Summer is almost underway, and the options on streaming are as overwhelming as ever. A good problem to have, of course. June brings the heat with tons of new releases, including underseen animal attack horror movies, Lovecraftian gems, genre-benders, and more.
Here are ten must-see horror titles available for streaming this month – June 2022 – on some of the most popular streaming services, along with when/where you can watch them.
Alligator – Shudder
The plot, borrowing from a popular urban legend, follows a baby alligator flushed down the toilet. It winds up in the sewer, the precise spot used as a dumping ground for growth hormones and waste by a local laboratory. That cute baby alligator grows into a monstrous beast and wreaks havoc on the town. Only Robert Forster’s Officer David can stop it. From director Lewis Teague (Cujo, Cat’s Eye), Alligator is legitimately good. It also earns major points for having the gall to kill a child in a memorably suspenseful scene.
Annabelle Comes Home – Tubi
The Annabelle trilogy began as a rough spin-off movie and transformed into a perfect companion series to the heart and scares of The Conjuring. The third entry in the Annabelle series feels like a spooky trip in a carnival haunted house in the best possible way. Or perhaps more like a haunted toybox sprung to life. Mckenna Grace carries the torch well as Judith Warren, and the treasure trove of spooky new entities offers up a ghostly buffet. It’s an entertaining romp.
Colossal – HBO Max
Nacho Vigalondo’s genre-bender stars Anne Hathaway as Gloria, a mess of a party girl forced to move back home when her boyfriend (Dan Stevens) kicks her to the curb. As she slowly gets back on her feet, a giant monster attacks Seoul. Gloria realizes she might be connected to this weird phenomenon. Vigalondo applies the kaiju format to an engaging character study. What begins as more of a life crises dramedy slowly becomes more unsettling and genre forward as Gloria’s tenuous relationship with childhood friend Oscar (Jason Sudeikis) becomes dark. This is a solid bet if you’re looking for something outside the norm.
Good Manners – AMC+, Kanopy, Shudder
Written and directed by Marco Dutra and Juliana Rojas, Good Manners is a horror meets fable story about lonely nurse Clara and the unexpected bond she forms with her wealthy employer Ana. Ana hires Clara to be the nanny for her unborn child, and despite coming from very different backgrounds, the pair form a strong bond that’s forever altered on one fateful night of terror. Playing out in two distinct narrative halves connected by that fateful night, the less you know about Good Manners going in, the better. This dark fairy tale is a beautiful and often bloody entry in a beloved sub-genre and offers many heartfelt and heart-wrenching surprises.
In the Mouth of Madness – AMC+, Shudder
Do you read Sutter Cane? Of course, you do. Written by Michael De Luca and directed by John Carpenter, this descent into madness isn’t directly lifted from Lovecraft’s works but feels like it could be. Sam Neill plays John Trent, an insurance investigator hired to look for a missing bestselling author whose books affect his fans in brutal ways. The further into the investigation that John gets, the more surreal and dangerous things become. Hobb’s End is an insidious little town full of insanity, creatures, and death. In the Mouth of Madness closes out Carpenter’s apocalypse trilogy, this time adding Lovecraftian horror to the doom.
The Thing – Peacock
John Carpenter’s paranoia-laden masterpiece is a pinnacle of practical effects. Its snowy Antarctic setting plays a pivotal role in isolation, paranoia, and the fight for survival. Fleeing from the shape-shifting alien that’s infiltrated the ranks of a research team isn’t easy, thanks to its ability to assimilate the humans as well as the storm raging outside. This classic keeps getting better and better with every rewatch. If you need another excuse to revisit, The Thing turns 40 this month.
The Northman – Peacock (June 3)
Alexander Skarsgård stars as Amleth, the son of War-Raven King Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke). As a child, Amleth barely escapes with his life and flees into the sea after witnessing his uncle Fjölnir (Claes Bang) murder his father and claim his mother, Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman), as his wife. Years later, Amleth’s assimilation into a marauding clan directs his deep-seated fury into pillaging and combat until a Seeress (Björk) hauntingly reminds him of his vows. Now of an age to fulfill them, Amleth sets off on a blood-drenched quest to fulfill his destiny. Director Robert Eggers, who co-wrote The Northman with Sjón (Lamb), again displays a meticulously researched vision that ambiguously blurs the lines between realism and the supernatural.
Offseason – Shudder (June 10)
This Southern Gothic tale uses dream logic and atmosphere, creating a beguiling cosmic horror story led by Jocelin Donahue. She travels to her hometown and becomes trapped in an increasingly nightmarish scenario. That dream logic bears a striking resemblance to Messiah of Evil in an eerie tone, but writer/director Mickey Keating draws from David Lynch and Robert Altman. A lot of Keating’s frequent collaborators appear, including the stalwart Larry Fessenden. All of it makes for a very Lovecraftian tale.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – Disney+ (June 22)
Multiverse of Madness employs two powerful assets for Doctor Strange’s latest outing: Sam Raimi and Elizabeth Olsen. Raimi easily slips back into his horror filmmaking roots and manages to infuse this sequel with as much horror as the MCU allows him. The script by Loki writer Michael Waldron lets demons and zombies run amok, but Raimi takes it a step further with his physical horror and horror-comedy sensibilities. Eyeballs get gouged, deaths hurt, characters literally wrestle with their inner demons, and the trademark demonic POV tracking shot makes an appearance. Callbacks to earlier works sneak in for the eagle-eyed fan, and Raimi even injects a few effective jump scares in his bid to make the antagonist an imposing and intimidating figure. It may follow the same MCU formula, but Raimi makes it fun.
The Mist – Netflix (June 22)
Frank Darabont’s bleak 2007 horror film may have been an adaptation of Stephen King’s novella, but both channeled Lovecraft for this gnarly tale. A severe storm triggers a strange, thick mist that crosses over a lake and town and envelops it. And that fog brings all sorts of bloodthirsty and deadly creatures, trapping survivors inside a supermarket to fight for their lives. The monsters themselves, especially the massive ones, feel right out of a Lovecraft story; but so do the characters. Faced with unknowable horrors lurking in the mist, some supermarket inhabitants turn to religious fanaticism. Some are driven insane. Many of them die in grotesque ways. Above all, The Mist offers a grim feeling of hopelessness that’ll leave you needing something uplifting to watch afterwards.
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