9 Of The Weirdest Movies Streaming On Shudder Now
I’m a horror girl living in a Shudder world. This app is one of the few smart investments I’ve ever made with my money, and I’ve spent countless hours watching odd things off the beaten path. While the streamer offers us a plethora of options, I like to spend my time in the attic looking for my fellow weirdos who make movies that are hard to explain—the directors who helm titles that leave your mouth open as you reevaluate the world around you. In short, I like the genre films that march to the beat of their unique drummer.
So, of course, I spent a couple of Shudder Saturdays (trademark pending) compiling a list of the ten weirdest movies currently available on the site. Hug your inner moppet, and toss on your best art school kid outfit because this streaming guide is about to get strange.
A Wounded Fawn (dir. Travis Stevens)
A woman dips her toe back into the dating pool only to find herself on a romantic getaway with a serial killer. Many people have been in this same situation because they keep going to cabins with men. Meanwhile, we have decades of films telling us not to do that. However, this Nathan Faudree and Travis Stevens script is not here to regurgitate the usual tropes we’ve come to expect. It takes cabin fever and makes it a weird Greek feast for the eyes. I’m still upset that this movie didn’t walk away with a truck full of awards for the aesthetics and stellar performances by Sarah Lind and Josh Ruben.
Butcher Baker Nightmare Maker (dir. William Asher)
An obsessive aunt is willing to go beyond the extremes to keep her nephew all to herself. Also known as Night Warning, this twisted little 1981 gem goes off the cliff immediately before getting even wilder. I was excited to see the late Bill Paxton in the cast, but I soon forgot about him as this became one of the most bizarre watch parties in my lifetime. Aunt Cheryl (played by the late Susan Tyrrell) is a sexually repressed menace. She is also in love with her nephew, whom she has raised since his parents died in an accident. My mouth dropped so many times (for many reasons) while watching this title that it is a miracle it is still attached to my face.
Dogs Don’t Wear Pants (dir. J.P. Valkeapaa)
A man develops a strong bond with a dominatrix after a tragic incident. This unusual connection and his addiction to suffocating leads them both to self-discovery. This movie is weird, but not necessarily for the reasons you would suspect from a project dealing with these themes. This Finnish film is a surprisingly intense exploration of pain, pleasure, and grief. Dogs Don’t Wear Pants is one of the most random things I have discovered on Shudder, and I owe it a rewatch. It’s at turns funny, sad, and strangely poignant. I wish more people would watch it because it deserves more conversation.
Fried Barry (dir. Ryan Kruger)
A drug-addled abuser gets abducted by aliens who take control of his body. Fried Barry promised drugs, sex, and violence, and it meant it. This black comedy science fiction horror moment disturbs me for different reasons than anything else on this list. It is the movie equivalent of that vomit you reflectively stop from coming up but then regret because it means you swallowed it. I have only had that reaction to a handful of movies, and for some reason, this Shudder Original is one of them. I might need a bigger word than weird to describe this uncomfortable journey.
Girl on the Third Floor (dir. Travis Stevens)
A man’s attempts to renovate a fixer-upper for his growing family becomes a struggle because the house has a mind of its own. I planned a whole virtual watch party for this title because some troll was tweeting the filmmaker about the “orgasming house” and that sounded like the kind of weird shit I would be into. Dear readers, I was right, and I hope that troll knows they did me a solid that day! Girl on the Third Floor is something you have to see for yourself. There are no words to describe this movie. Even if I could magically hand all of you pages from the script, our imaginations cannot really do this film justice.
Kuso (dir. Flying Lotus)
A devastating earthquake in Los Angeles leads to some wild events. This surrealist body horror comedy anthology fuses different media as it tosses out the handbook on what a film should be. It is one of the most disgusting movies I have ever seen. Kuso feels like the forgotten lovechild of 90s MTV shows and Ralph Bakshi-inspired fever dream. This cast includes Hannibal Buress, George Clinton, and David Firth. It is also possibly the first title I think of when explaining midnight movies to someone who does not get it. I do not know if I like this project, but I damn sure will never forget it.
Mandy (dir. Panos Cosmatos)
A hippie cult and demon-biker henchmen ruin a couple’s lives, leading the man to a surreal quest for revenge. You knew Nicolas Cage would have to make another appearance when you saw this was a streaming guide about weird shit. To further give this title the weird stamp of approval, Chaos King Elijah Wood is one of the producers. When this movie ended, I climbed under my weighted blanket and sat in silence for a spell as I wondered if my brain would heal from this. This cult is vicious and violent, and I did not expect this movie to go where it did. Mandy is easily in the top half of the list of most unhinged Cage movies of this millennium.
Possum (dir. Matthew Holness)
A disgraced children’s puppeteer returns to his childhood home of Fallmarsh to destroy Possum, the hideous puppet he keeps hidden inside a brown leather bag. He soon finds that his issues are bigger than the puppet and must confront his evil stepfather. I should have known I was getting in over my head. However, I was a sweet summer child who wanted to see the puppet. I’m definitely a different person on this side of this fucked up journey, and I have no one to blame but myself.
Slaxx (dir. Elza Kephart)
A possessed pair of jeans targets the unscrupulous people at a trendy clothing company. I have seen many things in my time on this Earth. However, watching pants kill people might be one of the weirdest. I went into this as a chubby girl who knows the horror of trying on jeans in stores. I thought we would be playing in that lane, but I was wrong. By the end, I was rooting for the murderous slacks to take out management. I did not know they would get quite that lethal as they executed some fun kills. This is a nice, bloody, weird Shudder Original that wears its thoughts about capitalism on its sleeve…or, I guess, leg.
That’s just ten weird gems currently streaming on Shudder. However, I encourage you to dig deep because if there is one thing this app is serving, it’s movies you need to see to believe. Let me know which of these weird Shudder titles strike your fancy at @misssharai.
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