Out this Friday from director Justin Tipping is HIM, a psychological horror movie exploring the pressures of professional football for an emerging young star. It’s the type of release that highlights a rather barren but niche subgenre: Sports Horror. This week’s streaming picks are dedicated to sports-themed horror movies. These particular horror titles emphasize the […]
Out this Friday from director Justin Tipping is HIM, a psychological horror movie exploring the pressures of professional football for an emerging young star. It’s the type of release that highlights a rather barren but niche subgenre: Sports Horror.
This week’s streaming picks are dedicated to sports-themed horror movies. These particular horror titles emphasize the mental grit of athletes and of course feature plenty of bloody kills.
The Battery – Fandango at Home, Fawesome, Hoopla, Kanopy, Midnight Pulp, Prime Video, Screambox
This indie darling stars writer/director Jeremy Gardner (After Midnight). It follows two former baseball players turned best friends trying to survive long after a zombie apocalypse has ravaged the world. Even though the rules of the zombie apocalypse fall right in line with every zombie apocalypse before it, it still manages to reinvigorate the sub-genre by not being a zombie movie at all. It’s more of a unique road trip movie among buds – Ben (Gardner) and Mickey (Adam Cronheim) – just trying to survive. While the apocalypse means no actual baseball, the sport plays a heavy role in the core friendship and zombie dispatching. It’s even baked into the title, referring to the pitcher and the catcher.
Black Swan – Hulu
Ballet may be an artform, but its physical and psychological demands veer straight into sports territory. Nina (Natalie Portman) lands the coveted lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake,” but her commitment to perfection threatens her sanity. Darren Aronofsky’s psychosexual mind-bender gets deep into Nina’s headspace as she hallucinates everything from sexual encounters to moments of body horror. It’s a dizzying mirror for Tchaikovsky’s ballet, in twisted psychological horror movie form. Nina’s transformation into the Black Swan is as beautiful as it is grotesque. Through ballet, Black Swan captures the all-consuming obsession that comes with trying to perfect an artform through visually arresting but disturbing psychological horror.
Fatal Games – AMC+, Fandango at Home, Fawesome, Shudder
Olympic-hopeful medalists find themselves systematically picked off one by one in this ’80s slasher in the vein of Graduation Day, and also known as Olympic Nightmare. Director Michael Elliot helms a pretty straightforward meat-and-potatoes slasher here, without any reinvention or deviation. What it does feature is a heavy sports angle, with the killer opting for a fitting javelin as their weapon of choice. The killer reveal definitely doesn’t hold up by today’s standards, but Fatal Games does bring the camp factor and some Olympics-inspired kills that make for an entertaining time.
Girls with Balls – Netflix
An all-girls volleyball team finds themselves hunted by back wooded locals when their van breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Yet, the hunters soon discover they might have bitten off more than they can chew with this resourceful bunch. Girls with Balls is so unapologetically goofy that it’s sure to perplex some. It doesn’t take itself seriously in the least and is sure to offend some with its sense of humor. For those that like their gore with a heaping helping of irreverence, though, it’s a fun one. The film marks the directorial debut by Olivier Alfonso, a notable special makeup effects artist who’d previously worked on Raw, Leatherface, Among the Living, and more. So, you know he applies his expertise on splatter here.
Night Game – MGM+, Prime Video
Jaws actor Roy Scheider stars in this slasher as a retired baseball player turned detective, and he’s on the case of a serial killer who preys on women anytime Houston Astros pitcher Sil Baretto wins. It’s a slow burn but grisly slasher that builds to a strong finish, helped by a memorable killer with a hook. Night Game may have been released in 1989, but it bears the hallmarks of sleazy ’70s crime thrillers, with a hardboiled detective at the center. It’s helmed by Peter Masterson, who fans may recognize for playing Dr. Barringer in The Exorcist and Walter Eberhart in The Stepford Wives.
