'Masterpiece' horror film that's the 'best on Netflix' to watch this Halloween

The clocks have gone back and Halloween is quickly approaching, meaning people will be on the look out for the perfect scary movie to watch. While viewers are spoilt for choice on Netflix, movie fans have recommended one particular film series to watch this spooky season.

What's On Netflix, a website dedicated to movie news and reviews, recently named its top 15 best original horror movies on the platform. It features classics such as Gerald's Game and Bird Box, but it was Fear Street that was named at number one. The four-part film series, based on R.L. Stine's popular books, is based in the fictional town of Shadyside which is known as the "murder capital" of the USA.

The first three movies, released on a weekly basis in 2021, were directed by Leigh Janiak. Meanwhile, the fourth film was released in May and directed by Matt Palmer.

In Fear Street Part One: 1994, a series of brutal murders takes place in Shadyside before a group of teenagers is forced to take on an evil force. According to Janiak, the film was inspired by 1996 American slashed film Scream.

A killer's murder spree then turns Camp Nightwing into a fight for survival in Fear Street Part Two: 1978. It was inspired by 1980 film Friday the 13th which also features a group of teenage campers getting brutally murdered by an unknown killer.

Fear Street Three: 1666 has been compared to historical romantic drama film The New World by Janiak. It throws the storyline back to 1666 while the friends continue to fight for their lives in Shadyside's future.

The fourth and final movie, Fear Street: Prom Queen, is a standalone story focusing on a masked killer who targets the prom queen candidates of Shadyside High. However, the film has been labelled inferior to the original three films by critics.

The first three movies were nominated for the Outstanding TV Movie category at the GLAAD Media Awards in 2022. The same year, actress Sadie Sink was nominated for Most Frightened Performance at the MTV Movie and TV Awards for her role in the films.

In terms of popularity, the third movie has the highest score on Rotten Tomatoes with 89%. The second film is scored at 88% with the first rated at 84% popularity.

What's On Netflix said: "In 2021, Netflix went all-in on Fear Street. The streamer released 3 movies (each respectively subtitled 1994, 1978, 1966) in the same month.

"The movies are based on the novels by seminal horror writer R.L. Stine, and set in the fictional town of Shadyside - better known as the murder capital of the United States.

"The setting and tone of the films are inspired by movies from the era they cover, while still having the feel of a modern, contemporary horror.

"Moreover, if the trilogy isn't enough for you, Netflix also released Fear Street: Prom Queen in 2025. Prom Queen revisits fictional town of Shadyside for the high school class of '88, where the election for Prom Queen gets bloody."

It added: "If you want to immerse yourself in a movie series of horror and slasher, it doesn't get much better than Fear Street!"