Now that the holidays are officially over, it’s back to the work grind. Welcome back to the pointless meetings, bosses and coworkers that inspire wrath, and general monotony that leaves the clock inching slowly toward the end of the shift. Leave it to horror to explore the anxieties, stresses, and frustrations of the workplace. More accurately, leave it to horror to offer catharsis for workplace woes, using the genre to inject violence and chaos into the corporate structure.
Annoyed that the work week has resumed normalcy? These five “worksploitation” films serve up ultimate revenge-fantasies and stark reminders that it can always be worse.
Here’s where you can stream them this week….
Bloodsucking Bastards – Prime Video, Tubi, Vudu
This horror-comedy takes the concept of a soul-sucking corporation literally, featuring a new boss, Max (Pedro Pascal), who shakes up the office productivity through vampirism. The only one standing in his way is the meek, overworked Evan (Fran Kranz) and love interest Amanda (Emma Fitzpatrick). Bloodsucking Bastards bides its time setting up mundane office hijinks before picking up speed and unleashing bloody B-horror fun. Once again, Kranz makes for an endearing everyman lead, while Pascal oozes charm and menace as the big bad.
Mayhem – Shudder
Living up to its title, Mayhem offers the employees of a ruthless law firm the chance to unleash their repressed rage thanks to a contagious virus that removes all inhibitions for hours. For recently fired Derek Cho (Steven Yuen) and desperate client Melanie Cross (Samara Weaving), that means slaying their way up the corporate ladder for retribution. It’s violent, it’s bloody, but most of all, it’s fun. Director Joe Lynch’s office revenge fantasy will leave you cheering with glee. It certainly helps that Yuen and Weaving are a dream team in doling out punishment to the law firm’s most corrupt.
Severance – Crackle, Roku, Tubi, Vudu
The Triangle and Black Death director, Christopher Smith, shows off his funny bone in this comedic slasher. A military arms corporation’s sales division embarks on a team-building retreat in the mountains but finds themselves under siege by a masked killer instead. Aside from the wry office humor involved, that this sales team works for an arms company means you can expect a wide array of weaponry at the characters’ disposal. You can also expect things to get very violent. It’s always cutthroat in sales, after all.
The Belko Experiment – Pluto TV
In a depraved social experiment, 80 American employees are locked inside their corporate high-rise and ordered to kill each other. If they don’t, they’ll be killed themselves. Think Battle Royale in a white-collar setting. Written by James Gunn and directed by Greg McLean, The Belko Experiment takes a grave approach to the office set horror-thriller. McLean’s vicious violence is on full display, with tragic fates befalling a large sum of this stellar cast of characters. John Gallagher Jr. leads, but look for notable actors like John C. McGinley, Sean Gunn, Michael Rooker, and Tony Goldwyn to take up arms and combat their colleagues.
American Psycho – Peacock TV
Mary Harron’s adaptation of the novel brings the dark humor and bloodletting in equal measure. Wealthy New York investment banker Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is obsessed with materialism and wealth. His favorite pastime is showing off to coworkers while hiding his psychopathic side. Oh yeah, Patrick also loves murder. The eponymous American Psycho uses his highly competitive, yuppie workplace as just one of his favored hunting grounds. A chilling indictment on shallow consumerism and detachment from reality, Bale’s iconic performance is an all-timer. That it takes place over the holiday season (noted by a brief office holiday party scene) means that this might be the perfect time to revisit American Psycho.
source https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3646994/stay-home-watch-horror-5-office-set-horror-movies-stream-week/
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