The Fourth of July holiday is here, which means summer is officially in full swing. It’s the season for road trips, beach excursions, weekend getaways, and summer camps. All things horror finds creative, bloody ways to exploit for our entertainment. Naturally, this week’s streaming are Independence Day horror movies to help with your holiday festivities.
This week’s streaming picks bring the summer fun by eviscerating the patriotic spirit through bloodletting, aquatic beasts and greedy mayors run amok, werewolves, and more. All are set over and around the fourth of July.
Here’s where you can stream them this week.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Culture Shock – Hulu
Hulu’s “Into The Dark“ anthology centered on the holidays, and the series’ Independence Day-themed feature from filmmaker Gigi Saul Guerrero injects an appropriate level of discomfort into the festivities. It follows a pregnant Mexican immigrant’s illegal journey into the USA to get a piece of the American dream, but that dream turns nightmarish when she finds herself trapped. Its real-world anxieties, social and otherwise, are heightened and transformed by sci-fi horror, creating claustrophobic suspense as the metaphorical noose closes around the protagonist’s proverbial neck. The bright, sunny holiday setting belies a sinister atmosphere in infectious yet unnerving ways.
Dark Skies – Max
The Barrett family’s peaceful suburban life gets upended in horrific ways thanks to a series of escalating, bizarre events. All signs point to a home invasion that’s extraterrestrial in nature. Writer/Director Scott Stewart (“Siren,“ Legion) creates a sci-fi horror movie that’s half home invasion horror and half family drama, starring Keri Russell and Josh Hamilton as the disturbed parents. This pick is for the cryptid and alien lovers who prefer their sci-fi horror to come with a hefty dose of paranoia and conspiracy-induced mania. As for the holiday, well, the Barrett family is busy contending with an ominous threat, but they spend their 4th of July scrambling to barricade from the aliens.
Jaws – Peacock, Starz
If you’re looking to celebrate the Fourth of July with horror, Steven Spielberg’s quintessential shark horror movie arguably makes for definitive holiday horror viewing. Set over the Fourth of July weekend, one massive man-eating shark threatens to ruin tourist season for Amity Island. It’s up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and a shark hunter to intervene in this suspenseful feature that makes everyone afraid to go into the water. Stay cool inside with the air conditioner and watch the film that kickstarted shark horror – and the summer blockbuster – instead.
The Return of the Living Dead – Hoopla, MGM+, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel
George A. Romero may have set a terrifying new standard for modern zombie movies, but it was Dan O’Bannon (Alien, Lifeforce, Total Recall) who proved just how funny zombies could be. Filled with outlandish humor, punk rock attitude, and endlessly quotable lines, The Return of the Living Dead remains one of the best horror comedies ever. The bumbling humans fighting their way through an accidental zombie outbreak find an opposing foe far smarter and more talkative than the zombies that came before. Many of which stand out in a cast of colorful characters. While it doesn’t exactly scream the 4th of July, it is. The events of the film start on July 3rd and carry over into the 4th, where it culminates in one explosive, nuclear firework show.
Silver Bullet – Hoopla, Pluto TV
Based on Stephen King’s novella Cycle of the Werewolf, this one sees a small town rocked by a series of murders beginning in the spring of 1976. Of course, it’s a werewolf responsible for the murders. The werewolf’s appearances tend to coincide with major holidays, the most prominent of which is the 4th of July. The attacks lead to the town’s Independence Day celebration getting canceled, but that doesn’t stop Uncle Red from buying Marty fireworks of his own. While Mary’s fireworks wind up luring the werewolf, they also save his life. Family bonding, backyard gatherings, fireworks, and a full moon; it doesn’t get much more 4th of July than that.
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