Welcome to a special edition of Grinding the Stream. It’s the spooky season and everyone’s looking for the best horror movies to get them in the mood. Instead of the usual lists upon lists broken down into genres, subgenres, and filmmakers, I’ve created an easy to use checklist featuring 30 of my personal favorite horror movies and the various streaming services they are available on. Why 30? Because I forgot to write this yesterday. My bad.
Day 1. Happiness of the Katakuris (Takashi Miike, 2001) – Let's start things off on a lighter note with Takashi Miike's horror-adjacent black comedy musical. Read my review here. Available on: Amazon Prime, Midnight Pulp, and Tubi
Day 2. Lily CAT (aka: LILY-C.A.T.; Hisayuki Toriumi, 1987) – Staying in Japan for the moment, check out this very bizarre animated rip-off of Ridley Scott's Alien (1979), which does, in fact, feature a robotic cat. Available on: Amazon Prime, Roku Channel, Midnight Pulp, and Tubi
Day 3. Q: The Winged Serpent (aka: Q; Larry Cohen, 1982) – Larry Cohen's greatest horror hybrid sees an ancient, pterodactyl-like monster attacking New York City and laying eggs atop the Chrysler Building. Read my review here. Available on: Amazon Prime, Tubi, Shout Factory TV, and Popcorn Flix
Day 4. Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (John D. Hancock, 1971) – Alright, my friends, let's start really getting spooky with this dreamy and wholly unique take on vampire mythos. Available on: Criterion Channel and Popcorn Flix
Day 5. Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (Shunya Ito, 1972) – The second of the genre-bending Female Prisoner Scorpion series turns sharply from jailbreak movie to ghost story and dazzles with its colorful visuals. Read my review here. The entire Female Prison Scorpion series is available on: Amazon Prime and Shudder
Day 6. Angst (Gerald Kargl, 1983) – Buckle up for a bleak and relentless day in the life of a murderous madman on a brutal killing spree. Read my review here. Available on: Amazon Prime, Shudder, Tubi, and Midnight Pulp +
Day 7. One Cut of the Dead (Shinichiro Ueda, 2017) – Okay, after Angst, you deserve a little break. Check out this adorable take on found-footage horror. No spoilers! Available only on: Shudder
Day 8. City of the Living Dead (Italian: Paura nella città dei morti viventi; aka: Gates of Hell; Lucio Fulci, 1980) – Now let's wash all that sweetness outta your mouth with Lucio Fulci's most gloriously gory gothic masterpiece. Available on: Amazon Prime, Shudder, Tubi, and VUDU Free
Day 9. Daughters of Darkness (French: Les lèvres rouges; Harry Kümel, 1971) – Are you a fan of lovelorn lesbian vampires? Of course you are. We all are. Please enjoy my personal favorite sapphic vampire melodrama. Available on: Criterion Channel, Tubi, and VUDU Free
Day 10. A Tale of Two Sisters (2005) – I'm guessing a lot of you have already seen Kim Jee-woon's modern fairytale thriller, but today would be a good day to watch it again. Available on: Shudder, Criterion Channel, Midnight Pulp +, and Popcorn Flix
Day 11. StageFright (aka: Deliria, Aquarius; Michele Soavi, 1987) – Please partake of this hyper-violent, neon-soaked combination of North American slashers and Italian gialli, from the director of Cemetery Man (Italian: Dellamorte Dellamore, 1994). That film is not streaming anywhere, unfortunately. Read my review here. Available on: VUDU Free and Tubi
Day 12. Images (Robert Altman, 1972) – Now let's dial it back a bit with with Robert Altman's underseen and cooly disturbing portrait of ordinary madness. Read my review here. Available on: Amazon Prime, Criterion Channel, Shudder, Midnight Pulp, and Tubi
Day 13. Under the Shadow (Babak Anvari, 2016) – This Persian-language historical horror film blends domestic drama, folklore, anti-war sentiments, and, of course, nerve-shredding scares. A beautiful companion piece to Jennifer Kent's The Babadook (2014). Available on: Netflix
Day 14. Onibaba (Kaneto Shindō, 1964) – Sticking with the historical drama horror for the moment, this chilly October evening is the perfect time to revisit Kaneto Shindō's spooky samurai classic. If you've got some extra time, check out Kaneto Shindō's Kuroneko (1968), as well (only streaming on Criterion Channel). Available on: Criterion Channel and HBO Max
Day 15. Messiah of Evil (Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, 1973) – Did you enjoy Let's Scare Jessica to Death? Good, now try on an even more surreal zombie apocalypse variant in the same vein, from the writing/directing team that made Howard the Duck (1986). Don't hold that against them. Available on: Amazon Prime, Midnight Pulp, Dark Matter TV, and Popcorn Flix
