The 17 Best Horror Movies Of 2020 So Far – And Where You Can Stream Or Rent All Of Them
By Matt Donato/June 16, 2020 9:00 am EST
In an alternate simulation, my mid-year horror recap might read differently. Earthrealm #2895 avoided COVID-19’s pandemic spread and watched Saint Maud, Antlers, and Candyman (plus others) when they released on their initially slated dates. Theaters never closed down, studios didn’t erase schedules, and their government correctly anticipated a viral spread with preemptive, proactive measures. We, on this unfortunate hunk of space rock, have been robbed of massively anticipated new releases (small potatoes in the grand scheme). Still, there exists an overlooked truth in this cursed year in our home planet’s history: 2020 carries no shortage of worthwhile horror releases.Oddly enough, the horror genre didn’t skip much of a beat with the closure of nationwide theater chains. I’ve seen 70-plus horror flicks in 2020, only counting those officially released as of this article’s post date, thanks to an always-continual release of genre content that hits video-on-demand platforms (pandemic or not). Countless under-seen gems land on services like Netflix or Shudder, and there are always rentable titles on wide-release VOD platforms. Don’t let the misconception of boarded-up AMC or Cinemark entryways convince you otherwise. Horror cinema continues to thrive as a genre, even while we should all be parking our butts inside. Need proof and time killers? Here are my favorite horror flicks of 2020 so far, with precise instructions on where to find them.Stay at home, share some screams or howls and keep yourself and others safe so we can confidently reopen with flattened numbers soon enough. Please. I really, badly require a haircut.
The Platform
Streaming: NetflixA levitating slab full of culinary delicacies that are picked bone-clean every time the feast reaches your holding cell? Welcome to The Platform, a diabolical take on dystopian classism where “volunteers” are tested inside a tower where each floor houses two roommates. The experiment is simple: will the top stories only eat what’s needed for daily rations, or shovel their bellies full to bursting like gluttons? Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s societal breakdown is intellectually stimulating, helplessly barbaric, and weaponizes nutrition in a way that promotes world-class visual storytelling. Just remember, as I forever will, the panna cotta the message!You can take a ride over here for my full review of The Platform, or get a genre education by reading Meredith Borders’ /Film review.
Monstrum
Streamable: ShudderY’all in the mood for a feudal 1500s South Korean creature-feature? Hell yeah! Even better? The mythical, mountain-dwelling megabeast that starts mauling kingdom guards is named, wait for it, “Sparkles.” Abandoned as a wee pup, forced to survive by feeding on plagued corpses, Sparkles grows to become a menace to the rulers who once left him for dead. Now ex-general Yoon-gyeom (Myung-Min Kim) must hunt the “wild” beast as commanded by his lord, which strikes a grand Monster Hunter meets Dynasty Warriors vibe (video games, for context). “I could have watched Sparkles devour eleventy billion more backstabbing officials and corrupt soldiers partly because justice is divine, alternatively because sweet-and-swift combos define intensive melees,” I previously wrote and still stand behind. It’s a whole lot of political backstabbing, chew-toy demises, and undying love for Sparkles. Now let me cuddle the gaseous, boil-covered “Monstrum.“Oh, and you’re correct to assume I’ve got a full Monstrum review right here if you’re so inclined to click.
Mutant Blast
Streaming: Troma Now ($5.99)Mutant Blast is the most fun I’ve had with a Troma movie since Return To Nuke ‘Em High Volume 1, which it easily surpasses. Fernando Alle has created something mindless, maddeningly unfettered, and definitively eternal. The zombie apocalypse gives way to nuclear fallout mutants, dooming characters who include “a fearless soldier,” a direct Terminator T-800 ripoff, plus a hungover nobody. Rat mutations grow from severed hand stumps. Human-sized lobsters wearing business suits square off against similarly scaled dolphins wielding katanas in the most unexpected Kurosawa homage you’ll behold this decade. Practical effects are on magnificent low-budget display in most “Tromatic” (like traumatic, get it) way imaginable. Mutant Blast makes little to zero sense, plays by its own exploitation rules, and you know what? It might be the most unapologetic genre fun you indulge in after midnight all year. Go ahead and read my full Mutant Blast review right here, if you dare.
