Movies
It Came From Shudder: March Edition
This month’s It Came From Shudder fare is half trashy tricks and half classy treats, as we delve into mayhem-loving vampires, syrupy slashers, and the animals lurking in (and out) of the woods.
The Best Movies to Stream on Shudder This Month
SKULL: THE MASK
A mask channeling the Pre-Colombian executioner god Anhangá latches onto a crime scene cleaner in modern day Brazil, who begins killing indiscriminately as corrupt cops and criminal occultists scramble to find him.
With its undeniably grindhouse-inspired opening sequence that channels Hellboy and Scanners, you should know that this is going to be that good, good sleazy stuff. Skull: The Mask is a delightful action horror that utilizes its wrestler lead, Riruk Jr. to the fullest and lets his physicality cut loose. Don’t let mixed reviews scare you off from a campy, bloody good time with lots of leathery and over-the-top practical effects.
It’s a valiant low budget effort with lakes of blood, plenty of heart extractions, and multiple scenes where the killer uses his machete tied to intestines like Scorpion’s rope dart from Mortal Kombat. What more can you ask for?
BOAR
Giant feral hogs terrorize an Australian family visiting their unreasonably buff farmer relative. Simple as.
Cut and dry, Boar is the kind of midnight movie you would catch on the Syfy Channel back in the day before they started making quality programming like Chucky (we did sixteen articles on that show, need I say more?). Not to say Boar is low class, but…it’s about an evil pig the size of a Mini Cooper goring people to death. It ain’t highbrow.
It has Bill Moseley and Australia’s strongest man many times over Nathan Jones, the latter of which is surprisingly very charming. What else is Boar offering up? Good practical SFX and a script that doesn’t try too hard to delve into the sentimental or dramatic beyond serving us a creature feature reminiscent of the Ozploitation and Natural Horror subgenres of the 70s.
NEAR DARK
After farmhand Caleb is turned by vampire Mae, her coven tests him to see if he’s worthy of joining their undead ranks—as his father and sister desperately try to find him.
Unlike our previous two entries, Near Dark isn’t easy to categorize.
Is it an earnest romance? A gloomy vampire film? A drama-filled neo-western? It’s everything at once, and a great case for the idea that horror doesn’t have to be terrifying to be great, compelling horror. Kathryn Bigelow’s underlit cinematography paints a perfect landscape of a dire, worn-down Midwest that is sympatico with the film’s theme of decay (even if it wasn’t appreciated enough by critics at the time).
We also have to thank Bill Paxton, whose unforgettable performance as the slimy Severen for laying the groundwork for the particularly tortured American vampire that would spring up in later works such as Buffy, Angel, half the cast of True Blood, and pretty much everyone in Scott Snyder’s American Vampire.
THE COMPANY OF WOLVES
Young Rosaleen finds herself escaping her sister’s gruesome death through 18th century fantasies while weaving stories of werewolves and the heartless men that make them.
Starting March 9th, Shudder sees the arrival of an acclaimed film that’s just as much about bizarre visuals and gothic horror as it is about a young woman trying to run from a troubling reality. The Company of Wolves is an interpolation of Little Red Riding Hood with deep psychological trauma and a period piece flair cooked into it—and it has to be seen to be believed.
This movie caught my eye for its particularly gnarly werewolf transformation scene, ripping apart and regrowing flesh & bone. But what I really came to appreciate was the way the movie plays with light and its gorgeous costume design, not to mention its very harrowing and heavy ending. If you haven’t seen it yet, get ready for frightening visuals and a dishearteningly tragic tale.
Enjoy your horror viewing, and let us know which was your favorite! Stream these movies and more on Shudder today.
Shudder knows summer is the perfect time to watch scary things in air-conditioned places. Which is why the beloved streamer is giving us newer movies like Heresy, Whistle, This is Not a Test, and Smothered. While it’s always fun to see recent titles arrive alongside classics and deep cuts, my eye isn’t on the films this month. Most of my picks this May are television series and documentaries. Maybe that means I want longer comments with my media and an open library. Or perhaps I’m just reminding myself that I’m a cool nerd and making it your problem too. Whatever the case may be, I have curated another list of titles that I believe deserve our attention. Check out my top five priorities while surfing our favorite streamer below.
Tales From the Crypt (1989 – 1996)
Our beloved 90s anthology is finally making its way to our most cherished streamer. As someone who hasn’t seen Tales From the Crypt since I was a tyke, I’m so giddy that I get to watch it as an adult. More importantly, I get to binge it as John Kassir (the voice of our favorite ghoul) intended. I have been floating since this news was announced at the Overlook Film Festival in April. My insomnia and my Crypt Keeper are about to be reunited, and all is going to be alright in my little world. Come for the celebrities and stay for the puns and wicked deaths. I sincerely hope you call out of work each Friday as a new season gets added to Shudder.
You can watch Tales From the Crypt: Season 1 on May 1st. Subsequent seasons will premiere on Fridays, concluding with Season 7 on June 12
Horror Noire: History of Black Horror (2019)
Based on Dr. Robin R. Means Coleman’s book of the same name, Horror Noire: History of Black Horror is simply that girl. It unpacks the complicated history of Black people in the genre with humor, honesty, and heart. It even gets into the conversations no one seems to want to have and makes room for Black horror icons to actually be heard for once. You could hear the record scratch on Bluesky when this Shudder Original disappeared a few months ago. So, we can all rest easy knowing that it’s coming back home and we can continue to have it in our regular rotation. Horror Noire made many of us feel seen and made us better cinephiles and critics. It’s worth the Shudder subscription on its own if we’re being completely honest.
