***This is going to be a mid-monthly tradition now, I guess. At least until social distancing standards are completely abandoned. Maybe even after that. Some updates will be bigger than others – it all depends on what differences I can find. I've also added HBO Max selections this month.***
Are you self isolating? Are you thinking about broadening your cinematic horizons? Perhaps you’d like to learn about a specific genre? I’m here to help. Here's a SUPER-SIZED list of cult titles from Europe, Asia, and other non-North American regions available to stream RIGHT NOW, broken up by region and, where needed, performer or director.
Netflix and Hulu have plenty of newer choices, but Amazon Prime is better for older cult titles, as are various free streaming services available via Roku, Amazon Fire, Chromecast, et cetera. I compared a bunch and, for the sake of simplicity, I found the best in terms of content and video quality to be Tubi, Midnight Pulp (a "+" will be included wherever subscription fees apply), VUDU’s free selections, The Roku Channel, Shout Factory TV (though most of their titles can also be watched via Amazon Prime), Popcorn Flix, Crackle, Dark Matter TV (again, a "+" will be included wherever subscription fees apply). Other paid services, namely the Criterion Channel and Shudder, have plenty to offer in this regard.
Be warned – all of the free apps have ad breaks (I know, it sucks) and the video quality is inconsistent from app to app. Sometimes it's genuine HD, other times, it's sub-VHS. Apologies if I’ve suggested something with particularly grim A/V quality and be aware that the availability is based on the research I did on May 6, 2020. Given the nature of streaming media, I imagine very few of these titles will be available in perpetuity. I've included links to my own reviews of some of these films and be aware that, despite my classifications below, complete director filmographies are not currently available free/subscription streaming.
UK Cult and Horror
Hammer Films
The Man Who Could Cheat Death (Terence Fisher, 1959) – Tubi
The Gorgon (Terence Fisher, 1964) – Tubi, Popcorn Flix, and Dark Matter TV
Rasputin the Mad Monk (Don Sharp, 1966) – Dark Matter TV
Twins of Evil (John Hough, 1971) – Amazon Prime and Shudder
Hands of the Ripper (Peter Sasdy, 1971) – Amazon Prime and Shudder
Countess Dracula (Peter Sasdy, 1971) – Amazon Prime
Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (Michael Carreras and Seth Holt, 1971) – Dark Matter TV
Vampire Circus (Robert Young, 1972) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, Tubi, Popcorn Flix, and Dark Matter TV
Satanic Rites of Dracula (Alan Gibson, 1973) – Amazon Prime, Midnight Pulp, and Popcorn Flix (warning, this particular movie is in the public domain and image quality tends to suck)
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (Terence Fisher,1974) – HULU and Amazon Prime
Amicus Movies
Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (Freddie Francis, 1965) – Tubi and Popcorn Flix
The Skull (Freddie Francis, 1965) – HULU and Amazon Prime
The House That Dripped Blood (Peter Duffell, 1971) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, Fandor, Shout Factory TV, and Popcorn Flix
Tales from the Crypt (Freddie Francis, 1972) – Tubi and Popcorn Flix
Asylum (Roy Ward Baker, 1972) – Amazon Prime, Fandor, and Shout Factory TV
And Now the Screaming Starts! (Roy Ward Baker, 1973) – Shout Factory TV
The Beast Must Die (Paul Annett, 1974) – Fandor and Shout Factory TV
Richard Adams’ Distressing Animated Animal Double-Feature
Watership Down (Martin Rosen, 1978) – Criterion Channel and HBO Max
The Plague Dogs (Martin Rosen, 1982) – Amazon Prime and Shout Factory TV
BONUS: The less traumatic Watership Down CG animated series is on Netflix
Other UK Horror Movies/Thrillers
Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960) – The Roku Channel, Tubi, and Popcorn Flix
Death Line (aka: Ray Meat; Gary Sherman, 1972) – Shudder and Popcorn Flix (under Raw Meat alternate title)
The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973) – Netflix
Horror Hospital (Antony Balch, 1973) – Amazon Prime and Shout Factory TV
