February is typically associated with romance, but the best streaming services have also added plenty of great horror movies to their libraries this month.
In keeping with the love theme, I have picked out some horror-romances, classics, and the latest arrivals on Shudder, the home of horror streaming.
Heart Eyes
Where: Paramount+ (worldwide)
When: Streaming now
Heart Eyes has been on Paramount+ for a little while, but it felt wrong not to include it in my February round-up, given the fact that it’s set on Valentine’s Day.
Josh Ruben’s latest movie follows the Heart Eyes Killer, who targets couples across the US on the most romantic day of the year. I fully understand that some people hate romance, but this is a bit extreme. Anyway, this slasher romantic comedy is wildly entertaining and blends genres together well. Get ready to laugh, jump, and cringe your way through this movie.
Insidious: Chapter 3
Where: HBO Max (US); rent or buy (UK); Netflix (AU)
When: February 1
The Insidious franchise is one of my favorite collaborations by horror filmmakers James Wan and Leigh Whannell. With a new instalment of Insidious: The Bleeding World arriving this year, it’s well worth catching up with the others.
Insidious: Chapter 3 is a prequel to the first two movies (also available on HBO Max) and focuses on a new family and story. Here we follow Quinn, a young girl, after she reaches out to a psychic to help her contact her recently deceased mother.
However, her plan backfires when an evil spirit makes Quinn its host. It’s nail-bitingly tense and a great entry into the franchise as a whole.
Birdeater
Where: Shudder (worldwide)
When: February 9
Australian horror has been amazing recently, especially with titles like Talk to Me and Bring Her Back. Now, Birdeater is coming to Shudder, and it’s well worth your time.
Newcomers Jack Clark and Jim Weir are the brains behind this movie, which earned a healthy 74% on Rotten Tomatoes after its film festival premiere. The movie follows a bride-to-be who joins her fiancé’s bachelor party in the remote Australian Outback, and it quickly descends into chaos.
The Black Phone
Where: Netflix (US); rent or buy (UK); Prime Video (AU)
When: February 11
The Black Phone is based on a short story by Stephen King’s son, Joe Hill, so horror really does run in the family. It stars Ethan Hawke in his most terrifying role yet as a serial killer known as The Grabber.
The movie focuseson Finney, a teenage boy who is abducted by The Grabber, as he tries to survive and escape his ordeal. While trapped in his home, Finney finds a disconnected phone that begins to ring, and he communicates with some of the Grabber’s past victims.
If you want a double bill, the movie’s sequel, The Black Phone 2, is now streaming on Peacock.
The Pope’s Exorcist
Where: Max (US); rent or buy (UK); Netflix (AU)
When: February 11
In this movie, Russell Crowe stars as Father Gabriele Amorth, chief exorcist for the Vatican, which is quite the job title. It comes with significant risk, of course, so I can’t say I envy him too much.
The Pope’s Exorcist is a detailed portrait of a priest who performed more than 100,000 exorcisms throughout his career, and whether or not you believe in the supernatural, you have to admit it’s pretty fascinating.
If you love an eerie supernatural horror, you should definitely check this out.
Life After Beth
Where: Netflix (US); MGM+ (UK); Prime Video (AU)
When: February 19
Here’s some more horror romance for you. Life After Beth is inspired by the story of Orpheus and Eurydice and follows a grieving young man, Zach, whose girlfriend, Beth, suddenly dies.
What he wasn’t prepared for, of course, was the fact that Beth ends up being reanimated as a zombie. Zach has to try to stop her from deteriorating while coming to terms with the fact that his girlfriend is gone, but not really. It’s darkly funny and very bizarre, making it the perfect lighthearted horror.
History of EvilÂ
Where: Shudder (worldwide)
When: February 23
Finally, Shudder is adding History of Evil to its library at the end of February. It’s been met with mixed reviews, so you’ll have to be the judge when it arrives on the horror streaming service.
When war and corruption plague America and turn it into a police state, a resistance member, Alegre Dyer, breaks out of political prison and reunites with her husband and daughter. The family takes refuge in a safe house with an evil past, where terrible things soon happen.
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