Starz is an underrated streaming service home to several notable horror movies, including a few Blumhouse hits like M3GAN (and soon, Five Nights at Freddy's). But overall, it remains one of the most overlooked streaming services despite its surprisingly robust slate of films.
Right now, there is an ongoing promotional deal where you can get Starz for only $2.99/month or an even better deal by paying $23.99 for an entire year ($2/month). If you've already signed up or are thinking about it, you might appreciate the following list, which provides five underrated horror movies currently available on Starz.
Never Let Go (2024)
- Director: Alexandre Aja
- Writer: KC Coughlin and Ryan Grassby
- Cast: Halle Berry, Percy Daggs IV, and Anthony B. Jenkins
- Rating: R
Halle Berry plays the mother of twin sons in the latest film from Crawl director Alexandre Aja. "Momma" lives with her boys, Nolan and Samuel, in a hidden cabin in the forest.
According to Momma, something evil has taken over the world, leading them to isolation to avoid being taken. She instructs her sons always to stay connected through rope tethers lest they get disconnected and lost forever. But when one son questions his mother's story, discord threatens to unravel their family forever.
The Blackening (2022)
- Director: Tim Story
- Writer: Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins
- Cast: Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Dewayne Perkins, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah, and Yvonne Orji
- Rating: R
Want to watch something a little more lighthearted? The Blackening is a hilarious horror-comedy film about a group of Black friends who spend a weekend away at a cabin retreat, only to find themselves trapped with a killer.
As you might have guessed from the film's title, the movie focuses on satirizing racial stereotypes we often see within the horror genre, skewering familiar tropes. The comedy and chemistry between the main cast is what really makes The Blackening a fun watch.
Rogue (2007)
- Writer/Director: Greg McLean
- Cast: Michael Vartan, Radha Mitchell, and Sam Worthington
- Rating: R
Want to watch a violent creature feature with a giant crocodile at the center? Rogue is an underrated 2007 film starring Michael Vartan, a travel journalist embarking on a river cruise through croc-infested waters in Australia. Before the cruise concludes, something crashes into the side, forcing the boat onto a small island that happens to be home to a massive crocodile who isn't happy about the intrusion.
Bagman (2024)
- Director: Colm McCarthy
- Writer: John Hulme
- Cast: Sam Claflin, Antonia Thomas, Frankie Corio, William Hope, and Steven Cree
- Rating: PG-13
Sam Claflin and Antonia Thomas play desperate parents determined to save their son from a terrifying child-snatching presence known as the Bagman in this 2024 horror film. Bagman isn't the most original horror movie out there, and it is slow-paced, but if you're looking for something PG-13 for a rainy day in, this is a good pick.
The folklore is interesting, with the film's antagonist being a riff on Sack Man legends found in almost every culture (notably, that's where Krampus stems from). It has a surprisingly bleak ending if you're into that kind of thing.
The Shallows (2016)
- Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
- Writer: Anthony Jaswinski
- Cast: Blake Lively
- Rating: PG-13
With director Jaume Collet-Serra's latest movie, The Woman in the Yard, now playing in theaters, it's a great time to look back at his excellent mid-budget shark attack thriller The Shallows, starring Blake Lively as a lone surfer trapped on a rock as a great white shark circles around her.
Collet-Serra is adept at sticking with a simple premise and executing a tense story that sticks to its central concept without overcomplicating things. At a tight 86-minute runtime, The Shallows never lets up. Lively gives one of her best performances as a woman fighting for her life against a formidable enemy.