Are you self isolating? Are you thinking about broadening your cinematic horizons? Perhaps you’d like to learn about a specific genre? I’m here to help. Here's a SUPER-SIZED list of cult titles from Europe, Asia, and other non-North American regions available to stream RIGHT NOW, broken up by region and, where needed, performer or director.
Netflix and Hulu have plenty of newer choices, but Amazon Prime is better for older cult titles, as are various free streaming services available via Roku, Amazon Fire, Chromecast, et cetera. I compared a bunch and, for the sake of simplicity, I found the best in terms of content and video quality to be Tubi, Midnight Pulp (a "+" will be included wherever subscription fees apply), VUDU’s free selections, The Roku Channel, Shout Factory TV (though most of their titles can also be watched via Amazon Prime), Popcorn Flix, Dark Matter TV (again, a "+" will be included wherever subscription fees apply). Other paid services, namely the Criterion Channel and Shudder, have plenty to offer in this regard.
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. Apologies if I’ve suggested something with particularly grim A/V quality and be aware that the availability is based on the research I did on March 27th, 2020. Given the nature of streaming media, I imagine very few of these titles will be available in perpetuity. I've included links to my own reviews of some of these films and be aware that, despite my classifications below, complete director filmographies are not currently available free/subscription streaming.
UK Cult and Horror
Hammer Horror
The Gorgon (Terence Fisher, 1964) – Tubi, Popcorn Flix, and Dark Matter TV
Rasputin the Mad Monk (Don Sharp, 1966) – Dark Matter TV
Twins of Evil (John Hough, 1971) – Amazon Prime and Shudder
Hands of the Ripper (Peter Sasdy, 1971) – Amazon Prime and Shudder
Countess Dracula (Peter Sasdy, 1971) – Amazon Prime
Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (Michael Carreras, Seth Holt, 1971) – Dark Matter TV
Vampire Circus (Robert Young, 1972) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, Tubi, Popcorn Flix, and Dark Matter TV
Satanic Rites of Dracula (Alan Gibson, 1973) – Amazon Prime and Popcorn Flix (warning, this particular movie is in the public domain and image quality tends to suck)
Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter (Brian Clemens, 1974) – Hulu and Amazon Prime
Amicus Portmanteau (Anthology) Movies
Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (Freddie Francis, 1965) – Tubi and Dark Matter TV
The House That Dripped Blood (Peter Duffell, 1971) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, Fandor, Shout Factory TV, and Popcorn Flix
Tales from the Crypt (Freddie Francis, 1972) – Tubi and Popcorn Flix
Asylum (Roy Ward Baker, 1972) – Amazon Prime and Fandor
The Vault of Horror (Roy Ward Baker, 1973) – Shudder
Richard Adams’ Distressing Animated Animal Double-Feature
Watership Down (Martin Rosen, 1978) – Criterion Channel
The Plague Dogs (Martin Rosen, 1982) – Shout Factory TV
BONUS: The less traumatic Watership Down CG animated series is on Netflix
Other UK Horror Movies/Thrillers
Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960) – The Roku Channel, Tubi, and Popcorn Flix
Death Line (aka: Ray Meat; Gary Sherman, 1972) – Shudder andDark Matter TV (under Raw Meat alternate title)
The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973) – Netflix
