Ruthless Recommends: Horror Films streaming

Quick Picks

15 Worthwhile Horror Films available for Streaming on Netflix, Amazon or YouTube

It’s that time of the year for horror marathons, and for the obligatory recommendations article. Here’s is the Ruthless suggestion list.

First of all, I’m leaving out all the really famous films from this list- The Shining, Silence of the Lambs, Rosemary’s Baby. These are films that you may not have heard of, some just slightly out of the mainstream, others very obscure. I’ve given them a quick rating on scariness and gore levels.

1. Let the Right One In. TL/DR: Young boy meets a girl vampire his age. TYPE: Vampire movie Scariness: 6/10. Gore: 6/10. A wonderful and original story of a vampire and her minion.
2. Pontypool– TL/DR: Radio station besieged by contagious insanity. TYPE: Zombie. Scariness: 7/10. Gore: 6/10. An interesting Canadian horror film about language, memes, and murder zombies.
3. The Host– TL/DR: Mutant monster menaces Seoul. TYPE: Sea monster. Scariness: 8/10. Gore: 5/10. JoonHo Bongs, terrific, Spielbergian story that focuses on one family trying to make it through the rampage of a giant mutant monster.
4. Hellraiser– TL/DR: Puzzle box summons torture demons. TYPE: Demon Scariness: 8/10. Gore: 10/10. The franchise-making debut of Clive Barker to cinema, which unleashed an ongoing cinematic fad with mixed results.
5. The Nameless TL/DR: Detective investigates a missing girl. TYPE: Cult. Scariness: 8/10. Gore 6/10. A Spanish adaptation of a Ramsay Cambell story, Los Sin Nombre gets the genre of cosmic horror down better than almost any tentacle monster. You could call it the Spanish forerunner of True Detective.
6. Sleepy Hollow– TL/DR: New England town terrorized by Headless Horsemen. TYPE: Gothic/ghost. Scariness: 6/10. Gore 8/10. Tim Burton does an homage to the 1960s Hammer Horror Films, and largely succeeds.
7. Troll Hunter– TL/DR: Found footage of film students following a man who hunts trolls. TYPE: Monster. Scarine 5/10. Gore 4/10. One of the better of the found footage sub-genre.
8. The House of the Devil– TL/DR- Co-ed accepts contract to take care of old woman in a rural house. TYPE: Cult. Scariness: 7/10. Gore: 7/10. A wonderful throwback to 1980s horror.
9. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer– TL/DR: Dramatized account of the atrocities of serial killers Henry Lee Lucas and Otis Toole. TYPE: Serial killer. Scariness: 10/10. Gore: 9/10.
10. H. P. Lovecrafts Re-Animator– TL/DR: Med student finds a means to re-animate dead bodies. Type: Zombie. Scariness: 4/10. Gore: 10/10. Stuart Gordon’s campy zombie masterpiece.
11. The Babadook– TL/DR: Woman is haunted by a nightmarish children’s book, and the creature therein. TYPE: Evil spirit. Scariness: 8/10. Gore: 3/10. Ossie Davis does for mothers what Jack Nicholson did for dads in The Shining.
12. The Prophecy– TL/DR: Angels can be just as scary as demons. TYPE: Demons/satanic. Scariness: 5/10. Gore: 6/10. Christopher Walken is the archangel Gabriel- no more need be said.
13. Wes Cravens New Nightmare– TL,DR: Freddy Tries to break out of the film business. Scariness: 6/10. Gore 7/10. An important transition point in Wes Craven’s career, marking the border between the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise and the meta-horror of Scream.
14. Mimic– TL,DR: Somethings eating people in the NY sewers. Type: Monster. Scariness: 7/10. Gore: 8/10. Guillermo Del Toros first Hollywood film.
15. VHS– TL/DR: Anthology of found footage short films. TYPE: Mixed/ anthology. Scariness: 7/10. Gore: 10/10. A showcase of various trends in modern horror cinema.

Ten good horror movies Free On Amazon Prime

1.The Mist– TL/DR: Monsters in the fog. TYPE: Alien. Scariness: 9/10 Gore 7/10. Frank Darabonts third and scariest adaptation of a Stephen King film, and the scariest cinematic adaptation of Kings work.