You can watch Horror Noire: History of Black Horror on May 4th.
The Terror: Devil in Silver (2026)
Your favorite unsettlingly stoic anthology has returned for a new season, and this time, Dan Stevens is in the mix. Stevens plays Pepper, a man with bad luck and a bad temper who gets himself committed to a psychiatric hospital. Any horror fan knows that’s the recipe for many horror bangers, and that’s why I will be sat. The cast also includes CCH Pounder, Judith Light, and Marin Ireland. However, my heart belongs to Karyn Kusama, who is in the director’s chair and the queen of tension. As a Momma Kusma stan account, I am so ready for her to raise my blood pressure and send me to the ER. The demonic duo of AMC+ and Shudder is cooking with this one.
You can watch episode one of The Terror: Devil in Silver on May 7th. Subsequent episodes will premiere weekly, concluding with the season finale on June 11th.
In Search of Darkness 1990-1994 (2024)
We all love to see our faves get together and discuss the horror eras we have romanticized. Which is why watching genre royalty unpack the “lost” decade of horror is something we all probably want to see. As a 90s kid, I feel like we ate pretty well in my day. So, I want to collect all of these stories like infinity stones. Some of the faces we can expect to see are Heather Langenkamp, John Carpenter, Frank Henenlotter, Tim Balme, and Michael Gross. My little nerd heart could bust, and I am happy Shudder is opening the library this May.
You can watch episode one of In Search of Darkness 1990-1994 on May 11th.
Something Is About to Happen (2023)
Things take a turn for a woman who loses her job as a computer programmer. The only movie in my roundup this month goes to the one I perhaps know the least about. Truthfully, I am just here for horror movies about women going through it. Excuse me as I gesture to the world and my bank account. More importantly, Spanish-language horror rarely fails me. So, I am willing to look past the two-hour and two-minute runtime. I am ignoring that it is listed as a romantic horror. I’m doing this because I expect my kind of chaos, and I hope I am right. From one down girl to another, I am rooting for this character on sight.
You can watch episode one of Something Is About to Happen on May 15th.
That is what I plan to use my Shudder Saturdays for this month. Let us know what you’re plotting to hit play on in the comments because we’re nosy.
Is anyone else remembering we have movies at home and logging in a lot of Netflix hours this spring? I know I am, and I keep finding more hidden treasures on this app. They collect so much international media and never tell us they have it. I find this frustrating as I pull up late to things I’m probably going to love. Quite a few foreign films make it into my lineup this month. Two of them I have never heard of before and are newer titles that should be getting some attention, in case they’re some of the best of their respective years. One is French, and we all need to revisit it for reasons that I’ll explain later.
Another thing worth noting about Netflix’s recent additions is an American show called Man on Fire. This serialized adaptation of A. J. Quinnell’s novel of the same name stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. He’ll be playing the character my generation associates with Denzel Washington because of the 2004 film adaptation. As a nerd who has been wondering why Yahya hasn’t been on my screen for a minute, I will probably have finished binging this before you even make it to the end of this article. I digress! Here are the five movies I plan to watch this month on Netflix!
180 (2026)
An act of road rage leaves a young boy in critical condition and his father seeking revenge. As usual, Netflix has not really advertised this South African thriller. However, I love revenge and am always game for a new release. So, I’m happy the powers that be put this in the recent lineup. It looks good, which gives me hope that this is going to be a gritty and bloody adventure. Fingers crossed, a few of you also hit play on this one because I’d like more quality South African thrillers that are easily accessible in America. I’m tired of hunting them down years after the fact.
Benedetta (2021)
A nun has religious visions that threaten the core of the Church while she is also having a secret affair in the 17th century. You are probably confused as to why Paul Verhoeven’s French psychological romantic drama is in my Netflix round-up. Especially if you clocked the long run time, and now I love a 90-minute or less movie. Listen! If you give me a nun having visions and having a lesbian affair in a period piece, it is my sworn duty to tell everybody. It is also my job to rewatch it for reasons. Don’t say I never did anything for you!
Him (2025)
A young athlete discovers why you should never meet your heroes when he is invited to train with a football legend. People were way too mean to this movie. It’s giving Neon Demon and Black Swan for Black male athletes. It’s not perfect, but the aesthetics and vibes are on 10. More importantly, Marlon Wayans and Tyriq Withers deliver some pretty fantastic performances that keep you locked in. I’m excited to revisit it and see if I like it more (or less) than when I caught it in theaters. Hopefully, more people will do the same now that the more biased discourse has died down.
Mudborn (2025)
A spirit terrorizes a video-game designer and his pregnant wife. I have no idea what to expect from Meng-Ju Shieh’s Mandarin supernatural horror film. However, I’m excited to see what this spirit is about. Again, Netflix continues to drop the ball on advertising international films. So, it’s up to us to find it in the streets and raise the alarm. In a perfect world, this movie will be the nightmare fuel I’m always seeking out. However, at the end of the day, I’m just happy to show up and support international films helmed by people of color. It’s a win-win situation, however I look at it.
Scream (2022)
A new Ghostface is terrorizing Woodsboro 25 years after the original killing spree rocked the town. As a Wes Craven stan account and fan of Radio Silence, I was so happy this movie turned out awesome. I can still say this is one of my favorite horror wins of this decade because it showed this franchise still had some life in it. It also introduced us to our Core Four, led by my new favorite final girl, Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera). As someone who enjoyed these first six movies, I will always clear my schedule for a marathon and am happy to see Scream (2022) on Netflix this month. I plan to rewatch it and continue being salty that I will never know how this new trilogy was supposed to end.
That’s what I have this month. Happy Netflixing to each and every one of you!
