For many, it’s that time of year where you’re playing catch up on all the year’s releases before the clock strikes midnight on the 31st. In a year where nearly everything went straight to VOD and streaming services, it’s been tough to keep up with the sheer volume of content that dropped over the past nine months. So, this week’s streaming picks are dedicated to a handful of under-the-radar genre titles for all tastes, from sci-fi horror to romance to psychological suspense.
If you’re looking for more 2020 horror inspiration, though not necessarily on streaming, here are even more recs.
In the meantime, these five underseen 2020 releases are available to stream this week!
After Midnight – Kanopy
After ten years together, Abby (Brea Grant) quietly leaves her boyfriend Hank (screenwriter/co-director Jeremy Gardner), with only a cryptic note as a clue to her disappearance. He expects her to return, but as the days stretch into weeks, abandonment and depression take root. However, in Abby’s absence, Hank’s rural family home falls under siege of a strange monster. Gardner and co-director Christian Stella inject genre into the deterioration of a relationship, alternating between a happier past and a monstrous present. In other words, don’t go in expecting a straightforward creature feature. Do go in expecting an iconic Lisa Loeb song to get cast in an all-new, hilarious light.
The Call – Netflix
The Call is a South Korean remake of 2011’s The Caller. In 2019, Kim Seo-yeon lost her phone while visiting her sick mom. In her attempts to find it, she uses an old cordless phone found at her childhood home and winds up receiving a call from a distressed young woman, Oh Young-sook, being tortured by her mother. The more the pair talk, Seo-yeon realizes that Young-sook is living in the same house but from 1999. The women use the bizarre gap in time to their advantage until Seo-yeon realizes far too late how dangerous her new friend really is. The Call is a twisty time-bending thriller full of heart and suspense. And blood, of course.
Sputnik – Hulu
Tatiana Yurievna is a passionate young doctor willing to push past ethical boundaries for answers. She draws the attention of military officer Semiradov, who recruits Tatiana to assess a unique case at a secret research facility outside Russia. That case centers on cosmonaut Konstantin, the sole survivor of a mysterious space incident that unwittingly left him with an extraterrestrial stowaway. As in, a creature lives inside him and leaves his body every night while he’s unconscious. Despite that setup, Sputnik is more a meditative drama and character study than an outright creature feature. Gorgeously shot with a glib ‘80s setting, Sputnik isn’t afraid to let its carnivorous beast loose, but expect more sci-fi horror/drama than straightforward horror.
The Swerve – Prime Video
The Swerve is a psychodrama that uses horror to build unnerving suspense. Holly (Azura Skye) is a woman on edge, barely holding it together as life’s stressors continue to develop. Her husband Rob (Bryce Pinkham) can’t land his promotion and rarely spends time at home. Her kids can’t stop fighting and ignore her. She’s tormented by a mouse loose in her home. Then there’s her high school student with a major crush on her. Once her sister pops back into her life, wielding her emotional baggage like a weapon, Holly unravels. Played like an eerie horror movie, Skye delivers one of the year’s best performances as a woman suffering a breakdown in open isolation. With an unreliable narrator where reality isn’t entirely as it seems, Holly’s downward spiral builds toward a potent, gut-punch finale.
Why Don’t You Just Die! – Arrow
This one may not be horror, but its nonstop, bone-crunching violence & bloodshed and pitch-black humor make it a visceral powerhouse that genre fans are likely to embrace wholeheartedly. Described as a Splatterpunk action-comedy, the plot sees Matvey goes to his girlfriend’s parents’ apartment with a hammer, hellbent on murdering the father to restore his girlfriend’s honor. He doesn’t anticipate that her father is a ruthless detective and that things aren’t as they seem. This small apartment becomes ground zero in an epic brawl for life and death as more people show up with revenge on their minds. The gore flows free here, and it’s a delight. Why Don’t You Just Die! is available to stream on Arrow Video’s newly launched streaming service.
source https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3645592/stay-home-watch-horror-5-2020-horror-movies-stream-week/
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