Don’t Look Now (Nicolas Roeg, 1973) – Popcorn Flix
Horror Hospital (Antony Balch, 1973) – Shout Factory TV
Exposé (aka: The House on Straw Hill; James Kenelm Clarke, 1976) – Popcorn Flix
Prey (aka: Alien Prey; Norman J. Warren, 1977) – Fandor
Threads (Mick Jackson, 1984) – Shudder (WARNING: Maybe don't watch this if you're feeling anxious about the state of the world)
White of the Eye (Donald Cammell, 1987) – Shout Factory TV (British filmmakers shooting in Arizona)
Dog Soldiers (Neil Marshall, 2002) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, The Roku Channel, VUDU Free, Tubi, and Popcorn Flix
The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2005) – HULU and Amazon Prime
The Duke of Burgundy (Peter Strickland, 2014) – HULU (not horror, but adjacent)
French Horror
I was pretty disappointed by the lack of good French horror streaming. This is what I could dig up
Vampyr (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1932) – Criterion Channel
Les Diaboliques (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955) – Amazon Prime and Criterion Channel
Eyes without a Face (French: Les Yeux sans visage; Georges Franju, 1960) – Criterion Channel
Grapes of Death (French: Les Raisins de la mort; Jean Rollin, 1978) – Midnight Pulp
Haute Tension (Alexandre Aja, 2003) – VUDU Free and Tubi
Them (French: Ils; David Moreau and Xavier Palud, 2006) – Amazon Prime
Revenge (Coralie Fargeat, 2017) – Shudder
Ravenous (French: Les affamés; Robin Aubert, 2017) – Netflix
Knife + Heart (French: Un couteau dans le cœur; Yann Gonzalez, 2018) – Shudder
BONUS: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012) – Shout Factory TV (not horror, but fun for horror fans)
German (and Austrian) Underground Horror
Angst (Gerald Kargl, 1983) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, and Midnight Pulp +
Nekromantik (Jörg Buttgereit, 1987) – Midnight Pulp +
Der Todesking (Jörg Buttgereit, 1990) – Midnight Pulp +
Nekromantik 2 (Jörg Buttgereit, 1991) – Midnight Pulp +
The Burning Moon (Olaf Ittenbach, 1992) – Midnight Pulp + (shot on VHS)
Schramm (Jörg Buttgereit, 1993) – Midnight Pulp +
BONUS: Basically all Germany's silent era horror is public domain and sitting on YouTube
Spanish Cult and Horror
Paul Naschy Movies
Fury of the Wolfman (Spanish: La furia del Hombre Lobo; José María Zabalza, 1972) – Amazon Prime
Count Dracula’s Great Love (Spanish: El gran amor del conde Drácula; Javier Aguirre, 1973) – Fandor and Midnight Pulp +
Vengeance of the Zombies (Spanish: La rebelión de las muertas; León Klimovsky, 1973) – Amazon Prime
Devil’s Possessed (Spanish: El Mariscal del infierno; León Klimovsky, 1974 – Amazon Prime
Blind Dead Series
Tombs of the Blind Dead (Amando de Ossorio, 1972) – Amazon Prime, VUDU Free, and Popcorn Flix
Return of the Blind Dead (Amando de Ossorio, 1973) – Amazon Prime
The Ghost Galleon (Amando de Ossorio, 1974) – Amazon Prime and Tubi
Night of the Seagulls (Amando de Ossorio, 1975) – Amazon Prime
Guillermo del Toro Horror Movies
I honestly don't know if we count these as Mexican, Spanish, or both
Cronos (1993) – Criterion Channel
Mimic (1997) – HULU
Pan’s Labyrinth (Spanish: El laberinto del fauno, 2006) – Netflix
Crimson Peak (2015) – HBO GO/NOW (probably not for long)
Jess Franco Movies
Franco made movies for Spanish, German, and French companies, but was Spanish himself, so I’m putting him here. Be warned, his films are an...acquired taste.
