Reinventing themselves after a previous long-term fracture with film production companies, YouTube has shifted the narrative from being viewed as a competitor profiting off of unauthorized clips, to partnering with fellow media conglomerates, offering a wide range of projects under a heavily negotiable third party alliance.
Back in 2010, YouTube first introduced its online service to only rent films, but since then, the corporation has diversified their range of services, unveiling their “free with ads” option to become a major player in the streaming and distribution market long-term. While some other streaming services offer this, such as Tubi and Pluto, nothing has name recognition like YouTube. Growing increasingly over the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, their popularity hasbecome significantly highamong 18 to 29-year-olds, as nearly 95% of them report that they use YouTube’s service regularly. Let’s look at some of the most eccentric and eerie films in the horror genre, movies free to watch on YouTube’s streaming service.
Updated April 14th, 2023: If you are a fan of horror movies, then you are in luck as this article has been recently updated.
9Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Halloween H20: 20 Years Latertook place 20 years after the original massacre that ensued on Halloween night. The film saw the return of Laurie Strode, reprised by Jamie Lee Curtis, and shows that Laurie now lives under a new identity. The events ofHalloween H20sit closely with what the plot of Blumhouse’sHalloween 2018intended to follow, only in Steve Miner’s version, Laurie seems to be living a much more productive life.
Related:Halloween: A Guide to Understanding the Multiverse
Halloween 2018is much more well regarded than 1998’s seventh installment to the franchise. The latest installment,Halloween Ends,is supposedly the final film of the franchise where Laurie and Michael battle it out one last time.
8Poltergeist
Poltergeisteasily stands among thegreatest ghost filmsin the horror genre. The film’s commentary on American capitalism and the nuances of cookie-cutter suburbia serve as the backdrop for a classic retelling of a family being haunted. Yet, one of the most alluring attributes thatPoltergeistoffers viewers is the overall likability of the Freeling family as a whole. It is easy to back this family’s decisions on how they are dealing with the disappearance of their daughter Carol Anne (played by Heather O’Rourke).
Poltergeiststands among one of the many films that is believed to be cursed, due to a handful of the cast members from both the original and sequel meeting tragic endings.
7The Mimic
Note to everyone: never take in a stray animal, and definitely never allow another person to live in your home without understanding a significant amount of their backstory.The Mimicmasters a sense of alertness and paranoia, as parents of a missing child, Hee-yeon (Yum Jung-ah) and Min-ho (Park Hyuk-kwon), decide to take in a lost girl whom Hee-yeon finds in the woods (mistake number one).
She later finds that the young girl may not be human, questioning the sort of presence that has been released in the couple’s lives. It’s a creepy and tense horror that will make put you on guard.
6Frightmare
After spending years locked away in an insane asylum for their grotesque crimes and cannibalistic urges, the seemingly reformed married couple Dorothy and Edmund Yates (Sheila Keith & Rupert Davies) are released back to society and settle into a remote farmhouse. It doesn’t take long until their daughter Jackie begins to suspect her parents are once again back to their murderous ways and have re-discovered their love for human flesh, causing her to make chilling discoveries.
Frightmareis a 1974 British horror flick that incorporates dark humor throughout its wild and grim storytelling, and features a memorable performance by the eccentric Sheila Keith, a frequent collaborator of director Pete Walker. Full of blood and gore and lots of spine-tingling moments, the film is an underrated ’70s gem that horror fans will enjoy for all its satirical glory and chaotic energy.
Anymovie related to apocalyptic eventshave a kind of morbid curiosity to them, especially in the midst of world chaos and uncertainty. InThreads, partners Ruth (Karen Meagher) and Jimmy (Reece Dinsdale) have marriage plans and are preparing for the arrival of their baby when their lives in England become threatened after the Soviet Union and United States go to war (something unsettlingly prescient with Ukrainian events this year).
Once a nuclear attack destroys a NATO base 20 miles from their town, the country goes into mass mayhem. As the violence spreads through the region, Ruth and Jimmy become separated as Ruth fights to survive on her own.
4The Black Hole
Instead of having the urgency to participate in time travel and space visits, how about first dealing with the numerous problems here on earth? Nonetheless, the 2006 filmThe Black Holeis a cool little exploration of some dark and mysterious things.
The film uses the real-life story of CERN’s particle accelerator and its search for the Higgs boson (or ‘God particle’), except in this sci-fi horror scenario from Tibor Takacs (who was behind the underrated horror filmThe Gate), something terrible happens. A black hole is created in the particle accelerator, and a monstrous creature emerges. Judd Nelson plays a nuclear physicist and Kristy Swanson his partner in this sometimes silly but actually pretty cool little sci-fi horror gem.
3The Last Exorcism
Found footage horroris extremely popular, andThe Last Exorcismis a great example. Two filmmakers follow cleric Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) as he conducts exorcisms, attempting to delegitimize its efficiencies. After years of performing them, Cotton decides to participate in this documentary chronicling his last exorcism. Once at the secluded Louisiana farm of devout Louis Sweetzer, Marcus must perform the religious ritual on Sweetzer’s daughter, Nell, who is believed to be possessed.
Related:13 Lesser-Known Possession Horror Movies That Need More Love
After his initial tactics fail, Marcus quickly realizes that he has come face to face with the devil and will have to summon all his spiritual faith to protect Nell, the others, and himself from the demonic powers at play. Where is Peter Popoff’sMiracle Spring Waterwhen you need it? It’s a genuinely surprising and scary movie.
2Nosferatu the Vampyre
Werner Herzog gave the groundbreaking German silent film a stylistic remake with 1974’sNosferatu the Vampyre, which stars Klaus Kinski as Count Dracula and follows the blood-craving creature as he travels to Wismar, Germany where he brings chaos and the Black Plague. When Dracula sets his sights on Lucy Harker, he must face off against her husband Jonathan and his longtime nemesis Abraham Van Helsing if he wishes to have the love he desperately craves.
Nosferatu the Vampyrepaintsthe iconic movie monsterin a more sympathetic manner,with Kinski explaining, “He is a man without free will. He cannot choose, and he cannot cease to be. He is a kind of incarnation of evil, but he is also a man who is suffering, suffering for love. This makes it so much more dramatic, more double‐edged.” The reimagining was a smash hit with critics and audiences, with many praising it for its depiction of Dracula as a weary, doomed ghoul and its eerie atmosphere.
1Paranormal Activity
Another found-footage film,Paranormal Activityarguably kicked off the second wave of good ones after years of bad attempts atBlair Witch Projectmagic. This low-budget little scary movie will leave any viewer afraid of the dark; that, and of Sony hand-held recorders. After moving into their suburban tract home, Katie (Katie Featherston) and Micah (Micah Sloat) become petrified by what appears to be a supernatural presence. With hopes of capturing video evidence, they install video cameras in the house but cannot fathom how out of control the demonic activity is, which grows rapidly.
Produced for just $15,000,Paranormal Activitywent on to gross nearly $200 million (not mention profits from the many sequels and remakes), making it one of the most profitable returns on investment in cinematic history. As a suggestion, before moving in with a romantic partner or anyone for that matter, try visiting a psychic first.
