The Thing

John Carpenter, 1982

Inspired by Howard Hawks’s 1950s tale of an alien intruder, the Carpenter film is altogether more pyrotechnic, nihilistic and, well, disgusting. “You gotta be f**king kidding me!” Kurt Russell exclaims. Prime Video

Nosferatu

FW Murnau, 1922

Yes, it’s the 1922 original, the version of Dracula, long believed lost, that tried a name change to thwart the book’s copyright holders. It was prosecuted close to annihilation and then, appropriately, rose from the tomb. Still deeply eerie. Prime Video

[ From Alien to The Zone of Interest: 50 of the best movies to stream right now – with no extra rental feesOpens in new window ]

Talk to Me

Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou, 2023

Two Australian YouTubers movie into horror with impressively unsettling effect. A group of suburban teenagers connect with the other world via an embalmed hand. Shocking but with real emotional heft. Netflix

The Lighthouse

Robert Eggers, 2019

A mad, unsettling cornucopia groaning with all the tropes of maritime horror. Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson are the lighthouse keepers in a hugely original picture that straddles slapstick and high arthouse. Prime Video

RM Block

John Collison of Stripe: Ireland is going backwards. Here’s how to get it moving

---

‘You need to pull it down, your whole bottom is on show,’ the woman said. ‘It’s a disgrace’

---

As a culchie, I know culchies. Here’s my definitive guide to culchie culture, aka culchure

---

A Quiet Place

John Krasinski, 2018

A tremendous high concept exploited with brilliant invention. Krasinski and Emily Blunt are set loose in a world terrorised by creatures sensitive to even the slightest noise. The fine sequel and prequel are also available. Paramount+

Scream

Wes Craven, 1996

Okay, maybe horror became a little too self-conscious after this smash hit, but Craven’s treatise on the conventions of slasher cinema remains a gory hoot. Netflix

Don’t Breathe

Fede Álvarez, 2016

A group of teenagers find themselves prey to a blind man they had originally planned to rob. One of the tensest and most exhausting horrors of the past 20 years. Ignore the disappointing sequel. Netflix

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Philip Kaufman, 1978

Is Kaufman’s version better than the 1956 original? Maybe. The alien-invasion flick certainly has one of the most chilling final shots in macabre cinema. Donald Sutherland stars. Prime Video

Possession

Andrzej Zulawski, 1981

“You haven’t seen Possession?” For decades, this superb shocker – casting Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani adrift in possessed West Berlin – was a mere cult favourite. It is now established as a copper-bottomed classic. Prime Video

Re-Animator

Stuart Gordon, 1985

Gordon, a man of some intellectual heft, makes an irresistibly deranged comedy of HP Lovecraft’s typically fraught story Herbert West–Reanimator. A bloody sensation on VHS. Prime Video