The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968) – Amazon Prime
Two Undercover Angels (1969) – Amazon Prime
Venus in Furs (1969) – Tubi
Count Dracula (1970) – Midnight Pulp +
Vampyros Lesbos (1971) – Midnight Pulp +
She Killed in Ecstasy (1971) – Midnight Pulp +
Jack the Ripper (1976) – Amazon Prime
White Cannibal Queen (1980) – Amazon Prime
The Sadist of Notre Dame (Spanish: El sádico de Notre-Dame, 1979) – Midnight Pulp +
Devil Hunter (Spanish: El caníbal; aka: The Man Hunter) – Midnight Pulp +
Other Spanish Horror Movies
The Blood Spattered Bride (Spanish: La novia ensangrentada; Vicente Aranda, 1972) – Amazon Prime
The Cannibal Man (Spanish: La semana del asesino; Eloy de la Iglesia, 1972) – Amazon Prime
Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (Spanish: Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti; aka: Let Sleeping Corpses Lie; Jorge Grau, 1974) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp +
In a Glass Cage (Spanish: Tras el cristal; Agustí Villaronga, 1986) – Shudder and Midnight Pulp +
Slugs (Juan Piquer Simón, 1988) – Amazon Prime
The Rift (Juan Piquer Simón, 1990) – Amazon Prime
Fragile (Spanish: Frágiles; Jaume Balagueró, 2005) – Amazon Prime
Veronica (Paco Plaza, 2017) – Netflix
Errementari: Blacksmith of the Devil (Paul Urkijo Alijo, 2017) – Netflix
South Korean Cinema
Park Chan-wook Movies
Joint Security Area (aka: JSA, 2000) – Midnight Pulp
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) – Shudder, Fandor, VUDU Free, Popcorn Flix, and Midnight Pulp +
Oldboy (2003) – Shudder, Fandor, VUDU Free, Tubi, and Midnight Pulp
Three...Extremes (with Fruit Chan and Takashi Miike, 2004) – Tubi
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005) – Shudder, Midnight Pulp + (also “fade to black & white version”), and Popcorn Flix
The Handmaiden (theatrical cut, 2016) – Amazon Prime
Bong Joon-ho Movies
Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000) – Shudder
Tokyo! (with Michel Gondry and Leos Carax; 2008) – Amazon Prime
Snowpiercer (2013) – Netflix
Okja (2017) – Netflix
Kim Jee-woon Movies
The Quiet Family (1998) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
The Foul King (2000) – Amazon Prime
A Tale of Two Sisters (2005) – Shudder, Midnight Pulp +, and Popcorn Flix
Bittersweet Life (2005) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008) – HULU
The X (2013) – Amazon Prime
Illang: The Wolf Brigade (2018) – Netflix
Modern Korean Horror
The Wailing (Na Hong-jin, 2016) – Shudder, VUDU Free, and Tubi
Train to Busan (Yeon Sang-ho, 2016) – Netflix, Amazon Prime, Shudder, and Tubi
Seoul Station (Yeon Sang-ho, 2016) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, and Tubi (animated prequel to Train to Busan)
Bollywood Horror Movies
Note that there is a subscription service call YuppTV that has a lot of Bollywood cult films, but I cannot speak to its quality.
Woh Kaun Thi? (Raj Khosla, 1964) – Amazon Prime
Gumnaam (Raja Nawathe, 1965) – Amazon Prime
Saboot (Shyam and Tulsi Ramsay, 1980) – Amazon Prime
Nagina (Harmesh Malhotra, 1986) – Amazon Prime
Mansion of Evil (Shyam and Tulsi Ramsay, 1989) – Amazon Prime
Raat (Ram Gopal Varma, 1992) – Amazon Prime
Suryavanshi (Rakesh Kumar, 1992) – Amazon Prime
Bhoot (Ram Gopal Varma, 2003) – Netflix and Amazon Prime
Indonesian Action and Horror
First, I must note the distressing lack of ‘70s/’80s Indonesian action and horror on streaming services. Truly a massive loss for us all. Here are some newer movies I can vouch for, though. They’re good too.
