The streaming service landscape is crowded and, quite frankly, overwhelming. And now, with each service starting to grow its library of original programming, it can be difficult to keep up with it all. To narrow that focus, services like Shudder now offer genre-specific entertainment.
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Catering directly to horror fans with original shows like Creepshow and documentaries like Horror Noire, Shudder is hacking and slashing out its niche. Here is a list of some of the best original movies on Shudder, ranked by everyone's favorite produce site, Rotten Tomatoes. Possibly available to rent or purchase elsewhere, all films listed are Shudder Originals and Exclusives.
10 The Medium (2021)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%
Shot in mockumentary style, The Medium follows a woman, Nim (Sawanee Utoomma), claiming to be the vessel for a regional goddess, Ba Yan. Nim was chosen by Ba Yan after her sister, Noi (Sirani Yankittikan), rejected the call. Not long after, Noi's family begins to suffer, leaving Nim to wonder if this is Ba Yan's vengeance.
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The great thing about Shudder and its exclusives catalog is that it grants access to international and independent films that the average person may not think to look for. Such is the case with The Medium. Despite being chosen as Thailand's entry for Best International Film for the 2022 Academy Awards, it remains criminally underrated. The possession scenes are scary, the folklore is interesting, and the story is deeply personal and effecting.
9 Scare Package (2019)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%
In Scare Package, Chad Buckley (Jeremy King) loves horror movies. He loves them so much that he runs Rad Chad's Horror Emporium, a failing video store. The ensuing film is a fun anthology, following Chad and his friends through the store as they pick up tapes and talk about their favorite thing: horror movies.
This sort of meta-horror-comedy has been done before. But that doesn't mean that it is any less fun here in Scare Package. As a fan of the horror genre, it's fun to poke at and riff on the tropes that ultimately make horror what it is. Add the nostalgia of the video store and the movies on its shelves, and you get a deliciously fun midnight movie treat. On a larger level, Scare Package reminds us of why we like horror in the first place.
8 She Will (2021)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
She Will follows an aging movie star and her nurse (Kota Eberhardt). The movie star, Veronica Ghent, played to perfection by Alice Krige, struggles to adjust to a new life after personal and professional setbacks. But will the retreat she booked provide the rest she needs, or will it open up an entirely new box of horrors?
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As you would expect from a film produced in part by Dario Argento, She Will is a well-made thriller about (surprise!) witches and dreams. But underneath the peat and dead leaves of the Scottish countryside, there is a harrowing look at how women in the past (Ghent) and currently (the nurse Desi), are taken advantage of and shrugged off. She Will is a brooding, nearly bloodless revenge tale that takes advantage of great acting and atmosphere.
7 Color Out of Space (2019)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
In Color Out of Space, a meteorite crashes into the Gardner family's peaceful life. Something sinister slowly seeps into not only the land but the Gardener's minds and bodies. This presence distorts everything around it, including time and space. Will the family survive before they are all pushed over the edge into madness?
Lovecraftian horror has been notoriously difficult to adapt. Just ask Guillermo del Toro. And director Richard Stanely'slast outing ended in disaster. However, Stanley is more than capable of directing a great film. After the meteor's arrival, the color palette progressively gets more otherworldly, and Nicolas Cage is as bonkers as family patriarch Nathan Gardner. The soundtrack provides an unsettling and hypnotic backdrop to this cosmic horror romp.
6 The Sadness (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%
The premise for The Sadness is not unique, and you could be forgiven for skipping it initially. A Taiwanese couple is separated amidst a viral pandemic. But there is no description, no amount of warning, that can prepare you for what comes next. The Sadness is a sadistic bloodbath that demands your attention even at its most depraved.
The Sadness has a lot to say despite the blood: when the world ends, is it everyone for themselves? When given the chance, would we indulge our darkest desires? The Sadness, violently and nihilistically, says yes. The film is about as subtle as a gut punch with its themes, but it manages to convey what it wants for those that can stomach the grimness.
5 The Dark and the Wicked (2020)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%
A pair of siblings arrive at their parent's decaying farmhouse to take care of their father. Their mother is overwhelmed, and the nurses report alarming things at night. As the siblings spend more time on the farm, the more sinister the happenings become.
The Dark and the Wickedis relentless in its bleakness. But that is also when it is most effective. The dying farm and neglected land reflect their father's physical state and the sibling's guilt and unease about being gone for so long. Pair all this with spine-tingling music and sound design; this movie is best watched on a dark and rainy night.
4 Mad God (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%
From Jurassic Park's infamous dinosaur handler, Phil Tippet, Mad God is a hallucinatory acid trip that took over 30 years to make. "The Assassin," the main character, is tasked with destroying what appears to be a world in collapse. He does so silently as he descends deeper into the vicious maelstrom. Tippet created a stop-motion masterpiece of monsters, madness, and excrement.
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Saying Mad God has a thin plot would be putting it generously. But a film like this is less about the story and more about the feelings induced by the nightmarishly beautiful and, at times, stomach-churning visuals. A movie with next to no dialogue and no plot is a risky bet, but it paid off for both Tippet and Shudder. At its release, Mad God was the service's most-watched premiere.
3 Saloum (2021)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%
Legendary mercenaries known as Bangui's Hyenas have removed a Mexican drug lord (and his stash of gold) from the chaos of the 2003 Guinea-Bissau coup d'état. Mechanical problems force them to land in a resort town with a history with one of the Hyenas.
Saloum is a crime thriller-supernatural horror film. Thanks to confident direction, strong central performances, and an engaging script, the film stays together well, though. Though not billed as "historical," it provides a glimpse into a country experiencing years of political unrest. Throw in a dash of African folklore and mythology, and you have a gem deserving of your time.
2 The Mortuary Collection (2019)
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%
Clancy Brown plays the aptly named Montgomery Brown, the mortician for tiny Raven's End, guiding a young woman, Sam (Caitlin Custer), after her response to a "help wanted" ad. Montgomery tells Sam the myriad stories about those who died during his time in Raven's End.
Another anthology, The Mortuary Collection benefits from having the always-reliable (and always terrifying) Clancy Brown as its guide. The town of Raven's End is also sufficiently atmospheric with its ever-dreary cloud cover and windswept rocks. The drop in quality across the stories is minimal, making this an enjoyable and bloody ride from beginning to end.
1 Huesera: The Bone Woman (2023)
Rotten Tomatoes Score:97%
Valeria (Natalia Solián), a young Mexican woman, is excited about the prospect of motherhood. But Valeria's pregnancy brings terrifying visions and happenings, which she attempts to settle with folk rituals. The terror builds, and it becomes clear that darker magic might be at play.
Huesera follows in the spooky footsteps of Babadook and other horror films exploring the concepts of motherhood. In addition, women's agency and sexual identity weigh on Valeria and the audience until her bones (literally) threaten to buckle and break. The tension is thick, and while the conclusion is slightly underwhelming, the journey is worth it.
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