For many, it’s that time of year where you’re playing catch up on all the year’s releases before the clock strikes midnight on the 31st. Horror continues to thrive, and that’s never more apparent than when looking beyond the theatrical slate. Between VOD and streaming, it’s been tough to keep up with the sheer volume of new releases this year.
So, this week’s streaming picks are dedicated to a handful of under-the-radar genre titles for all tastes, from gateway horror to mind-bending folk horror.
Here’s where you can stream them this week.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Enys Men – Hulu
In the spring of 1973, The Volunteer (Mary Woodvine) spends each day on an uninhabited island off the British coast adhering to a specific routine. However, as the April days approach May, The Volunteer’s monotony gets upended by strange visions that increase with haunting regularity. The old, familiar adage defining insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result feels at home in writer/director Mark Jenkin’s abstract folk horror feature.
Ghastly Brothers – SCREAMBOX
It’s Ghostbusters meets Beetlejuice in this gateway horror comedy. It follows young Lilith as she’s sent to boarding school while mom’s away on a work assignment. It’s there that she meets the Ghastly Brothers, a pair of strange ghost hunters, after she notices strange supernatural occurrences on campus. Together, they need to rid the school of the demons who have made it their home. The ghost designs, Ghastly Brothers shenanigans, and underlying sweet messaging of acceptance and family make it an easy gateway horror winner. Come for the charming gateway horror fun, but stay for the horror references and nods, including a cameo from Cub director Jonas Govaerts.
The Passenger – MGM+
The latest by Carter Smith (The Ruins, Swallowed) begins with a harrowing inciting event that results in the mild-mannered Randolph “Randy” Bradley (Johnny Berchtold) getting trapped in a car with volatile coworker Benson (Kyle Gallner). While much of the horror drama plays out within the confines of a small vehicle, Smith finds engaging ways to keep the emotionally intense thriller moving along at a compelling pace. It certainly helps that Berchtold and Gallner deliver gripping performances that lay the pain of their characters bare, exposing raw nerves and shocking turns in the emotionally charged chamber piece. It’s a doozy, and it’s worth seeking out.
Project Wolf Hunting – Hi-Yah, SCREAMBOX
Don’t miss the splatterfest that plays like Con Air meets Jason Takes Manhattan and Predator. All hell breaks out on an ocean transport from the Philippines to South Korea, when a group of dangerous criminals unites to stage a coordinated escape attempt. As the jailbreak escalates into an ultra-violent riot, the fugitives and their allies from the outside exact a brutal siege against the special ops team on board. Truly, it’s one of the year’s goriest films. Go into this one with a vow not to get attached to any character; they’re all fodder for excruciatingly bloody deaths.
Sick – Peacock
It’s hard to believe that 2023 began with a Friday the 13th debut for this timely slasher, written by Kevin Williamson and Katelyn Crabb. John Hyams (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, “Black Summer”) directed the pandemic-set story that sees two best friends fight for their lives when masked invaders crash their quarantine home. Look for callbacks to Williamson’s previous works and a breathless commitment to suspenseful chase sequences. It’s those slasher thrills that keep Sick engaging, even when late motive reveals threaten to undermine this slasher’s good will.
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