Top horror films on Shudder UK
Staff Reporter | On 04, Sep 2020
The UK’s only subscription streaming service dedicated entirely to horror, the only thing more frightening than the movies available on AMC’s Shudder UK is just how diverse its catalogue is. From modern gems to old classics, and a whole heap of hidden terrors in between, it’s a treat for genre fans at £4.99 a month.
We delve into the whole catalogue to pick the best horrors available on the site…
On the lookout for more recommendations? See our fortnightly Friday Frights column, which sees our horror guru Anton Bitel handpick horrors from Shudder’s archives.
Vivarium
Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots are excellent in this nightmarish domestic chiller about a couple on their search for the perfect home in a labyrinthine suburban neighbourhood.
Host
A haunted online seance? Rob Savage’s scarily innovative Zoom chiller is an early contender for the horror movie of the year and is undoubtedly the definitive lockdown film to beat. Read our full review
Big Bad Wolves
In what scenario is torture ok? It isn’t. That’s it. It’s an easy question to answer. But Big Bad Wolves asks more difficult questions. What if the victim is a pedophile? What if you think they’ve captured your daughter? That a film can even make you consider an alternative is chilling. The fact that it’s gripping and funny too is scarily impressive.
One Cut of the Dead
While shooting a low-budget zombie film in an abandoned warehouse, the crew find themselves caught between actual zombies and a mad director who won’t stop rolling. If you think you know what happens next, think again…
Thirst
An operatic vampire tale from Park Chan-wook, this grand, tragic story an equal parts astonishing, romantic, and devastating.
Dearest Sister
“The ghosts of a nation’s future past make this Lao horror a deftly handled allegory of class and cultural clash.” (Read our full review.)
Found Footage 3D
A group of filmmakers sets out to make the first 3D found footage horror movie, but find themselves in a found footage horror movie when the evil entity from their film escapes into their behind-the-scenes footage. Smart, funny and surprisingly scary, this is an instant modern classic that manages the rare trick of making found footage cool again.
Blind Sun
During a scorching Greek summer, a stranded foreigner finds himself in a bureaucratic purgatory as he tries to retrieve his residence permit, while the crushing heat threatens to send him over the edge into paranoia and madness. A strikingly intense and atmospheric debut.
Tigers Are Not Afraid
This magical realist horror is a haunting fairytale that unfolds against the backdrop of Mexico’s drug wars – and if that doesn’t doesn’t make you want to watch Issa López’s unique 2017 gem, we don’t know what will.
Sun Choke
As Janie (Sarah Hagan) recovers from a violent psychotic break, she is subjected to a bizarre holistic health and wellness regimen designed, and enforced, by her lifelong nanny and caretaker (Barbara Crampton). But when she develops an obsession with a stranger, Janie’s buried demons begin to surface.
Blood Quantum
This First Nations zombie thriller is a provocative horror that explores the exploitation and siege of an indigenous community with gore, tension and smarts.
Sadako vs Kayako
One of the most improbable franchise crossovers in the history of improbably franchise crossovers, Koji Shiraishi’s collision of Ringu and Ju-On: The Grudge is no-holds-barred fun that has its tongue wonderfully in cheek.
Satan’s Slaves
This Indonesian ghost story’s goosebump-inducing creepiness will work on all audiences.
The Battery
Jeremy Gardner’s feature debut reduces the zombie apocalypse to an edgy buddy pic.
It Stains the Sands Red
Colin Minihan’s desert-set zombie survival flick plays out as odd-couple romance.
Lake Bodom
Camp killings meet true crime in this fantastically unpredictable Finnish horror. An urban legend about urban legends, and how much people buy into them, this is a cracking addition to the slasher genre.
Impetigore
Satan’s Slaves director Joko Anwar strikes gold again with this haunting, macabre tale of a young woman who returns to her hometown to inherit a house.
The Curse of Frankenstein
Peter Cushing is so iconic in this Hammer take on Mary Shelley’s classic that it spawned six sequels.
Bliss
VFW director Joe Begos helms this visceral tale of addiction/vampirism. A short, sharp dose of intense cinema, it’s a dizzying rush to experience.
The Witch in the Window
Scary, unsettling, eerie and moving, this haunted house chiller is a slow-burning treat.
Grave Encounters
The Vicious Brothers’ debut gets every beat of its found-footage premise right.
La Llorona
A nation confronts its past in this superb spin on a Latin American folktale that sees a horde of protestors threaten to invade the opulent home of a man who committed great atrocities years ago – while only loyal housekeeper Valeriana is on hand to hold fort until a mysterious young Indigenous maid arrives.
The Beach House
A seaside holiday sinks into Lovecraftian apocalypse in this atmospheric aquatic debut.
We Go On
Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton’s highly original horror is a confrontation with death and the beyond.
Cold Hell
A small-scale thriller but, like its kick-ass and unstoppable heroine, it punches well above its weight.
Sequence Break
A surreal sci-fi written and directed by Graham Skipper, star of Almost Human and Beyond the Gates, with body horror fantasia to match its romance.
The Void
Silly but serious, The Void is a straight-faced pastiche of 80s horror – a cult film in every sense of the word.
The Night Eats the World
The morning after a party, a young man wakes up to find that Paris has been invaded by zombies in this entertainingly intelligent undead flick.
Mayhem
Joe Lynch gets his groove back with this playful horror comedy, which is guaranteed to please anyone with a 9-to-5 job.
The House of the Devil
Indie horror director Ti West made his mark with this terrifying ‘80s throwback, which sees a stranger lures a babysitter to a house with an unusually large sum of money. But when she arrives, Samantha doesn’t find any kids. Just a large and very creepy house, which may not be as empty as it seems.
Black Sheep
When a film’s plot can be summed up with the words “zombie” and “sheep”, you know you’re in for a good time. This darkly funny B-movie is a knowingly fun romp.
Let the Right One In
A haunting meditation on desire and devotion, this tender vampire coming-of-age tale is one of the best horrors in recent memory.