Exposé (aka: The House on Straw Hill; James Kenelm Clarke, 1976) – Popcorn Flix
Prey (aka: Alien Prey; Norman J. Warren, 1977) – Fandor
Threads (Mick Jackson, 1984) – Shudder (WARNING: Maybe don't watch this if you're feeling anxious about the state of the world)
White of the Eye (Donald Cammell, 1987) – Amazon Prime and Shout Factory TV (British filmmakers shooting in Arizona)
Dog Soldiers (Neil Marshall, 2002) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, The Roku Channel, VUDU Free, Tubi, and Popcorn Flix
The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2005) – VUDU Free and Tubi
The Duke of Burgundy (Peter Strickland, 2014) – HULU (not horror, but adjacent)
French Horror and Adjacent
Carnival of Sinners (Maurice Tourneur, 1943) – Criterion Channel
Les Diaboliques (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955) – Amazon Prime, Criterion Channel, and HBO Max
Eyes without a Face (French: Les Yeux sans visage; Georges Franju, 1960) – Criterion Channel and HBO Max
Daughters of Darkness (French: Les lèvres rouges; Harry Kümel, 1971) – Amazon Prime and VUDU Free
Grapes of Death (French: Les Raisins de la mort; Jean Rollin, 1978) – Midnight Pulp
Haute Tension (Alexandre Aja, 2003) – VUDU Free and Tubi
Them (French: Ils; David Moreau and Xavier Palud, 2006) – Amazon Prime
Frontier(s) (Xavier Gens, 2007) – Tubi
Raw (French: Grave; Julia Ducournau, 2016) – VUDU Free
Revenge (Coralie Fargeat, 2017) – Amazon Prime and Shudder
Let the Corpses Tan (Bruno Forzani & Hélène Cattet, 2017) – Amazon Prime
Ravenous (French: Les affamés; Robin Aubert, 2017) – Netflix
Ghostland (aka: Incident in the Ghost Land; Pascal Laugier, 2018) – Shudder
Knife + Heart (French: Un couteau dans le cœur; Yann Gonzalez, 2018) – Amazon Prime and Shudder
BONUS: Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012) – VUDU Free, The Roku Channel, Tubi, and Shout Factory TV (not horror, but fun for horror fans)
German and Austrian Horror
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920) – Amazon Prime, Criterion Channel, and Fandor
The Golem: How He Came into the World (Carl Boese & Paul Wegener, 1920) – Amazon Prime and Criterion Channel
Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922) – Amazon Prime, Criterion Channel, Fandor, and Tubi
The Hands of Orlac (Robert Wiene, 1924) – Criterion Channel
Faust (F.W. Murnau, 1926) – Fandor
M (Fritz Lang, 1931) – Criterion Channel and HBO Max
Vampyr (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1932) – Criterion Channel and HBO Max
Horrors of Spider Island (Fritz Böttger, 1960) – Amazon Prime
Nosferatu the Vampyre (Werner Herzog, 1979)– Amazon Prime, Fandor, and Popcorn Flix
Angst (Gerald Kargl, 1983) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, and Midnight Pulp +
Nekromantik (Jörg Buttgereit, 1987) – Midnight Pulp +
Der Todesking (Jörg Buttgereit, 1990) – Midnight Pulp +
Nekromantik 2 (Jörg Buttgereit, 1991) – Midnight Pulp +
The Burning Moon (Olaf Ittenbach, 1992) – Midnight Pulp + (shot on VHS)
Schramm (Jörg Buttgereit, 1993) – Midnight Pulp +
Goodnight Mommy (Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala, 2014) – Shudder, The Roku Channel, VUDU Free, and Tubi
Hagazussa (Lukas Feigelfeld, 2018) – Amazon Prime and Shudder
Luz (Tilman Singer, 2019) – Shudder and Popcorn Flix
Spanish Cult and Horror
Paul Naschy Movies
Fury of the Wolfman (Spanish: La furia del Hombre Lobo; José María Zabalza, 1972) – Amazon Prime
Count Dracula’s Great Love (Spanish: El gran amor del conde Drácula; Javier Aguirre, 1973) – Fandor and Midnight Pulp +
Vengeance of the Zombies (Spanish: La rebelión de las muertas; León Klimovsky, 1973) – Amazon Prime
Devil’s Possessed (Spanish: El Mariscal del infierno; León Klimovsky, 1974 – Amazon Prime
Guillermo del Toro Horror Movies
I honestly don't know if we count these as Mexican, Spanish, or both
Cronos (1993) – Criterion Channel and HBO Max
Pan’s Labyrinth (Spanish: El laberinto del fauno, 2006) – Netflix
Crimson Peak (2015) – HBO Max
Jess Franco Movies
Franco made movies for Spanish, German, and French companies, but was Spanish himself, so I’m putting him here. Be warned, his films are an...acquired taste.
