Streaming Service Review: Shudder

We review the premier streaming platform for horror movies

Hey there, DYLA readers! We’re coming to you on a Monday with something a little different. As we are all likely to be confined to our homes for the foreseeable future, it’s a great time to check out smaller streaming services that we don’t talk about much. We usually only recommend movies from Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, or HBO, but there are a growing number of other platforms. Once or twice a month, we are going to turn our attention to one of them. 

For our first streaming service review, we picked Shudder. Launched in 2015 by AMC Networks, Shudder is *the* place for fans of horror, thriller, and suspense movies and shows. You’ll find classics, cult favorites, international imports, and more. We both did a free trial of the service to see what it was all about. Here were our takeaways. 

Collection

How good is the service’s film collection, based on quality, quantity, variety, and uniqueness?

Billy: What is most impressive is the wide variety of selection that is not found in many other places. My first goal in signing up was to watch as many new well-reviewed horror-thrillers as I could in the free trial period. Upon logging on I realized that they had that along with so many classic options. Audition and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer being the classic options I watched. While the genre of the site is niche, if you are a horror-thriller fan then there are plenty of options. Depending on how much you use the app I could see a scenario when the options could become slim quickly.

Drew: Shudder is extremely niche, so you need to be a horror or thriller enthusiast to really appreciate the offerings here. If you want access to horror classics like Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and more, this is the place for you. There’s also plenty of options in sub-genres like supernatural, zombie, monsters, slashers, and all kinds of dark and creepy subject matter. However, the quality level of these will vary. I haven’t heard of many, many of the B-movie titles on Shudder, so if that’s your thing, have at it. There’s also a few “Shudder Original” works with names like Belzebuth, Creepshow, and Revenge. Who knows if they are any good, because I was too much of a wimp to try them. 

What we watched

What did we watch on the service and would we recommend anything?

Billy: Mandy, Audition, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

I enjoyed all three of my entries and Mandy takes the cake for one that is the easiest to recommend. The beginning 15 minutes creates characters so sweet that the way to weird 25 to 30 minutes that follow become tolerable. Then the subdued Nicolas Cage character unleashes into Nic Cage glory. What was once a trippy, David Lynch-style thriller turns into grindhouse action that is absolutely spectacular.

Audition and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer are recommendations in that the person must be ready for this type of movie. I purposefully sought out these titles once I saw they were available because of the legacy they have created. They did not disappoint while also turning my stomach over throughout most of the run time.

Drew: Escape from New York, Dogtooth, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance

I went more of the thriller route with my Shudder free trial, as opposed to horror, because I really have to be in the mood to watch a legitimately terrifying film. Escape from New York is a pretty wild cult classic from 1981 that has a premise so ludicrous (“When the U.S. president crashes into Manhattan, now a giant maximum security prison, a convicted bank robber (Kurt Russell) is sent in to rescue him.”) that it’s actually admirable. It’s an imaginative limited budget film that makes for a pretty fun watch. Dogtooth, a family thriller by Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos, is about as dry and strange as a movie can get. I wouldn’t recommend it unless you like his other films (The Lobster, The Favourite). Finally, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is a gruesome South Korean revenge story from Oldboy (which is also on Shudder) director Chan-wook Park. It’s a brutal viewing experience, but still has something to say about the futility of cyclical violence. 

Price and free trial

Is the price point high or low based on what comes with the service? 

Billy: The price point is $5.99 a month or $57 up front if you pay for a year. The free trial is 7 days if you sign up on their site and 30 days if you sign up via your Amazon Prime. At any rate this has been worth it to me. The theme of this streaming service is right up my alley, so at a potential $57 per year I can for sure justify that value. 

Drew: The $5.99/month price point is fairly reasonable for the amount of content they have on the service. Based on the lack of buzz their original content has generated, I’d say not many people are signing up for Shudder Originals. However, you can do your own horror or thriller movie festival with the library of classics and more recent fare (like Mandy) that’s on the site.  For me personally, even $57/year isn’t worth it, because I’m simply not enough of a horror movie fan. However, if you’re curious, I’d at least do the 7-day trial (or 30-day through Amazon Prime) and see if you like the mix of movies they have on the site. It’s easy to cancel. 

Update: It appears the service has recently offered a free trial of one month with the promo code “SHUTIN”. 

User interface

Is the interface on the app or website intuitive and easy to use?

Billy: The interface on your phone or laptop is really great. The options are clear and each section is split up into categories that separate genre well. Now on your TV is where it gets a little tricky. Unless you have certain TV attachments like Apple TV or Firestick then finding options is tough. Linking up Shudder with Amazon is easy, but finding options just on Shudder via an Amazon app on a Smart TV is tough. Using the app a few times makes the bugs not so cumbersome, but an easier-to-use interface is needed. 

Drew: I watched through the Shudder app on my TV via Roku. The interface was pretty easy to manage, but you could tell it was more of a mid-budget situation when compared to something like Hulu or Netflix. They do make it so you can sort through the type of movie you are feeling at that moment, whether that’s a horror classic, revenge thriller, monster movie, whatever. It should be easier to find your own watchlist, though. 

Overall

What’s the overall rating and is this service worth checking out?

Billy: 7 out of 10 -- Shudder is a wonderful app that is affordable and for anyone who wants to seek out this genre should at least give the free trial a shot. While the options may become dry at some point, the classic movies and often changing options will hopefully keep water in that well for a good amount of time.

Drew: 6 out of 10 -- Should you check it out? Well, that’s pretty simple. If you’re into horror and thriller movies or TV (even casually), then I’d definitely do the free trial to see if you like it. After that the price point isn’t exorbitant, but there’s unfortunately not a vast amount of good movies to check out. If you enjoy B-movies and schlocky material, this is for sure the place for you. If not, you could try it for the horror classics you haven’t seen and anything else that looks intriguing, and then ditch it if you’re not interested beyond that.