Editorials
00’s Retrospect: ‘Saw’ Makes 2004 a Game-Changer
Y2K, 9/11, war and a a horrid recession, a major escape we had this decade was in the form of film, notorious for thriving during National crisis. Leading up to New Year’s Eve where we’ll ring in 2010, Bloody Disgusting will be looking back at the entire decade year by year through the eyes of various staff writers. Check back each day for a profound reflection from Ryan Daley, David Harley, Tex, BC and yours truly. Inside you’ll find Ryan Daley’s personal look back at the year 2004, the year Saw changed horror!! Please share your memories for each year below, there are so many stories to be told!
’00 | ’01 | ’02 | ’03 | ’04 | ’05 | ’06 | ’07 | ’08 | ’09
More Retrospects:
-Top 20 Films of the Decade: 21-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1
-Dead on Arrival: Ten Horror Duds of the Last Decade
2004
Reading Mr. Disgusting’s recent review of Saw VI, I found it interesting when he cited the original film as one of his first major discoveries as editor of B-D. There was certainly something intangibly enticing about Saw‘s ad campaign. This was a horror movie that promised something different, this was a movie that was going to show you more than…well, perhaps more than you really wanted to see. I watched Saw in the theater on opening day, and although I thought it was insanely over-directed by James Wan, the script was ingenious, and the end-of-the-movie twist made my head spin. Sadly, the audience couldn’t stop laughing at Cary Elwes’ sweaty whimpering during the last 20 minutes, but that stunning final reveal shut the whole theater right the hell up. Spawning five sequels in five years (and still counting), the Saw franchise has established itself as a Halloween tradition that refuses to be denied.
If you glanced at a list of the greatest horror films of the past 10 years, you’d be surprised to find that only a handful stand out as genuinely scary. The Grudge, if you saw it in a theater, was one of those movies that had the power to freak your girlfriend right the fuck out. On your lap inside of ten minutes. Lacking a truly interesting plot, Takashi Shimizu’s remake of his Japanese original Ju-On was simply a succession of very well-staged, very memorable scares. It was sort of like walking through a carnival spook alley, a “greatest hits” of easily relatable nightmares. Randomly-discovered jaw bones, a cat-voiced ghost boy, things coming at you from under the covers. The Grudge had a way of taking root in your brain like some sort of cancer. Two cruddy sequels were released years after the Asian horror remake fad had already expired. But the `04 American version of The Grudge stands alongside The Ring as one of the most effective horror translations of the decade.
Shaun of the Dead was one of those movies I had to talk my friends into seeing. I’m sure it wasn’t that way for everybody, but in my case, the uninformed masses questioned the entertainment value of a British zom-rom-com from a relatively unknown writer/director. But where’s the trust, man? It only took a week of post-release buzz before comedy and horror fans alike were jumping on the Shaun of the Dead corpse wagon. Even my parents saw it in the movie theater, for hell’s sake. Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright’s zombie flick adopted a timely, cynical perspective…if zombies took over the world, would today’s generation of slackers even bother to notice? Shaun (Pegg) was a hero more concerned with grabbing a pint at the pub than saving lives, an easily relatable everyman that most people could respond to. Some could even say that Shaun made the horror/comedy subgenre popular again. (Without the success of Shaun, Zombieland might still be buried in development.)
A few of my most pleasant horror memories from 2004 were provided by some surprisingly good DVD releases. Dead Birds, with creepy tone and intriguing cast, certainly made a lasting impression. The stellar make-up effects by the increasingly popular Almost Human (The Crazies) were impossible to forget. And speaking of good make-up, the titular monster in Creep has to be one of the most effective movie creatures of the past decade. That screeching, misshapen subway abortionist is enough to give anybody nightmares.
Over on the shitty side of the horror spectrum, it’s hard to forgive Blade: Trinity for driving a stake through the heart of what had previously been a dynamite franchise. Over-stuffed with goofy peripheral characters, the third entry in the franchise was a HUGE step down from Guillermo Del Toro’s highly energetic Blade II. And speaking of slowly dying horror series, Seed of Chucky did its best to milk a few more dollars out of a still nostalgic fan base. Jennifer Tilly, still rubbing feces in the face of her Oscar nomination after all these years, reprises her roll as Chucky’s baby-voiced doll whore.
Also Worth Remembering: Three…Extremes, The Card Player
A new month means a new guide as titles are added (and dropped) from streaming services. Let’s unpack the most exciting titles that are available to watch on Tubi in July 2026.
New to Tubi July Horror Films
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
- Premise: Searching for a cure to Alzheimer’s disease, a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the prey as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back.
- Why Watch It? Let’s be frank: Director Renny Harlin has made some absolute dogs in the last few years (the less said about The Strangers trilogy the better, though this year’s Deep Water was actually ok). Deep Blue Sea remains one of the Finnish director’s best contemporary efforts, though. Between the great cast (Samuel L. Jackson, Saffron Burrows, Stellan Skarsgård, Michael Rapaport, LL Cool J, Thomas Jane, and Jane’s sleeveless wetsuit), the ridiculous premise, and that damn/dumb song (“My hat is like a shark’s fin”), you basically can’t go wrong with Deep Blue Sea. It’s one of two great shark films gliding onto Tubi this month, so why not stay out of the water and watch this instead?