The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968) – Amazon Prime
Two Undercover Angels (1969) – Amazon Prime
Venus in Furs (1969) – Tubi
Kiss Me Monster (1969) – Amazon Prime
The Bloody Judge (1970) – Amazon Prime
Count Dracula (1970) – Amazon Prime, Tubi, and Midnight Pulp +
Vampyros Lesbos (1971) – Midnight Pulp +
She Killed in Ecstasy (1971) – Midnight Pulp +
Jack the Ripper (1976) – Amazon Prime
The Sadist of Notre Dame (Spanish: El sádico de Notre-Dame, 1979) – Midnight Pulp +
Devil Hunter (Spanish: El caníbal; aka: The Man Hunter, 1980) – Midnight Pulp +
White Cannibal Queen (aka: Mondo Cannibale, 1980) – Amazon Prime
Bloody Moon (1981) – Midnight Pulp +
Oasis of the Zombies (1982) – Midnight Pulp
Other Spanish Horror Movies
Fangs of the Living Dead (Amando de Ossorio, 1969) – Amazon Prime
The Blood Spattered Bride (Spanish: La novia ensangrentada; Vicente Aranda, 1972) – Amazon Prime
The Cannibal Man (Spanish: La semana del asesino; Eloy de la Iglesia, 1972) – Amazon Prime
Tombs of the Blind Dead (Amando de Ossorio, 1972) – VUDU Free, and Popcorn Flix
Bell from Hell (Claudio Guerín & Juan Antonio Bardem, 1973) – Tubi
The Ghost Galleon (Amando de Ossorio, 1974) – Tubi
Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (Spanish: Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti; aka: Let Sleeping Corpses Lie; Jorge Grau, 1974) – Amazon Prime, VUDU Free, and Midnight Pulp +
The Possessed (aka: Demon Witch Child; Amando de Ossorio, 1975) – Amazon Prime
In a Glass Cage (Spanish: Tras el cristal; Agustí Villaronga, 1986) – Midnight Pulp +
Slugs (Juan Piquer Simón, 1988) – Amazon Prime
The Rift (Juan Piquer Simón, 1990) – Amazon Prime
Timecrimes (Nacho Vigalondo, 2007) – Tubi
[REC] and [REC 2] (Jaume Balagueró & Paco Plaza; 2007 and 2009) – Crackle
Fragile (Spanish: Frágiles; Jaume Balagueró, 2005) – Amazon Prime and VUDU Free
Veronica (Paco Plaza, 2017) – Netflix
Errementari: Blacksmith of the Devil (Paul Urkijo Alijo, 2017) – Netflix
South Korean Cinema
Park Chan-wook Movies
Joint Security Area (aka: JSA, 2000) – Midnight Pulp
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) – Shudder, Fandor, VUDU Free, Popcorn Flix, and Midnight Pulp +
Oldboy (2003) – Shudder, Fandor, Tubi, and Midnight Pulp
Three...Extremes (with Fruit Chan & Takashi Miike, 2004) – Amazon Prime and Tubi
Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005) – Shudder, Midnight Pulp + (also “fade to black & white version”), and Popcorn Flix
The Handmaiden (theatrical cut, 2016) – Amazon Prime
Bong Joon-ho Movies
Barking Dogs Never Bite (2000) – HULU and Tubi
The Host (2006) – Amazon Prime
Tokyo! (with Michel Gondry & Leos Carax; 2008) – Tubi
Mother (2009) – HULU and Fandor
Snowpiercer (2013) – Netflix
Okja (2017) – Netflix
Parasite (2019) – HULU
Kim Ki-duk Movies
The Isle (2000) – Fandor and Midnight Pulp
Bad Guy (2001) – Fandor and Midnight Pulp
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (2003) – Amazon Prime
3-Iron (2004) – Amazon Prime
Samaritan Girl (2004) – VUDU Free and Midnight Pulp
Pieta (2012) – VUDU Free
Moebius (2013) – Tubi, and Popcorn Flix
One on One (2014) – Amazon Prime
The Net (2016) – Amazon Prime
Kim Jee-woon Movies
The Quiet Family (1998) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
The Foul King (2000) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
A Tale of Two Sisters (2005) – Shudder, Midnight Pulp +, and Popcorn Flix
Bittersweet Life (2005) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
The Good, The Bad, The Weird (2008) – HULU
I Saw the Devil (2010) – VUDU Free and Crackle
The X (2013) – Amazon Prime
Illang: The Wolf Brigade (2018) – Netflix
Korean Horror/Thrillers
Acacia (Park Ki-hyung, 2003) – Midnight Pulp (under Root of Evil title)
A Bloody Aria (2006) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
Muoi: The Legend of a Portrait (Kim Tae-kyung, 2007) – Midnight Pulp
Bedevilled (Jang Cheol-soo, 2010) – Amazon Prime, Roku Channel, and Midnight Pulp
Horror Stories (Lim Dae-Woong, Kim Gok, Kim Sun, Jung Bum-shik, Hong Ji-young, Min Kyu-dong, 2012) – Midnight Pulp
The Wailing (Na Hong-jin, 2016) – Shudder, VUDU Free, Crackle, and Tubi
Train to Busan (Yeon Sang-ho, 2016) – Netflix, Amazon Prime, Shudder, Crackle, and Tubi
Seoul Station (Yeon Sang-ho, 2016) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, and Tubi (animated prequel to Train to Busan)
Ghost School Horror Series
Whispering Corridors (Park Ki-hyung, 1998) – Midnight Pulp
Memento Mori (Min Kyu-dong & Kim Tae-yong, 1999) – Midnight Pulp
Wishing Stairs (Jae-yeon Yun, 2003) – Midnight Pulp
Bollywood Horror Movies/Fantasy Movies/Thrillers
Note that there is a subscription service call YuppTV that has a lot of Bollywood cult films, but I cannot speak to its quality. There are also dozens more movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime that I've not seen, so if you're enjoying the movies listed here, give them a shot too.
