The start of May means a fresh cut of horror movies hits the best streaming services. As 2024 continues to deliver the horror goods on the big screen, more of those creepy titles are at last hitting the small-screen online, too. This month’s batch of recommendations covers the gauntlet of subgenres with something for everyone’s terrorbuds.
If you caught Alex Garland’s Civil War at your local theater recently, now might be the time to revisit his 2018 hallucinogenic masterpiece Annihilation. Take a trip farther back and 1993’s extraTERRORestrial movie Fire in the Sky is hitting Prime Video in the US, if you don’t like sleep.
For those interested in newer fare, creepy podcast pic Monolith is here along with stop-motion puppet nightmare, Stopmotion. So, take note and read on for the rest of our monthly picks!
Annihilation (2018)
When: May 1st
Where to stream it: Paramount Plus (US), Netflix (UK, AU)
Alex Garland’s Ex Machina follow-up is a kaleidoscopic weave of environmental cautionary tale and body-horror nightmare. Natalie Portman leads a team of scientists as they enter the Shimmer, a rapidly-expanding alien wasteland in Florida that no-one ever returns from. Except Portman’s husband, the sole survivor of countless missions, whose re-emergence only generates more questions. The quartet’s attempts to decipher the truth behind the Shimmer lead them to biologically-impossible creatures, wildlife, and judders in time, all to disorient both the four women and the audience. Nothing makes sense no matter how much you want it to. Especially the beast that attacks at night…
Cabin in the Woods (2012)
When: May 1st
Where to stream it: Peacock (US), MGM+ (UK), Netflix (AU)
How on earth is Cabin in the Woods 12 years old? Somehow this meta-slasher stands the test of time, a fun-time horror pic that takes the tropes of the genre and spins them into a fresh mythology. Rumor has it Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard penned the screenplay over a weekend, cramming as many genre nods and references as they could into its brisk 95-minute runtime. The basic gist follows a group of five college friends (including a pre-MCU Chris Hemsworth) who venture out to, you got it, a cabin in the woods. Following their arrival, they begin to behave strangely, and events take a murderous turn when they descend into the basement. What’s most delightful is that even if you know the twist, the film is just as enjoyable with every repeat viewing.
Fire in the Sky (1993)
When: May 1st
Where to stream it: Prime Video/Paramount Plus (US), Rent or buy (UK/AU)
Adapted from the supposedly true account of Travis Walton, an Arizonan logger whose experiences one dark night in the middle of a forest are now the stuff of legend. Of course, his far-fetched yarn of alien abduction barely holds up to scrutiny, yet the implausible nature of his experience doesn’t detract from how damned scary the adaptation is. While a large portion of the screen version chronicles the moments following Walton’s experience and how his colleagues deal with his disappearance, it builds to a frankly terrifying flashback to his encounter. This sequence in particular is responsible for many, many sleepless nights.
Shadow In The Cloud (2020)
When: May 2
Where to stream it: Netflix (AU, US), Prime Video (UK)
Lost amid the pandemic, this nifty genre pic disguised as a historical actioner deserves a fanbase. Chloe Grace Moretz snags the lead as Maude Garrett, a RAF pilot tasked with catching a lift in the ball turret of a B-17 bomber alongside an all-male crew. Garrett is forced to face more than a torrent of misogyny from her fellow airmen, as one hiccup after another derails the journey. Several twists unfurl, switching this to a full-on horror flick with more at stake than the lives of its crew. Moretz grapples with an English accent but nevertheless commands the screen, generating pathos for her unfortunate plight, as she learns there’s more enemies than just the axis forces hidden in the skies. A terrific Friday night movie from New Zealand filmmaker Roseanne Liang.
Monolith (2023)
When: May 5th
Where to stream it: Hoopla (US), Now TV (UK), Binge (AU)
Off the back of Evil Dead Rise, Lily Sullivan steals the show as a disgraced journalist eager to claw her way back to the spotlight. What unravels is an unexpectedly creepy one-hander from first-time director Matt Vesely. The bizarre tale at its center revolves around a sinister… brick. Yes. While it sounds like a premise born from a drunken dare, this movie unravels slowly as Sullivan – billed as The Interviewer – finds more people who have experienced the brick and how it changed their lives. Once she encounters a German art collector with multiple bricks in his possession, things take a decidedly odd turn. The success of its esoteric premise hinges on Sullivan’s performance and it delivers without question, leading to a heart-pounding conclusion you honestly won’t see coming.
Pearl (2022)
When: May 16th
Where to stream it: Amazon Prime (US), Now TV (UK), Netflix/Binge (AU)
Ti West’s prequel to X is a follow-up that is just as madcap and magical as its predecessor. Pearl takes a trip back in time to when X‘s elderly antagonist was a mere scrap of a girl whose murderous melees are only surpassed by her gleefully-heartfelt murderous rants. But no-one would be talking about Pearl if it weren’t for Mia Goth’s performance as the unhinged thespian. She’s both hypnotic, compelling, and fearful as the title character, a Hollywood wannabe who will do whatever it takes to make it, including hacking away at people with an axe. But the big draw is her final monologue that’s captivating as hell and deserving of all the accolades. Catch up on this now before the trilogy-ender, MaxXxine lands this summer.
Stopmotion (2023)
When: May 31st
Where to stream it: AMC+ (US), Shudder (AU, UK, US)
The ways in which art affects its creators is a topic returned to again and again by filmmakers. This instance hails from first-time director Robert Morgan and follows the story of Ella Blake (Aisling Franciosi), a young woman whose mother enlists her to help finish her stop-motion movie. As she grows more and more engrossed in the project, things grow… well, quite bloody and gory. A heady, dizzying ode to the responsibilities of creation and how the line between reality and artifice blurs in the most delightfully deranged ways. What a fun mash of live-action and stop-motion that will also potentially give you nightmares.
