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They also stand as a way to discover horror films, some of which did well at the time of release and even more that went under the radar. What follows is a combination of both categories, and they have all started streaming for free within the past week.
10) The Babysitter (1995)
Here’s a good way to tell if you’ll like The Babysitter, with Alicia Silverstone. Did you like other ’90s thrillers such as Fear, Poison Ivy, or The Crush (also with Silverstone)? Then you’ll find The Babysitter worth watching.
It’s a pretty simple story. An attractive babysitter is hired by a middle-aged couple. The man has the hots for her and doesn’t fully trust her, the same of which could be said of her boyfriend, Jack (Jeremy London, Mallrats). Toss in Jack’s friend Mark, who is a bit sinister and also attracted to Silverstone’s Jennifer, and you get a cocktail of chaos.
Stream The Babysitter on Tubi.
9) From Dusk till Dawn (& Both Sequels)
One of the better bait and switch movies of the ’90s, Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk till Dawn does a marvelous job of coming across as a standard Tarantino-style crime spree movie before revealing at about the hour mark that it is, in fact, actually a vampire movie. A very, very violent vampire movie.
Rodriguez and Tarantino are essentially sibling filmmakers, both products of the ’90s indie boom and, in reality, big parts of why the ’90s indie boom occurred. This is their most notable collaboration, with both of them serving major roles in its production (Rodriguez as director and Tarantino as actor/writer). Like the first movie, the sequel, From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money and the prequel, From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter, are also available to stream for free, but they don’t quite hold a candle to round one.
Stream From Dusk Till Dawn on Pluto TV.
8) Event Horizon
Paul W. S. Anderson is one of the most important figures in cinematic adaptations of video games. Even thirty years later his Mortal Kombat is a ton of fun. The same can be said of Monster Hunter and Resident Evil (the first one, anyway).
But all of his movies have been schlocky. As mentioned, that’s occasionally worked for them. Event Horizon is the one that stands out in the pack. A sci-fi horror film that gives a unique glimpse at what form Hell can take, it’s a legitimately frightening movie even if the theatrical cut isn’t quite what the director intended (sadly, it seems its most intense scenes will remain forever lost).
Stream Event Horizon on Tubi.
7) What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
To a degree, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is most well-known for serving as the culmination to Bette Davis and Joan Crawford’s long-running feud. They always competed for the same roles and, when this one arrived, they were at each other’s throats throughout the entire production.
But Baby Jane is also rightly remembered for being a horror thriller that has a surplus of emotional depth. Considering they play aging Hollywood starlet making her paraplegic sister’s life a living hell, they could not have been better cast. The viewer feels every ounce of their real-life contempt for one another and that, along with the great script from Lukas Heller, make this one of the most intense films of the ’60s.
Stream What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? on Tubi.
6) It Comes at Night
An underrated member of the 2010s A24 horror renaissance, It Comes at Night is a wonderfully unsettling look at the effects of paranoia and how fruitless it can be. This is not a movie all that concerned with cheap shocks. It wants to build dread and a feeling of isolation, and soars in doing so.
Much credit needs to go to the cast, as well, because Joel Edgerton, Christopher Abbott (who did what he could to save Wolf Man), Carmen Ejogo, and Riley Keough are all phenomenal. At 91 minutes it doesn’t overstay its welcome and is a great choice to press play on once you’ve turned off the lights.
Stream It Comes at Night on Tubi.
5) Zombieland: Double Tap
The original Zombieland was a seamless merger of horror, comedy, and action. And, as far as celebrity cameos go, it’s pretty hard to beat that movie’s Bill Murray.
All of those same ingredients (including Murray) returned 10 years later in Zombieland: Double Tap, and while it isn’t quite on par with the first movie, it proved itself to be an effective comedy legacy sequel, beating the tar out of other examples of its era like Zoolander 2 and Dumb and Dumber To. A big part of the reason why it worked, outside the primary cast’s continued chemistry, is the notable addition of well-cast players such as Zoey Deutch and Rosario Dawson.
Stream Zombieland: Double Tap on Tubi.