Woh Kaun Thi? (Raj Khosla, 1964) – Amazon Prime
Gumnaam (Raja Nawathe, 1965) – Amazon Prime
Saboot (Shyam & Tulsi Ramsay, 1980) – Amazon Prime
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (Chehre Pe Chehra, 1981) – Amazon Prime
The Old Temple (Shyam & Tulsi Ramsay, 1984) – Amazon Prime
Nagina (Harmesh Malhotra, 1986) – Amazon Prime
Mansion of Evil (aka: Purani Haveli; Shyam & Tulsi Ramsay, 1989) – Amazon Prime
Raat (Ram Gopal Varma, 1992) – Amazon Prime
Suryavanshi (Rakesh Kumar, 1992) – Amazon Prime
Bhoot (Ram Gopal Varma, 2003) – Netflix and Amazon Prime
1920 (Vikram Bhatt, 2008) – Netflix and Amazon Prime
Horror Story (Ayush Raina, 2013) – Netflix
The House Next Door (Milind Rau, 2017) – Netflix
Mohini (Ramana Madhesh, 2018) – Amazon Prime
Tumbbad (Rahi Anil Barve, 2018) – Amazon Prime
Ghost Stories (Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap & Zoya Akhtar, 2017) – Netflix
BONUS: Mahakaal or "Indian Nightmare on Elm Street" (Shyam and Tulsi Ramsay, 1994) is streaming on YouTube
BONUS: Sangharsh or "Indian Silence of the Lambs" (Tanuja Chandra, 1999) is streaming on YouTube
Indonesian Action and Horror
Satan's Slave (Sisworo Gautama Putra, 1980) – Shudder
Takut: Faces of Fear (Riri Riza, Timo Tjahjanto, Kimo Stamboel, Rako Prijanto, Ray Nayoan, Raditya Sidharta & Ertanto Robby Soediskam, 2008) – Amazon Prime
Merantau (Gareth Evans, 2009) – VUDU Free and Tubi
The Raid (Gareth Evans, 2011) – Amazon Prime and Tubi
The Raid 2 (Gareth Evans, 2014) – Tubi
Badoet (Awi Suryad, 2015) – Amazon Prime
Headshot (Timo Tjahjanto & Kimo Stamboel, 2016) – Netflix
Danur (Awi Suryadi, 2017) – Netflix
Satan's Slaves (remake, Joko Anwar, 2017) – Shudder
Santet (Helfi C.H. Kardit, 2018) – Amazon Prime
Kuntilanak (Rizal Mantovani, 2018) – Netflix
May the Devil Take You (Timo Tjahjanto, 2018) – Netflix
The Night Comes for Us (Timo Tjahjanto, 2018) – Netflix
Triple Threat (Jesse V. Johnson, 2019) – Netflix
BONUS: Mystics in Bali (H. Tjut Djalil, 1981) is streaming on YouTube
BONUS: The Queen of Black Magic (Lilik Sudjio, 1981) is streaming on YouTube
BONUS: Witch with the Flying Head (Chang Ren-Chieh, 1982) is streaming on YouTube
Mexican Horror
The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy (Spanish: La momia azteca contra el robot humano; Rafael Portillo, 1958) – Amazon Prime
The Curse of the Doll People (Spanish: Muñecos infernales; Benito Alazraki, 1961) – Tubi
Face of the Screaming Werewolf (Jerry Warren, Rafael Portillo & Gilberto Martínez Solares, 1965) – Amazon Prime
The Specter's Road (Gilberto Martínez Solares, 1967) – Amazon Prime
Satanic Pandemonium (Spanish: La Sexorcista; Gilberto Martínez Solares, 1975) – Tubi
Santa Sangre (Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1989) – Fandor
We Are What We Are (Spanish: Somos lo que hay; Jorge Michel Grau, 2010) – HULU, Amazon Prime, and VUDU Free
Come Out and Play (Makinov, 2012) – VUDU Free and The Roku Channel (remake of the superior Spanish film, Who Can Kill a Child, 1976)
Tigers are Not Afraid (Issa López, 2017) – Shudder
Eddie Romero’s Filipino Horror
Brides of Blood (1968) – Amazon Prime
Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1969) – Amazon Prime
Beast of Blood (1970) – Amazon Prime
