Netflix giveth and Netflix taketh away. Each month brings with it changes to the streaming network’s line-up, with some cool films being added at the expense of those that are being removed from the service. And this August is no exception.
In an annoying twist for fans of ironic and imaginative Rube Goldberg deaths, a number of the Final Destinations movies are going, as is Poltergeist, The Butterfly Effect, The Village and Zombieland. And unfortunately for horror fans, the new films don’t provide many scares.
The full list can be seen below:
- Are We Done Yet?
- Boyka: Undisputed
- Four Weddings and a Funeral
- Groundhog Day
- Horns
- Jackie Brown
- Jupiter Ascending
- Now and Then
- Panic Room
- Rocky
- Rocky II
- Rocky III
- Rocky IV
- Rocky V
- Sex and the City: The Movie
- Something’s Gotta Give
- The Bank Job
- The House Bunny
- The Sinner: Julian
- To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
- Why Do Fools Fall in Love
As far as I see, the only outright horror movie on that list is Horns. That’s the 2013 flick in which Daniel Radcliffe plays a young man who wakes up with horns on his head. Said horns force people to tell him their secrets.
It’s a very odd film with a very odd ending, and seems like a project Radcliffe did just for the hell of it (see also Swiss Army Man). Horns is basically alright, simply because it’s such a tonally strange flick. That said, I wouldn’t exactly go out of my way to watch it. That’s about it for horror titles, too, though I suppose you could make an argument for Sex and the City: The Movie.
As for the rest? Well, with Once Upon A Time in Hollywood soon to hit theaters, it’s a great time to revisit Tarantino’s perennially under-appreciated Jackie Brown. Panic Room is an interesting title from David Fincher as well, featuring cool CGI camera-shots that were then state-of-the-art and a great performance from Jodie Foster. And, of course, there’s Rocky I-V. I’d skip Rocky V, but the rest are gold. And I personally think Jupiter Ascending is a seriously underrated movie and doesn’t deserve the mockery it gets.
There’s a little more horror when it comes to TV shows, thankfully, with the fifth season of iZombie hitting the service, together with the second season of Mindhunter if you’re looking for more down to earth scares. Given how few horror titles seem to have made the list this month though, let’s hope for a bumper crop in September.
