Some hidden gems on Netflix Streaming.

[markw]

They've actually got some little gems hidden among all that drek. Here's two that I found.

"Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil" - A send-up of slasher/house in the woods genres with Alan Tudyk and Taylor Labine. Funny as hell and turns the genre on it's head.

"The Keep" - I remember this from when I saw it in the 80s. A horror movie that's set during WW2 and has angels, devils, good Germans, bad Germans, a kewl monster, a younger Ian McKellen, and a screaming beauty with to die for eyes. EXTREMELY atmospheric, excellent cimematrography and well paced. I'm surprised it never made the big time. Personally, I think it was too good for the masses.

...and a bunch of Pixar shorts based on their hit movies.

These made the monthly charge worth it.

 

[skizzerflake]

"The Keep" - I remember this from when I saw it in the 80s. A horror movie that's set during WW2 and has angels, devils, good Germans, bad Germans, a kewl monster, a younger Ian McKellen, and a screaming beauty with to die for eyes. EXTREMELY atmospheric, excellent cimematrography and well paced. I'm surprised it never made the big time. Personally, I think it was too good for the masses. ....

I saw The Keep way back when and rewatched it on Netflix. I really liked it in a Miami Vice, 80's sort of way. Michael Mann did it (pre-Vice) and it really seemed to be where he worked out his visual-musical style. I liked the Golem-like monster and had a crush on the babe with the big hair. The movie had a fairly classy cast and created some good characters.

I'll throw in another suggestion from Netflix, "Me and Orson Welles" - possibly the best movie ever made about being IN the theater, Zac Ephron is a high school kid who manages to land a bit part in an Orson Welles production in the legendary Mercury Theater, falls in love and gets to know Welles, the most bombastic actor/director/genius of his era. Christian McKay is dead-spot-on as Welles. This movie was done on the Isle of Man and manages to look like late 1930's New York. It's fun, funny, doesn't take itself too seriously and well worth a view.

 

[skizzerflake]

Other movies on Netflix worth watching include the Swedish Dragon Tattoo trilogy (assuming you can deal with Swedish/subtitles), Exit Through the Gift Shop, about a strange art exhibition, narrated by Banksy, a 2005 B&W, silent film of the Lovecraft story, The Call of Cthulhu, Magic Trip, a documentary about Ken Kesey and the acid test school bus done with vintage film, Murnau's Nosferatu, Fellini's 8 1/2, the great Big Lebowski and too many other interesting tidbits for one message. You can fine all sorts of interesting flix if you do loose-minded searches.

 

[shadyJ]

I have found a lot of neat gems on netflix. One that I think more people should see is the Red Riding trilogy, which starts off with Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974. It is a very dark British series, and now I am scared to go into north England. If you like the Dragon Tattoo series, you might like the Red Riding series, but, be warned, the Red Riding trilogy makes the Dragon Tattoo movies look sentimental in comparison. It is not cheerful stuff.

 

[lsiberian]

I've gotten hooked on Spooks, but I like people dying in my TV shows.

I love Netflix for the sitcoms. Frasier, How I Met Your Mother, The Andy Griffith Show, Coach, and many of my other favorites. I can watch whatever I want and it's way cheaper than cable.

 

[j_garcia]

They have recently been adding a LOT of 80s movies. I've been re-watching plenty of them

 

[zhimbo]

"The Host" - Korean monster film/dysfunctional family "dramedy". Interesting mix, and a big monster-chasing-people scene early on is just fantastic, a- good as that type of thing gets.
"The Thirst" - Korean vampire film quite unlike any other vampire film I've ever seen. Twisted and funny. And a little sad.

I apparently need to see more Korean films.

I've also found the joy of low budget indie horror films. The Call of Cthulhu is the ultimate in low budget and indie - put together for nothing by a Lovecraft fan club, it's an amazing little silent film done in 1920s style. Not for everyone perhaps. More recently I really liked "Triangle", which I feared was going to be a generic low-budget slasher flick, and for a while it was, but turned out to be something a lot more interesting.

 

[markw]

I think I saw that one!

I've also found the joy of low budget indie horror films. The Call of Cthulhu is the ultimate in low budget and indie - put together for nothing by a Lovecraft fan club, it's an amazing little silent film done in 1920s style.

That was so bad it was good, kinda in an Ed Wood way.

You might get a kick out of "Tha Lost Skeleton of Cadavra". It's a spoof of the B&W 1950 low-budget movies. They caught just about every kind of schlock I can remember. It had me rolling on the floor it was so funny.

I particularly loved Animalia and the drunken alien woman.

[edit] oops - maybe not. The one I saw was made within the last ten years or so.

 

[j_garcia]

"The Host" - Korean monster film/dysfunctional family "dramedy". Interesting mix, and a big monster-chasing-people scene early on is just fantastic, a- good as that type of thing gets.
"The Thirst" - Korean vampire film quite unlike any other vampire film I've ever seen. Twisted and funny. And a little sad.

Sorry, but there was a lot of hype around the host and I blind bought it and thought it was little more than hype. The story was dumb and it kept switching from horror, to comedy, to drama, and back... It was funny and the digital effects were good though. Hadn't gotten to The Thirst because it was the same guy...

I apparently need to see more Korean films.