- Streaming: July 1
Exorcist II: Heretic (1977)
- Premise: Reagan (Linda Blair), a girl once possessed by a demon, finds that it still lurks within her. Meanwhile, Father Lamont (Richard Burton) investigates the death of the priest who performed her exorcism.
- Why Watch It? August sees the release of documentary Boorman and the Devil, which is about the troubled production of this sequel. The notoriety surrounding Heretic has undoubtedly kept plenty of horror fans away from the sequel, but this truly is a “seeing is believing” kind of film. Real talk: it’s undeniably a disaster, but the John Boorman film has also become a minor cult film. Don’t you want to see it to make up your own mind?
- Streaming: July 1
Hostel: Part III (2011)
- Premise: Four men attending a bachelor party in Las Vegas fall prey to the Elite Hunting Club, who are hosting a gruesome game show of torture.
- Why Watch It? What does Hostel look like without Eli Roth? Part III kinda answers the question. Technically Roth is still a writer, but he hands over the directorial reins to Scott Spiegel (best known for acting in Evil Dead films). The result is a film with a terrible pedigree; it’s also the first (and last) entry to skip theatres before the franchise was permanently shelved (until that TV show with Paul Giamatti shows up?). For some horror fans, however, there’s something exciting about a bad low-budget sequel. Just bear in mind that the Hostel: Part III‘s biggest star is Kip Pardue…so adjust your expectations accordingly before hitting play.
- Streaming: July 1
Insidious 1-3 (2010/2013/2015)
- Premise: A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.
- Why Watch It? It’s hard to believe that the sixth (!) Insidious movie is coming out in a month and a half, but James Wan and Leigh Whannell‘s other horror franchise has been steadily chugging along for sixteen years. It’s a shame that Tubi doesn’t have all five films available to watch, but in terms of quality, you can do far worse than the original trio. The first film is iconic, and the second is basically an extended coda (with some admittedly problematic stuff going on). I’ll go to bat for Whannell’s 2015 directorial debut, though: there’s a few banger sequences in that film that people slept on.
- Streaming: July 1
Man Finds Tape (2025)
- Premise: After finding mysterious video clips, siblings investigate the strange recordings and uncover a disturbing secret spreading through their Texas town.
- Why Watch It? Writer/directors Paul Gandersman and Peter S. Hall‘s well-received found footage film did an extensive tour of the festival circuit, so now is a great time to check out one of the most contemporary titles debuting on Tubi this month. Surely a title that hails from producers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Spring and The Endless) is worth a free look?
- Streaming: July 2
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
- Premise: A depressed musician Adam (Tom Hiddleston) reunites with his lover Eve (Tilda Swinton). However, their romance, which has already endured several centuries, is disrupted by the arrival of her uncontrollable younger sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska).
- Why Watch It? This beautiful, melancholy vampire film is courtesy of writer/director Jim Jarmusch, who doesn’t often dabble in genre fare. As always, some will quibble if this artsy drama qualifies as horror, but the existential ennui of an eternal life certainly qualifies (bonus: there’s also something inherently sexy about watching Hiddleston and Swinton just lay about). Plus: if Leviticus has you hankering for more Wasikowska, this is an under the radar pick.
- Streaming: July 1
The Shallows (2016)
- Premise:A mere 200 yards from shore, surfer Nancy (Blake Lively) is attacked by a great white shark, with her short journey to safety becoming the ultimate contest of wills.
- Why Watch It? What better time to watch a shark movie than July? The temperatures are soaring and the idea of escaping into the water is so tantalizing. This tight, contained thriller features a great performance by Lively (and that damn seagull!), but it’s the direction from genre fave Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan; the House of Wax remake) that keeps the movie clicking along like clockwork. At 86 minutes, this is a perfect summer flick.
- Streaming: July 1
Vacancy (2007)
- Premise: Stranded in an isolated motel, a couple (Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale) become the unsuspecting subjects of a snuff film.
- Why Watch It? I’m not going to pretend that this Nimród Antal-directed home invasion film is high art, but it is a good time. You’ll likely wish there were deeper characterizations for Wilson and Beckinsale’s David and Amy in Mark L. Smith‘s screenplay, but this mid-aughts thriller is tense, exciting, and just the right amount of grimy. Plus: another short runtime, clocking in at an expeditious 85 minutes!
- Streaming: July 1
July Tubi Originals
The One Next Door (2026)
- Premise: When a mysterious stranger moves in next door to Robert and Tabitha, boundaries are tested, loyalty is questioned, and danger comes for all.
- Streaming: July 10
I Know Where You Live (2026)
- Premise: Sarah thinks she’s found “the one” until his flaws emerge. When she pulls away, chilling threats suggest he’s watching her from inside her own home.
- Streaming: July 24
What’s your favorite from the list above? Will you check out the new Original? Sound off in the comments below
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