10 Thriller Movies Shudder Subscribers Need To Watch
Founded in 2015, AMC's Shudder defied convention by catering to fans of the horror genre. Offering everything from the niche to the nefarious and nauseating, Shudder offers a surprisingly robust selection of movies and TV series, even including many of its own original productions.
While thriller movies occupy a somewhat loosely defined subsection of the genre, they're often the most affecting. From centuries-old pulse-pounding pioneers to modern-day murder mysteries, here are the best thriller movies on Shudder that subscribers absolutely have to watch.
A paralyzingly poignant foreign film, Dogtooth was the sophomore effort of director Yorgos Lanthimos. The film first debuted in 2009 and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.
A couple keeps their adult children sheltered from the outside world, telling them that they can only leave once they lose a "dogtooth." Kept in line by fear and violence, things go from bad to worse until the film reaches its disturbing — albeit somewhat uplifting — conclusion. It's an absolute must-see for fans of foreign film.
A nearly-forgotten film directed by horror movie legend, George Romero, The Amusement Park originally premiered in 1975 and was intended as a PSA meant to bring attention to the crisis of elder abuse. However, the film was subsequently shelved, and it wasn't made accessible to the masses until Shudder added it to their lineup in 2021.
An unconventional thriller that's one part call to action and one part arthouse horror, The Amusement Park makes for a weird watch today. The horror doesn't necessarily stem from the acts depicted on screen — though some are plenty vulgar — but instead from the film's parable of real-life events.
An adaptation of a short story of the same name, Possum tells the tale of a tormented puppeteer returning to his childhood home in the hopes of finding closure around the abuses he suffered there. Traveling with him, however, is a monstrous, malformed spider-like creature that he calls Possum. Meant to represent the emotional burdens he carries with him, the man tries to rid himself of Possum once and for all, but can't quite seem to escape it.
A troubling film that never quite delivers the emotional catharsis viewers are craving, Possum is nonetheless a raw, affecting film that will stick with the audience long after the credits roll.
Having originally premiered in 1920, the German expressionist silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is sometimes considered to be the first bonafide horror movie ever. Featuring eerie elements that would later be incorporated into famous classics like Psycho, Halloween, and Shutter Island, there's no denying the film's importance.
The movie centers on a man telling a story about a sleepwalker who commits murder at the command of a mysterious Dr. Calagari. Halfway through, however, it's revealed that the man telling the story is that same sleepwalker. He's revealed to be the patient in a psychiatric facility, and the viewer is left to parse which details were genuine and which were fabricated.
A French erotic thriller, Stranger by the Lake tells the tale of Franck, a man who develops an attraction to another man named Michel, whom he meets at a nude beach. However, things take a turn when Franck witnesses Michel drowning another man, though he denies any knowledge of the matter to investigators.
Ultimately, Stranger by the Lake is an exploration of the extremes humans can be driven to by lust. It's a frightening film that may remind viewers of their own tragic fallibilities — romantic or otherwise.
After a man loses his wife in a tragic drowning accident, he turns to a dominatrix and combines his grief with a new form of perverse pleasure. However, this new lease on life threatens to be his undoing as he falls further and further down the rabbit hole of sexual taboo.
Intended as a black comedy, according to Variety, Dogs Don't Wear Pants is a commentary concerning the very darkest parts of the human psyche. It can be incredibly unpleasant in some places, and, while it's not necessarily an edge-of-your-seat thriller, it makes for an engaging watch all the same.
Based on the infamous real-world "dignity colony" cult, The Wolf House is an avant-garde yet inarguably scary stop-motion movie that's less of a movie and more of a moving art gallery. Telling the tale of a woman who escaped from a compound run by religious extremists, the film explores how indoctrination can warp the perceptions of cult followers.
Much of the story is told through paintings that shift and stretch across the walls of a house. It's bizarre and surreal, and those who love a bit of art-house mixed with their horror are sure to hold The Wolf House in high esteem.
The tagline "inspired by true events" doesn't hold much water among horror fans these days. After films like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity ran the concept into the ground, audiences are often dubious at claims that a film's events actually transpired.
However, 2012's Compliance is a shockingly realistic portrayal of an otherwise unbelievable event. When an unknown caller claiming to be a police officer convinces the employees of a restaurant that one among their ranks has been committing theft, they're led down a twisted path and made to do things that'll leave viewers squirming in their seats.
2010's Buried stars Ryan Renolds in one of the most suffocatingly small settings a film could possibly have. Renolds plays a man who wakes up to discover that he's been buried alive inside of a coffin. With only a zippo lighter and a blackberry, he desperately works to free himself.
Though it can come across as slightly tedious due to its small scale, Buried is an intense race against time that highlights Reynolds' skills as an actor. Culminating in a devastating conclusion, it's an underrated effort on which Shudder subscribers should not miss out.
An adaptation of a Japanese horror novel of the same name, Audition is centered around a film producer attempting to set his friend Aoyama up with a woman through a fake casting audition. Aoyama becomes smitten with a woman named Asami, but, after they go out on a few dates, she goes missing. Aoyama tracks her down but reveals a set of troubling circumstances in the process. When he finally finds her, she drugs and tortures him.
A legendarily brutal film, Audition is a captivating production from beginning to end. It's a classic in its own right, and it's an oft-overlooked thriller movie with plenty of rewatch value and deserving of far greater recognition.