Movies
It Came From Streaming: Pride Month 2024 Edition
Happy Pride Month, everybody! We’re here, we’re queer, and we want to stay home tonight and binge-watch horror movies! I have triumphantly returned to the It Came from Streaming soapbox to give you a queer-ified tour through the best and brightest of what the world of horror movie streaming has to offer this month.
Happy Pride Month, everybody! We’re here, we’re queer, and we want to stay home tonight and binge-watch horror movies! I have triumphantly returned to the It Came from Streaming soapbox to give you a queer-ified tour through the best and brightest of what the world of horror movie streaming has to offer this month.
The Best Movies To Stream for Pride Month 2024
There are a lot of different ways to interpret what makes a “queer movie,” let alone a queer horror movie, so I’m going to try to include a pretty wide variety of what’s new and gay as hell on a streaming service near you!
Interview with the Vampire (1994)
Sometimes all you need is a gorgeous, lushly mounted Anne Rice adaptation where a dewy Brad Pitt sulks at a bewigged Tom Cruise while they argue for decades about how to raise their surrogate daughter, who is also Kirsten Dunst. The new AMC series adaptation of the novel is obviously doing a much better job of foregrounding the queer material that is central to this text, but it’s honestly more impressive that they got away with making this movie as achingly gay as they did back in ye olde ‘90s.
Interview with the Vampire is streaming now on Tubi.
Fright Night (1985)
Let’s kick off this month with a double-whammy of subtextually queer vampire stories! Why not? The inherent erotic underpinnings of the vampire myth allow for ample queer readings into stories like this one, which follows a teenage boy who becomes hopelessly obsessed with his adult male neighbor, to the point that he ignores sex with his girlfriend to spy on him. Because that neighbor might be a vampire. Yeah, sure, that’s why. This movie also has what might literally be the queerest supporting cast for an ostensibly straight movie from the 1980s, which includes the ever-reliable Roddy McDowall and Amanda Bearse.
Sidebar: I wish I could have included a vampire movie that doesn’t center on cis men, like The Hunger (1983) or Daughters of Darkness (1971), among many others, but I am, alas, shackled to what the streamers have decided to throw at us this June. But check those movies out anyway!
Fright Night is streaming now on Max.
Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
The in-universe queer content is admittedly limited here. There is a queer character (played by the terrific Sarah Swire, who has a hell of a voice), but she has an offscreen love interest. But there’s something alchemically gay about combining a musical, the zombie apocalypse, and Christmas into a single gift-wrapped package.
Anna and the Apocalypse is streaming now on Peacock.
The Skin I Live In (2011)
It wouldn’t be a proper queer film festival if there wasn’t a controversial pick thrown in there. The degree to which Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In is a “problem movie” is highly debatable, considering how well it fits into the nasty-minded, queer, punk storytelling aesthetic that the Spanish director has been cultivating since the early 1980s. But let’s just say that this movie, which stars Antonio Banderas as a twisted surgeon, isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to the ways that gender and the body don’t always intersect. It’s definitely not for everyone, but it’s a compelling thriller that is well worth a watch otherwise.
The Skin I Live In is streaming now on Max.
(For an even ickier time, Brian De Palma’s wildly transphobic but nevertheless interesting problem film Dressed to Kill is also new to streaming, on Tubi, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to recommend that one during Pride month in good conscience.)
Seed of Chucky (2005)
The fifth movie in the Child’s Play franchise has been critically reevaluated in the past few years, but honestly, even if every person in the world signed a petition declaring their love for Seed of Chucky, it wouldn’t be enough to redeem how poorly it was treated when it originally came out. The initial repulsed reaction that audiences had to this movie put Chucky in franchise jail for nearly a decade and consigned him to a direct-to-DVD release when he did return. Sure, it’s cheaper-looking than the previous installments. I’ll give people that. But it’s got a scrappy, relentlessly buoyant postmodern energy that can’t be denied. I take the cameo from John Waters, who is clearly delighted to be playing a dogged Hollywood paparazzo, to be a tacit endorsement of this movie’s deeply compelling trash-pop vibe. Also, with the way it centers a child investigating their own gender identity and multiple characters seeking outsides that match their insides, it’s maybe the queerest movie of the mid-2000s. Take that, Brokeback.
Seed of Chucky is streaming now on Peacock.
BONUS: Bound (1996)
Bound is in no way a horror movie, but in addition to being one of the most earnestly, authentically queer romances of the 20th century, the Wachowskis’ debut is a goddamn good crime thriller, full of zesty cinematic energy that told you these folks were going places. Plus, it’s mentioned in what is by far the best joke in Seed of Chucky, so I think it counts for this list.
Bound is streaming now on Paramount+.
PS: Jennifer’s Body is now streaming on Peacock, FYI, but enough queer people have said enough about that movie that I couldn’t possibly add a single thing to the discourse here.
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!
