Free horror movies you can stream on Tubi Canada to get into spooky season

Halloween is one of those holidays where Canadians seem to fall into two camps: you’re either really into it, or you’re not.

Perhaps you’re like us, decorating your home with pumpkins, ghosts and skulls as soon as the calendar hits Oct. 1. We take Halloween as seriously as hopeless romantics take Valentine’s Day — maybe even more seriously.

October is the perfect month to kick back and binge as many horror movies as possible. You can revisit the genre’s most iconic figures — Freddy, Michael, Jason, Leatherface (seriously, why didn’t he have a proper name?) — or finally cross a few films off that ever-growing watchlist.

Hardcore horror fans may already subscribe to Shudder, the streaming service dedicated to all things spooky, sinister and downright scary. But if you’re on a budget, you might want to look for a more, well, feasible option.

That’s where Tubi comes in.

Quite possibly the most underrated streaming platform. Believe it or not, Tubi has a massive collection of movies (and TV shows, too!), and its horror lineup is particularly impressive. In Canada, the platform has more than 13,000 hours of horror content, including more than 60 Tubi Original horror films that are campy as hell.

Horror has just about as many subgenres as Taylor Swift has album variants. The limit does not exist: slashers, supernatural thrillers, body horror, creature features, folk horror and, my personal favourite, found footage.

To save you the time of figuring out what to watch — because Canadians spend a brutal 80 hours a year doing exactly that — here are some recommended movies on Tubi to get you into the spooky-season spirit.

Mayhem

Directed by: Joe Lynch

Starring: Steven Yeun and Samara Weaving

A virus spreads through an office complex, causing white-collar workers to act out their worst impulses. It’s chaotic and over-the-top and therefore a thrilling watch if you’re into last-man-standing type of horror movies.

The Taking of Deborah Logan

Directed by: Adam Robitel

Starring: Jill Larson, Anne Ramsay, Brett Gentile

Mia records the daily lives of Deborah and her daughter Sarah as part of her thesis. As the days progress, strange things happen around Deborah, and it becomes apparent that something has taken control of her. It’s one of the spookiest of the found footage subgenre.

Psycho

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

Starring: Anthony Perkins (horror filmmaker Osgoode Perkins’ dad), Janet Leigh, Vera Miles

A secretary on the run for embezzlement takes refuge at a secluded California motel owned by a repressed man and his overbearing mother. It’s a classic horror movie that will never go out of style.

Buzzkill

Directed by: Jem Garrard

Starring: Siena Agudong, Brec Bassinge, Aliyah’s Interlude, Angela Daytona Wu

Follows a group of sorority sisters who end up trapped with a murderer. Nora’s tipsy memories hold the clues to figuring out who is killing their friends, but she can only remember them when she’s drunk. If you take your horror with a side of comedy, this one’s top-tier.

Hell House

Directed by: Stephen Cognetti

Starring: Gore Abrams, Alice Bahlke, Danny Bellini

Five years after the deadly opening night of a Halloween attraction, a documentary film crew investigates the haunted house where it all took place. You will never want to look at another clown again — we guarantee it.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Directed by: Tobe Hooper

Starring: Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen, Paul A. Partain

A group of youngsters come across a family of psychopaths who attack them with a variety of gruesome methods, including a chainsaw, before those who survive escape, still pursued by the saw-wielding Leatherface. Arguably the best horror movie ever made.

Who Invited Them

Directed by: Duncan Birmingham

Starring: Ryan Hansen, Melissa Tang, Timothy Granaderos

Two couples bond at a housewarming party. The hosts become suspicious when the lingering guests reveal wealth and continue drinking into the night. The ultimate dinner party from hell.

Terrifier

Directed by: Damien Leone

Starring: David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown

A crazy clown stalks and tries to kill three women in a wretched old apartment building on Halloween night. Not for the faint of heart. If you’re bold enough, you can watch the sequel on Tubi, too.

Noroi: The Curse

Directed by: Koji Shiraishi

Starring: Jin Muraki and Marika Matsumoto

A paranormal reporter investigating an ancient demon for a documentary vanishes shortly after completing it. This is the footage her crew left behind. It’s deeply unsettling yet a total standout in the subgenre.

Sleepaway Camp

Directed by: Robert Hiltzik

Starring: Felissa Rose, Jonathan Tiersten, Karen Fields

Following the death of her family, Angela is sent to a camp for the summer. After her arrival, brutal accidents begin to kill the other campers. It’s a totally ’80s slasher everyone should watch at least once.

Deep Red

Directed by: Dario Argento

Starring: David Hemmings, Marcus Daly, Daria Nicolodi

An English jazz pianist living in Rome and a tenacious reporter witness the brutal murder of a psychic neighbor and plunge into a twisted, violent mystery. Released in 1975, it’s a classic Italian giallo thriller everyone should watch at least once.

V/H/S

Directed by: Various

Starring: Ti West (famous horror director of the Pearl trilogy), Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard

A group of misfits burglarizes a desolate house to acquire a rare tape, but instead they find a dead body and endless amounts of terrifying footage. There are nine films in this franchise, but this one’s free on Tubi.

Midsommar

Directed by: Ari Aster

Starring: Florence Pugh, Will Poulter, William Jackson Harper

A couple travel to Sweden to visit their friend’s rural hometown for its fabled midsummer festival, but what begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult. The ending is unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Bone Tomahawk

Directed by: S. Craig Zahler

Starring: Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Kurt Russell

In the Old West, a sheriff, his deputy, a gunslinger, and a cowboy embark on a mission to rescue three people from a savage group of cave dwellers. It’s a slow-burn Western with some horrific scenes that will haunt you for a long time.

Did we miss anything? Tell us your favourite horror movies in the comments below.