Welp, it's November and we're still in the middle of a pandemic. It's looking more and more likely that lockdowns are on the way for the winter. So I'm reluctantly bringing back Grinding the Stream. As per usual, I'm including as many movies as I can per each category as I scour Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Criterion Channel, HBO Max, Fandor, Shudder, Tubi, Midnight Pulp (a "+" will be included wherever subscription fees apply), VUDU’s free selections, The Roku Channel, Popcorn Flix, Crackle, Dark Matter TV, Night Flight, Peacock (a "+" will be included wherever subscription fees apply), Shout Factory TV (though most of their titles can also be watched via Amazon Prime).
Again, be warned – all of the free apps have ad breaks (I know, it sucks) and the video quality is inconsistent from app to app. Sometimes it's genuine HD, other times, it's sub-VHS. I've also included links to my own reviews of some of these films.
Alien Rip-Offs
Movies inspired by Ridley Scott's film are simply a personal favorite specific subgenre and most of the "best" ones are, surprisingly, available streaming
Contamination (Luigi Cozzi, 1980) – Amazon Prime, Midnight Pulp, and Tubi
Scared to Death (William Malone, 1980) – Amazon Prime and Tubi
Inseminoid (Norman J. Warren, 1981) – Amazon Prime, Midnight Pulp, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
Galaxy of Terror (Bruce D. Clark, 1981) – Shout Factory TV
Forbidden World (Allan Holzman, 1982) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
Creature (William Malone, 1985) – Amazon Prime, Roku Channel, Fandor, and Tubi
Lily CAT (aka: LILY-C.A.T.; Hisayuki Toriumi, 1987) – Amazon Prime, Roku Channel, Midnight Pulp, and Tubi (super weird Japanese animated film)
Creepozoids (David DeCoteau, 1987) – Tubi
Shocking Dark (aka: Terminator 2; Bruno Mattei, 1989) – Night Flight, Midnight Pulp +, and Tubi (this is actually a dual rip-off of Aliens *and* The Terminator)
Dark Side of the Moon (D.J. Webster, 1990) – Midnight Pulp + and Tubi
Syngenor (George Elanjian Jr., 1990) – Midnight Pulp
Dead Space (Fred Gallo, 1991) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi (remake of Forbidden World)
BONUS: Robowar (Bruno Mattei, 1988) – Tubi (Mattei's very precise rip-off of Predator)
Body Snatchers and Stolen Identities
Invaders from Mars (William Cameron Menzies, 1953) – Tubi
It Came from Outer Space (Jack Arnold, 1953) – Peacock
Project Moon Base (Richard Talmadge, 1953) – Amazon Prime
Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (Hajime Sato, 1968) – Criterion Channel
The Stepford Wives (Bryan Forbes, 1975) – Tubi
Shivers (aka: They Came From Within, 1975) – Criterion Channel, Roku Channel, Tubi, and Popcorn Flix
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Philip Kaufman, 1978) – Amazon Prime, Criterion Channel, and Roku Channel
Dead and Buried (Gary Sherman, 1981) – v and Tubi
The Stuff (Larry Cohen, 1985) – Amazon Prime and Tubi
Lifeforce (Tobe Hooper, 1985) – HBO Max and Roku Channel
Invaders from Mars (Tobe Hooper, 1986) – Tubi
The Borrower (John McNaughton, 1989) – Popcorn Flix
Seedpeople (Peter Manoogian, 1992) – Tubi and Night Flight
Star Trek: First Contact (Jonathan Frakes, 1996) – Amazon Prime, Crackle, Popcorn Flix, and Tubi
Before We Vanish (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2017) – HULU
Assimilate (John Murlowski, 2019) – Netflix
Post-Apocalyptic Trash & Treasures
An awful lot of these disappeared in May. Either rights happened to run out or companies thought it was in bad taste, given the pandemic.
