Every month, I’ll make my way through the dark halls of Terror on Tubi, searching for five horror films you don’t want to miss on the streamer.
This month’s selections embrace the cold in the air with chilly ghost stories and grim tales of horror, while offering warmth with steamy werewolves and a cozy stop-motion masterpiece.
Check them out below, if you dare. And remember, Terror on Tubi has over 13,000 hours of horror content. It’s completely free, and no sign-up is necessary. For horror fans, it’s heaven.
1408 (2007)
Courtesy of Amazon MGM
Once you check in, you’ll be too scared to check out.
Based on the novel by Stephen King, author Michael Enslin (John Cusack) checks into room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel in New York. It’s supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the world, and he plans on writing about it for his next book. See, Enslin doesn’t believe in the supernatural. He’s there to debunk the claims. But within minutes, the spirits of 1408 make themselves known. Trapped inside, Michael is about to find out ghosts really do exist.
The early aughts saw 80s heartthrob John Cusack star in two fantastic horror films. One was Identity. The other was 1408. Director crafts a dread-choked haunter that eases the audience in before trapping them in the claustrophobic setting with Cusack. It’s a contained version of , with legend stepping in for a memorable performance as the hotel’s manager who warns Michael to stay out of that motherfuckin’ room. The chilly season is great for ghost stories, and this is a good one from the mind of Stephen King.
Mikael Håfström
The Shining
Samuel L. Jackson
Mad God (2021)
Courtesy of Shudder and IFC Midnight
It took Phil Tippett thirty years to make Mad God. Time well spent, because it’s a masterpiece of weird horror.
A stop-motion beauty of an adventure, we meet “The Assassin” as he travels through a wasteland of bizarre creatures and horrific nightmares.
Stop-motion animation isn’t for everyone. But if you’re also a fan of the art style, Tippett’s nightmarish epic is a must-see. From hideous fiends to gruesome surgeries and massive shitting monsters, Mad God is a mad blend of nasty, frightening, and strange horror. Yet despite that, it’s also the kind of dreamy film that you can get lost in. A comfort movie that feels like an awestruck journey through the mind of a genius madman. Looking at you, Tippett.
Tales from the Hood (1995)
Courtesy of Vivendi Universal
I love a good horror anthology because they usually have a little something for everyone. And Tales from the Hood is one of the best of them.
A trio of drug dealers arrives at a funeral home to meet Mr. Simms (Clarence Williams III in a legendary performance). Simms has “the shit” they want, and they’re not leaving until they get it. As he leads the young men through the eerie house of the dead, he tells them strange tales with a sinister purpose.
In a universe where fan favorites like Creepshow and Tales from the Darkside exist, Rusty Cundieff’s Tales from the Hood is in the top tier. It wouldn’t be difficult to make a case for it as the best of the bunch, either. Penned by Cundieff and Darin Scott, the filmmakers unleash a horror anthology about terrors faced by the Black community. Creatures like vengeful zombies and angry killer dolls fill the screen, but it’s corrupt cops and racist politicians who are the true monsters. Entertaining, shocking, and pulsing with powerful commentary, Tales from the Hood is the shit.
Wolf (1994)
Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
Know what was great about the nineties? You could pitch a sexy werewolf erotic thriller with megastars like Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer on a budget of $70 million, and movie producers would say, ” Hell yeah, why not?
Before the first act is over, publisher Will Randall (Nicholson) has lost his job to a much younger apprentice, Stewart (James Spader), lost his wife to another man (also Stewart), and been bitten by a wolf. Things can’t get any worse. That is, until Will finds himself changing, becoming more aggressive, hungrier, and deadlier. He’s a new man…on his way to becoming a monster every full moon. And in the sights of his newfound, animalistic lust? The boss’s daughter, Laura (Pfeiffer).
When people ask me what I miss about movies from the ’90s, Wolf is a great example. It’s a campy erotic thriller that knows what we want, and what we want is Jack Nicholson and James Spader in a literal pissing contest as they vie for the position of top dog, er, werewolf. Director Mike Nichols knows exactly what Wolf is, and he treats it as such, yet with a loaded cast and an eerily romantic score from Ennio Morricone. Think The Wolf Man if it was hot and horny and fully aware of how ridiculous that sounds. Oh, and it’s set during winter, so no better time to watch (or revisit) than the present.
We Are Still Here (2015)
Courtesy of Dark Sky Films
November means it’s time for dreary winter horror. And if cold, atmospheric, and grim is what you want, Ted Geoghegan’s We Are Still Here delivers in bloody spades.
Parents who have lost their son move into an old house in the lonely fields of New England during winter. There, they discover the ghosts of souls who never left…and are furious at the presence of the new tenants.
The directorial debut feature of Geoghegan, We Are Still Here chills to the bone. Featuring a cast of genre stalwarts like Barbara Crampton and Larry Fessenden, it plays like John Carpenter’s The Fog meets Dead and Buried. A small town with creepy neighbors and sinister secrets. Shadowy ghosts with burning eyes. The gradual sense of overwhelming doom. Not to mention, a banger exorcism scene and loads of explosive gore. Another ghostly tale of revenge perfect for the winter season.
