When it comes to TV and movies, there are almost too many streaming services to choose from.
Obviously you've got your giants like Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Max, and Apple TV+, which everyone will have heard of — but there are also some smaller platforms out there. Shudder is one of them.
Although it was founded back in 2015, the AMC-owned horror, thriller, and suspense service has been growing ever since — spreading from the U.S. to Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, and passing the one million subscribers mark back in 2020.
Mashable spoke to Shudder's General Manager, Craig Engler, to find out more about the streaming platform, what it offers, and what its plans are.
What is Shudder?
If you're a big horror fan, you may already have heard of Shudder. Although the streaming service markets itself for fans of "horror, thriller and supernatural movies, series and specials," horror is the genre it's probably best known for. Shudder has a large number of movies divided into genres and sub-genres ("Supernatural"; "Creature Features"; "Revenge," etc.) as well as a selection of TV series and podcasts and a growing number of originals/exclusives.
What countries is Shudder available in?
At the time of writing, the service is only available in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand — but per the site's support page, it's hoping to expand worldwide "very soon."
How much does Shudder cost?
As far as streaming services go, the price is pretty much what you'd expect. The service costs $5.99 a month or $56.99 for the whole year if you pay in one go, or you can get a seven-day free trial if you want to test it out first.
What films and TV shows does Shudder have?
Although Shudder's TV offering is fairly modest — there are around 30 shows at the time of writing, although many of these are exclusive to the platform — its film library is extensive. The platform has hundreds of horror movies, a big chunk of which fall into its Original/Exclusive category, with more being added on a regular basis.
Within the horror genre, the range of titles is fairly diverse. There are well-known titles like The Babadook and [Rec], critically-acclaimed foreign language films like Issa López' Tigers Are Not Afraid, horror/comedies like Josh Ruben's Scare Me and popular originals like Host and Spiral.
"Most streaming services are trying to be all things to all viewers," Shudder's general manager, Craig Engler, told Mashable. "We’re focused on one thing — being the best service for horror, thriller, and supernatural programming. The result is that, even though we’re not as big as Netflix or Prime Video, our shows and movies are ranked right up alongside theirs, or in many cases ahead of theirs."
Engler added that Shudder's subscribers tend to be open to trying movies they've never heard of, even if they don't happen to have big stars or aren't in the language they speak.
"We’re able to acquire indie and international titles that other streamers wouldn’t know how to market because we know if we think they’re great, chances are, Shudder members will agree," he said.
How much original and exclusive content is on Shudder?
Quite a bit. As we mentioned earlier, a big chunk of Shudder's catalogue is exclusive to the platform. At the time of writing, we counted over 180 movies in the Original/Exclusive category, and more are being added on a weekly basis.
Many of these originals, such as '80s serial killer thriller Summer of '84 and horror-comedy Scare Me, have proven popular with both audiences and critics. If you're looking for a good starting point, we've rounded up some of the best original movies on Shudder here.
So how much more exclusive content like this can Shudder members expect in future?
"While we don’t give out numbers, we’re absolutely doubling down on original content," Engler said. "You’ll see many more original series and movies than we’ve ever had, both in traditional formats and also some experimental content. We’ve had a lot of success with formats other streamers won’t try, like our 56-minute-long Zoom-based movie, Host. Most people would have passed because they’d say 56 minutes is too short a run time for a movie, but we knew it wouldn’t matter as long as it was a great film."
Related Video: Aya Cash and Josh Ruben play 'Up the Stairs or Out the Door'
Is Shudder worth subscribing to?
Original content is one of the main things to consider when signing up to a new streaming service, and this an area in which Shudder is excelling. As we mentioned above the titles exclusive to the platform now number in the hundreds, so there's a healthy backlog there for new subscribers to work through — and it's worth keeping an eye on Shudder's YouTube channel, where new titles are being announced all the time.
If you're lukewarm on horror films, Shudder's probably not going to be the platform for you. But if you're a fan on the lookout for some new material, it's well worth checking out for the impressive range of hidden gems, horror-comedies, and genuinely terrifying movies.
How to sign-up: You can sign-up to Shudder now via their website.
Topics Film
