Technology can be a blessing and curse, but one thing is certain: streaming makes uncertain times a little less miserable. Though, at this point, we are honestly spoiled for choice as far as streaming services go. Few catalogs can compare to Amazon Prime. The ethical issues surrounding the megalithic conglomerate may be immense, but Amazon is the best at delivering the things we demand, and that includes a great selection of movies.
Unlike some other genres, horror actually rewards you when you head off the beaten path. From indie oddities to no-budget creature features and cult studio misfires, there are so many gems to discover and there are a lot of them streaming for free with your Prime subscription. Below are ten of our favorites.
Night Tide (1961)
Johnny Drake (Dennis Hopper) is a young sailor on shore leave who is taken with the mysterious Mora (Linda Lawson), who works as a sideshow "mermaid" at a seaside pier. As Johnny gets to know her, he realizes that she actually believes herself to be a descendant of a race of sea people and that the ocean itself may be calling her back.
An independent jewel by experimental filmmaker Curtis Harrington, Night Tide feels like Jacques Tourneur's Cat People (1942) on a seaside holiday.
Oily Maniac (1976)
Hong Kong icon Danny Lee (The Killer) stars as a disabled man who becomes a crimefighter when a magic spell transforms him into the titular oily monster, the Oily Maniac.
In applying their world-famous martial arts template to a rubber-suited monster picture, the Shaw Brothers created a schlocky and wildly entertaining hero out of biological waste that could give Troma's Toxie a run for his money.
House (1985)
Horror novelist, Roger Cobb (William Katt) inherits his aunt's house. Though initially intending to sell it, Roger decides to move in and begin writing his next book inspired by his service in Vietnam. But as graphic dreams disturb his sleep and strange occurrences plague his daylight hours, he soon learns that the house has been invaded by a coterie of ghosts and ghouls.
Steve Miner (Friday the 13th: Part II) directs this haunted house picture that packs in some of the wildest effects and biggest laughs of any '80s horror comedy.
Slumber Party Massacre 2 (1987)
Courtney (Crystal Bernard) is determined to have a great time with her friends while partying the weekend away at her dad's new housing development. This is despite the fact that a rockstar (Atanas Illitch) with a phallic, drill bit fitted guitar is invading her dreams. But is he just a harmless nightmare, or does he pose a threat to Courtney and her friends?
The even-more ludicrous sequel to Amy Holden Jones' 1982 slasher classic, Slumber Party Massacre 2 mixes musical numbers, surreal nightmares, and gruesome violence into one deliriously entertaining 77-minute trifle.
Society (1989)
Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock) has always felt out of place, not just in his moneyed Beverly Hills social circle, but also within his own well-to-do family. His outsider syndrome turns into destructive paranoia when he becomes convinced that his parents are part of a diabolical sex cult made up of the social elite.
Brian Yuzna's (Bride of Re-Animator) unforgettable body-horror opus not only features some of the wildest effects ever put on screen (courtesy of special effects artist Screaming Mad George) but its satire grows sharper as wealth disparity in the U.S. continues to expand.
The Exorcist III (1990)
When a spate of gruesome killings break out, Police Lieutenant Kinderman (George C. Scott) notes some similarities between their ritualistic nature and that of the "Gemini Killer," who was put to death fifteen years prior. His investigation leads him to a mental patient (Jason Miller) who claims to be the long-dead serial killer, despite the fact that he looks just like a priest with whom Kinderman was acquainted who passed during an exorcism.
Forever in the shadows of its universally adored progenitor, The Exorcist III was directed by William Peter Blatty, who wrote the book that launched this film franchise and wrote the screenplay for the first film. This long-dismissed film has come to be regarded as not only a more worthy follow-up to the 1973 classic than Exorcist II: The Heretic, but something of a gonzo masterpiece in its own right.
Triangle (2009)
When Jess (Melissa George) goes boating with a group of friends, the day takes a frightening turn when a storm forces them to take cover aboard a mysterious passing ocean liner. Somehow, Jess is convinced that she's been on the ship before, and as she and her cohorts begin to explore the abandoned craft, they discover a killer and a complex plot that will make them question the very nature of reality itself.
Writer/director Christopher Smith looked to the Greek myth of Sisyphus as well as films like Memento and Jacob's Ladder for this mind-bending journey into hell. Though it never received an official U.S. release, Triangle has had a vivid life on streaming thanks to those lucky enough to stumble upon it.
The Crazies (2010)
As a military-grade toxin morphs the peaceful denizens of Ogden Marsh into violent lunatics, Sheriff Dutten (Timothy Olyphant) and his wife (Radha Mitchell) fight tooth and nail to escape the town alive.
This modestly-budgeted, mainstream retooling of George A. Romero's 1977 film rarely crops up on "best remake" lists, but it's a smart, tense, and well-executed thriller about government oversight and the breakdown of civilization.
Late Phases (2014)
Blind veteran, Ambrose McKinley (Nick Damici) bristles at the quiet life afforded him by his new retirement community home, but that peace is broken when he learns that residents are dying under mysterious and violent circumstances. Are they just wild dogs, as the local authorities tell him? Or could they be something bigger, toothier, and controlled by the phases of the moon?
A werewolf movie of a different stripe, Adrián García Bogliano's Late Phases uses horror's most familiar howling beasts to tell a powerful tale of redemption and familial bonds.
The Hole in The Ground (2019)
After disappearing into the woods one night, Chris (James Quinn Markey) returns to his worried mother, Sarah (Seána Kerslake), but something seems amiss. Though he looks like her son and talks like her son, Sarah comes to believe that whatever returned from the forest is not Chris at all, but something evil that has taken his place.
Killer child movies are a horror staple, and what director Lee Cronin's debut feature may lack in novelty, it more than makes up for in stone-cold chills.