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All the Horror Films You Need to Stream in August 2021

‘The Cook, The Thief, Jakob’s Wife, and Her Lover’
Horrorscope Horror Movies Streaming August
By  · Published on August 1st, 2021

Welcome to Horrorscope, a monthly column keeping horror nerds and initiates up to date on all the horror content coming to and leaving from your favorite streaming services. Here’s what horror movies you need to stream in August 2021.


Last month, we all came to a consensus that it is “hot goth summer.” Which, to be fair, is every summer because the inherent cool factor of all-black outfits comes at a very sweaty price. Considering our vampiric pick of the month, let this be your official August reminder. The sun is a giant cancer-causing fireball trying to kill you. Apply your sunscreen and apply it often.

I’m happy to report that this month, the horror train is chugging smoothly along. Brace yourself for all manner of devilish delights sure to tide you over until the sweat festive release of fall. We’ve got the aforementioned blood-sucking counterpoint to middle-aged ennui, balanced out with a notoriously difficult to find expressionist terror trip.

The horror streaming docket this August also includes a collection of movies themed around some of genre cinema’s nastier corners. Finally, get hyped for an essential British folk horror offering sure to make you look twice at passing teens.

Be sure to peruse the complete list below, calendar in hand, for a full picture of what horror movies are coming and going from your favorite streaming services in August 2021. Keep in mind that all dates listed below may not apply to viewers outside the United States.

Horror Streaming Highlights for August 2021

 

Pick of the Month: Jakob’s Wife(2021)

Jakob's Wife

Synopsis: Thirty years into her marriage to a small-town minister, Anne Fedder feels like her life is starting to ebb and shrink. She’s docile, demure, and yearning for, well, more. Then, she has a gruesome encounter with a mysterious entity. Reeling from her gore-soaked awakening, Anne discovers a new zest for life as a member of the undead. Unfortunately, the pep in her step comes with a steep body count.

It’s no secret that around these parts we stan the scream queen Barbara Crampton (Re: Animator, You’re Next). So you can bet your afterlife that we’re going to recommend her latest ooky spooky effort, Jakob’s Wife, as the horror movie to catch on the small screen this month.

Reviewing the movie at SWSW, our own Rob Hunter praised Jakob’s Wife as a “bloody ride filled with prosthetic goodness.” The two lead performances are a clear highlight with Crampton showing off her comedic chops, “embrac[ing] Anne’s liberation with excitement, glee, and sexual confidence.” As the enthusiastically faithful Jakob, Larry Fessenden mines comedic potential out of panic.

Jakob’s Wife marks Travis Stevens‘ decidedly goofier follow-up to the equally fluid-filled, but way more serious horror movie Girl on the Third Floor. And what his latest effort lacks in tonal consistency it more than makes up for in blood and two banger leads having an absolute blast. All hail the Cramptonaissance.

Available on Shudder on August 19th


A wordless proto-Lynchian psychosexual horror noir

Dementia

Synopsis: A tormented young woman awakens from a nightmare. But it was just a dream, right? Leaving her flea-bitten lodgings, the woman wanders out into the night. There, she’s met with an onslaught of groping hands, predatory men, and the haunting memory of her homicidal childhood. But how reliable is her fractured memory? And would she lean into her killer instincts once more, given the chance?

Banned by the New York State Film Board during its original run, in 1955, John Parker‘s Dementia is truly, emphatically, one of a kind. Often cited as Hollywood’s first Freudian American horror film, Dementia‘s sensational presentation of female violence is a smokescreen for more enigmatic and surreal concerns. A silent picture rife with spine-tingling soundscapes and devoid of dialogue, Dementia (later recut under the title Daughter of Horror) fell into the obscurity destined for a film on the outs of both commercial and arthouse spaces. Genuinely unique, vulgar, and for a long time impossible to find, few nightmares are as soul-shaking as Dementia.

Leaves The Criterion Channel on August 31st


More video nasties and silver screen perversions than you can wag a finger at

Orgies Of Edo Horror Streaming august 2021

Synopsis: From one of the central pillars of Japan’s infamously perverse “Pink” genre to two (count’em two!) documentaries about the icky history of the “video nasty” in the UK, ARROW presents all manner of deliciously sick filth in this collection of films sure to court moral outrage of all stripes.

That’s right, ya freaks: it’s time to swan dive into the deep end of depravity. Hope you brought your water wings. This mid-month season, the sick [REDACTED]s at ARROW bring together some of the nastiest, most sinful filth that horror cinema has to offer:

Promising to bring together sex workers, scream queens, and two excellent documentaries, gird your morals and prepare to be corrupted! Titles in the series (“Ban this Sick Filth Presents: Moral Outrage”) include:

Available on ARROW on August 16th


Kids these days, always unearthing the fetid remains of hell beasts and starting death cults in the woods

The Blood On Satan's Claw streaming horror august 2021

Synopsis: A misshapen, putrid corpse is accidentally exhumed in a small 18th-century village. Before long, superstition grips the countryside; a mounting paranoia that encourages the local children to engage in all manner of diabolic games. Under the iron grip of an enigmatic young girl, the kids begin to worship the corpse as a devilish relic. A stern judge takes it upon himself to put a stop to the demonic influence.