Blood Quantum
Streamable: ShudderJeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum, by definition, scores one for Native American representation in zombie, nay horror, cinema. In a world where walkers roam free, the Mi’gMaq reserve of Red Crow remains immune to the undead infection. Indigenous inhabitants survive while the white folk who once discriminately kept their distance now rush to their doorstep seeking refuge. There’s plenty of cultural commentary and equal parts undead brutality, as Blood Quantum sports some memorably graphic zombie kills. Explanations might be scarce in terms of inexplicable immunities, but that’s hardly an issue as Barnaby builds an apocalypse and services empathetic characters in a very The Walking Dead way…except with more engaging execution within a fraction of the running time.I’m happy to share my full Blood Quantum review alongside Meredith Borders’ TIFF 2019 /Film review.
Warning: Do Not Play
Streamable: ShudderShudder’s exhaustively researched curation is well-enough worth the subscription, especially when it gives movies like Warning: Do Not Play a home. A South Korean thriller that evaded even my extensive genre coverage, rooted in the ideologies of “doomed cinema,” this film asks “What if a ghost haunted a filmmaker and forced said creator to shoot the ‘scariest film ever made’ – would you watch it?” Those who caught Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made and, like myself, wish the film was about an actual screening massacre at the hand of cursed cinema, Warning: Do Not Play is your redemption. Plus, I’m a sucker when those “reds” drench the screen (phrase patent pending). It’s effective ghost-auteur cinema that proves itself adept at spooks and hair-raiser chills. Another Friday night, lights-off winner for those who don’t mind subtitles at the bottom of their screens.
The 17 Best Horror Movies Of 2020 So Far – And Where You Can Stream Or Rent All Of Them
By Matt Donato/June 16, 2020 9:00 am EST
In an alternate simulation, my mid-year horror recap might read differently. Earthrealm #2895 avoided COVID-19’s pandemic spread and watched Saint Maud, Antlers, and Candyman (plus others) when they released on their initially slated dates. Theaters never closed down, studios didn’t erase schedules, and their government correctly anticipated a viral spread with preemptive, proactive measures. We, on this unfortunate hunk of space rock, have been robbed of massively anticipated new releases (small potatoes in the grand scheme). Still, there exists an overlooked truth in this cursed year in our home planet’s history: 2020 carries no shortage of worthwhile horror releases.Oddly enough, the horror genre didn’t skip much of a beat with the closure of nationwide theater chains. I’ve seen 70-plus horror flicks in 2020, only counting those officially released as of this article’s post date, thanks to an always-continual release of genre content that hits video-on-demand platforms (pandemic or not). Countless under-seen gems land on services like Netflix or Shudder, and there are always rentable titles on wide-release VOD platforms. Don’t let the misconception of boarded-up AMC or Cinemark entryways convince you otherwise. Horror cinema continues to thrive as a genre, even while we should all be parking our butts inside. Need proof and time killers? Here are my favorite horror flicks of 2020 so far, with precise instructions on where to find them.Stay at home, share some screams or howls and keep yourself and others safe so we can confidently reopen with flattened numbers soon enough. Please. I really, badly require a haircut.
Snatchers
Swallow
The Platform
Streaming: NetflixA levitating slab full of culinary delicacies that are picked bone-clean every time the feast reaches your holding cell? Welcome to The Platform, a diabolical take on dystopian classism where “volunteers” are tested inside a tower where each floor houses two roommates. The experiment is simple: will the top stories only eat what’s needed for daily rations, or shovel their bellies full to bursting like gluttons? Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s societal breakdown is intellectually stimulating, helplessly barbaric, and weaponizes nutrition in a way that promotes world-class visual storytelling. Just remember, as I forever will, the panna cotta the message!You can take a ride over here for my full review of The Platform, or get a genre education by reading Meredith Borders’ /Film review.