2. Ju-On– TL/DR- Leaving the haunted house won’t keep you safe. TYPE: Ghost. Scariness: 10/10. Gore 3/10. One of the three great masterpieces of modern Japanese horror.
3. An American Werewolf in London– TL/DR: Tourist gets lycanthropy. TYPE: Werewolf. Scariness: 6/10. Gore 8/10. Some of the best practical special effects ever filmed, horror comedy.
4. The Woman in Black– TL/DR: Lawyer trying to settle a property law case investigates haunted mansion. TYPE: Ghost Scariness 7/10. Gore 3/10. Daniel Radcliffe’s breakout film from the Harry Potter typecasting.
5. The House on Haunted Hill (1959)- A fortune to whoever can spend a night in a haunted mansion. TYPE: Ghost. Scariness: 3/10 Gore 3/10. A Vincent Price classic that embodies the William Castle franchise- hokey, spooky, and very much a classic midnight movie.
6. Black Sunday– TL/DR: A witch seeks revenge on the descendants of her killers. TYPE: Witch. Scariness: 4/10. Gore 5/10. A Mario Bava classic of old school Gothic horror.
7. The Signal (2007)- A mysterious transmission causes people to go berserk. TYPE: Sci-fi/zombie. Scariness 7/10. Gore 6/10.
8. The Lord of Illusions– TL/DR: A famous stage magician is actually a magician, and the devil is calling for his due. TYPE: Witch. Scariness: 6/10. Gore 9/10. I am amazed that this Clive Barker adapation isnt widely recognized as an Urban Fantasy classic, a precursor of Harry Dresden/Mage/Constantine etc.
9. The Keep– TL/DR: Indiana Jones ain’t around to save these Nazi archaeologists. TYPE: Demon. Scariness 6/10. Gore 6/10. Michael Mann’s horror film is stylish and chock full of fascinating ideas, but suffers from in-coherency.
10. I Saw the Devil- TL/DR: Secret agent becomes a monster to get at a child killer. Scariness: 8/10, Gore 10/10. The tensest and nerve fraying Korean thriller, a Korean equal to Takashi Miikes Audition.

10 Recommended Horror Films that can be Found On YouTube

1. Session 9– TL/DR: Asbestos removal crew tries to clean up a haunted asylum. TYPE: Ghost. Scariness: 10/10. Gore: 7/10. An intense psychological thriller that is one of the ten scariest films that I’ve ever seen.
2. The Descent– TL/DR: Spelunkers encounter monsters. TYPE: Mutant. Scariness: 10/10. Gore 8/10. Neil Marshall’s masterful story of claustrophobia and female un-bonding.
3. Near Dark– TL/DR: Vampire nomads rampage across the Midwest. TYPE: Vampire. Scariness: 6/10. Gore: 9/10. Kathryn Bigelow’s 1980s vampire film re-invented the modern concept of the vampire. Without this, there would have been no True Blood.
4. The Exorcist III- The Heretic- TL/DR: Detective investigates whether madman is actually a thought dead serial killer. TYPE: Demon Scariness: 9/10. Gore 7/10. George C. Scott and Brad Dourif turn in some of the finest acting performances, bar none.
5. Ginger Snaps– TL/DR: Lycanthropy as a metaphor for female adolescence. TYPE: Werewolf. Scariness: 7/10. Gore: 10/10. The best werewolf movie, because it really explores the psychological themes that make the werewolf legend work.
6. Lords of Salem– TL/DR: A satanic recording may be witchs curse. TYPE: Witch. Scariness 8/10. Gore 10/10. Rob Zombies most stylish and beautiful horror film.
7. Freaks– TL/DR: Gold digger gets more than she expected at the circus. TYPE: Freaks. Scariness: 7/10. Gore 7/10. The scariest pre-Hays code film that I know of.
8. In the Mouth of Madness– TL/DR: Insurance investigator sets out to find missing horror writer. TYPE: Cosmic Horror. Scariness: 6/10. Gore: 9/10. John Carpenters’ last horror comedy classic takes on the themes of Lovecraft, Barker, and King.
9. Dog Soldiers– TL/DR: Soldiers fight werewolves. TYPE: Werewolf. Scariness: 7/10. Gore: 10/10. A thoroughly action-packed werewolf extravaganza.
10. The Devils Backbone TL/DR: Boy is sent to a haunted orphanage. TYPE: Ghost. Scariness: 8/10. Gore 6/10. The first of Guillermo Del Toros Spanish Civil War trilogy.