Top Horror Movies Streaming This Week

Ryan Coogler's Sinners did very well at The Actor Awards, presented by SAG AFTRA.  Michael B. Jordan won the Actor for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Smoke and Stack, the twins at the center of this beautifully crafted film.

The Sinners ensemble cast, including Miles Caton, Buddy Guy, Michael B. Jordan, Jayme Lawson, Delroy Lindo, Omar Miller, Wunmi Mosaku, Jack O’Connell, and Hailee Steinfeld, won the Actor for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. The film has stayed steady in the top spot for six weeks and shows no real signs of slowing down as we approach the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 15.

Sinners is now streaming on HBO Max and Prime.

Director Francis Lawrence's adaptation of the Bachman book, penned pseudonymously by Stephen King, keeps marching back towards the top spot this week. After dropping to the third spot, this heartrending film has gathered momentum and is showing real staying power while it is streaming on Starz.

Adapted by JT Mollner from the book that King wrote when he was a freshman in college in 1966, and starring the intense and dedicated cast of actors Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Roman Griffin Davis, Josh Hamilton, Judy Greer, and Mark Hamill, home viewers have really taken to the film. It is a horrifying but compelling watch of a twisted and tragic contest in a totalitarian alternate 1970s.

The Long Walk is now streaming on Starz.

Amy Madigan won for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role at the Actor Awards, formerly known as the SAG Awards, last Sunday. As you could imagine, the actor who gave us Aunt Gladys gave us all more than we hoped for while accepting the award. She did the scary run across the stage to accept the award to cheers, and she thanked her fellow actors, the writer, and the director.

It was another wonderful moment for the genre.

Zach Cregger's second film, which also stars members of the ensemble cast, Josh Brolin, Julia Garner, Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Toby Huss, Benedict Wong, is still in the mix at the Academy Awards. A win at the Actor Awards is a good portent for Madigan's chances on March 15.

Weapons is now streaming on HBO Max.

Wes Craven's meta blockbuster continues to draw streaming viewers this week and has climbed the list from eight to four this week. There are a lot of people at home watching the original, clearly, with the classic cast:  David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich, and Drew Barrymore.

The original voice of Ghostface, Roger L. Jackson, has played the killer in every franchise installment and, during a recent interview, confided that he is only given the pages of the script with his dialogue and does not know who Ghostface is in the film. Surprise!

Scream (1996) is now streaming on Kanopy and Paramount+.

Kate Mara, Laurence Fishburne, Gabriel Luna, and Ivana Miličević star in The Astronaut, directed by Jess Varley. It has only recently been released on streaming on Hulu, but it has done quite well and made it into the top ten.

An astronaut, Sam Walker, returns to Earth from the International Space Station and is found unconscious in her capsule in the ocean with a shattered helmet. She is placed in quarantine after the accident and then sent to an isolated home to recuperate. Strange things start to happen as Sam struggles to understand what is happening and wonders if the danger is really over.

The Astronaut is now streaming on Hulu.

Not to be left out, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein, nominated for 9 Academy Awards, had a win at the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (AACTA). Jacob Elordi's performance as The Creature captured the award for Best Supporting Actor category, in addition to the three BAFTA awards the film won in craft categories previously.

As a master director who has frequently worked in the horror genre, Guillermo del Toro is one of the filmmakers who has led the way in the current renaissance of our favorite genre. He has won the Academy Award before, for his romantic monster film, The Shape of Water.  Genre films being openly  recognized by the mainstream is something new, but very welcome.

Frankenstein is now streaming on Netflix.

The triumphant return of the 28 Days Later series fulfilled the expectations of the audience that had waited 18 years without being able to watch the original film unless they owned a physical copy.  28 Years Later has remained in the top ten for 22 weeks, or four and a half months, since it was released on September 20 on Netflix.

Director Danny Boyle, writer Alex Garland, and DP Anthony Dod Mantle came back to the project with the spirit of innovation, namely, working with digital cameras and impressive cinematography, that characterized the original film, and finding a new story to tell with a completely different cast: Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Williams,  Chi Lewis-Parry, and Ralph Fiennes.

28 Years Later is now streaming on Netflix.

The seventh film in the Resident Evil franchise, which reboots the series and was released in 2021, has shambled into the top ten after being added to streaming on Hulu.  Directed by Johannes Roberts, who directed Primate, 47 Meters Down, and The Strangers: Prey at Night, it stars Kaya Scodelario, Hannah John-Kamen, Robbie Amell, Tom Hopper, Avan Jogia, Donal Logue, and Neal McDonough. It's another requel.

Brother and sister Chris and Claire Redfield reunite when Claire returns to Raccoon City. Chris is part of an STARS security team, which is activated after another team disappears, and people and animals start exhibiting erratic behavior as Chris' team, Claire, and the authorities in Raccoon City try to discover the truth.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is now streaming on Hulu.

The fifth film in the Scream series takes place 25 years after the original Ghostface murders and stars Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mikey Madison, Kyle Gallner, and Jack Quaid, and original cast members Marley Shelton, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, and Neve Campbell. In line with the series meta connection to slasher films, the killers are attempting to craft a “requel”, in which a series installment is rebooted with new cast members and storylines, in an actual requel film.

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, the directing duo behind Ready or Not and Abigail, and written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, the film did indeed give the franchise new life and did very well at the box office. It was the first movie in the slasher series not to be directed by Wes Craven, and the film was dedicated to him.

Scream (2022) is now streaming on Paramount+ and Pluto TV.