The kids, it turns out, are absolutely not alright. Like: “performing ritualistic sacrifices in a dilapidated church” levels of not alright. You can’t talk about the folk horror genre without talking about 1971’s The Blood on Satan’s Claw. Quite literally: the film’s director, Piers Haggard, coined the subgenre in a 2003 interview with Fangoria.

Lush and shocking, The Blood on Satan’s Claw is a key pillar of the unholy trinity of foundational British folk horror films (along with The Witchfinder General and The Wicker Man). Featuring an eerie performance by Linda Hayden as the devious and debauched cult leader, the film hits the sweet spot between thick atmosphere and unflinching brutality. A terrifying and at times cheezy ride from start to finish, in this instance, genre fans can’t afford not to play with dead things.

Available on Paramount+ on August 1st; Also available on Hulu on August 1st (and leaving August 31st)


All the Horror New to Streaming in August 2021

Fresh blood: A list of all the horror content coming to streaming services in August 2021.
Streaming ServiceMovieDate
Amazon Prime VideoAliens (1986)August 1
Amazon Prime VideoAnaconda (1997)August 1
Amazon Prime VideoAttack the Block (2011)August 1
Amazon Prime VideoJaws: The Revenge (1987)August 1
Amazon Prime VideoJaws (1975)August 1
Amazon Prime VideoJaws 2 (1978)August 1
Amazon Prime VideoJaws 3 (1983)August 1
Amazon Prime VideoPredator (1987)August 1
Amazon Prime VideoThe Roommate (2011)August 1
Amazon Prime VideoSlither (2006)August 1
Amazon Prime VideoKiller Among Us (2021)August 20
ARROWBlind Beast (1969)August 2
ARROWFinal Girl (2015)August 2
ARROWA Tale of Two Sisters (2003)August 2
ARROWSuture (1993)August 2
ARROWThe Cured (2017)August 6
ARROWBloodline (2018)August 13
ARROWBlood Theater (1984)August 13
ARROWHobgoblins (1988)August 13
ARROWGoodbye Old Friend [short] (2018)August 13
ARROWMomma Don’t Go [short] (2020)August 13
ARROWVideo Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape (2010)August 16
ARROWVideo Nasties: Draconian Days (2014)August 16
The Criterion ChannelLes abysses (1963)August 1
The Criterion ChannelThe Devil’s Harmony (2019)August 10
The Criterion ChannelThelma (2017)August 20
The Criterion ChannelThe Phantom of the Monastery (1934)August 27
HBO MaxBlack Death (2010)August 1
HBO MaxConstantine (2005)August 1
HBO MaxHorror of Dracula (1958)August 1
HBO MaxNurse 3D (2013)August 1
HBO MaxOne Hour Photo (2002)August 1
HBO MaxRed Riding Hood (2011)August 1
HBO MaxScary Movie (2000)August 1
HBO MaxSpawn (1997)August 1
HBO MaxThirteen Ghosts (2001)August 1
HBO MaxJurassic Park (1993)August 14
HBO MaxJurassic Park III (2001)August 14
HBO MaxThe Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)August 14
HBO MaxGodzilla vs. Kong (2021)August 17
Hulu30 Days of Night (2007)August 1
HuluAttack the Block (2011)August 1
HuluBlack Swan (2010)August 1
HuluThe Beast Within (1982)August 1
HuluBlood on Satan’s Claw (1970)August 1
HuluBram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)August 1
HuluChristina's House (2001)August 1
HuluThe Final Girls (2015)August 1
HuluThe Grudge (2004)August 1
HuluI Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)August 1
HuluMy Bloody Valentine (1981)August 1
HuluSpecial Effects (1984)August 1
HuluThe Vatican Tapes (2015)August 1
HuluHeld (2020)August 12
HuluSilo (2019)August 15
HuluUnsane (2018)August 18
HuluLove and Monsters (2020)August 26
HuluSpell (2020)August 30
IMDb TVGhostbusters (1984)August 1
IMDb TVGhostbusters II (1989)August 1
NetflixDeep Blue Sea (1999)August 1
NetflixThe Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia (2013)August 1
NetflixAftermath (2021)August 4
NetflixThe Old Ways (2020)August 5
NetflixThe Swarm (2020)August 6
Paramount+Addams Family Values (1993)August 1
Paramount+Blood On Satan's Claw (1971)August 1
Paramount+Christina’s House (2000)August 1
Paramount+Ghost (1990)August 1
Paramount+I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)August 1
Paramount+Special Effects (1984)August 1
Paramount+The Beast Within (1982)August 1
Paramount+Spell (2020)August 30
PeacockCandyman (1992)August 1
PeacockDead in Tombstone (2013)August 1
PeacockExtraordinary Tales (2015)August 1
PeacockThe Exorcist (1973)August 1
PeacockHaunted Hospital: Heilstatten (2018)August 1
PeacockA Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985)August 1
PeacockA Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)August 1
PeacockA Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988)August 1
PeacockA Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)August 1
PeacockA Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)August 1
PeacockA Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)August 1
PeacockRigor Mortis (2013)August 1
PeacockTrain to Busan (2016)August 1
PeacockTyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween (2017)August 1
PeacockVan Helsing (2004)August 1
ShudderDead Calm (1989)August 1
ShudderDolls (1986)August 1
ShudderPumpkinhead (1988)August 1
ShudderWitchfinder General (1968)August 1
ShudderGood Manners (2017)August 3
ShudderTeddy (2020)August 5
ShudderBloodthirsty (2020)August 9
ShudderThe Dead Pit (1989)August 9
ShudderHeaven Knows What (2014)August 9
ShudderBleed With Me (2020)August 10
ShudderBorgman (2013)August 16
ShudderA Field in England (2013)August 16
ShudderJakob's Wife (2021)August 19
ShudderCheap Thrills (2013)August 23
ShudderNothing Bad Can Happen (2013)August 23
ShudderMosquito State (2020)August 26
TubiAlien (1979)August 1
TubiAliens (1986)August 1
TubiAlien vs. Predator (2004)August 1
TubiBlack Rock (2012)August 1
TubiJaws (1975)August 1
TubiJaws 2 (1978)August 1
TubiJaws 3 (1983)August 1
TubiJaws: The Revenge (1987)August 1
TubiRob Zombie’s Halloween II (2009)August 1
TubiScary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)August 1
TubiThe Descent (2005)August 1
TubiThe Descent Part 2 (2009)August 1
TubiThe New Daughter (2009)August 1
TubiQueen of the Damned (2002)August 1
TubiFlatliners (2017)August 28

