Looking for a horror or thriller movie for a spooky seasonal scare? Well, good news. The best streaming services have plenty of movies perfect for Halloween.

Now, let me first say that I am not the kind of person who generally recommends horror or thriller movies. I have friends who love the genre and I have friends who direct horror films. I respect horror very much. However, I pass on horror films more often than not.

However, there are times when horror and thriller films are so great that even I have to watch them. To be honest, I watch more horror films than I used to because in recent years this genre has become a treasure trove of great films.

As such, here are seven horror and thriller films that I love and recommend for Halloween streaming. This is not a comprehensive or definitive list, nor am I saying that these are the seven best horror and thriller movies of all time. But whether you like horror movies or not, I promise you that each of these films is worth seeing.

I've already written about why “Alien” is my favorite of all horror films, but I'll take any opportunity to rave about Ridley Scott's 1979 classic, which may look like a science fiction film, but at its core is a horror film. A monster chases Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and her crew, killing them one by one. There are jump scares, including a symbolic one where the aliens kill the crew in dramatic fashion. This dark and creepy film will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout.

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“Alien” may be my favorite horror film of all time, but “Cabin in the Woods” is right up there. Not only is it an excellent, bloody slasher horror film, it is also a brilliant skewering of the horror subgenre. It also has a great B-grade plot in which technicians Gary (Richard Jenkins) and Steve (Bradley Whitford) are just trying to get through a weekday. If you're not much of a horror movie buff, this is my go-to horror flick.

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If there's one movie that got me looking into horror, it's this one. The Barbarian begins with Tess Marshall (Georgina Campbell) arriving at a rental property in Detroit to prepare for a job interview. The house already has a guest (Bill Skarsgård), and things quickly get creepy.

If you think you know where the movie goes from there, go to ....... I am willing to bet that you don't actually know. Unless you have already seen the movie. The twist was brilliant and the movie kept my eyes glued to the screen for the entire 102 minutes.

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If “The Barbarian” sparked my interest in the current wave of horror films, “A Quiet Place” is what motivated me to watch films like “The Barbarian” in the first place.

I never saw this film about a post-apocalyptic Earth rocked by an alien invasion in theaters, but my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) loved horror movies and couldn't believe I had not seen it. It's a really good movie and the concept of living or dying in absolute silence is brilliant. Since then I have seen the following two films from this franchise while they were still in theaters.

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Aside from “Alien,” the films on the list so far will not be mentioned in conversations about the greatest movies of all time. The same can't be said about “Get Out,” which is so great that my friends are talking about it.

Jordan Peele's directorial debut stars Daniel Kaluuya as Chris, a young black man who visits his white girlfriend's family over the weekend. At that point, you can start thinking about what could happen to him as he spends an awkward weekend with his potential future in-laws, but things get even worse. Stay tuned to find out what happens next and who in the stellar cast will ultimately orchestrate his weekend from hell.

Available on Peacock

I wouldn't go so far as to call “Black Phone” great, but it's definitely a good film. It holds a special place in my heart because it was a sort of middle ground in my ongoing journey into the horror genre.

Furthermore, Ethan Hawke's portrayal of the serial child abductor known as “The Grabber” would have made “Black Phone” worth watching even if it were not a well-made horror film. It's not the scariest film, and some of the action moves a little too slowly, but it's worth seeing whether you're furthering your love of horror or just getting started.

Available on Starz

In an M. Night Shamalanian twist, we have successfully incorporated a Martin Scorsese film starring Leonardo DiCaprio into our horror film list article. But “Shutter Island” deserves to be on this list.

When I saw the film, in which DiCaprio plays U.S. Marshal Edward “Teddy” Daniels and Mark Ruffalo plays his partner, Chuck Aule, I was ready for the classic Scorsese drama about two cops investigating a mental institution. Scorsese's previous film was The Departed, starring DiCaprio, and I was ready for another Oscar-worthy crime drama.

But that's not what I got, nor was it what “Shutter Island” was intended to be. Instead, this is a psychological horror film with a twist that I didn't see coming until it was too late. I've spoken passionately about it, but it remains one of my favorite Scorsese films of all time.

Stream it now on Peacock