Ok people, it’s 2019. The days of video rental stores have plummeted for over 5 years now. With more than half of America cutting the cable cord due to ridiculous cable prices, I wanted to gather information for all of you app streamers and even those who search for
physical media. When searching for these apps, I’m going to pretend that you already have these key items already: The internet, you need internet for this to work. Any supporting systems that offer apps such as smart TVs, game consoles (such as PS3,PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One) roku, chromecast or a PC/Mac. Now with this important first step out of the way, lets take a look at Netflix’s price hike from 2008 to 2019. Netflix was the death of video rental stores. Friday nights browsing through physical copies at your local Hollywood Video and Blockbuster are a thing of the past. In this article, I’m going to show you where and how you can get great content for under $20 a month with not one but multiple apps.
First thing, I am mentioning free streaming apps but they come with commercials. The commercials are extremely short and far in between. With physical media being an expensive hobby and limited, I will also mention sites and stores where you can get great titles that are hard to find. Don’t expect to find piracy hacks in this article.
Free Apps to have:
1: Vudu. This is Walmart’s streaming service. You can purchase rentals and digital copies but did you know YOU can watch FREE titles. Don’t expect new releases to be free but you can expect a ton of horror films for free from small indie films to cult classics.
2: TubiTV. There is no reason you shouldn’t have TubiTV. You can access TubiTV from your phone, game console or Roku. With thousands of titles and an amazing horror selection, TubiTV has limited commercials which are short and far in between as well.
3: ShoutTV: Scream Factory and Shout Factory titles can be found here and are completely free but the commercial ads are heavy. Can be accessed by phone or Roku as well. -“I also use shout TV on amazon prime which is decent”- AJ Friar, Writer at Infamoushorrors.com
4: Roku: Roku is a fantastic alternative to free content. There are so many horror apps available on your Roku device that don’t require a subscription. Many of these channels offer public domain horror titles such as Deep Red, Night of the Living Dead and Manos Hands of Fate
5: Crackle TV. Sony’s Crackle TV has a lot of content as well for free that you may access with your gaming consoles.
6: Pluto TV/ Midnight Pulp: – “Pluto and Midnight Pulp are free and sometimes have obscure horror and independent films.” -Francisco Franco
7: Kanopy. -“Kanopy is free if your local library supports it, & has a huge selection of foreign, arthouse, classic, & indie films as well as recorded live performances” -Courtney O’Grady
Horror Streaming Services under $6
1: Shudder. Shudder is the king of horror when it comes to streaming. Shudder has many favorite titles as well as original content movies and series. Mandy, Channel Zero, Phantasm, Basket Case are just a few titles that can be found in this wonderful streaming app. You can even watch new episodes of Joe Bob Briggs live where he covers the best horror movies ever made.
2: Screambox. Same price as Shudder but with more Asian Horror films and less bigger names titles. Screambox is a great service to have and unlike Shudder, Screambox may be accessed by your PS4 or Xbox One.
3: Starz/Showtime. Get great premium movies and TV shows without the ridiculous cost of cable. I’m serious! Go watch Ash Vs The Evil Dead and Spartacus for $6 a month
Services under $13
Hulu: Hulu is $8 and Hulu without Commercials is $12. The horror section on Hulu is wild with great titles in addition to original content. With Hulu heavily focused more on TV shows then movies, you may want to think about this one if all you want to watch is horror movies. Hulu has fantastic original content as well.
Amazon Prime. For only $12 a month (or $99 a year= $8 a month) you can get great titles in horror from classic B films to bigger/ well known titles. You can even catch Hereditary for free with a prime membership as well as renting and purchasing non-prime memberships. – “Amazon Prime also has plenty 80’s cult classics like Street Trash, Savage Streets, and Microwave Massacre.” -Eric Bennett from PopHorror
Netflix Now and Then.
A good friend of mine, Manny Serrano from Mass Grave Pictures and Director of Blood Slaughter Massacre (which can be watched on Prime right now), brought up all of his previously viewed titles on Netflix back when Netflix was starting out doing streaming.- “I was able to download my entire Netflix streaming view history in an excel sheet. everything I’ve watched on there since 2007 when they started streaming.
I’ve watched 6471 selections on Netflix streaming since then. I’m sure a good portion of it is TV series episodes, and leaving stuff on while we sleep, but wow.. and thats just on the main profile.”