All the Horror Leaving Streaming in August 2021

Streaming ServiceMovieDate
The Criterion ChannelThe Infernal Cauldron (1903)August 31
The Criterion ChannelThe Merry Frolics of Satan (1906)August 31
The Criterion ChannelThe Witch (1906)August 31
The Criterion ChannelDementia (1955)August 31
HBO MaxDead Silence (2007)August 27
HBO MaxWhite Noise (2005)August 27
HBO MaxThe Bay (2012)August 31
HBO MaxBlade (1998)August 31
HBO MaxThe Crow (1994)August 31
HBO MaxThe Crow: City of Angels (1996)August 31
HBO MaxThe Crow: Wicked Prayer (2006)August 31
HBO MaxEight Legged Freaks (2002)August 31
HBO MaxFreddy vs. Jason (2003)August 31
HBO MaxThe Last Exorcism, (2012)August 31
HBO MaxThe Omega Man (1971)August 31
HBO MaxPrometheu (2012)August 31
HBO MaxSaw (Extended Version) (2004)August 31
HBO MaxSaw II (Director’s Cut) (2005)August 31
HBO MaxSaw III (Director’s Cut) (2006)August 31
HBO MaxSaw IV (Director’s Cut) (2007)August 31
HBO MaxSaw V (Director’s Cut) (2008)August 31
HBO MaxSaw VI (Director’s Cut) (2009)August 31
HBO MaxSaw: The Final Chapter (Director’s Cut) (2010)August 31
HBO MaxTim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005)August 31
HBO MaxWithin (2016)August 31
HBO MaxWolves at the Door (2016)August 31
HuluThe Shape of Water (2017)August 14
HuluAnacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004)August 31
HuluArachnophobia (1990)August 31
HuluThe Beast Within (1982)August 31
HuluBeetlejuice (1988)August 31
HuluThe Blair Witch Project (1999)August 31
HuluThe Blair Witch Project: Book of Shadows (2000)August 31
HuluBlood On Satan’s Claw (1970)August 31
HuluThe Dead Zone (1983)August 31
HuluThe Haunting (1999)August 31
HuluI Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)August 31
HuluJennifer’s Body (2009)August 31
HuluLady in a Cage (1964)August 31
HuluThe Last House on the Left (2009)August 31
HuluPredators (2009)August 31
HuluResident Evil: Afterlife (2010)August 31
HuluResident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)August 31
HuluResident Evil: Extinction (2007)August 31
HuluThe Skull (1965)August 31
HuluStephen King’s Graveyard Shift (1990)August 31
NetflixScary Movie V (2013)August 12
Netflix1BR (2019)August 22
NetflixResident Evil: Afterlife (2010)August 31
NetflixResident Evil: Extinction (2007)August 31
NetflixThe Ring (2002)August 31

That’s it for what horror to stream in August 2021. See you next month boils and ghouls!

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Based in the Pacific North West, Meg enjoys long scrambles on cliff faces and cozying up with a good piece of 1960s eurotrash. As a senior contributor at FSR, Meg's objective is to spread the good word about the best of sleaze, genre, and practical effects.