Beast of the Yellow Night (1971) – Amazon Prime
Twilight People (1972) – Amazon Prime
BONUS: The Blood Drinkers (Gerardo de Leon, 1964) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp +
Australia and New Zealand
Oz/Kiwisploitation
Wake in Fright (Ted Kotcheff, 1971) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, VUDU Free, and Midnight Pulp
Inn of the Damned (Terry Bourke, 1975) – Tubi
Long Weekend (Colin Eggleston, 1978) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp
Patrick (Richard Franklin, 1978) – Amazon Prime, Midnight Pulp +, and Fandor
Thirst (Rod Hardy, 1979) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, and Fandor
Harlequin (aka: Dark Forces; Simon Wincer, 1980) – Amazon Prime
Nightmares (John D. Lamond, 1980) – Amazon Prime
Dead Kids (aka: Strange Behavior; Michael Laughlin, 1981) – Amazon Prime, Shudder, Fandor, and Midnight Pulp +
The Survivor (David Hemmings, 1981) – Midnight Pulp +
Turkey Shoot (aka: Escape 2000; Brian Trenchard-Smith, 1982) – Amazon Prime, Popcorn Flix, and Midnight Pulp +
Next of Kin (Tony Williams, 1982) – Shudder and Midnight Pulp +
BMX Bandits (Brian Trenchard-Smith, 1983) – Amazon Prime, Fandor, The Roku Channel, Shout Factory TV, and Popcorn Flix
Death Warmed Up (aka: Death Warmed Over; David Blyth, 1985) – Amazon Prime, Dark Matter TV, Midnight Pulp +
Frog Dreaming (Brian Trenchard-Smith Movies, 1986) – Amazon Prime
Bad Taste (Peter Jackson, 1987) – Amazon Prime and Popcorn Flix
The Howling III (Philippe Mora, 1987) – Amazon Prime, VUDU Free, The Roku Channel, Shout Factory TV, and Popcorn Flix
Body Melt (Philip Brophy, 1993) – Amazon Prime and VUDU Free
The Frighteners (Peter Jackson, 1996) – HBO Max
Modern Aussie Cinema
Lake Mungo (Joel Anderson, 2008) – Tubi
The Loved Ones (Sean Byrne, 2009) – Amazon Prime
The Nightingale (Jennifer Kent, 2018) – HULU
International Grab Bag
Estonia
November (Rainer Sarnet, 2017) – Shudder and VUDU Free
Finland
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (Jalmari Helander, 2010) – HULU
Dogs Don't Wear Pants (Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää, 2019) – Shudder
Greece
Island of Death (Nico Mastorakis, 1976) – Amazon Prime and Midnight Pulp +
Dogtooth (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2009) – Shudder, Fandor, and Criterion Channel
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2017) – Netflix
Iran/Persian Language
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014) – Criterion Channel and Shudder
Under the Shadow (Babak Anvari, 2016) – Netflix
Jamaica
The Harder They Come (Perry Henzell, 1972) – Fandor (there's a nice HD bootleg on YouTube)
Shottas (Cess Silvera, Lyndale V. Pettus & Adam Doench, 2002) – Amazon Prime and The Roku Channel
Netherlands
The Lift (Dick Maas, 1983) – Shudder
The Vanishing (George Sluizer, 1988) – Criterion Channel
Amsterdamned (Dick Maas, 1988) – Shudder
Saint (Dick Maas, 2010) – HULU
Borgman (Alex van Warmerdam, 2013) – VUDU Free, The Roku Channel, and Popcorn Flix
Russia
Viy (Georgiy Kropachyov & Konstantin Ershov, 1967) – Shudder
The Bride (Svyatoslav Podgaevsky, 2017) – Amazon Prime, Midnight Pulp, and Tubi
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