Valentine’s Daycomes and goes every year leaving folks with either heartfelt wholesomeness or wholesale heartbreak, effectively splitting the population into (respectively) love and hate relationships with the minor holiday. Whichever side any given person falls on, there always seems to be some amount of speculation as to what to do. Whether it’s quality time with a loved one or waiting the hours away alone, dinner dates only ever go so far and the inevitable movie night always comes with a harder question, “what do we watch?”
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There are only so many quality rom-coms, which presents a unique challenge while browsing streaming services. Cue 2019’s release of Ari Aster’sMidsommar,which brought a new audience to the strange, messy world of “horro-mance,” and provided both “toxic relationship analysis” and “genre mash-up masterpiece” in equal parts. While many viewers were disturbed by the sheer real-ness of the scripting, many more left their screens wanting more, but maybe not knowing exactly where to find it. What are somegreat horror movies fit for Valentine’s Day?
Updated June 23, 2025 by Mark Sammut:Valentine’s Day is here again, and couples looking for a movie to watch have thousands of romances at their disposal. However, rom-coms and heartwarming dramas are not everyone’s speed; in some cases, a good old fright fest is exactly what the doctor ordered. There are plenty of scary flicks that can be enjoyed at any time of the year, but on the day of love, why not try aValentine’s Day horror movie?
Not all these movies take place on Valentine’s Day, but they have themes related to the holiday.
2001
11%
Where to Stream
N/A
More than a decade after rejecting a schoolmate, a group of women find themselves targeted by a killer who sends out disturbing Valentine’s Day cards and loves to cosplay as Cupid. 2001’sValentinefeels ripped right out of the ’80s, delivering no-frills thrills driven by blood and fake outs.
This film is not a terrible recreation of that era’s style, however, its Valentine’s Day premise might conjure up visions ofMy Bloody Valentine, and comparisons to that classic do the 2001 movie no favors. Still,Valentineis a serviceable slasher flick that has been mostly forgotten, so it might be worth throwing on if someone is looking for a film they have not seen yet.
1981
Sometimes, simplicity works in a movie’s favor, and that definitely extends toHospital Massacre. Also known asBe My Valentine, Or ElseorX-Ray,Hospital Massacredelivers exactly what its title advertises: a lot of gruesome kills in a creepy setting. Taking place on Valentine’s Day,Hospital Massacrelets its gore and environment do all the heavy lifting, limiting the story to an introductory flashback and a predictable final act reveal.
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This 1981 movie is purely forslasher fans, and it is a pretty decent entry in that subgenre of horror. Considering the early ’80s were overflowing with stories about fictional killers and the people they stab,Hospital Massacregot a bit lost in the shuffle.
2014
45%
DirecTV,HBO Max,Kanopy
Life After Beth (2014)is a wonderfully charming rom-com starring Aubrey Plaza and Dane DeHaan as they deal with the biggest challenge their relationship has seen yet,death.
Critically, the film didn’t receivefantasticreviews on release, but the A24 production brought in quite a few viewers who found a lot to love in this indie gem. For anyone looking for a fresh take on the zombie genre, with afun humorous twist, this might be the one.
2018
90%
Amazon Prime Video (& AMC+),TheRokuChannel,Shudder
One of the most under-appreciated films of 2018,Mandysounds like the type of corny B-movie to fall immediately in the discount bin at the local grocery store, forever lost and forgotten to mediocre-at-best ratings.Mandy, however, is a pariah.
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Experimental director Panos Cosmatos' second movie bringsNicolas Cageand Andrea Riseborough into one of the most visually and audibly striking films to ever hit the small screen. The movie plays out a revenge fantasy through a trippy modern take on classic sword-and-sandal fantasy epics.
1975
91%
TheCriterionChannel
Picnic at Hanging Rockis an Australian classic about a group of girls who go missing during the eponymous event. The picnic happens to take place on Valentine’s Day, which ties into the story’s themes of sexual repression. Peter Weir’s mesmerizing project creates a hazy atmosphere drenched in the unknown, and specifically opts against presenting clear or understandable answers.
While not horror by the conventional understanding of the genre,Picnic at Hanging Rockis deeply disconcerting and uncomfortable. The film gets under the viewer’s skin, presenting with an unseen terror that has no face, purpose, motive, or reason for existing.
1976
93%
Amazon Prime Video (& Paramount+),DirecTV,Epix,FuboTV,TheRokuChannel
Brian De Palma’sCarrieis a wonderfully imagined classic, and easily one of the best horror films of the ’70s, regardless of its seemingly inconspicuous scale and subject.
Carriepulls a fast one on the genre, appearing on the outside to be a muchmore tame, universal storywith a romantic outcome and a solid line-up of hot songs to really bump it into blockbuster territory. What lies in wait, however, is a much more troubled story of a girl so terribly abused that she unleashes something dark into the world when her final string is cut.
2019
88%
DirecTV,FuboTV
A wonderful addition to the “good for her” cinematic universe,Ready or Not (2019)is a great little callback to the old days of horror-for-the-fun-of-it.
When a bride’s wedding night goes a littletoooff the rails due to the groom’s eccentric family, she has to take things into her own hands or else face an embarrassing fate that won’t go without repercussions. Not only is the film a good representation of how it feels to meet the in-laws, but a wonderful lighthearted exercise in tension.
1999
83%
Amazon Prime Video,AsianCrush,DarkMatterTV,Kanopy
In one of Takashi Miike’s best works, the ever-prolific director takes a romantic turn from his classically campy filmmaking.
Auditionlooks into the world of industry exploitation and sexual misconduct, as a well-meaning director holds auditions to find himself a healthy relationship while recovering from the death of his wife several years ago. Not for the faint of heart,Auditioncreeps in with some ofthe most unsettlingtorture scenes in film history.
2017
100%
Netflix
Sequels, while they rarely get it right across any media, can oftenexceed expectationsand become fan-favorites in the franchise.Creep 2, from indie director Patrick Brice, is one of those sequels.
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Creep 2sidewinds away from the first film in an interesting way, almost flipping the roles on their backs as the main antagonist of the original becomes a near-romantic companion to Brice’s new protagonist. Viewers of the original should know exactly what happens next, but how it plays out through the film is extremely fun to watch and comes with a handful of fun surprises and genuinely heartfelt moments.
1992
61%
Brian De Palma features again, this time with one of his less-celebrated outings.Raising Cainis all over the place, and while that would be a criticism in most cases, it actually works in the movie’s favor. Centering around a child psychologist and his various personalities,Raising Cainis bewilderingly excessive, unsettlingly imaginative, and visually gorgeous.
A significant section ofRaising Caintakes place on Valentine’s Day, a decision that is about as baffling as the rest of the movie. Just to be clear, everything written about the movie in this entry is meant to be taken as praise.
