Streaming services can be a mixed bag for horror fans. Most channels have an uneven selection of quality films and forgettable entries. If you want to get the most scares out of a monthly subscription, here are the ones to invest in.
Hulu
Of the marquee streaming services, Hulu takes horror the most seriously. Not only does it have the best original home horror film release of the year so far (“No One Will Save You”), it curates one of the best short horror collections in its seasonal list, “Bite Size Horror.”
Add the fact that it hosts many seasons of “American Horror Story” and a great new original series in “The Other Black Girl,” and you’ll have content to keep you up at night for days. For those looking for lesser-known gems, the channel is streaming Stephen King’s “Rose Red,” an obscure but excellent miniseries that has been largely unavailable on digital platforms for years. And for fans of Japanese horror, make sure you look up “Gannibal,” but you’d better have a strong stomach.
Shudder
Shudder has long been the premier home for new and classic horror. This month it added the entire “Saw” franchise for those wanting to binge all nine movies before seeing “Saw X,” as well as the iconic 1987 comedy-horror flick, “Evil Dead II.” The series “Creepshow” has been one of the best anthology shows around, and the reality show “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula” adds a horror element to the “Drag Race” formula. The subscription service releases exclusive horror films every month, especially from Ireland, Southeast Asia and South America, that you won’t likely find elsewhere. Lastly, there is a fantastic collection of documentaries and docuseries on the horror industry itself. It doesn’t hurt that Shudder is also one of the cheapest options around.
Criterion Channel
Did you know theCriterion Collectionhas its own streaming service? While it doesn’t compare to the opulence of owning its incredible DVD releases, the channel does offer access to all its lauded special features.
While horror isn’t a huge part of theCriterionline, it has some unbeatable titles, including the “Godzilla” films and Andy Warhol’s takes on Dracula and Frankenstein. Other must-sees: the surreal Japanese movie “Hausu,” classics like “The Old Dark House” and “Eyes Without a Face,” the mermaid chiller “The Lure” and teen apocalypse drama “Donnie Darko.” You can also expect a lot ofDavid Cronenberg(“Scanners”), and a surprisingly robust lineup of lesser-known flicks from the 1980s.
Full Moon Features
If you grew up during the video store years of the 1980s and 1990s, you’ve likely seen Full Moon Entertainment films. Director Charles Band and a coterie of scaremongers made wave after wave of low-budget but still entertaining films like “Puppet Master” and “Demonic Toys.” Rather than loan out its extensive library to other channels, the production company started its own affordably priced streaming service.
Full Moon is definitely not the home for high-concept horror. This is the company that made four “Gingerdead Man” films, after all. However, for fans of schlock, stop-motion and outrageous monsters, it can be a real treat. Our pick for the best thing on the channel? “Blood Dolls,” an evil puppet movie that also features an amazing soundtrack and a killer clown butler.
Netflix
While Hulu does have slightly better programming, Netflix is no slouch in the horror genre. There’s Mike Flanagan’s “Haunting” series, the supernatural mystery series “Stranger Things,” the vampire hunter series “Castlevania,” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Cabinet of Curiosities” for good dark, serialized content. The streaming juggernaut’s original releases are worth checking out, too. The 2019 Stephen King adaptation “In the Tall Grass,” social thriller “His House” and “Hush,” the slasher film that follows a deaf writer working on a novel alone in the woods, are all nightmare-inducing.
Netflix’s collection can be a little hit or miss, but it is the current home of Dave Bruckner’s folk horror masterpiece “The Ritual” and the found-footage, cult hit “Creep.” Both are essential movies in the modern horror opus.
Jef Rouner is a freelance writer.