Shudder Review

Genres and channels

It’s easy to view the range of content available with Shudder. By navigating to the homepage, you will be able to view Collections, Movies, Series, Shudder TV and My List if you are logged in to your account. The Collections range highlights a mix of titles under a particular topic, while Series can include both TV and podcasts. The movies library is the most comprehensive, with titles under the categories Supernatural, Killers, Creature Features, Psychological Thriller, Exclusive & Original, Paranormal, Documentary, Comedy, Crime & Mystery, Revenge, Sci-fi, Cult and Shorts. These are some of the top films across a range of genres:

Supernatural

Here Comes The Devil – When a couple retrieves their children after losing them near some caves in Tijuana, Mexico, it soon becomes clear that something terrifying has happened to them.

Hagazussa – Set in the 15th century, this movie chronicles the journey of a young goatherd living in a hut in the mountains, who feels a dark presence in the woods.

Ghost Story – A recently deceased man returns home to comfort his wife, but discovers he has become unstuck in time due to his spectral state.

Psychological Thriller

Ravenous – A remote Army outpost investigates reports of missing people at Fort Spencer, and discovers a man who tells of a murderous US Colonel gone rogue.

Fear – Nicole falls in love with David, despite the wide age gap between them. David wins over her family, but is soon shown to be a violent sociopath who sees Nicole as his possession.

The Other – Grandmother Ada teaches twin boy Niles how to project himself into other people and animals, but a series of deadly tragedies starts to strike their family and friends.

Paranormal

Dead Birds – A soldier goes AWOL and hooks up with a gang, which holes up in an abandoned house for the night; they soon discover it is haunted.

Caught – When a teenager embarks on an affair with a married man and his wife discovers the deception, the girl is left fighting for her life.

Pulse – A psychology student starts receiving unsettling emails and video messages after her boyfriend commits suicide.

Cult 

Phantom of the Paradise – A record producer steals a songwriter’s music, but is caught and put in prison. He then tries again, but an accident crushes his face and he dons a mask to become the Phantom, with a mission of destroying the songwriter.

Deadbeat at Dawn – Based on street culture, this low budget film depicts the leader of a street gang setting out to get revenge against a rival street gang.

Ichi The Killer – When his boss is taken by a mysterious assassin, a bloodthirsty man ignites a series of violent retaliations.

Collections

When it comes to collections, you can browse titles under the following lists:

Shudder Essentials – The Exorcist, The Other, Deep Red, The Old Dark House, Re-Animator, Hellraiser

Horror Noire – Ganja and Hess, The Alchemist Cookbook, Kuso, Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror

Only On Shudder – Boar, The Nightshifter, Lizzie, Beast, The Crucifixion, A Discovery of Witches, Cold Skin

TV series and podcasts

There are plenty of TV series and podcasts to browse on Shudder. Here are our top picks:

Stan Lee’s Lucky Man – A troubled London cop experiences a change in fortune after being given a lucky bracelet.

She Kills – After her husband is murdered by a violent gang, Sadie discovers she has developed an unusual power.

The Narrow Caves – The first Audiostate, a combination of Hollywood films and intimate audio.

Black Lake – A group of friends visit an abandoned ski resort in remote Sweden and experience a disturbing chain of events.

Top Shudder shows and movies

The Last Drive-In: Joe Bob’s Dinners of Death – A selection of ‘deadly dinner’ films chosen by the top movie critic.

The Quay Brothers: Collected Short Films Part Two – A collection of 15 films from the identical twins, who use puppetry and stop-motion animation to tell their tales.

Storage 24 – A group of friends are sorting through their belongings in a storage area, completely unaware that a predator is stalking them.

The Banishing – A girl tries to save her little sister from being haunted by a spirit by attempting to perform a complicated banishing spell.

Liquid Sky – An alien invades the punk subculture in New York, searching for an opiate released in the brain during orgasm.

