If you like horror movies, this is by far the best 5 bucks you can spend each month.
Last week, we took a look at my top ten horror movies available on Netflix, if you haven’t seen that, just click here to check it out.
While Netflix is a fantastic service that has lots of new content coming and going each month, they acquire and produce programs within a vast array of genres.
this means that you could be waiting a long time between horror releases, which isn’t ideal when you consume the content you love at lightening speed... If only there was a corner of the internet that you could visit which would provide you with a curated supply of just the spooky stuff!
The good news is that there is, and and the even better news is right now is the best time there ever has been to join the Shudder community.
Before I go over the five reasons that today is the ideal day to sign up for the free trial, I should note, This video/article isn’t sponsored by Shudder. I pay for the service and have done for years, but I know that the more people that subscribe will lead to the company’s growth and even more killer content - so this is just me doing my bit for the cause!
So, let’s get into it.
1. The Content
Content is king! When I first joined the service a few years ago, there was enough of a selection to get me to sign up, but in the last year or so, the catalogue has grown massively with many classics you can’t find anywhere else like Tetsuo and Street Trash, some great cult and festival hits like One Cut Of The Dead and Hell House LLC and also a lot of original content produced in partnership with Shudder and its parent company AMC Networks, things like the Last Drive In and the new Creepshow series.
At the end of this article, I’ll give you some proper recommendations to get you started, as there’s an overwhelming amount of stuff in there you probably haven’t heard of!
The most interesting thing is the different types of programs you’ll find, from documentaries, to audio dramas, feature films, series and shorts, all of which conveniently laid out in sub genre lists.
Fancy watching a supernatural horror? Hit up the Spectral Encounters list. Maybe it’s time for a little gore; the Gross Anatomy list will introduce you to a whole host of body horror titles.
But let’s say you don’t have a clue what you’re in the mood for, or you can’t decide which title to take a chance on, don’t fret; Shudder has the solution!
2. Shudder TV.
Shudder TV is a collection of live streaming channels, so you can jump right into the middle of a title without so much as a thought beyond whether you feel like a psychological thriller, or perhaps a classic slasher. This is a great option for those times you just want to throw something on in the background - I use it a lot when I’m writing scripts or waiting for things to render.
3. Staff Interaction
One thing that shudder has that I’m not sure any other streaming service even touches upon is a collection of great people behind it who are constantly tweeting back and forth with fans and subscribers.
This is via the @Shudder account on Twitter and via their individual accounts, sharing their personal recommendations to new subscribers, discussing feedback and title ideas for future acquisitions and just having some fun interacting with the cult as the latest Joe Bob Briggs special is live streaming.
This creates a real community feel and that’s part of what encourages people like me to spread the word and entice others to join the ranks.
4. The Price
We can’t NOT talk about the price. (And I can’t not avoid the use of double negatives for effect, evidently)
In comparison to something like Netflix, Prime or even Disney+, Shudder is a pretty small entity supplying a much more niche market - you’d expect, therefore, the price to be higher to allow them to continue acquiring and producing so much new genre content.
Somehow, they manage to keep to price the same as a single Starbucks Frappuccino per month.
For around £5/$5 per month, you can get a monthly rolling subscription, or alternatively, sign up for an entire year for around 50, making it even cheaper.
But what makes right now the perfect time to sign up? Well, aside from the recent influx of killer new titles...
5. Extended Free Trial (Lockdown 2020)
Shudder has just introduced an extension to their free trial, what was just a 7 day taster can now be extended to 30 days, a full month to binge all the content you can like an audio/visual supermarket sweep experience.
To get this extension, simply use the code SHUTIN during sign up and you’ll be set to go.
I mentioned towards the start of this article that I’d throw out some recommendations of things to whet your appetite when you first sign up for your trial, so here’s a few of my favourites that are streaming on Shudder right at this very moment!
The Creepshow series, directed by the walking dead’s Greg Nicotero, is a throw back to the original Romero and King classic anthology series of films. The team has pulled the format kicking and screaming into the modern day with great stories, brilliant production value and a focus on practical fx to keep the classic Creepshow feel.
Now, I’m not usually into zombie movies after overdosing on Fulci in my teenage years, but Blood Quantum was a really unique experience. Not only is there some very inventive gore throughout, there’s also a pretty intense underlying concept. The first 30 minutes provides some pretty slow set up, but then the film flashes forward by 6 months and it’s a whole different animal. I’ll probably do a full review on this title in the near future as there’s a lot to say, but it’s definitely worth the watch.
For those of you into documentaries, there’s some great content for you here - notably the Cursed Films series, which explores the various spooky goings on behind the scenes of legendary movies like The Exorcist and Poltergeist as well as Why Horror? A feature length doc on the psychology of horror and why we love to be scared.
Now, that’s just a few titles to get you started, there’s so much more to explore!
Try Spring, P2, the Hell House LLC trilogy and The Hallow - all of which I discovered just by scrolling through the catalogue and choosing something new.
If you’re a horror fan, signup to Shudder today to get your extended free trial and let me know what you’ll be watching in the comments below. And if you enjoyed this video/article, or found it useful in any way, consider subscribing to my channel - it’s totally free and I’m releasing new horror themed content every Friday.