A Boy and his Dog (L.Q. Jones, 1975) – Shout Factory TV, Popcorn Flix, and Tubi
Black Moon (Louis Malle, 1975) – Criterion Channel
Death Race 2000 (Paul Bartel, 1975) – Criterion Channel, Fandor, Popcorn Flix, and Tubi
Deathsport (Allan Arkush, Roger Corman, and Nicholas Niciphor, 1978) – Amazon Prime, Tubi, and Shout Factory TV
Mad Max (George Miller, 1979) – Netflix
The Aftermath (Steve Barkett, 1982) – Midnight Pulp
Warlords of the 21st Century (aka: Battletruck; Harley Cokeliss, 1982) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
1990: The Bronx Warriors (Italian: 1990: I guerrieri del Bronx; Enzo G. Castellari, 1982) – VUDU Free, Night Flight, and Tubi
Escape from the Bronx (Italian: Fuga dal Bronx; Enzo G. Castellari, 1983) – VUDU Free, Night Flight, and Tubi
The New Barbarians (Italian: I nuovi barbari; Enzo G. Castellari, 1983) – Night Flight and Tubi
The Exterminators of the Year 3000 (Italian: Gli sterminatori dell'anno 3000; Giuliano Carnimeo, 1983) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
Prisoners of the Lost Universe (Terry Marcel, 1983) – Amazon Prime, Midnight Pulp, and Tubi
Warriors of the Year 2072 (Italian: I guerrieri dell'anno 2072; Lucio Fulci, 1984) – Amazon Prime
Wheels of Fire (Cirio H. Santiago, 1985) – Amazon Prime and Tubi
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (George Ogilvie and George Miller,1985) – HULU
Steel Dawn (Lance Hool, 1987) – Tubi and Popcorn Flix
Mutant Hunt (Tim Kincaid, 1987) – Tubi
The Sisterhood (Cirio H. Santiago, 1988) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
Bronx Executioner (Vanio Amici, 1989) – Amazon Prime
Dune Warriors (Cirio H. Santiago, 1991) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
Raiders of the Sun (Cirio H. Santiago, 1992) – Shout Factory TV and Tubi
Tank Girl (Rachel Talalay, 1995) – Amazon Prime
Other B-Sci-Fi and Fantasy
StarCrash (Luigi Cozzi, 1978) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
Message from Space (Kinji Fukasaku, 1978) – Amazon Prime and The Roku Channel
Eyes Behind the Stars (Italian: Occhi dalle stelle; Mario Gariazzo, 1978) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
Battle Beyond the Stars (Jimmy T. Murakami, 1980) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
Hawk the Slayer (Terry Marcel, 1980) – Shout Factory TV and Tubi
Space Raiders (Howard R. Cohen, 1983) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
Deathstalker (James Sbardellati, 1983) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
Wizards of the Lost Kingdom (Héctor Olivera, 1985) – Shout Factory TV and Tubi
Sorceress (Jack Hill, 1986) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi (a personal favorite)
Deathstalker II (Jim Wynorski, 1987) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
Nightfall (Paul Mayersberg, 1988) – Amazon Prime, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi
Doctor Mordrid (Charles and Albert Band, 1992) – Midnight Pulp and Tubi (originally designed as a Dr. Strange movie, before the Band's lost the rights)
Revisionist Westerns
I’m going to assume folks have already seen the Quinten Tarantino, P.T. Anders, and Coen Bros westerns.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (John Huston, 1948) – HBO Max
I Shout Jesse James (Sam Fuller, 1949) – Criterion Channel and HBO Max
The Furies (Anthony Mann, 1950) – HULU and The Roku Channel
Winchester '73 (Anthony Mann, 1950) – Peacock
Bend of the River (Anthony Mann, 1952) – Peacock
Johnny Guitar (Nicholas Ray, 1954) – HULU, Amazon Prime, and The Roku Channel
Man with the Gun (Richard Wilson, 1955) – Tubi
A Man Alone (Ray Milland, 1955) – HULU and The Roku Channel
The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) – HBO Max
The Tin Star (Anthony Mann, 1957) – Tubi
Man of the West (Anthony Mann, 1958) – Tubi
Day of the Outlaw (André De Toth, 1959) – Tubi
The Deadly Companions (Sam Peckinpah, 1961) – Amazon Prime, The Roku Channel, and Tubi
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 1962) – Amazon Prime
One-Eyed Jacks (Marlon Brando, 1961) – Amazon Prime, The Roku Channel, and Tubi
The Shooting (Monte Hellman, 1966) – HBO Max, The Roku Channel, and Tubi
Ride the Whirlwind (Monte Hellman, 1966) – Criterion Channel, The Roku Channel, and Tubi
Little Big Man (Arthur Penn,1970) – Amazon Prime
Hannie Caulder (Burt Kennedy, 1971) – HULU, Amazon Prime, and The Roku Channel
The Hunting Party (Don Medford, 1971) – Amazon Prime and The Roku Channel
Chato's Land (Michael Winner, 1972) – The Roku Channel
China 9, Liberty 37 (Monte Hellman, 1978) – Amazon Prime (almost a spaghetti western!)
Dead Man (Jim Jarmusch, 1995) – Criterion Channel and HBO Max
The Proposition (John Hillcoat, 2005) – Amazon Prime, The Roku Channel, VUDU Free, Tubi, Crackle, and Popcorn Flix
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007) – HBO Max and The Roku Channel
Meek’s Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt, 2010) – HULU, Criterion Channel, Amazon Prime, Tubi, VUDU Free, Dark Matter TV, Crackle, and Popcorn Flix
Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012) – Netflix
The Nightingale (Jennifer Kent, 2018) – HULU
Documentaries About Cult Movies
Burden of Dreams (Les Blank, 1982) – Criterion Collection (the making of Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: A Family Portrait (Brad Shellady, 1988) – Midnight Pulp and Tubi
Reflections on the Living Dead (aka: Night of the Living Dead: 25th Anniversary Documentary, Thomas Brown, 1993) – Midnight Pulp
Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror (Ted Newsom, 1994) – Amazon Prime, Night Flight, and Tubi
My Best Fiend (Werner Herzog, 1999) – Fandor, Shout Factory TV, and Tubi (Herzog explores his relationship with Klaus Kinski)
The American Nightmare (Adam Simon, 2000) – YouTube, right here!