Takut: Faces of Fear (Riri Riza, Timo Tjahjanto, Kimo Stamboel, Rako Prijanto, Ray Nayoan, Raditya Sidharta, Ertanto Robby Soediskam, 2008) – Amazon Prime
Merantau (Gareth Evans, 2009) – Netflix and Shudder
Killers (Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel, 2014) – Netflix
Badoet (Awi Suryad, 2015) – Amazon Prime
Headshot (Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel, 2016) – Netflix
Danur (Awi Suryadi, 2017) – Netflix
Santet (Helfi C.H. Kardit, 2018) – Amazon Prime
Kuntilanak (Rizal Mantovani, 2018) – Netflix
May the Devil Take You (Timo Tjahjanto, 2018) – Netflix
The Night Comes for Us (Timo Tjahjanto, 2018) – Netflix
Triple Threat (Jesse V. Johnson, 2019) – Netflix
Mexican Horror
The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy (Spanish: La momia azteca contra el robot humano; Rafael Portillo, 1958) – Amazon Prime
The Curse of the Doll People (Spanish: Muñecos infernales; Benito Alazraki, 1961) – Tubi
Santa Sangre (Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1989) – Amazon Prime, Fandor, and Popcorn Flix
We Are What We Are (Spanish: Somos lo que hay; Jorge Michel Grau, 2010) – HULU, Amazon Prime, and VUDU Free
Come Out and Play (Makinov, 2012) – VUDU Free, The Roku Channel, and Popcorn Flix (remake of the superior Spanish film, Who Can Kill a Child, 1976)
Tigers are Not Afraid (Spanish: Vuelven; Issa López, 2017) – Shudder
Eddie Romero’s Filipino Horror
Brides of Blood (1968) – Amazon Prime
Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1969) – Amazon Prime
Beast of Blood (1970) – Amazon Prime
Beast of the Yellow Night (1971) – Amazon Prime
Twilight People (1972) – Amazon Prime
BONUS: The Blood Drinkers (Gerardo de Leon, 1964) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp +
Australia and New Zealand
Oz/Kiwisploitation
Wake in Fright (Ted Kotcheff, 1971) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, VUDU Free, Midnight Pulp, and Popcorn Flix
Inn of the Damned (Terry Bourke, 1975) – Tubi
Long Weekend (Colin Eggleston, 1978) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
Patrick (Richard Franklin, 1978) – Midnight Pulp +
Thirst (Rod Hardy, 1979) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, and Fandor
Harlequin (aka: Dark Forces; Simon Wincer, 1980) – Amazon Prime
Nightmare (John D. Lamond, 1980) – Amazon Prime
Dead Kids (aka: Strange Behavior; Michael Laughlin, 1981) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, Fandor, and Midnight Pulp +
The Survivor (David Hemmings, 1981) – Midnight Pulp +
Turkey Shoot (aka: Escape 2000; Brian Trenchard-Smith, 1982) – Amazon Prime, Tubi, Shout Factory TV, and Midnight Pulp +
Next of Kin (Tony Williams, 1982) – Shudder and Midnight Pulp +
BMX Bandits (Brian Trenchard-Smith, 1983) – Amazon Prime, Fandor, The Roku Channel, Shout Factory TV, and Popcorn Flix
Death Warmed Up (aka: Death Warmed Over; David Blyth, 1985) – Amazon Prime, Dark Matter TV, Midnight Pulp +
The Quiet Earth (Geoff Murphy, 1985) – Shudder
Frog Dreaming (Brian Trenchard-Smith Movies, 1986) – Amazon Prime
Bad Taste (Peter Jackson, 1987) – Amazon Prime
The Howling III (Philippe Mora, 1987) – Amazon Prime, VUDU Free, The Roku Channel, Shout Factory TV, and Popcorn Flix
Body Melt (Philip Brophy, 1993) – Amazon Prime and VUDU Free
Modern Aussie Cinema
Lake Mungo (Joel Anderson, 2008) – Amazon Prime and Tubi
The Loved Ones (Sean Byrne, 2009) – Tubi
The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014) – Shudder
The Nightingale (Jennifer Kent, 2018) – HULU
International Grab Bag
Estonia
November (Rainer Sarnet, 2017) – Shudder and VUDU Free
Greece
Island of Death (Nico Mastorakis, 1976) – Amazon Prime
Dogtooth (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2009) – Shudder, Fandor, and Tubi
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2017) – Amazon Prime
Iran/Persian Language
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014) – Criterion Channel and Shudder
Under the Shadow (Babak Anvari, 2016) – Netflix
Jamaica
The Harder They Come (Perry Henzell, 1972) – Criterion Channel and Fandor
Shottas (Cess Silvera, Lyndale V. Pettus, and Adam Doench, 2002) – Amazon Prime, VUDU Free, and The Roku Channel
Netherlands
The Lift (Dick Maas, 1983) – Shudder
The Vanishing (George Sluizer, 1988) – Criterion Channel
Amsterdamned (Dick Maas, 1988) – Shudder
Saint (Dick Maas, 2010) – HULU
Borgman (Alex van Warmerdam, 2013) – VUDU Free, The Roku Channel, and Popcorn Flix
Russia
Viy (Georgiy Kropachyov and Konstantin Ershov, 1967) – Shudder
The Bride (Svyatoslav Podgaevsky, 2017) – Amazon Prime, Midnight Pulp, and Tubi