Shudder Originals for every mood

Shudder is a streaming platform that offers horror, thrillers and sci-fi for any mood or occasion, and some of their best films can’t be streamed currently anywhere else.

Feeling blue? Shudder has an original film for that. Got a lot of time on your hands and want something that will take a while to build? Shudder has you covered. Want to laugh and get grossed out at the same time? You know where to go.

1428 Elm is going to recommend some recent Shudder originals and exclusives for your varied needs, and we are going to start with some genuine horror.

When there is a storm brewing outside, and you want a movie that will really set the mood and give you goosebumps, give Impetigore a shot.

Impetigore is an Indonesian film, so you will have to read subtitles, but it’s very much worth it. It was nominated for a record-breaking 17 Citra awards at the Indonesian film festival, and won 6, plus it was the Indonesian entry for the Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film.

Awards aside, it’s just a darn good film, and better yet, it’s actually scary. It has a lot of layers, including an intriguing mystery, a sweet friendship, art in the form of amazing puppet shadow play performances, and one or two gory moments that are quite shocking, even to a self-professed horror nerd like myself.

It’s unusual for darker horror to include humor, but the character of Dini is engaging and funny, and you really care about her and the film’s lead character of Maya.

Impetigore opens with Maya being attacked by a man who calls her by the name Rahayu. When she sees a photo of herself as a child, standing in front of a large house, Maya believes she may be able to find the house. She and Dini set off for the village of Harjosari, and the mystery deepens as the villagers are not exactly warm and welcoming. You can’t blame them for being so morose, since all of the infants in the village over the past 20 years have been born skinless.

Impetigore is 107 minutes of horror and intrigue, the perfect film to watch when you want to be scared in an intelligent manner.

If you’re feeling down, and want something to lighten the mood, newly added Slaxx may just be the ticket. It’s basically about a pair of possessed jeans, but trust me when I tell you, it’s a fun, inventive film with plenty of in-your-face gore.

Trendy clothing company CCC (Canadian Cotton Company) touts itself as socially responsible. Their claims include “no sweatshops”, no GMOS, sustainability…you know the drill. Libby is an enthusiastic fan of the brand, who is thrilled to be newly hired to work in their flagship store on the eve of CCC’s launch of their hot new item: unisex jeans that magically conform to the shape of the wearer.

To prepare for the launch, the store’s employees are put under lockdown until the following morning, when the jeans will be available to salivating consumers. You see the irony here? A company that is presenting itself as ethically responsible (with no sweat shops) is locking their employees in overnight so they can set up the store for a new product launch.

And then, the fun begins as one pair of the new jeans goes rogue and starts killing off the employees. To be honest, we are glad to see most of them go. There are really only two characters we care about, the majority are obnoxious and annoying, and I won’t spoil the fun ways in which these people meet their denim-instigated deaths.

By the end of Slaxx, we do know why the jeans are killing people who work for CCC, but more importantly, we have spent 75 minutes being thoroughly entertained by a film that won’t leave you sleepless or disturbed.

When you want to really get engrossed in a tense, serious (and seriously scary) film, I recommend watching Shudder Original The Dark and the Wicked. If you are not a fan of “slow burn” horror, you might not like it.

But, for me, slow burn films creep me out like no other sub-genre can. They just kind of ease their way under my skin as the tension builds, and by the time the end credits roll, I am usually curled up in a ball on my couch, eyes wide and teeth clenched.

Take the title of The Dark and the Wicked seriously…it is pitch dark, and there is definitely an evil presence that lives in the home of Louise and Michael’s parents. Dad is dying slowly, and their mother seems to be extremely depressed due to grief (or something else entirely).

Although the siblings go home to help their mother, she keeps insisting they should leave, and soon enough it becomes apparent that they should have listened to Mom. Something evil is in the house and on the grounds, and it seems to want the entire family. Even the sheep know it (and suffer for it).

Although I do consider The Dark and the Wicked to be a slow burn, there are plenty of scares and a good bit of blood. There is a particularly hard to watch scene involving a knife and some vegetables, and animal lovers may want to be forewarned that not all of the sheep make it out alive. Spoiler alert, neither do all of the humans.

This is the type of film that you just know is not going to have a happy ending, so remember how I told you Slaxx wouldn’t keep you awake all night? The Dark and the Wicked is just the opposite.

Well, there you have it, some mood-inspired Shudder Original suggestions. Whatever your current mood, I hope you can find something to enjoy on my favorite streaming platform.

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What are your fave Shudder original films? We want to hear all about it in the comments section.