Here’s a rundown of the other profiles:
“376 titles since 2013 (literally, nothing but horror is on this profile.. I down vote everything non-horror to get better recommendations) many of the titles include The Hitcher 2, Flesh for Frankenstein, The Hunger, Microwave Massacre, Meatmarket, Satans Cannibal Holocaust, Luther The Geek, The Chaos Experiment, Pit and The Pendulum (the Henricksen remake), Nine Dead, The Last Winter, House on Sorority Row, Beetlejuice, Superbeasto, Alexandras Project, Walled In, Thr3e,Grace, The Morgue, Blindness, Seed… Jesus.. that’s all in early 2010.
I remember paying $24 a month for, I believe, 4 DVDs at a time, and only 24 hours of streaming per month. Meanwhile, a good portion of people spend half their time complaining about it, while spending the other half impatiently waiting for their favorite series to return so they can blow their load watching it all in one night.” -Manny Serrano
With Netflix cracking down on shared accounts. I think it’s kind of bullshit especially if content such as Disney is about to expire. If you want to be like most of us, the true magic is in physical media.
Here are some of the best sites to visit to get your horror fix.
Bestbuy.com, Target.com, Walmart.com: These familiar sites have entire warehouses full of Physical DVDs that were pulled from the shelves once digital media became king. Many of the Anchor Bay horror titles can be found on these sites for a great price. I still can’t understand why people need to have Blu-ray copies of movies from the 70’s and 80’s; unless the film contains extensive content such as deleted/extended scenes, commentary and upscale that makes a magical difference such as Vestron Collection’s Dagon or Synapse Film’s Suspiria.
If there is a barebones Blu-ray of a movie that you can find on dvd for cheaper, then just get the dvd especially if the dvd has better content (Dawn of the Dead Collectors Edition 4 disc DVD vs the overpriced Dawn of the Dead Blu-ray that is out of print)
Diabolik DVD: A bit pricey but these guys carry tremendous titles that are extremely hard to find. Straight out of Philadelphia, Diabolik DVD is my favorite third party vendor. They also run screenings of original film prints and, of course, a 24 hour horror film festival held annually during Halloween.
Severin Films: A comparable company with Diabolik DVD, Severin Films has tons of specials featuring cult dvds and Blu-rays. Please bookmark these two sites for when you get that itch!
Mill Creek Entertainment: Mill Creek can be found almost anywhere in stores. Right now, Mill Creek has a ton of movies at Walmart with a VHS slip cover. Titles Include Happy Birthday to Me, and Highlander.
Mill Creek Entertainment also released the first Blu-ray of the George A Romero classic Night of the Living Dead.
Vinegar Syndrome: Another fantastic site to pick up rare horror Blu-rays, they offer specials all the time. They even have a store in Connecticut that reels in tourists from all over with its massive selection.
Scream Team Releasing: Fresh out of the kitchen, Justin Seaman, Director of The Barn, opened his Scream Team Releasing site and is reeling in tons of award-winning indie films that are taking over the horror world as we know it.
Scream Factory: Scream Factory is the king of distribution. Tons of titles with artist covers and additional commentary. Scream Factory is the biggest third party seller here in the United States with collectors paying top dollar for missing slip covers to the Blu-rays and dvds. Facebook trade in groups are the biggest underground market for those titles that are currently back ordered due to limited copies.
Arrow Video: Arrow Video would probably be king here in the US if they had more region free films but when it comes to value and eye candy, Arrow Video is the best according to collectors from all around the world. You can find Region Free titles but that requires homework.
Unearthed Films: This one is for the extreme body horror fans. With movies such as American Guinea Pig Bouquet of Guts and Gore and A Serbian Film this site offers those movies and much much more!
There are tons and tons of options out there if you are unhappy about the Netflix price increase but let’s take a look at Netflix for a minute. Netflix is a great fucking service. There is always new exclusive content coming out but we have reached the point where websites such as Buzzfeed, Forbes and Ranker are over-selling new horror content on Netflix and deeming it as “So scary people can’t finish” or “so scary that people are getting sick”. Who the fuck is getting sick watching Veronica? Mormons? I do enjoy the horror films on Netflix and they have a great selection but I wanted to show you that times have changed and if you want to avoid the price raise, you have a ton of more options.
I hope that this article was able to provide an insight and if you like what you read, please like and share our Facebook page, twitter and YouTube channel.
