Stream Warriors: July 22, 2022
Each week, Neon Splatter contributors offer up some viewing options found on streaming (U.S. unless otherwise noted). Movies, TV shows, specials, and more. New and old, from all sorts of genres and nations. Most importantly, we deem them worthy of your time.
Kiley Fox: Whites (2010)
What It Is: Deep in the Hertfordshire countryside, Thaxted Manor Hotel is home to The White House restaurant and its resident head chef Roland White. Roland is now a terminal slacker who relies on best friend and put upon sous chef Bib to do all the hard work for him. Roland is facing a difficult choice; to finally go for it and earn that first elusive Michelin star or just hide in his office and settle for the easy life.
Where It Is: Tubi
Why You Should Watch It: “I really enjoyed this show when it came out a decade ago. I was recently thinking about how much I miss watching Darren Boyd in things and looked up this show. It only went one season, and it's British so you can finish it off in a night. It's worth a sit through for dry, melancholy humor.”
Shafi Malik: 15 Storeys High (2002 - 2004)
What It Is: The lives of two men sharing a flat in South London.
Where It Is: YouTube (for UK readers/VPN users, it is also officially available on BBC iPlayer)
Why You Should Watch It: “The funniest British sitcom that hardly anyone has seen from the late great comedian Sean Lock. Mixing absurdist humour with British social realism, it follows Lock and Benedict Wong (in one of his earliest performances) as a couple of flat mates living in a South London council flat. It has some of the most unique direction (check out those static awkward camera angles) and such brilliant idiosyncratic side-characters. A hidden gem in British comedy history!”
Khayla McGowan: GOOD MANNERS (2017)
What It Is: Clara, a lonely nurse from the outskirts of São Paulo, is hired by mysterious and wealthy Ana as the nanny for her unborn child. The two women develop a strong bond, but a fateful night changes their plans.
Where It Is: Shudder
Why You Should Watch It: “What an INSANE movie...I dropped in on this one looking for a fun foreign language horror film and stumbled across this gem that meshes horror, fantasy, romance, AND is somehow a musical. Highly recommend for anyone who wants a fun multi-genre joyride through a range of emotions including fear, humor, and sympathy.”
Jeremy Lowe: THE LAST CIRCUS (2010)
What It Is: A young trapeze artist must decide between her lust for Sergio, the Happy Clown, or her affection for Javier, the Sad Clown, both of whom are deeply disturbed.
Where It Is: Hulu
Why You Should Watch It: “The film that made me fall in love with director Álex de la Iglesia. There are certain assumptions made about genre films that feature clowns, but all preconceived notions are blown out of the water with THE LAST CIRCUS. The clowns in this movie are complex characters with complicated lives. If you can imagine a cross between Alejandro Jodorowsky's SANTA SANGRE and Sam Rami's SPIDER-MAN, then you get some good idea of what to expect. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!”
Rob Dean: DOMINO (2005)
What It Is: The daughter of an actor father and a social-climber mother, Domino Harvey, bored with her life, decides to join the team of Ed Moseby and becomes a bounty hunter. But she gets in trouble when the Mafia's money is stolen from an armored truck, while Moseby and his crew are participating in a reality show produced by Mark Heiss. The situation gets out of control when the sons of a rival mobster are kidnapped while the FBI is monitoring two gangs of mobsters.
Where It Is: HBO Max
Why You Should Watch It: “Is this movie good? No, I’m sincerely asking because it’s hard to tell if it’s brilliant or just bonkers…or both. Tony Scott is at his most crazed with all sorts of filters and crosscuts. The stranger-than-fiction tale of the model turned bounty hunter is brought to appropriate bizarre life in this oddball film.”
Alexis Collazo: Hemlock Grove (2013 - 2015)
What It Is: A young girl is brutally murdered and found near the former Godfrey steel mill. As rumors mount, two of the suspects in her killing, Peter Rumancek, a 17-year-old Gypsy trailer trash kid rumored to be a werewolf, and Roman, the heir to the Godfrey estate decide to find the killer themselves.
Where It Is: Netflix
Why You Should Watch It: “I like that it features a little bit of everything for horror and supernatural fans: gruesome murders, a mysterious cult, vampires, werewolves, conspiracies, and even a Frankenstein-inspired character. However, my favorite part of the show is the friendship between Roman Godfrey and Peter Rumancek, the unexpected pairing vacillates between contentious and easygoing, but is often humorous and always entertaining.”