Most Beautiful Island – Chronicles the experiences of a struggling immigrant attempting to build a new life in New York City. She is offered an opportunity which morphs into a dangerous game.

Blue My Mind – 15 year old Mia begins to go through an overwhelming transformation and is forced to accept that she can’t fight the forces of nature.

The Exorcist – A mother becomes worried when her daughter, Regan, starts behaving oddly – levitating and speaking in tongues.

The Haunted –  A pair of parapsychologists, who are also a married couple, help another couple fight demons in their home.

Streaming library

When navigating the site, you’ll find it easy to explore the types of horror content you want to binge on. As is the case with most streaming services, category prompts include Binge this, Last chance to watch, genres such as Psychological thrillers and Supernatural, Newly added and Essentials. Topically curated categories are also added; for example, during Women’s History Month, you may find topics such as Women in Horror and Vengeance is Hers.

Member reviews are welcomed, and you can use these to guide your consumption of new content. There is the option to watch classic films such as Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, plus deep cuts, exclusives from Shudder and the newest titles.

Streaming quality

The Shudder website does not support 4K streaming for its movies and TV series at the time of writing. This will most likely be disappointing for those who like to watch an ultra high resolution when they are streaming.

Most of the movies are streamed at a resolution of 720p, according to the official website guidelines. Unfortunately, some titles will only reach 480p.

Customer support

As a first port of call, Shudder offers a comprehensive help center which features a searchable database of songs under various categories. These include About Shudder, Shudder Update, Memberships and Billing, Web Troubleshooting, Devices and Device Troubleshooting, Content – What’s On Shudder, User Experience, Shudder TV and Shudder Store.

There is the ability for users to submit a help ticket and check its status while they wait for a customer support representative to get back to them. Alternatively, there is a support email available for direct contact.

Free trial

You can get started with Shudder as a new customer by making the most of a 7 day free trial. This way, you’ll be able to try out the movies, TV series, podcasts and Shudder channel without the commitment of paying anything. If you decide the service isn’t for you, it’s then possible to cancel the trial before the expiry date and not pay anything.

Plans and pricing

US subscribers will be able to sign up for Shudder for a standard cost of $5.99 a month. In Canada, the price is $4.99 a month. Alternatively, the annual subscription costs $56.99 in total – which equates to $4.75 a month.

Sign-up options include the official Shudder site, Amazon Prime Video channels, Roku or Google Play.

Competitors

Shudder is unique in that it does not have any direct competitors. To be precise, it is the only streaming service which specialises in the horror and thriller genre. That said, while this may be appealing for fans of this type of movie or TV show, one of the criticisms people find with this site is that it does not have some titles commonly considered essential to the genre. Because of this, people will not generally sign up to Shudder and no other streaming subscription. It is more common for people to use Shudder as an add-on, typically with third party services such as Amazon Prime Video.

Is Shudder worth it?

Shudder is clearly a pioneer in its genre when it comes to providing streaming services for horror fans. Whether you want to watch some cult classics, explore new titles, watch the latest releases or explore TV series and podcasts, this is available for a competitive price which can be combined with other niche genre packages to create your own bespoke set of streaming services to rival the giants like Netflix and Amazon Prime TV. If you want to watch the highest quality horror content, Shudder is a top destination to do so.

There are many good features to be found with Shudder. For example, the ability to watch a 24/7 live feed is unique and one that fans will appreciate. Furthermore, being able to suggest titles to add to the platform is a level of appreciation for a fanbase which is rarely seen with streaming services. With either a monthly or annual subscription, fans have full flexibility in terms of what kind of access they would like.

As for the range of titles which is available as part of the subscription, some fans have found that there are some gaps, but these can easily be filled in by subscribing to other services at the same time. The main benefit found with Shudder is that niche titles will be available on the platform which cannot be found anywhere else. Besides, as Amazon Prime Video and other third party services offer Shudder as an add-on, it is clear that Shudder will continue to be a popular option for those who want to expand their available options for a scary night in or weekend of watching horror movies.