The Hunt
Monstrum
Streamable: ShudderY’all in the mood for a feudal 1500s South Korean creature-feature? Hell yeah! Even better? The mythical, mountain-dwelling megabeast that starts mauling kingdom guards is named, wait for it, “Sparkles.” Abandoned as a wee pup, forced to survive by feeding on plagued corpses, Sparkles grows to become a menace to the rulers who once left him for dead. Now ex-general Yoon-gyeom (Myung-Min Kim) must hunt the “wild” beast as commanded by his lord, which strikes a grand Monster Hunter meets Dynasty Warriors vibe (video games, for context). “I could have watched Sparkles devour eleventy billion more backstabbing officials and corrupt soldiers partly because justice is divine, alternatively because sweet-and-swift combos define intensive melees,” I previously wrote and still stand behind. It’s a whole lot of political backstabbing, chew-toy demises, and undying love for Sparkles. Now let me cuddle the gaseous, boil-covered “Monstrum.“Oh, and you’re correct to assume I’ve got a full Monstrum review right here if you’re so inclined to click.
Ghost Killers Vs. Bloody Mary
Come To Daddy
Extra Ordinary
Underwater
Scream Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street
Sea Fever
The Lodge
Mutant Blast
Streaming: Troma Now ($5.99)Mutant Blast is the most fun I’ve had with a Troma movie since Return To Nuke ‘Em High Volume 1, which it easily surpasses. Fernando Alle has created something mindless, maddeningly unfettered, and definitively eternal. The zombie apocalypse gives way to nuclear fallout mutants, dooming characters who include “a fearless soldier,” a direct Terminator T-800 ripoff, plus a hungover nobody. Rat mutations grow from severed hand stumps. Human-sized lobsters wearing business suits square off against similarly scaled dolphins wielding katanas in the most unexpected Kurosawa homage you’ll behold this decade. Practical effects are on magnificent low-budget display in most “Tromatic” (like traumatic, get it) way imaginable. Mutant Blast makes little to zero sense, plays by its own exploitation rules, and you know what? It might be the most unapologetic genre fun you indulge in after midnight all year. Go ahead and read my full Mutant Blast review right here, if you dare.
Blood Quantum
Streamable: ShudderJeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum, by definition, scores one for Native American representation in zombie, nay horror, cinema. In a world where walkers roam free, the Mi’gMaq reserve of Red Crow remains immune to the undead infection. Indigenous inhabitants survive while the white folk who once discriminately kept their distance now rush to their doorstep seeking refuge. There’s plenty of cultural commentary and equal parts undead brutality, as Blood Quantum sports some memorably graphic zombie kills. Explanations might be scarce in terms of inexplicable immunities, but that’s hardly an issue as Barnaby builds an apocalypse and services empathetic characters in a very The Walking Dead way…except with more engaging execution within a fraction of the running time.I’m happy to share my full Blood Quantum review alongside Meredith Borders’ TIFF 2019 /Film review.
After Midnight
Warning: Do Not Play
Streamable: ShudderShudder’s exhaustively researched curation is well-enough worth the subscription, especially when it gives movies like Warning: Do Not Play a home. A South Korean thriller that evaded even my extensive genre coverage, rooted in the ideologies of “doomed cinema,” this film asks “What if a ghost haunted a filmmaker and forced said creator to shoot the ‘scariest film ever made’ – would you watch it?” Those who caught Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made and, like myself, wish the film was about an actual screening massacre at the hand of cursed cinema, Warning: Do Not Play is your redemption. Plus, I’m a sucker when those “reds” drench the screen (phrase patent pending). It’s effective ghost-auteur cinema that proves itself adept at spooks and hair-raiser chills. Another Friday night, lights-off winner for those who don’t mind subtitles at the bottom of their screens.
