Happily ever after isn’t a concept often found in horror, which makes for a perfect antidote to the saccharine sentimentality of Valentine’s Day. Since love is in the air this week, this week’s streaming picks highlight the downside to romance: the brutal heartbreaks.
Because it’s horror, it’s never as straightforward as a breakup. Psychosis, body horror transformations, and death are some of the causes behind this week’s doomed romance titles.
Here’s where you can stream them this week.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
The Fly – HBO Max
The Fly remains one of horror’s most tragic love stories. The initial sparks between journalist Veronica and quirky scientist Seth give way to a full-blown relationship. But Seth harbors some insecurity toward Veronica’s relationship with her editor Stathis Borans, a former lover who still has feelings for her. That insecurity gets dramatically heightened when Seth begins his metamorphosis into the Brundle-fly, the genetic merging of human and fly. Veronica watches in horror as her lover’s nails and teeth fall out, his body becomes insect-like, and he starts vomiting digestive enzymes onto his food. The turning point propels this twisted love story into a gross-out catastrophe, making for a masterpiece of body horror.
The Lure – Criterion Channel, HBO Max
The original Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, The Little Mermaid, wasn’t quite the uplifting story it’s been made out to be in recent decades, and Agnieszka Smoczynska’s feature debut adheres to the origin story while setting it in a 1980s Polish cabaret. Mermaid sisters Golden and Silver come to shore and fall right in with a nightclub’s house band. One falls in love, and the other lusts for human flesh, but both become rising stars. It’s a genre-bender unafraid to get weird, bloody, and downright tragic when it comes to romance.
Maniac (2012) – Plex, Pluto TV, Tubi
Co-written by Alexandre Aja and directed by Franck Khalfoun, this excellent remake gives serial killer Frank a much more sympathetic persona, painting him as a tragic character created by his traumatic upbringing. Frank wants to find love, using an online dating site to meet women. He gets nervous, panics, and winds up scalping them instead. Enter Anna, a photographer charmed by the antique mannequins in his storefront. The pair embark on a warm friendship that causes Frank to want more from Anna. So earnest is his crush on Anna that he even takes his jealousy out on other victims. Elijah Wood does a fantastic job humanizing Frank, evoking sympathy for the killer. Frank’s story is of unrequited love, an outsider destined to be perpetually alone among his bloody collection of scalps.
Nekromantik – Midnight Pulp, Night Flight+, Shudder
This one is for the hardened horror fan in the mood for transgressive, boundary-pushing extremism. Jörg Buttgereit’s controversial feature remains banned in a few countries for its content, and its reputation precedes it. The plot follows Rob (Daktari Lorenz), who works by trade as part of a clean-up crew that removes dead bodies after accidents. Rob collects body parts and brings them home to his girlfriend Betty (Beatrice M.), so the couple can partake in their favorite hobby: necrophilia. When Rob brings home an entire corpse pulled from a pond, he’s dismayed to find himself the third wheel in Betty’s romantic life. Love and self-destruction have never been more disturbing or stomach-churning.
Return of the Living Dead 3 – AMC+, Freevee, Shudder
The third entry in this zombie franchise presents a gory Romeo and Juliet story only director Brian Yuzna could deliver. Curt Reynolds (J. Trevor Edmund) is madly in love with his girlfriend Julie (Melinda Clarke) and can’t bear to live without her. So much so that when a motorcycle accident claims her life, he takes her to his father’s military compound and exposes her to 2-4-5 Trioxin gas. Julie is successfully reanimated but must battle an overwhelming hunger for human flesh. As the lovers flee from the military, Julie leaves a trail of devastation and undead corpses. This threequel shakes up the franchise in just about every way. Yuzna’s ability to balance extreme viscera with tender moments makes this entry soar.
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