Editorials
Five Springtime Horror Movies to Stream This Week
Spring has officially sprung, and the natural world is slowly waking up after a chilly winter hibernation. The season is associated with rebirth and regrowth, themes well-suited to horror.
This week’s ‘Stay Home, Watch Horror’ streaming picks are dedicated to springtime horror movies that capture the essence of the season, whether through more modern celebrations of spring break or spring’s ancient pagan roots. Here’s where to stream them this week.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Apostle – Netflix
Writer/Director Gareth Evans brings every bit of the bone-crunching brutality of The Raid and The Raid 2 to his period folk horror film. The Guest’s Dan Stevens stars as Thomas, a man who travels to a remote island in 1905 to infiltrate the cult that’s kidnapped his sister for ransom. The cult leaders claim that the barren island was made fertile through blood sacrifice, and in his quest, Thomas learns the grim truth behind those sacrifices. It’s here where the folk horror movie’s ties to spring really begin to come into focus. The twists and visceral violence make for a gripping, gory final act with torrential bloodletting. Apostle is a slow-burn intent on building mystery, and it’s worth the wait.
Hatching – Hulu, Kanopy
Director Hanna Bergholm’s feature debut is a pastel modern horror fairy tale, a coming-of-age creature feature born of the pressures of maintaining an idyllic façade. Tinja (Siiri Solalinna) struggles to measure up to her Mother’s (Sophia Heikkilä) tireless demands of perfection and poise for her digital audience. The pressures morph into something otherworldly and dangerous when Tinja finds a strange egg in the woods and decides to nurture it at home. It hatches, giving birth to a monstrous thing that irrevocably shatters the picture of perfection. Bergjolm hatches a contemporary coming-of-rage horror story that exudes spring in every way, from theme to aesthetics.
Piranha 3D – Hoopla, Tubi
A loose update on the 1978 film, Piranha 3D lets loose a school of prehistoric man-eating fish on unsuspecting spring breakers partying on Lake Victoria. Alexandra Aja’s take injects a lot of humor and gore into the proceedings. Starring Elizabeth Shue as Sheriff Forester and Adam Scott as the seismologist investigating the earthquake that opened a chasm that unleashed the carnivorous fish, this one is an entertaining summer gorefest. Look for fun cameos, like Jaws’ Richard Dreyfuss, and a rare film to properly embrace the 3D format (hello severed member). It’s a fun, gory romp that highlights the sun-soaked revelry of spring.
Rawhead Rex – Kino Film Collection
It’s an unwitting farmer, with some divine assistance from a lightning strike, who unleashes the monstrous pagan deity Rawhead Rex upon an idyllic Irish countryside. Clive Barker adapts his own short story, though the final cut bears little resemblance to the source material. The story’s 8-foot tall, slender phallus version of the deity gets reinterpreted on screen as a sort of punk-rock bulked-out animalistic beast who rampages and murders his way through the rural area in ’80s rubber monster suit fashion. It’s folk horror meets ’80s creature feature, filled with amusing moments, including the infamous scene that sees a priest getting urinated on. It’s nothing like Barker’s gory tale, but it does scream “spring.”
Spring – Fandango at Home, Tubi
The title says it all; nothing says fresh starts or new beginnings like springtime. Evan Russell (Lou Taylor Pucci) is on a significant tailspin after losing his mother to cancer. His friend recommends he travel to clear his head, so he flees to Italy. There he meets the enigmatic Louise (Nadia Hilker), a guarded woman who eventually gives in to Evan’s feelings. Louise harbors a dark, monstrous secret that will irrevocably change both of their lives. Filmmakers Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead use sci-fi and horror to deliver a romantic, Lovecraftian reminder that change might be scary, but it can also be beautiful. The filmmakers capture the essence of spring, and the transformative horror themes, through closeups of nature.
No conversation about cartoons based on live-action movies is ever complete without mentioning The Real Ghostbusters.
This animated continuation is, warts and all, a notable example of turning a hit movie into a hit series. And although the new target demographic skewed a little younger, even kids-at-heart could partake in the further adventures of Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore and Egon Spengler.
For a good part of its run, the show required fans to wait at least a week for more Ghostbustin’. That’s torture for a kiddo. Luckily, though, the entire series, or at least most of it, is now available for streaming.
So, as you revisit The Real Ghostbusters on Tubi—for now it’s just the first five seasons there—use this guide to help prioritize some must-see episodes.
The Boogieman Cometh
“The Boogieman Cometh” (Season 1)
Season One’s “The Boogieman Cometh” is a classic episode featuring one of the show’s more iconic villains. It’s hard to forget the unique character design used for the Boogieman (whose creepy voice was provided by Ray and Slimer’s actor, Frank Welker). In this story, Egon is reunited with that bump-in-the-night entity who haunted his own childhood, all while trying to keep him away from his latest targets: the brother and sister claiming to have the Boogieman in their closet. Although the Ghostbusters do save the day here, the Boogieman eventually returns (“The Bogeyman Is Back“). That same episode also features the love-’em-or-hate-’em Junior Ghostbusters.
Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream
“Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream” (Season 1)
You could say the namesake of “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream” had good intentions for putting mankind to sleep for the next few centuries—he wanted to end war and keep everyone dreaming. Sounds nice until you remember that whole free will business. But when it seems like the Ghostbusters have lost to their latest foe, the last one standing, Winston, gains a sudden ally. Janine’s dream of becoming a Ghostbuster is manifested, and she helps put this rogue spirit to bed.
When Halloween Was Forever
“When Halloween Was Forever” (Season 1)
Before the show’s execs capitalized on Slimer’s popularity by making him the focus of later episodes, early stories like “When Halloween Was Forever” better utilized that gooey ghost. Here, the spirit of Halloween itself, Samhain, hopes to make the holiday a permanent thing by stopping time. And who does the embodiment of All Hallows’ Eve use in his nefarious plot? Slimer, of course. Thankfully, the lil’ green bud knows where he really belongs, and Samhain is banished (at least until Season 3’s “Halloween II 1/2“).
Night Game
“Night Game” (Season 2)
Because Season Two was rather long, in comparison to other seasons, it accumulated quite a few solid episodes. One of the most beloved, though, is that ultimate good-versus-evil story, “Night Game“. Winston gets to shine here as he participates in a battle that was 500 years in the making. Except this time, the fighting is done on the baseball field. The other-dimensional settings in The Real Ghostbusters are always great, but the one here is particularly memorable.
Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin
“Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin” (Season 2)
Not all ghosts and whatnot were bad in The Real Ghostbusters. As “Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin” showed, some were actually benevolent. Sadly, it took a lot of convincing, and one very heroic act, for Peter and the others to see past this goblin’s grotesque appearance. The heroes find more than one shapeshifter at a sideshow carnival in the Poconos; a sinister Class-4er called the Metamorph does a swell job of menacing the Ghostbusters before they finally realize Drool’s not their culprit. The good guys indeed win here, but that victory is a bittersweet one.
The Collect Call of Cathulhu
“The Collect Call of Cathulhu” (Season 2)
While “The Collect Call of Cathulhu” does misspell “Cthulhu” in the title (probably to avoid legal issues), it is clearly the Old One in this Lovecraft-inspired episode. The story kicks off with the Necronomicon being stolen by the deity’s modern-day cult, who then raise their ancient god at Coney Island. From there, the Ghostbusters’ typical methods don’t work on the big guy, so they seek advice from an old issue of Weird Tales (or “Wierd Tales”, as it’s spelled on screen). That build-up to the finale comes with a decent amount of dread before the Ghostbusters, as well as a scholar named Alice, face off with one of the show’s most powerful entities.
Knock, Knock
“Knock, Knock” (Season 2)
A number of Real Ghostbusters episodes could be reworked into big-screen features, but perhaps “Knock, Knock” is the most hopeful. It helps that this story feels in step with the first two movies. Here, some ignorant construction workers accidentally uncover and open an ancient door in the subway. What’s behind said door is none other than those unspeakable evils that only the Ghostbusters can quell. A good deal of the imagery here is prime for adaptation.
The Grundel
“The Grundel” (Season 3)
One of the darker episodes, which was written by the prominent J. Michael Straczynski, is “The Grundel“. Here, a boy is being influenced by the titular entity, a type of ghost who ultimately turns his targets into new Grundels. The episode does have something of an after-school special quality to it, but that doesn’t take away from the eerier moments. For more Grundel lore, be sure to check out the episode “Grundelesque” from the sequel series, Extreme Ghostbusters.
Standing Room Only
“Standing Room Only” (Season 4)
It’s no secret that The Real Ghostbusters experienced multiple changes after the second season. Out of all of them, though, retooling the show so that Slimer would get more of the spotlight is maybe the most egregious. Thankfully, Season Four (the first to be called Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters) didn’t completely obey that new directive; episodes like “Standing Room Only” felt more like the old days. The focus here was on the well-being of the city and its people, rather than on the series’ green mascot (or the Junior Ghostbusters). In the episode, Peter’s new ghost attractor isn’t to blame for the ensuing chaos; the ghost-eating Mee-Krah is what’s really imperiling everyone. And the Ghostbusters must dish out everything they have to avoid a doomsday situation.
The Halloween Door
“The Halloween Door” (Season 5)
While many fans will skip the later seasons in their rewatches, episodes like “The Halloween Door” are still worth checking out. This colorful helping of Halloween pandemonium premiered on primetime, so the animation is better than usual. And save for a random musical moment, it’s an enjoyable event. Here, a group of anti-Halloweeners tries to cancel the holiday, but they only end up making things worse by unleashing a baddie named Boogaloo.
The first five seasons of The Real Ghostbusters are available on Tubi, starting on July 15.
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