Day 16. Christmas Evil (Lewis Jackson, 1980) – Speaking of Halloween, Christmas is right around the corner and Christmas Evil is truly the greatest killer Santa movie ever made. Read my review here. Available on: Shudder, The Roku Channel, VUDU Plus, and Midnight Pulp
Day 17. White of the Eye (Donald Cammell, 1988) – This convergence of neo-noir, slashers, and arthouse drama sometimes feels like it was made specifically for me, but I bet you'll enjoy it too. Read my review here. Available on: Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
Day 18. Beyond the Darkness (Italian: Buio Omega; aka: Buried Alive; Joe D'Amato, 1979) – I'm guessing at this point you've eaten too much Halloween candy and it's about time to clean out your stomach with Joe D'Amato's notoriously revolting, bad romance tale. Read my review here. Available on: Midnight Pulp + and Tubi
Day 19. Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (Xavier Burgin, 2019) – I admit that last one might not have been for everyone. Take a break with this phenomenal documentary that chronicles the history of Black horror movies. Available on: Shudder and Amazon Prime
Day 20. Amsterdamned (Dick Maas, 1988) – It's Michael Mann meets Dario Argento in the gutters of the Netherlands. Read my review here. Available on: Shudder and Tubi
Day 21. Alice Sweet Alice (aka: Communion; Alfred Sole, 1976) – You're probably planning on rewatching Black Christmas and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre this year, but if there's one North American proto-slasher that deserves annual Halloween season play, it's Alfred Sole's Catholic guilt murder thriller, Alice Sweet Alice. Read my review here. Available on: Amazon Prime, Midnight Pulp +, and Tubi
Day 22. Knife + Heart (French: Un couteau dans le cœur; Yann Gonzalez, 2018) – I really wanted to suggest a Peter Strickland movie, but none of them are currently available on streaming services, so how about Yann Gonzalez' similarly stylish and surreal Eurohorror throwback Knife + Heart instead? Available on: Shudder and Amazon Prime
Day 23. Opera (aka: Terror at the Opera; Dario Argento, 1987) – I had to include an actual Argento movie and have opted to pick his last truly great film, as well as one that I think appeals just as much to first time Argento viewers as his die-hard fans. Available on: Amazon Prime, VUDU Free, and Tubi
Day 24. Viy (Georgiy Kropachyov & Konstantin Ershov, 1967) – It's almost Halloween, guys. Time for a little Russian folk spook-a-blast! Available on: Shudder and Tubi
Day 25. Deathdream (aka: Dead of Night; Bob Clark, 1974) – Actually, let's not get too excited just yet. Take a breather with Bob Clark's somber, Vietnam era Monkey's Paw-like tale. Available on: VUDU Free and Tubi
Day 26. Night of the Demon (James C. Wasson, 1980) – Dare to be stupid with this absolutely ridiculous killer Bigfoot classic, complete with jaw-dropping opening titles and the best manual emasculation via Sasquatch ever committed to film. Available on: Amazon Prime
Day 27. Project: Metalbeast (Alessandro De Gaetano, 1995) – Somehow, this 100% serious combination of Aliens, Frankenstein, and The Terminator, featuring a government-funded, genetically engineered, bulletproof werewolf isn't already a massive cult favorite. Let's make an effort to change that this year! Available on: Amazon Prime and Tubi
Day 28. A Chinese Ghost Story (Ching Siu-Tung, 1987) – Rich with all the stuff that make '80s Hong Kong movies culturally unique, A Chinese Ghost Story is funny, sexy, adorable, film, bursting with inventive special effects, and featuring director Ching Siu-tung at the height of his abilities as he combines producer Tsui Harks brand of pop beauty with Sam Raimi-like high energy camera work. Available on: Amazon Prime
Day 29. Theatre of Blood (Douglas Hickox, 1973) – We're so close to the big day and hopefully the last few nights left you in the mood to laugh, so, please, enjoy Vincent Price at his sardonic best wreaking Shakespearian-themed revenge murders. Available on: Criterion Channel, Shudder, and The Roku Channel
Day 30. Blood and Black Lace (Italian: Sei donne per l'assassino; Mario Bava, 1964) – I'll be honest: I really wanted to suggest Mario Bava's Black Sunday (Italian: La maschera del demonio, 1960) for Halloween night, but it doesn't appear to be available for free/subscription streaming as of this writing. If that changes, watch that one. If not, enjoy Bava's genre-defining baroque giallo instead and have a positively macabre-istic All Hallows' Eve. Available on: Amazon Prime and Fandor