I Stream, You Stream Vol. 96

by Patrick Bromley

From a Whisper to a Stream.

The Strangers: Prey at Night (2018, dir. Johannes Roberts) Confession: I still have not seen The Strangers. I know enough about it that I'm not sure I want to ever see, even though I have been told it's a very good version of what it wants to be. I enjoyed the hell out of its sequel, however, which came out earlier this year and was mostly overlooked or outright rejected. It's a lot of flashy style, but really terrific flashy style, and it contains the best horror scene of the year. (Watch on Amazon Prime Video)

The Old Dark House (1932, dir. James Whale) I love Shudder, but I recognize that most of what they have had available to stream comes from the 1970s to now. That's ok! But it's also nice to see them adding some classics to their library, like this really fun horror comedy from director James Whale, made between his work on Frankenstein and The Invisible Man and sharing a number of cast and crew from both. This was a "lost" film for many years, but I'm glad a print was discovered a while back. Nobody knew how to make these kinds of movies like James Whale. (Watch on Shudder)

Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974, dir. Jorge Grau) I first saw this Spanish production (that might as well be Italian for the way it looks and feels) a few years ago under one of its many titles, The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue. It's a really cool little zombie movie with bit of a sci-fi bent about a couple of hippies being chased by cops on suspicion of some murders actually committed by zombies. It's bleak stuff, but worth the investment. (Watch free with ads on Vudu)

Pyewacket (2018, dir. Adam MacDonald) If you missed this indie during its theatrical/VOD release earlier this year, it's already available for streaming. Like quite a few IFC Midnight movies, it gets about 75% of the way there for me but can't quite close the deal; that's not to say there isn't a ton of good stuff here, or that you won't like it way more than me. A teenage girl (Nicole Munoz) in a fractured relationship with her mother (Laurie Holden) gets involved in Satanism and witchcraft. You can imagine how that goes. Like The Monster from a few years back, the movie works better as a family drama than as horror, but there's nothing wrong with that. (Watch on Hulu)

Waxwork (1988, dir. Anthony Hickox) If '80s horror can be characterized by the mix of comedy and horror, a sense of fun, and lots of practical makeup and gore effects, then Waxwork is one of the most '80s horror movies ever made. It's a good pick for this month because it throws so many things together in the same movie -- the Cabin in the Woods of its day. Also Deborah Foreman. Also Michelle Johnson. (Watch free on TubiTV)