Now Scream This: 10 Great Horror Movies Streaming On Netflix, Hulu, And Amazon
(Welcome toNow Scream This, a column where horror experts Chris Evangelista and Matt Donato tell you what scary, spooky, and spine-tingling movies are streaming and where you can watch them.)Matt:This week’s “Now Scream This” is a special request, echoed by all our readers who don’t have a Shudder subscription. Or any niche streaming services for that matter (but if you’re a horror fan, splurge for Shudder). By request, Chris and I are keeping this edition to only Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. The O.G. streamers before Peacock and Disney+ or any of these new services you can’t convince me truthfully exist. Stop making up services. This many can’t possibly compete.Chris:Yep.Readwhat Matt said above. I’ve got nothing this week, folks. Bar’s closed.
Now Streaming on Netflix
Matt:Like I said to start myFantastic Fest 2019 review, “Alexandra Daddarioin a heavy metal horror movie?” Music to my forever-ringing ears due to years of blowout from crunchy amplified guitar riffs. You’ll get your girl-gang tenacity since Daddario andMaddie Hassonshine as leather-clad aggressors in a male-dominated space, but maybe some tides turn. Maybe cultism plays a factor. MaybeJohnny Knoxvillepops in. I do wishWe Summon The Darknessdedicated itself more ferociously to “heavy metal horror,” but it’s still a not-so-quiet riot. Daddario is as commanding and sinful as you’d hope, expect, and pray for in your genre titles.Chris:I’ve heard Matt’s praise for this movie before, but I have a very hard time getting past the trailer. Please, make better trailers.
Now Streaming on Hulu
Matt:Now you may watch the summer’s biggest drive-in hit,The Wretched, at home! That’s no sarcastic remark directed at either IFC Midnight’s successful claim to record-breaking box office domination or our current pandemic scenario that cleared the summer blockbuster schedule. Genuinely,The Wretchedis a witch tale that might show a few cracks but entails enough doppelgänger terror and child endangerment to score a recommendation. That gangly demonic design of the film’s folklore villain is one hell of a genre look, which earns instant love from a practical effects appreciator like myself—indie spirits, tight execution, and that underlying creep factor that holds in plenty long enough.Chris:I just received a Blu-ray copy of this, so I will make sure to watch it as soon as I can.
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime
Matt:TheParanormal Activityfranchise depreciates the farther you reach (exceptThe Marked Onesowns), withParanormal Activity 3notching the final numbered sequel that stills finds fresh and freakish ways to maintain found footage dominance. Need I say more than the oscillating fan scare? A little sheet ghoul that disappears in front of our eyes? It’s the lastParanormal ActivityI cared to own on home release and still scratches that in-your-face itch only videotape horror can deliver. If you fell off this franchise after number two, get back on board.Chris:I know it’s controversial, but I likeParanormal Activity 2more than3, but3is full of inventive ideas – the camera on an oscillating fan is just swell.
Matt:I listedAfter Midnightonce when it hit Kanopy, but let’s be honest, it’s not one of the most popular streaming services. Welp, nowAfter Midnightis on Amazon Prime. For the masses. When done right, romance and horror are a magnificent two-genre dance, but the steps aren’t easy to maneuver. That’s what makesJeremy GardnerandBrea Grant’s fight with their inner demons and an actual hellbeast such a graceful bow. Wonderfully raw, expressively impassioned, and I’m going to keep raving about how much I feel the beating heart of this beautiful filmic love letter. Makes my emotions get all fluttery and shit.Chris:I watched a half-hour of this and then fell asleep. I don’t think it’s the movie’s fault, I’m just a very sleepy man.
Matt:Aquatic horror often relies on sharks or gators or other slippery creatures. NotChristopher Smith’sTriangle!Melissa Georgegets the type of heavy-lifting leading role she deserves as a mother trapped in an at-sea time loop. Her ship capsizes, all the survivors (includingLiam Hemsworth) board a floating ghost vessel, but escape seems futile as death just restarts the process once more. At the halfway point, I wasn’t positive that Smith would be able to land the finishing blow to his purgatorial gimmick. After quite the walloping ending, consider my fears all for naught.Chris:Love a good time-loop horror tale!
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Chris:You’re probably saying, “Why isCaponeon a list of horror films?” BecauseCaponeis very much a horror movie. Sure, it’s about gangster Al Capone (played byTom Hardy, who once again puts on a weird voice), but this isn’t your standard gangster pic. Instead, it’s a haunted house movie, with Capone stumbling around his Florida mansion, haunted by the shadows of his violent past. There are visits from ghouls who cut their eyes out, creepy parties, and scary disappearing children. It’s likeThe ShiningmeetsThe Untouchables.Matt:Caponeis sure as hell a horror story, one that’ll give you nightmares for all the most insufferable reasons.
Chris:Right beforeTim Burtondescended into self-parody he madeSleepy Hollow, a stylish, bloody Hammer Horror throwback full of many beheadings. Taking the classicLegend of Sleepy Hollowand reworking it as a kind of murder mystery, withJohnny Deppas a fumbling Detective Ichabod Crane,Sleepy Hollowis loaded with gorgeous, gothic, Halloween-y production design and featuresChristopher Walkenrunning around with sharp teeth and yelling “GAHHHH!!!” instead of delivering lines. What else do you need?Matt:Coincidentally, a film that will not make you sleepy! Someone should really check these movie titles before they go public.
Chris:Dark Skiesis like the forgotten Blumhouse movie. It has the same formula as most of the Blumhouse movies that followed – a suburban family tormented by unseen forces. But it’s not nearly as slick and polished. It also deals withaliensinstead of ghosts, and that just doesn’t quite work. Still,Dark Skiesis oddly watchable.Keri Russellgives it her all as a mom who suspects aliens are targeting her teen son, andJ.K. Simmonsshows up late in the movie and manages to maintain his dignity while dropping a ton of exposition about lizard people. It’s by no means agoodmovie, but you should watch it anyway.Matt:My memories of this one aren’t the fondest, so I might need to rewatch now that my cinematic tastes are more refined (lol jk I just forget).
Chris:A cavalcade of A and B-list horror stars –Kane Hodder,Tony Todd,Robert Englund,Angus Scrimm,Ted Raimi,Reggise Bannister– are all overWishmaster, a silly pic from make-up-artist-turned-filmmakerRobert Kurtzman. Following more or less the same formula asLeprechaun,Wishmasterinvolves an evil wish-granter who warps people’s wishes into deadly acts. The monster here is a genie, or a Djinn, and he winds up in the modern day, ready to wreck havoc. The final act of the film is a practical special effects extravaganza.Matt:Blindspot. Sorry. No witty “wish” pun from me here.
Chris:Ah, the ’90s. An innocent time when Hollywood would say, “Hey, I know who we should get to star in our big horror movie:Penelope Ann MillerandTom Sizemore!” This pulpy monster mash finds an ancient South-American monster transported to a museum in Chicago, where it proceeds to chow down on anyone in its path. Miller is a biologist who wants to study the beast and Sizemore is a cop who wants to put a bullet in it. It’s dumb, it’s fun, it’sThe Relic.Matt:Decidedly notRelic, the IFC Midnight movie that’ll ruin your soul, but a fun horror excursion nonetheless!