Yes, you do

I've also found the joy of low budget indie horror films. The Call of Cthulhu is the ultimate in low budget and indie - put together for nothing by a Lovecraft fan club, it's an amazing little silent film done in 1920s style. Not for everyone perhaps. More recently I really liked "Triangle", which I feared was going to be a generic low-budget slasher flick, and for a while it was, but turned out to be something a lot more interesting.

I am a huge horror movie, b-movie, monster FX movie fan and they have a lot of them on there right now. Creepshow & Ceepshow2, Demon Night, Lifeforce, Silver Bullet (only untl Oct 1!), The Relic, Let The Right One In (must see), Darkness Falls, Killer Klowns from Outerspace (lol).

 

[skizzerflake]

That was so bad it was good, kinda in an Ed Wood way....

I thought it was much more than that. I think it was made for something like 40K$. Silent was cheaper but it also worked due to the 1920's setting. B&W worked to keep film processing cheaper and editing simpler; sets here home-made from cardboard. The result, however, was a sort of dreamlike feeling that matched the strangely otherworldly feel of the original Lovecraft story, in which nothing seemed to mesh very well with normal reality.

 

[j_garcia]

"Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil" - A send-up of slasher/house in the woods genres with Alan Tudyk and Taylor Labine. Funny as hell and turns the genre on it's head.

I had been putting that one off, but watched it last night on your recommendation. Very funny and well done.

"This vacation sucks!" - Tucker

 

[lsiberian]

They have recently been adding a LOT of 80s movies. I've been re-watching plenty of them

This to me makes it worth it.

 

[zhimbo]

I thought it was much more than that.

Yes - Ed Wood was unaware of his limitations, these folks worked with their limitations.

 

[zhimbo]

...it kept switching from horror, to comedy, to drama, and back...

But the switching from horror to comedy to drama is what I liked! But, yeah, that's a difficult to trick to pull off, and sometimes it doesn't work for me, either. But this film worked for me. Not a sure-fire "win" for everyone.

Oh, you probably shouldn't see "Thirst", then, although it IS a better all-around movie.

Let The Right One In *is* must see, one of my new favorite horror flicks. Really creepy and a novel take on vampires.

 

[zhimbo]

If by "hidden gem" you mean "outrageously bad in a vastly entertaining way", then "Starcrash" is the way to go. It's a unbelievably cheesy Italian-made Star Wars knock-off. Stars Caroline Munro, the hottest woman in 70's film, in various ridiculous outfits. I have no idea how Christopher Plummer got sucked into this.

"So-bad-it's-good" is a highly subjective thing, but for me this movie epitomizes "so-bad-it's-good".

 

[markw]

"Hidden Gem" is a purposely ambigious term.

If by "hidden gem" you mean "outrageously bad in a vastly entertaining way"....

That's certainly one interpretation, but I used it here initially to mean a little known (or unknown) film that entertain me and hasn't had great publicity.

There's a lot of stuff on Netflix streaming, most of which I'll venture to say people never heard of and would probably bypass. Most of it might be schlock. Some can be great, or at least good and/or entertaining for a variety of reasons.

I'm just sharing some that I'm aware of, either from past experience (The Keep) or from simply being bored and giving one a try and being pleasantly surprised (Tucker & Dale and The Lost Skull of Cadavra). The first was, IMNSHO, an excellent, very well done horror movie and last two were made with tongue firmly placed in cheek. Both of which I love.

Now, if we share out findings, perhaps we can help each other separate the wheat from the chaff on that totally disorganized site and actually get our money's worth.

 

[j_garcia]

If by "hidden gem" you mean "outrageously bad in a vastly entertaining way", then "Starcrash" is the way to go. It's a unbelievably cheesy Italian-made Star Wars knock-off. Stars Caroline Munro, the hottest woman in 70's film, in various ridiculous outfits. I have no idea how Christopher Plummer got sucked into this.

"So-bad-it's-good" is a highly subjective thing, but for me this movie epitomizes "so-bad-it's-good".

Yeah, I watched one on there recently just because it looked ridiculous: Gingerdead Man 3 LMAO. It lived up to my expectations - terrible but funny. I watched Starcrash too. Barbarella was recently added as well; haven't seen that one in a long time, but it is the definition of campy.

But the switching from horror to comedy to drama is what I liked! But, yeah, that's a difficult to trick to pull off, and sometimes it doesn't work for me, either. But this film worked for me. Not a sure-fire "win" for everyone.

I liked The Host, I didn't love it.

 

[avliner]

Another hidden gem, IMO, is the "scary-western" release of PURGATORY, by the late 80's, as an original TNT release, IIRC.

Sam Shepard and Eric Roberts as mains actors playing the most unusual role I've seen to date in a western movie, which has a nice mix of wild-wild west and some un-natural happenings, though. One of my favourite ones in this genre, indeed!

 

[Adam]

I don't think it's a hidden gem, but I love the Bill Burr comedy specials on there. His latest, "You People Are All the Same," had me laughing a lot.

 

[skizzerflake]

Everything Must Go is on Netflix now. This is a Will Farrell that you don't see very often, playing a serious role. He's a guy who's in the process of losing everything due to his alcohol problem and finds friendship with a misfit kid, while living in his front yard. It's really quite a good movie.