The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels (Kevin Sean Michaels, 2008) – Amazon Prime, Fandor, Midnight Pulp, and Tubi
Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (Mark Hartley, 2008) – Amazon Prime and Tubi
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno (Serge Bromberg and Ruxandra Medrea, 2009) – Amazon Prime (the story behind Clouzot’s unfinished film)
I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale (Richard Shepard, 2009) – Fandor
Best Worst Movie (Michael Stephenson, 2009) – Amazon Prime and Tubi (retrospective doc about the legacy of Troll II)
Nightmares in Red, White and Blue (Andrew Monument, 2009) – Amazon Prime and Tubi (general look at ‘60s/’70s American horror movies)
Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (Andrew Kasch and Daniel Farrands, 2010) – Shudder
American Grindhouse (Elijah Drenner, 2011) – Tubi
Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (Gilles Penso, 2011) – Amazon Prime and Tubi
Birth of the Living Dead (Rob Kuhns, 2013) – Amazon Prime and Tubi (the making of Night of the Living Dead)
Milius (Joey Figueroa and Zak Knutson, 2013) – Amazon Prime, VUDU Free, and Tubi
The Search for Weng Weng (Andrew Leavold, 2013) – Midnight Pulp, Night Flight, and Tubi
Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th (Daniel Farrands, 2013) – Shudder
I am Divine (Jeffrey Schwarz, 2013) – Netflix and Tubi
That Guy Dick Miller (Elijah Drenner, 2014) – Amazon Prime, VUDU Free, Popcorn Flix, and Tubi
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau (David Gregory, 2014) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, Popcorn Flix, and Tubi
Why Horror? (Nicolas Kleiman and Rob Lindsay, 2014) – Shudder (horror fandom and psychology)
Monster Madness (three parts: The Golden Age of the Horror Film, The Gothic Revival of Horror, and Mutants, Space Invaders & Drive-Ins; Jeff Herberger, 2015) – Amazon Prime, Midnight Pulp, and Tubi (these are mediocre, but enjoyable)
Smoke and Mirrors: The Story of Tom Savini (Jason Baker, 2015) – Shudder
De Palma (Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow, 2015) – Netflix
Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman’s The Fantastic Four (Marty Langford, 2015) – Amazon Prime, VUDU Free, Popcorn Flix, and Tubi
At the Drive-In (Alexander Monelli, 2017) – Amazon Prime, VUDU Free, Night Flight, Midnight Pulp, and Tubi (about drive-in theaters, not the band from El Paso)
To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story (Derek Dennis Herbert, 2017) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, Crackle, and Tubi
78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene (Alexandre O. Philippe, 2017) – HULU
Unearthed & Untold: The Path to Pet Sematary (John Campopiano and Justin White, 2017) – Amazon Prime, The Roku Channel, Popcorn Flix, and Tubi
Becoming Bond (Josh Greenbaum, 2017) – HULU
King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen (Steve Mitchell, 2017) – Shudder
They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead (Morgan Neville, 2018) – Netflix (the making of Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind)
Shirkers (Sandi Tan, 2018) – Netflix (story of an unfinished, teen-made Singaporean indie movie)
All the Colors of Giallo (documentary about gialli; Federico Caddeo, 2019) – Amazon Prime, Midnight Pulp +, and Tubi
The Dawn of the Kaiju Eiga (Jonathan Bellés, 2019) – Midnight Pulp (mostly about Godzilla movies)
Memory: The Origins of Alien (Alexandre O. Philippe, 2019) – Crackle and Popcorn Flix
Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (Xavier Burgin, 2019) – Shudder
Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film (William Conlin, 2019) – Amazon Prime and Tubi (documentary about Planet of the Apes make-up)
Cursed Films ( Jay Cheel, 2019) – Shudder (five part series)
Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street (Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen, 2019) – Shudder
Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson (David Gregory, 2019) – Shudder and Tubi
Not Sure How to Categorize These Ones!
Eating Raoul (Paul Bartel, 1982) – Criterion Channel and HBO Max (Bartel's brilliant class and cannibalism comedy)
Peanut Butter Solution (Michael Rubbo, 1985) – Night Flight and Tubi (utterly bizarre Canadian-made kiddie adventure/comedy/coming-of-age pseudo-horror movie)
The Stunt Man (Richard Rush, 1980) – Shout Factory TV and Popcorn Flix (a unique genre mash-up)