Movies
The Best Horror You Can Stream on Shudder in January 2025
My New Year’s resolution is to spend more time watching Shudder. They seem to have gotten that memo because they are adding so many movies I love, like, or want to see this January. The streamer is adding John Carpenter’s The Thing, 2023’s The Vourdalak, and fresh from the fests Red Rooms. So, they seem to have something to match everyone’s freak as they kick the year off in horrific style. This makes me happy because I will not be venturing outside again this winter, so I will have time to watch all of these terrifying treats. Check out the five titles that I feel like we should all have on our radar this month below. So here are the the best movies to stream on Shudder this month!
My New Year’s resolution is to spend more time watching Shudder. They seem to have gotten that memo because they are adding so many movies I love, like, or want to see this January. The streamer is adding John Carpenter’s The Thing, 2023’s The Vourdalak, and fresh from the fests Red Rooms. So, they seem to have something to match everyone’s freak as they kick the year off in horrific style. This makes me happy because I will not be venturing outside again this winter, so I will have time to watch all of these terrifying treats. Check out the five titles that I feel like we should all have on our radar this month below.
The Best Movies to Stream on Shudder This Month
Grafted (2025)
A shy scholarship student studying medical research will do anything to get rid of the birthmark on her face. So, she turns to her late father’s research on a new revolutionary skin grafting procedure for help. I’m looking forward to this Shudder original because it’s a satirical body horror, and it has a woman of color in the lead role. Those are too many of my favorite things to not clear my schedule and see if this is my new personality. Maybe Grafted will find itself in the running to be this year’s The Substance. Or, perhaps it’ll be a gross little time we love for different reasons. Either way, I would like to hit play already!
You can watch Grafted on January 24th.
Get Away
A family’s vacation to a remote Swedish island takes a dark turn when their arrival coincides with a local festival that celebrates a dark history. The family tries to make the best of a weird situation but soon realizes a serial killer is also on the loose. I missed this movie in 2024, so I am happy my favorite streamer is giving it to me in the new year. I’m here for vacations getting ruined by serial killers, and I cannot wait to see this British horror comedy. Fingers crossed that the jokes land and kills are extra bloody.
You can watch Get Away on January 10th
Invoking Yell (2024)
A trio of women head to the woods to shoot their demo tape. This Chilean found footage film about an all-girl black metal band is set in the 1990s. So, if nothing else, it’s going to be the coolest thing to hit Shudder this month. If it happens to be half as creepy as it looks, then this movie will be a ride. I have a good feeling about this one and managed to miss it during its entire festival run. I cannot think of a better way to ring in the new year than to get to the bottom of what this group finds in the woods.
You can watch Invoking Yell on January 1st.
Mind Body Spirit (2024)
An aspiring yoga influencer picks up an unusual ritual practice left by her deceased estranged grandmother. This yoga found footage movie finally has a home so I can make other people watch it. I lucked out and saw it last year so that I could interview the filmmakers. I found this movie to be an eerie and funny little gem. So, I have been waiting to hear how it lands for people who are bigger found footage fans than I am. Hopefully, it’ll find a larger audience because there are so many cool things about this project that need to be celebrated.
You can watch Mind Body Spirit on January 1st.
The Others (2001)
Following the end of WWII, a woman caring for her two photosensitive children becomes convinced their home is haunted. This Nicole Kidman horror movie is never streaming and, until recently, had a hefty rental price tag, which is why I have not seen it since I was a child. The Others is clearly my first priority on New Year’s Day. I need to know if it is as good as I remember, and I need to know ASAP. I advise you all to catch this unsettling story while you can. Who knows when we’ll see it on a streamer again. Nicole Kidman loves a good thriller, but she rarely makes an appearance in proper horror films. So, it is worth a rewatch for that reason, if nothing else.
You can watch The Others on January 1st.
Shudder is really doing the heavy lifting this winter, and I am so grateful. I am serious when I say I want to speak to the manager. I need to thank the entire team for giving us the chance to watch The Others on the first day of the new year. Plus, all the other cool titles that seem custom-tailored to my taste. My cold little heart is so happy!
