The 8 best Shudder original movies streaming right now
From Sissy to Host to Scare Me to Phil Tippett's Mad God, Shudder's slate of original films that make the streamer a go-to destination for horror
Film Features Shudder
There’s no better home for horror than Shudder. From classics by masters like Carpenter, Craven, and Argento, to international frights from around the world, to documentaries like Horror Noire and Queer For Fear, and finally, new horror from filmmakers like Joko Anwar, Chloe Okuno, Travis Stevens, and Neil Marshall picked up as exclusives, there’s no better place to go for a good scare. And that’s before getting to Shudder’s own contributions to the genre in the form of Shudder Originals, films developed and produced by the service with the insight of actual human beings rather than algorithms (imagine that!). In the age of streaming where many of us are frequently subscribing to anywhere from five or more services, Shudder remains my go-to. It serves as a testament to the versatility of horror—the notion that there really is something for everyone.
In the spirit of that versatility, and the season, here are eight of the best Shudder Originals, perfect for Halloween or any time of the year when the mood for horror catches you.
22 Comments
Not having Saloum on this list is a major omission. It’s one of the best movies of the year, regardless of genre.
Glad someone mentioned this one. It really is incredible. May have been too recent a release to make the cut. Same with Deadstream.
Deadstream is one of the best horror comedies of all time. I was blown away.
Watched The Boy Behind the Door last night on Shudder, and while it certainly didn’t break any new ground, it was an expertly crafted lesson in creating suspense. Highly recommended if you want to turn your brain off for a couple hours and be scared.
The Dark and the Wicked, Blood Quantum. The Advent Calendar wasn’t anything new but it was entertaining for a night and a premise.
The Dark and the Wicked is great, but technically that’s a “Shudder Exclusive” rather than a “Shudder Original”.
Fair, my bad! But yeah, it was a surprisingly good movie.
Host – Host is great. Nothing bad at all to say about this movie. I only comment about this movie because of however great and creative it is, Rob Savage’s next movie Dashcam was the exact opposite. Everything about the movie was completely awful
Deadstream – this one is new but completely deserves to be on this list. If Dashcam is a study in how to make a movie about terrible influencer you hate badly, Deadstream is how to do that kind of character perfectly. This movie is shot great, the effects remind of Evil Dead 2 at times and a Resident Evil games at other times, the humor is on point, the scares are actual scares, and they wrote the main character perfectly.
The only movie on the list I can’t recommend is Scare Me which should have been titled Bore Me instead.
Right? Never understood why that movie is so highly rated. Beyond ridiculous.
Missing: Terrified DeadstreamSaloumHellbenderViolationHorror Noire (the documentory, though the follow up anthology series is also good)and I’d add Superdeep, though that may be more of an aquired taste. Absolutely excruciating dialog overdubbing, but an interesting concept and fantastic creature design.
Just a quick note to those pointing out extra titles not on the list.Shudder Originals: only streaming on Shudder (and its parent, AMC+)Shudder Exclusives: only streaming on Shudder, but available through VOD services elsewhere
Needs more Deadstream. It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen a horror/comedy manage to mix the two as well as it does.
Yeah there are many ways this could have gone wrong, especially with the lead character deliberately being an annoying attention-seeker, but they found a good balance.
Who Invited Them was bad but also really fun? I was like the twist can’t be the most obvious twist can it? But whatevz, it worked enough
I feel like a current trend in indie horror is to subvert expectations, and, when you combine this with horror’s tendency to lean into illogical decision-making, the endings can often feel anti-climactic.
The prime example in my mind is Speak No Evil. Spoilers ahead: it was really good, but it started falling apart when the main characters started making the dumbest decisions (and who just stands there and gets stoned to death??). Who Invited Them is another example (though I think it was better executed than Speak No Evil). It was great character-driven film with increasing tension, but the ending was abrupt and non-conclusive.
I don’t mind ethereal horror, but it seems like there’s an over-abundance of A24-esque horror these days. I think this is why Barbarian was so well-received. Aside from being a fantastic film, the ending was truly climactic and conclusive.
If I could make a legitimate request, please compile a slideshow of successful horror-comedies. Too often things get lumped in that are just not at all funny. It’s such a hard line to walk, but when it’s good, it’s great.
Saloum should be on this list in my opinion. It is a strange movie and not really horror at all but it is very interesting, well acted and inventive in certain aspects. Loved it and will watch anything that the people who made it are involved in next.Watching Deadstream now and it is fantastic. Might be the best found/footage style film I’ve seen in like 5 years.
Mandy is an amazing revenge movie! Nicholas Cage is a Bad Ass!!!
I thought Speak No Evil was pretty disgusting, to be honest. I’m not going to get all “moral panic” about it, but the message (such as it was) was both unsubtle and simplistic, and mean-spirited in a way that really turned me off.
Glorious is really entertaining and manages to do a lot with a little (JK Simmons is up there with Clancy Brown for me as “person I could listen to forever”).The end of the wraparound in V/H/S/94 is absolute garbage, but the actual segments all offer something unusual and cool.I’ll also my vote to DREADSTREAM – highly entertaining and nails the “self-absorbed YouTube personality” aspect but, crucially, keeps it funny. “I want to dedicate this stream to the Blacks and the Mexicans.”
Speak no evil. But yell al lot.