Best Halloween movies and shows on Netflix in 2021

Hush

Release Year: 2016

Directed by Mike Flanagan 

Cast: Kate Siegel, John Gallagher Jr., and Michael Trucco

Are you a fan of horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan? Then you’ll definitely want to add Hush to your Halloween watch list!

The 2016 film stars Kate Siegel, Flanagan’s wife and frequent collaborator, in the role of Maddie Young.

Maddie is a writer who cannot hear or speak, and the story follows her as she moves from the big city to a quiet, woodsy area by herself to write the predecessor to her successful novel, Midnight Mass. Yes, the same Midnight Mass that just premiered as a TV show on Netflix in September of this year!

Fun fact: The book Midnight Mass also appears in Flanagan’s movie Gerald’s Game, which is based on the Stephen King book of the same name. Gerald’s Game is also streaming on Netflix.

While Maddie is staying at her new place in Hush, a man wearing a mask begins to torment her, but she doesn’t realize right away because she’s deaf. Once she figures out what’s going on, she tries to call the police but the man cuts off her power and so a game of cat and mouse ensues.

Hush is an interesting take on a home invasion story, and what’s even more interesting is that Flanagan initially considered making it a fully silent film.

While speaking to Bloody Disgusting in 2016, he and Siegel explained why they didn’t go that route, with Flanagan saying:

"“Modern audiences, having not grown up on silent films, are suddenly going to have to seek out every kind of audio stimulus anywhere else in the environment. Then I thought we wouldn’t even have people watching the movie at that point.”"

There’s really great suspense in Hush and it’s one of the best horror movies on Netflix right now!

Written by Natalie Zamora.