the Staten Island Ferry to the sex shows of Times Square, each brutal murder becomes a sadistic taunt. In the city that never sleeps, he's the killer that can't be stopped! 

Nosferatu

This silent vampire film, a landmark of German Expressionism, is known for its fidelity to its source, Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. It is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential horror movies ever made.

The Omen

A diplomat, his wife, and their little boy, Damien, appear to be the ideal American family. However, when the couple's son died at birth, another baby was substituted. Five years later, a trail of death follows Damien, and Peck must probe the recesses of the occult to learn the boy's identity. 

The Other Side of the Door

A family lives an idyllic existence abroad until a tragic accident takes the life of their young son. The inconsolable mother learns of an ancient ritual that will bring him back to say a final goodbye. She travels to an ancient temple, where a door serves as a mysterious portal between two worlds. But when she disobeys a sacred warning to never open that door, she upsets the balance between life and death. 

Poe's the Tell-Tale Heart

Based on the famous short story by Edgar Allan Poe, this adaptation uses no flashbacks or other devices to illustrate the murder. 

Poltergeist

Legendary filmmaker Sam Raimi and director Gil Kenan reimagine and contemporize the classic tale about a family whose suburban home is invaded by angry spirits. When the terrifying apparitions escalate their attacks and take the youngest daughter, the family must come together to rescue her. 

Prometheus 

This film is set in 2093 and takes place in the same universe as the 'Alien' movies. A group of explorers, including some archaeologists, are on an "undisclosed" mission. They arrive at a planet millions of miles away from Earth. The team spot what they believe to be signs of civilization. They go to investigate and find more than just signs, they find conclusive evidence. But some of them have an ulterior motive for being there, including the Weyland Corporation. They believe that this is where the human race actually came from. Things soon turn from excitement to survival once inside their discovery. 

Shock

When a family moves into a home with a shocking secret, their lives become a nightmare of homicidal hallucinations as their young son begins to communicate with the spirits of the dead. Remodeled in madness and painted with blood, they soon discover that domestic bliss can be murder... when home is where the horror is. 

Shutter

A newly married couple discovers disturbing, ghostly images in photographs they develop after a tragic accident. Fearing the manifestations may be connected, they investigate and learn that some mysteries are better left unsolved. 

Terror Train

A college fraternity prank goes bad and a student ends up in the mental ward. Four years later, it's graduation time, and the members of the fraternity decide to have a costume party aboard a train trip to celebrate their graduation. Unknowingly to them, a killer has slipped aboard, whacking them off one by one, disguised in the costumes of the victims. 

Turistas

After a terrifying bus accident maroons a diverse group of young adventure travelers in a remote Brazilian beach town, they slowly discover that the white sand beaches and lush jungles are concealing a darker, unsettling secret. Turistas stars Josh Duhamel (NBC's "Las Vegas") and Melissa George (The Amityville Horror) and is directed by John Stockwell (Blue Crush). 

28 Days Later

A virus accidentally released from a research facility has devastated the entire planet. The human race is faced with extinction. A handful of survivors are left to salvage a future from the apocalypse. 

The Undying Monster

A werewolf prowls around at night but only kills certain members of one family. It seems like just a coincidence but the investigating Inspector soon finds out that this tradition has gone on for generations and tries to find a link between the werewolf and the family, leading to a frightening conclusion. 

Vanished

A woman searches for many years to exact revenge on a kidnapper. A psychological thriller that examines how far a person would go if pushed to the extreme. 

The Vanishing

Sutherland's girlfriend disappears at a gas station, and after three years of searching for her he's become a man obsessed. Meanwhile, her wily abductor (Bridges) considers revealing himself.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea

This futuristic thriller inspired the popular television series about the adventures of the crew of a super-sub. The earth is threatened by a ring of burning radiation. 

Watch if You Dare

What many are saying is the most disturbing film of 2018, watch if you Dare revolves around a series of horrifying incidents. If you press play, look away