Editorials
[Butcher Block] Fetal Dumplings and Torture in Anthology ‘Three…Extremes’
Butcher Block is a weekly series celebrating horror’s most extreme films and the minds behind them. Dedicated to graphic gore and splatter, each week will explore the dark, the disturbed, and the depraved in horror, and the blood and guts involved. For the films that use special effects of gore as an art form, and the fans that revel in the carnage, this series is for you.
In 2002, a horror omnibus consisting of three segments from directors across Asia released under the title Three. Two years later saw the release of its follow up; Three…Extremes. A film that lived up to its title with a trio of twisted segments by directors with a reputation for exploring the darkest corners of humanity; Hong Kong’s Fruit Chan, South Korea’s Chan-wook Park, and Japan’s Takashi Miike. Offering up tales of horror not for the squeamish, it made an impression in its U.S. release. Enough to prompt Three to be released stateside under the title Three Extremes II.
It’s often the first segment that sticks out the most in viewers’ memory. “Dumplings,” helmed by Fruit Chan, is also the only one of the three to get its own feature length adaptation. In it, Miriam Yeung plays Mrs. Li, an aging actress desperate to regain her youth. Mostly to attract her own husband, who has secretly become involved with a younger mistress. She finds her way to a seedy building to seek out Aunt Mei (Bai Ling), a woman who not only claims to be much older than she appears but has the secret to becoming youthful again; her special dumplings.
Mrs. Li is horrified to discover the secret ingredient to Mei’s dumplings: fetuses. Preferably around the 5-month old mark. Of course, she’s not appalled enough to stop eating them, because it seems to work. The more it works, the more Mrs. Li returns to buy more. The more she buys, the trickier it becomes for Mei to procure more from her stealthy visits to hospitals. Enter a few notable and stomach-churning abortions. Fruit Chan and writer Pik Wah Lee weren’t playing around with this story.
The next segment, “Cut” by Chan-wook Park, doesn’t hit the same levels of warped as Oldboy and his vengeance trilogy, but it does present an interesting moral conundrum for its characters. I Saw the Devil’s Byung-hun Lee plays the Director, a famous filmmaker held captive by an extra that appeared in five of his films. The extra is jealous of his wealth, and tasks Director with killing a young girl. If he doesn’t, Director’s wife- who’s gagged and bound by sharp wires- will lose one of her fingers every five minutes.
It’s both psychological and physical torture, and if you’re familiar with Chan-wook Park’s work, then you know it won’t end well.
The final segment belongs to Takashi Miike. “Box” is the most atmospheric and gorgeous of the three. In terms of “extremes”, Miike’s is more subdued and fairytale-like. Even still, it’s dark and there’s an implication of incest. So while on the surface level it’s less shocking than a lot of Miike’s output around that time, it’s still pretty warped.
In terms of gore, Three…Extremes starts out with the most gruesome of the bunch. It’s hard to top pulverizing fetuses to stuff into dumplings, anyhow. But hacking off limbs, bloodshed, and burning people alive still offers up enough horror to earn the “extreme” in the title. With their trio of terror, special makeup effects artist Hee Eun Lee (I Saw the Devil, The Host), the cast and crew, and the well-regarded directors of extreme cinema delivered one of the most visceral and memorable horror anthologies of the early aughts.
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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