2025’s Best-Reviewed Horror Movie is Now Streaming on Hulu
It can be challenging as a horror fan—nay, a movie fan—in the current age. With the advent of streaming, there’s more stuff to watch than ever before. There are new movies, old movies, not-movies—all kinds of stuff just arriving on different platforms day after day. I do a pretty good job of keeping up with what’s out, especially the bigger stuff (with the budget to advertise), though I always inevitably end up missing out on some really great stuff. So, kudos to Managing Editor Josh Korngut, who turned me onto The Vourdalak last year. I’d have probably never seen it without you.
Recently, there has been an early 2025 horror release that no one, even months later, seems to be talking about. Even more curiously, this is one that got a wide domestic release in January. Well, I’ve seen it, I liked it, and now you can catch it streaming on Hulu. Prepared to be scared with Thordur Palsson’s The Damned. Learn more below:
Per Hulu: Fighting for survival in an isolated fishing outpost, Eva and her crew are cursed after making the choice not to help a sinking ship off the coast. Facing the consequences, a darkness consumes them creating chaos and death at every turn.
I caught The Damned on a whim. I wanted to see a movie, and I’d somehow missed all the marketing. I was surprised to see it at my local theater, so I blindly bought tickets. I’d only done that once before (Arcadian, great monster movie), so I figured I’d at least be entertained. And, wouldn’t you know it, The Damned was great. Not earth-shattering, but patient, scary, and classically configured. I love a period horror movie, and The Damned relishes in its remote setting and even more remote ways.
Critical reviews were strong, though The Damned only dredged up a meager $1.3 million at the domestic box office, likely because no one even knew the movie was out. We did our best to share about The Damned here at Dread Central, but January is always a tough month to break through in. Still, it’s not to be missed. The critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads, “Heavy on mood and existential terror, The Damned’s patient approach to horror pays off with cerebral chills.” This is fantastic folk horror in a dustbowl of a folk horror year, so check out this critical darling while you can.
What do you think? Any plans to watch the hidden horror offering The Damned on Hulu? Did you catch it earlier this year? Let me know either way over on Twitter @Chadiscollins.
Categorized: News
