Editorials
10 Hidden Horror Gems to Stream on Tubi This Super Bowl Weekend
One of the year’s biggest televised events is already here: it’s Super Bowl time!
This weekend, Tubi will stream the Super Bowl, live and in 4K, for free. No cable login or credit card is required. Of course, Tubi’s expansive catalog filled with deep cuts means that there’s a lot more to explore beyond the big game. Any excuse to watch more horror is a valid one!
Whether you’re looking to explore the streaming platform beyond the Super Bowl or simply seeking hidden horror gems you may have missed, we’re here to help.
These ten hidden horror gems include everything from rare anthologies to schlocky ’80s fun to underrated cult classics and beyond. Don’t miss these 10 hidden horror gems on Tubi now.
Campfire Tales
This rare ’90s horror anthology feature was initially slated for theatrical release before getting sent straight to VHS in 1997, arriving a year ahead of Urban Legend. Why is that relevant? The anthology’s segments all center around familiar urban legends, from retro classics like “The Hook” to a contemporary, skin-crawling take on “Humans Can Lick Too.” It’s just not the slickly directed and engaging twists on familiar tales that make this anthology so winsome, but a talented cast filled with recognizable talent that includes James Marsden, Ron Livingston, Christine Taylor, and more.
Death Spa
Also known as Witch Bitch in Europe, this wacky ‘80s slasher movie takes aim at the decade’s fitness craze in the most entertaining way. Michael Evans (William Bumiller) owns and runs a high-tech health club, but it soon becomes plagued by a series of freak accidents and bizarre deaths. It turns out his deceased wife holds a massive grudge and has taken to possessing the facility and gym equipment to torment Michael from beyond the grave. A ghost that kills out of jealousy through gym equipment is every bit as silly and as entertaining as it sounds.
Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo
This raucous, DIY charmer was filmed in Michigan in 1988 but released in 1995 by Troma Entertainment. That’s the first sign that Frostbiter owes a great debt to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II. The plot, like Raimi’s classic, follows friends spending a weekend away in a cabin, where they unwitting let loose a great evil that wreaks havoc in splatstick ways. In this instance, it’s a Wendigo, albeit in name only; Frostbiter is mostly a creature feature extravaganza of all varieties. If the kitchen sink approach to this low-budget horror comedy doesn’t worm its way into your heart, its outrageous soundtrack certainly will.
Lady Vengeance
The third entry in Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance trilogy, also titled Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, follows a wrongly convicted woman as she embarks on a visceral, violent quest for retribution upon exiting her 13-year prison stint. The crime? Kidnapping and murdering a child is the type of sensitive subject matter that gets explored to its fullest and bleakest here. Park Chan-wook’s flair for dramatics and strong visuals, a riveting lead performance, and an occasional burst of levity set this entry apart. It’s also deeply satisfying; Lee Geum-ja’s (Lee Young-ae) pursuit of justice builds to a suitably bloody reckoning.
Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural
A devout 13-year-old girl is summoned to visit her dying father in Prohibition-era America, and her journey there becomes fraught with vampires and feral things. Lemora is light on plotting but heavy on gothic, fevered dream atmosphere by framing this story from the perspective of a sheltered girl setting out on her own into a dangerous world. Lila Lee, played by then-18-year-old Cheryl Lynn “Rainbeaux” Smith (Phantom of the Paradise actor and former Joan Jett drummer), makes for a root-worthy lead in this temptation tale with a serious sleazy creep factor.
Martin
George A. Romero’s Martin centers on a young man who believes himself to be a vampire. Martin has no pointy fangs and isn’t susceptible to garlic or holy water; he simply wants to slice open his victims with a razor and drink. But it’s so much more skin-crawling than that description suggests; Martin is one unnerving character. Romero gives a unique spin on vampire lore, injecting social commentary into the mix. The horror legend has also said in the past that he considers this his favorite of his own films. It’s also a bit of a streaming rarity, so don’t skip this one.
The Other Side of Underneath
Writer/Director Jane Arden examines the mind of a woman diagnosed as schizophrenic, telling a story of repressed guilt framed within a therapy session for girls. In other words, this dramatic, unsettling freakout film doesn’t adhere to a conventional narrative structure but instead immerses viewers in the claustrophobic, fractured mind of its lead and fellow patients. Arden captures an unfiltered, dizzying psychological breakdown through techniques that evoke extreme voyeuristic discomfort. It’s as haunting as it is challenging, and there’s nothing else quite like it.
Paperhouse
Before Candyman, filmmaker Bernard Rose directed this surreal ’80s horror fantasy that sees a lonely girl making friends with a sickly boy that she meets in the dream world she created. Dreams sometimes curdle into petrifying nightmares, though. Rose creates a unique aesthetic with haunting visuals, but the emotional poignancy of the central characters and their journey makes this a real standout. Bleak and heartbreaking, but with innocence and hope. The dark horror fantasy is based on the 1958 novel Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr.