We are finally in the midst of Shudder’s 61 days of Halloween! There are so many horror movies to consume and 31 days simply isn’t enough. Use the long Labor Day weekend to kick off your horror movie countdown and add these movies to your Shudder queue. Here is a list of what I would recommend checking out to ease into the Halloween spirit right before going into full blown premature trick-or-treating mode.
The Best Movies to Stream on Shudder This Month
The Yeti (2026)
A large creature has captured people in a remote Alaskan town in the 1940s. The sheriff has put together a search-and-rescue monster hunting party to bring back the captives. It sounds like the premise of a Cold Iron Studios co-op video game in the same vein as Aliens: Fireteam Elite. The stylization from co-directors Gene Gallerano & William Pisciotta in the trailer makes me think they have cooked up a story that blends action, horror, and wilderness survival. Sign me up, sheriff!
Leave (2022)
Hunter was found as a baby abandoned in a cemetery wrapped in a cloth covered with satanic symbols. She has been searching for answers her whole life about where she came from. Her journey to find her parents takes her down a mysterious path, and she is being warned by something from the beyond to leave this mystery alone. Can she trust who this investigation is leading her towards? It’s a mysterious, supernatural, culty film that will give you chills.
Penny Lane is Dead (2026)
One crazy night in Australia with perhaps a dash of revenge. Shudder’s latest original looks to be packed with blood and violence in this story of girls just trying to have fun until the crazy cousin drugs the party and invites dangerous people to play. The trailer promises lots of body horror (trigger warning, there may be SA or threat of it). I’m not saying it will be Evil Dead level, but there’s definitely something in the Aussie water with Lee Cronin pumping out his gory deadites and mummy films, and now Mia Kate Russel with this one.
The Others (2001)
This is a PSA to the younger readers of Horror Press; stop what you’re doing and watch Nicole Kidman go 100 miles per hour in this classic ghost story with a twist. Dreary weather, massive estate, confusing corridors, creepy house servants you don’t know if you can trust, and sad British kids. The ending is an all-timer and spoilers should be avoided at all costs. It has exactly what you need to get right into the cozy, spooky mood for 61-days of Halloween.
Dark Harvest (2023)
If The Hunger Games and The Purge had a baby and raised it during Oktoberfest. Teenage boys are tasked with hunting and killing the entity known as Sawtooth Jack on Halloween night, or it could mean certain peril for their town. Of the movies I have listed here that I have not seen, this is going to be at the top of my watchlist. Teens fighting for survival on Halloween night and the battle setting is in a cornfield?! Say less. I am there with my Sam Adams seasonal in hand. Another perfect movie to cannonball me right into the Halloween spirit.
This list has been carefully curated to watch in a specific order to gear up for a Halloween marathon. Start with the wintry monster movie, move on to a macabre supernatural thriller, followed by a ramp-up in blood and gore, to then be lulled into a spooky, bump-in-the-night classic, all to end on a ritualistic hunt taking place on Halloween night. This is just getting things started for the first 30-days. Looking forward to sharing the next list to get you through October.
Anyone who follows legendary horror author Stephen King on social media or reads the back of books knows one thing. It’s harder to find something that King hasn’t blurbed than something that he has. The dude is a voracious consumer of genre media, and he finds a lot to love. It’s an admirable quality. But, speaking as someone who saw American Ultra after he praised it, you can’t always trust his recommendations. Today, I’ll cut some of the wheat from the chaff and break down the best modern horror movies he’s recommended.
Three notes: First, I have decided to define “modern” as “2001 or later.” Second, King practices good social media hygiene and has deleted many of his old posts. A lot of them are archived elsewhere. However, it’s more or less impossible to make a truly comprehensive list of his recommendations. I’ve synthesized multiple different sources and done my best to truly encapsulate the breadth of his recommendations. Third, I have not included any adaptations of his own work. He may be outspoken about the ones he doesn’t like, but he’s still obviously biased in that department.
