In the case of some great horror movies, no paid subscription is required to watch. As a free streaming service, Tubi can be a great source for watching movies and TV shows for those without access to Prime Video, Netflix, HBO Max, and the other streaming giants, and could be particularly relevant with Halloween coming up.
As it’s now the week of Halloween, there’s arguably no better time in the year to stream some scary movies, whether it’s those with ghosts, werewolves, vampires, mummies, or some other supernatural threat entirely. When it comes to streaming from a free service like Tubi, there’s no shortage of solid options.
There’s a broad range of avenues available, from movies literally set at Halloween, to “haunted house” films, to old black-and-white horror movies, to hidden gems from the 1980s.
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The Grudge
Undoubtedly one of the best horror movies of the 21st century, The Grudge stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as Karen Davis, an American nurse assigned to care for an old Japanese woman with dementia in her Tokyo home. While there, Karen discovers that the house is being haunted by a family of ghosts with tragic pasts.
Principal among them is the ghost of Kayako, the evil young woman who easily became the face of the film’s marketing, as well as one of the most iconic horror villains of the 2000s. As if her pale appearance and empty gaze wasn’t unsettling enough, her croaking groan helped solidify her place as one of the genre’s scariest villains of all time.
What’s more, Kayako didn’t deliver all the movie’s frights herself. Despite his youth, her son was creepy in his own right, carrying his fair share of jump scares in a compelling story that weaved together an interesting mystery about their deaths and the root cause of the hauntings.
Along with the first film, one of its sequels – The Grudge 3 – is streaming on Tubi.
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Horror Of Dracula
Over the course of his long career in Hollywood, Christopher Lee starred in nine movies as Count Dracula, and in turn, transformed himself into a horror legend. A handful of these are streaming for free on Tubi, and that list includes Horror of Dracula, the very beginning of Hammer’s Christopher Lee-led Dracula series.
Released in 1958, Horror of Dracula a.k.a. Dracula features not only the actor’s first Dracula appearance, but also the theatrical debut of Peter Cushing’s take on Van Helsing. The 1958 landmark horror favorite offers a few interesting deviations from the classic Dracula formula, although it’s still an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula movie.
This version offers an unexpected plot twist in terms of the Jonathan Harker-Van Helsing team-up that usually takes place in Dracula films. Its willingness to shake things up helps build a greater level of suspense as Van Helsing’s quest to defeat Dracula plays out. That, combined with Christopher Lee’s reinvention of the character, make it a must-watch horror film.
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The Howling
Directed by Joe Dante, The Howling is a horror cult classic about a news reporter (played by Dee Wallace) who goes with her husband to a resort, unaware at first that it’s occupied by werewolves. Central to her story is her existing history with a supposedly deceased serial killer, who turns out to be connected to the monsters – and secretly reborn as a werewolf himself.
The Howling is full of campy gore, exciting werewolf transformations, chase scenes, and fun action sequences. All things considered, the film gains a lot from not taking itself too seriously, and succeeds in just allowing for a great, two-hour flick, which is perfect for Halloween.
Adding to the appeal of checking it out on Tubi is the fact that it can be followed up with more entries into the series. The Howling wound up amounting to an eight-movie franchise, and all of them can be viewed on the free streaming service.
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Pumpkinhead
A staple of Halloween season, Pumpkinhead is currently streaming on Tubi as well. One of the best horror movies of the 1980s, Pumpkinhead sees a small town reckon with an urban legend – in the movie, it’s understood that “Pumkinhead” is a demonic entity summoned for the purpose of exacting revenge on one’s enemies. But once its crusade begins, it never ends until Pumkinhead accomplishes its goal.
In the 1988 film, a man pained by the loss of his child conspires with a witch to get vengeance on the teenagers he blames for his hardships. This sets off a killing spree by Pumpkinhead, complete with gory violence and jump scares. With his massive frame and unique design, Pumkinhead makes for an incredibly imposing horror movie villain.
In addition to the original film, Tubi’s lineup also includes the third and fourth movies in the series, Pumkinhead: Ashes to Ashes and Pumkinhead 4: Blood Feud.
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The Snow Woman
Tubi hosts a large number of international horror films that are hidden gems in the genre. One such example is The Snow Woman, a 1968 Japanese period piece. It’s a ghost story where the central antagonist is a malevolent, white-clad female spirit who dwells in a snowy region and possesses ice powers.
The movie plays with an interesting concept – two men are attacked by a seemingly evil ghost; she kills one, and leaves the other alive, but with the promise that she’ll come after him too if he ever dares to reveal what really happened. As a result, the surviving man (and the main character) of the story has to struggle with keeping her existence a secret.
This paves the way for an intriquing mystery to unfold. Not long after his ominous encounter with the spooky apparition, a young woman – who looks identical to the ghost who threatened him – enters his life and develops a relationship with him.
The Snow Woman masterfully creates some truly creepy moments with its long takes and depiction of its ghost villain, in such a way that it feels years ahead of its time.