Psycho Beach Party
A kitschy horror comedy that riffs on ‘60s beach party movies, psychodrama, and ‘80s slashers. It’s a parody based on an off-Broadway play that brings the camp in high doses. Lauren Ambrose stars as the Gidget-like Florence, a young woman determined to become the first female surfer at Malibu Beach. Complicating matters is a string of murders, in which Florence becomes the prime suspect because of her dissociative identity disorder. In terms of its slasher elements, Psycho Beach Party is pretty tame. This is more of a genre-adjacent spoof than an outright slasher movie, so this pick is more for fans seeking something outside of the box and fun.
Strangeland
Rock musician and Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider didn’t just star in Strangeland as Captain Howdy, the creepy sadist who lures teens through the internet; he wrote and produced. The concept for Strangeland stems from a song on Twisted Sister’s Stay Hungry album. Linda Cardellini stars as a young teen caught in Captain Howdy’s crosshairs, with Robert Englund appearing as an activist group leader who prefers to take justice into his own hands. While this 1998 horror movie shows its age, particularly for its use of technology and early internet chatrooms, the movie developed a cult following over the years. So much so that sequel talks persist today.
Some movies are just so beloved that you can experience them through cultural osmosis without ever sitting down to actually watch them. From loving parodies to meticulous recreations of iconic scenes, memorable filmmaking lives on even after the curtains close on the silver screen. And when it comes to horror, few films can compete with the massive impact that Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining had on popular culture as a whole.
Whether or not you think the flick is a good adaptation of Stephen King’s seminal novel, 1980’s The Shining slowly but surely grew into one of the most influential genre movies ever made, inspiring everything from surprisingly heartfelt sequels to classic episodes of The Simpsons. However, not all The Shining references are created equal, and today I’d like to shine a light on six unexpected homages to Kubrick’s iconic film.
In this list, we’ll be focusing on references and Easter eggs that either came out of the blue or came from creators that you wouldn’t expect to be fans of this classic ghost story. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite references to the Torrance family and the Overlook Hotel if you think we missed a particularly memorable one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
5. A Nightmare on FaceTime – South Park (2012)
Regardless of the brand’s iffy reputation among former employees, the death of Blockbuster Video was a serious blow to fans of physical media. Of course, some folks were more affected by this than others, and South Park’s Randy Marsh definitely took things a little too far in the twelfth episode of the show’s sixteenth season.
Titled A Nightmare on FaceTime, the main plot of this 2012 story is a surprisingly faithful recreation of The Shining where Randy purchases an empty Blockbuster store and begins to go mad once he realizes that his investment may not have been a very good idea due to the rise of streaming and the now-defunct RedBox storefronts.
4. The Overlook Hotel Level – Ready Player One (2018)
I was never really a fan of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, so I viewed Stephen Spielberg’s divisive adaptation of the novel as an improvement over the source material despite having its own narrative issues. In fact, I actually prefer how Spielberg changed the story by removing several references to his own work and replacing a lengthy Blade Runner detour with an over-the-top homage to The Shining.
A CGI-heavy recreation of the film’s most iconic moments that feels like a big-budget ghost train ride set within the Overlook Hotel, this intense sequence is more of a recreation of the freaky aesthetics of The Shining rather than its mind-bending narrative. However, it’s still fun to see Spielberg make a heartfelt tribute to a filmmaker that was once his close personal friend.
3. IKEA Singapore Halloween Ad (2014)
It makes sense that commercials don’t typically borrow from the horror genre, as it might be a bad idea to scare away potential customers, but some references are just too much fun to pass up.
That’s probably why the publicists behind this Ikea ad from Singapore were allowed to turn their commercial into a genuinely unsettling recreation of Danny’s tricycle scene from The Shining. After all, nobody cares if your store is haunted so long as it offers late-night shopping hours and a large selection of merchandise that you can become lost in forever and ever…
2. The End of ‘Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality’ – Community (2014)
Community is no stranger to recreating iconic movie moments within the show, and the series had previously tackled horror tropes in episodes like the fan-favorite Epidemiology. However, the most laugh-out-loud moment on this particular list comes from a brief gag towards the end of the season five episode ‘Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality’.
The majority of this episode has nothing to do with scary movies, but there’s a brief subplot involving supporting character Chang and a possible encounter with ghosts that leads him to question his own existence. This subplot culminates in the episode’s hilarious ending where the camera zooms in on a black-and-white photograph of Chang in period clothing at some kind of celebration, just like Jack Nicholson at the end of The Shining.
However, the picture’s subtitle eventually reveals that it’s merely a conveniently placed keepsake from the ‘Old Timey Photo Club’.
1. The Overlook Hedge Maze Sequence – Zootopia 2 (2025)
Disney movies are pretty far removed from both the gruesome horror of Stephen King and the heady filmmaking of Stanley Kubrick, so I don’t think anyone was expecting the climax of last year’s Zootopia sequel to take place in an animated version of the snowy hedge maze from The Shining.
In this unexpectedly intense sequence, friend-turned-villain Pawbert Lynxley (an unhinged lynx cat played by Andy Samberg) chases our protagonists through a creepy labyrinth in a loving recreation of Jack Nicholson’s icy demise outside the Overlook Hotel. The actual ending here might be a little more child-friendly than what’s being referenced, but it’s amazing that the filmmakers were able to push the horror elements as far as they did – especially since the scene doesn’t really have anything to do with the rest of the movie.
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