Original Coverage & Source Attribution: staticonthetv.substack.com
It’s October, which means horror fans will certainly be spending the month blowing through as many scary movies as possible on the way to Halloween.
So, I took a deep dive into the Tubi catalog to see which under-the-radar horror movies they had hanging around for free. Partially for content, and partially because I’m building my own watch list. I did a similar rundown for Peacock, which is always a great place to dig through for horror flicks around October.
So turning the spotlight on Tubi, here are 10 great, forgotten horror flicks that should definitely make your list this month.
This sci-fi horror flick is one that often gets lost in the shuffle of the Blumhouse horror slate, but it does some cool things and is incredibly atmospheric. It stars Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton, and is basically Poltergeist meets a creepy alien abduction story. It’s freaky and very cool — and one of those movies you may have missed the first time around.
Yes, we all know the OG Flatliners movie from the early 1990s — but this is the forgotten reboot from 2017. Part of that rash of classic horror movie remakes in the 2010s, this one didn’t do all that well at the time. You know the pitch: young pretty people start taking themselves to death’s door to see what comes after, and things get dark and twisty from there.
Looking back, it had an absolutely fascinating cast and is still a fun thrill ride. It featured Diego Luna, Nina Dobrev, Kiersey Clemons, James Norton and Elliot Page. Kiefer Sutherland also shows up for a nod to the original, but that cameo is more confusing than cool.
This recent-ish A24 horror movie is among the indie studio’s biggest hits, but if you don’t follow indie releases super closely, it’s one you could’ve missed upon release. But it’s absolutely worth a watch. It follows a group of college kids messing around with a freaky, embalmed hand that allows them to channel the dead. Things get scary when they accidentally leave that door open a bit too long.
Easily one of the best recent horror flicks of the past decade.
This movie scared the absolute heck out of me as a teenager, and it’s one I’ll absolutely be rewatching myself this October. The film stars Patricia Arquette as a young woman experiencing stigmata, the biblical wounds of Christ from the crucifixion. Gabriel Byrne plays the priest investigating this terrifying miracle, leading to a twisty religious thriller with some gorgeously scary set pieces and freaky visual language.
This one deserves to be talked about right alongside Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. A fun, high-concept slasher set at a college where elaborate deaths start taking place, all based on classic urban legends. The cast is stacked, with a young Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, Tara Reid, Joshua Jackson and Michael Rosenbaum. There’s also a supporting role by Robert Englund, so you know it’s good.
This still stands as one of the best sci-fi horror flick of the late 1990s. Directed by Robert Rodriguez from a screenplay by Kevin Williamson, it follows a body-swapping alien invasion in a small town, and the high school kids who try to stop it.
The cast is a who’s who of future stars. Seriously: Jordana Brewster, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Famke Janssen, Robert Patrick, Elijah Wood, Jon Stewart (yes, really) and so many more.
Are you a superhero fan looking for a bit of horror with your capes? This one does the trick. Produced by James Gunn, it puts a dark, murderous spin on the Superman concept. What if a superpowered baby landed in a small town, but instead of growing up into a kind-hearted Clark Kent, he turns into a twisted psycho pre-teen with god-like powers?
The Stephen King film catalog is well-documented, but if any movie flies under the radar, it’s this one. Based on a King short story, this film stars John Cusack as a ghost-hunting author who agrees to stay in a “haunted” hotel room. As you can probably guess, he finally found a hotel room that fits the bill. It’s a twisty nightmare where you can never trust what you see, and Cusack absolutely carries it as a character piece.
This one is a brand new Tubi original release landing some good, campy horror buzz. Basically it’s a fresh entry in the slasher genre, with a killer taking aim at a bunch of sorority girls. The twist? One of the girls may have the knowledge to figure out the killer, she just has to get drunk to unlock the memories.
It’s a silly concept just goofy enough to work, and show’s the elasticity of the slasher genre in 2026.
I will forever include this Paul W.S. Anderson sci-fi nightmare on any horror movie watch list I can. It follows the crew of a space ship investigating a lost ship that made an unexpected trip to hell itself. It starred Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill, and features some of the most haunting and frightening imagery ever put to screen.
One cool note: A series of comic book sequels are releasing now, picking up and fleshing out the story beyond the film. So, even three decades later, the mythology is still growing.
