Well here we are, horror fans, now months into quarantine, with no end in sight. With anticipated hits like A Quiet Place Part II delayed until 2021, and other highly-anticipated fall releases like Antebellum just beyond reach, scary movie fanatics everywhere are finding themselves desperately and repeatedly Googling “best horror streaming now.” By now you may also be weighing whether streaming services like Shudder are worth the extra buck. In case my rave review of The Beach House didn’t sway you, or in case it did and your one-week free trial has dried up, today I’ll dig into a few Shudder originals streaming exclusively on the channel that might just convince you to give the subscription a whirl. If I’m being honest, it’s been one of my favorite escapes during lockdown.
La Llorona – With the latest Hollywood take on La Llorona (the Hispanic legend of the weeping woman who takes the lives of her own children) turning out to be a flop, I was excited to see director Jayro Bustamante take another crack at a tale so full of terrorific potential. Although far from a traditional horror flick, La Llorona definitely doesn’t disappoint.
This Guatamalan film takes place in the midst of a reckoning, as the country’s citizens try to navigate the fallout of the murderous elimination of the indigenous Mayan people. Based on the real-life story of the 1982 genocide at the hands of dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, La Llorona craftily explores what it means to face head-on the horrors of the past—as an individual perpetrator, as a family, and as a nation. After the now-elderly main character is found guilty of genocide only to be set free by the courts, the country descends upon his house and his family in the names of the many “disappeared” who perished under his rule.
The story centers poignantly on the women most affected by the genocide, from the
mothers and children who were killed, to the indigenous women who worked in the homes of the rich, to the dictator’s wife whose nightmares betray what she knew about her husband, to his daughter and granddaughter who are just beginning to process the legacy they have inherited. Far from a traditional horror story, this one cuts deep into personal, familial, and national histories, exploring the real-life origins of legends that haunt the generations that follow. Punctuated by mystical apparitions and mournful cries that skirt the line between reality and the supernatural, this delicately-layered film is a winner.
Host – If pushing the border between horror, history, and drama isn’t your thing (or if your brain is just too pooped to process subtitles right now) Shudder also offers a more traditional approach to scary movie night, but with a twist – a horror flick that actually takes place in quarantine. In Host, a young woman in lockdown gathers her friends for a Zoom chat, spicing the group’s typical virtual cocktail hour by inviting a medium to join and lead everyone in a séance. When things take a dark turn and a malevolent presence joins the group, it quickly becomes clear that COVID-19 isn’t the only unwelcome visitor threatening the characters’ lives.
Boasting found footage-style jump scares and deftly employing the creative digital-screen-only approach championed by Searching (which has really turned out to be a pioneer, indeed, well ahead of its time), Host strikes the right balance between slasher and supernatural, gore and ghosts, and fun and fear. There’s also something especially jarring about a film that for the first time in 2020 feels real to life: with actors in their own homes, occasionally donning masks, and navigating all the virtual snafus we’ve become so accustomed to, there’s no break in reality with this one. A great pick for a socially-distanced night with friends, this film definitely scratches the traditional horror itch.
Shudder also has much more to offer across a wide array of films, ranging from the comedic anthology Scare Package that serves up scowl-worthy gore and absurd belly laughs; to the Indonesian film Impetigore that conjures the dark horror of cults, curses, and sacrifice; to the action-packed Blood Quantum that turns the American story on its head as indigenous people emerge immune from a zombie apocalypse.
SpecialK Verdict: If you’re looking for horror – whatever your preference, subgenre, or mood – Shudder has it. Start with Host, try La Llorona for something different, then lose yourself in an endless collection of terrifying titles.
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