#10 Snakes on a Plane (2006)
To quote King himself (defending putting 2012 among his top 2009 movies), “no filmgoing diet is complete without some cheese.” Snakes on a Plane is a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin movie, delivering high-flying serpentine thrills. However, it’s also a remarkably faithful resurrection of the atmosphere of old 1970s airplane thrillers.
#9 Final Destination 5 (2011)
In his Best of 2011 entry on Final Destination 5, King called it “the best since the first,” and he’s absolutely right. While the sequels probably peaked with the highway prologue in Final Destination 2, the fifth installment is pound-for-pound the most thrilling entry. Between the bridge collapse, the laser eye surgery, and the nail-biting sequence where a screw falls pointy-side-up on a balance beam, there’s no denying there’s real power here. And that’s not even mentioning the fun final twist!
#8 A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)
In a since-deleted Tweet, King called Day One “the rare ‘big Hollywood film’ that is both intimate and textured.” It’s true. A Quiet Place: Day One is a mini miracle of horror filmmaking. An IP-drenched prequel to a duology of good-not-great post-apocalyptic popcorn blockbusters shouldn’t be this genuinely stirring. Plus, relative newcomer Joseph Quinn holds his own against the awe-inspiring Lupita Nyong’o, resulting in an all-timer two-hander.
#7 The Strangers (2008)
After watching The Strangers, King took to Entertainment Weekly to pontificate about what makes good horror. If you inspire someone who literally wrote the book on horror to think about it more, you’ve done something right. Bryan Bertino’s home invasion movie is one of the grimmest movies of the 2000s, but its desperate existential dread is terrifying and perfectly in line with King’s best works.
#6 Splice (2009)
King included Splice on his Top 10 list for 2010, particularly praising the “talented actors… who take the material seriously.” How did this grotesque genetic-experimentation horror movie directed by the guy who made Cube land Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley? Who knows. But they breathe life into some already super solid material. What Brody in particular gets up to feels even more twisted because it’s the guy from The Pianist doing it.
#5 Smile (2022)
In a since-deleted Tweet, King called Smile a “good, scary horror film.” He added that “the real surprise is Sosie Bacon as Rose. What a hell of a performance.” Bacon really was a revelation, but so was debut director Parker Finn. His control over tone and pacing leads to some of the best scare sequences of the 2020s.
#4 The Rule of Jenny Pen (2024)
King’s not fucking around about the New Zealand horror film The Rule of Jenny Pen. It’s one of just two horror movies on his New York Times ballot for the best of the 21st century. The underseen movie is a real corker, too. It follows a judge (Geoffrey Rush) recovering in a care home after a stroke. However, his relaxation is ruined by a sadistic retiree (John Lithgow) who is obsessed with his baby doll puppet. Lithgow’s performance is stunning, and his thrillingly dark energy commands the screen every second he’s in front of the camera.
#3 Barbarian (2022)
In a since-deleted reply to a fan’s Tweet about Barbarian, King said “Yeah, that movie blew me away. It was crazy! Crazy GOOD!” This movie contributed what is perhaps the definitive scary basement in horror, which is no small feat. That’s all thanks to director Zach Cregger’s control over onscreen darkness (one of his many skills). The man must be a shadowmancer of some kind.
#2 Train to Busan (2016)
Train to Busan is the only other horror movie on King’s NYT ballot. It has received a lot of international recognition over the years. Perhaps more than any other non-Parasite movie from South Korea. That’s because it’s flipping amazing. Its crackling energy makes it one of the scariest fast-zombie movies in history. But it also marries that with a compelling father-daughter story. There’s really nothing Train to Busan can’t do.
#1 The Descent (2005)
King put The Descent on his 2006 best-of list, calling it “the best horror movie of the year.” Forget that. It’s one of the top horror movies of the century so far. It’s a bloody good monster movie nestled into a skin-crawlingly claustrophobic spelunking movie.
Honorable Mentions:
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016) – I’ve never seen it, so I can’t in good faith recommend it
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – A masterpiece, but it’s not really “horror”
Obsession (2026) – We gotta let this one sit, in order to avoid recency bias
