Hidden Streams: An American Crime Classic, Russian Science Fiction, and ’80s Horror

(Welcome to Hidden Streams, a column focused on the best older movies available to stream on your favorite services, including Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and more.)

The death of FilmStruck might make it harder for cinephiles to dig those older hidden gems out of the overwhelming piles of streaming titles. From lesser-known classics to cult favorites, we’ve put together a handy guide to some of the best older films you can stream on the various platforms. In this edition of Hidden Streams, you’ll find plenty of golden (and not-so-golden) oldies to check out or revisit – and nothing that was released after 1985.

Bloody Friday

Now Streaming on Amazon Prime

Release date: 1972
Director: Rolf Olsen, Lee Payant
Cast: Raimund Harmstorf, Amadeus August, and Gianni Macchia

While on trial for a previous crime, the maniacal Heinz (Harmstorf) escapes the courtroom and sets about plotting the biggest bank robbery of his career. Harmstorf is completely unhinged as Heinz in this German film, which was later released in Italy. In 2015, Subkultur Entertainment discovered that the runtime for the soundtrack was longer than the film; subsequent digging yielded scenes that had been cut to obtain a milder rating for its initial theatrical release. Those scenes were fully restored for the remastered re-release.

For fans of: Dog Day Afternoon, Den of Thieves, and The Hurricane Heist.

Cat in the Cage

Now Streaming on Amazon Prime

Release date: 1978
Director: Tony Zarindast
Cast: Colleen Camp, Sybil Danning, and Behrouz Vossoughi

If the tagline “the story of a cat, a household, and the horrible secret they share” appeals to you, then you really don’t need any further persuasion to watch this 1978 thriller. Colleen Camp (Clue) stars in the film, which follows a young man who returns home to his family estate following a stay in a mental hospital, only to discover that his dad up and married his dead wife’s nurse. It only gets more convoluted from there, as the new wife is plotting with her secret lover –  the family chauffeur – to murder the rich dad.

For fans of: Brian De Palma, Poison Ivy, and Elle.

Bonnie and Clyde

Now Streaming on Amazon Prime

Release date: 1967
Director: Arthur Penn
Cast: Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty, and Gene Hackman

Arthur Penn’s acclaimed romantic crime film retells the story of infamous duo Bonnie Parker (Dunaway) and Clyde Barrow (Beatty), who fell madly in love and set off on a violent crime spree across America in the 1930s. Dunaway is sublime as Bonnie, a young waitress whose life is frustratingly tedious and idle until she meets the charming Clyde.

For fans of: Point Break, Notorious, and Baby Driver.

Creepshow

Now Streaming on Shudder

Release date: 1982
Director: George A. Romero
Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Hal Holbrook, and Adrienne Barbeau

Written by Stephen King and based on the E.C. Comics of the same name, this horror anthology tells five bone-chilling stories, including the darkly comedic “Father’s Day” and the cringe-inducing “They’re Creeping Up on You.” King himself even has a small role in “The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill” (a name that will sound familiar to his Constant Readers).

For fans of: Stephen King, Sleepaway Camp, and Re-Animator.

Maniac

Now Streaming on Shudder

Release date: 1980
Director: William Lustig
Cast: Joe Spinell, Caroline Munro, and Abigail Clayton

This cult classic classic psycho-slasher stars Joe Spinell as Frank Zito – an Italian-American man whose childhood trauma has led him to become a serial killer who murders women and takes their scalps as trophies. Obviously, Maniac is not for the faint of heart; it’s one of the gnarlier – and grimier – slasher flicks of the era. Lustig, better known at the time for work directing pornographic features, used the profits from Hot Honey to fund Maniac, which was almost universally reviled upon its initial (unrated) release.

For fans of: Maniac (2012 remake), High Tension, and The Prowler (1981).

Liquid Sky

Now Streaming on Shudder

Release date: 1982
Director: Slava Tsukerman
Cast: Anne Carlisle, Paula E. Sheppard, and Susan Doukas

Aliens land on Earth looking for heroin (of all things), but instead – with the help of a drug dealer and her androgynous, bisexual lover – discover a drug far more potent than any opioid: Orgasms. Made for just $500,000, Liquid Sky went on to become the highest-grossing indie film of 1983, and inspired the electroclash movement that emerged in major cities around the world in the early 2000s. How’s that for influential?

For fans of: Hedwig and the Angry Inch, The Man Who Fell to Earth, and Nowhere.

Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels

Now Streaming on Kanopy

Release date: 1975
Director: Chantal Akerman
Cast: Delphine Seyrig, Jan Decorte, and Henri Storck

If you have an affinity for slow-burners and an entire Saturday afternoon on your hands, Chantal Akerman’s 1975 film is for you. Hailed by film critic Manohla Dargis as a “slow-boiling masterpiece,” Jeanne Dielman follows the title character – a housewife who performs sex work for extra cash on the side – through a typical day of tedious chores… until something happens that disrupts the monotony and threatens to destroy the comfortable structure she’s built around her life.

For fans of: A Woman Under the Influence, Repulsion, and Safe.

Belle de Jour

Now Streaming on Kanopy

Release date: 1967
Director: Luis Bunuel
Cast: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, and Michel Piccoli

Based on Joseph Kessel’s 1928 novel of the same name, Belle de Jour follows a repressed young housewife (Deneuve) who spends her afternoons as a sex worker while her husband is at work. Deneuve is phenomenal as Severine Serizy, the housewife who adopts the alias Belle de Jour as she embarks on a journey of self-exploration.

For fans of: Secretary, The Piano Teacher, and A Woman Is a Woman.

Daisies

Now Streaming on Kanopy

Release date: 1966
Director: Vera Chytilova
Cast: Ivana Karbanova, Jitka Cerhova, and Marie Ceskova

Vera Chytilova’s Czech New Wave comedy follows two teen girls – both named Marie – as they play eccentric pranks and ponder their existence. Daisies is a chaotic, dizzying piece of cinema that wonderfully refuses to conform to any structural or stylistic norms. Upon its initial release, Czech authorities banned the film for “depicting the wanton,” and Chytilova was not allowed to make movies in her home country again until 1975.

For fans of: The Color of Pomegranates, Yorgos Lanthimos, and Valerie and Her Week of Wonders.

Solaris

Now Streaming on Kanopy

Release date: 1972
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Cast: Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, and Juri Jarvet

Based on Stanislaw Lem’s 1961 novel, Tarkovsky’s mind-bending and poignant sci-fi thriller follows a psychologist sent to a space station orbiting the titular fictional planet to find out what has driven three crew members to the brink of insanity. While there, the psychologist begins experiencing the same devastating mental phenomenon that has taken over the rest of the crew.

For fans of: Steven Soderbergh’s Solaris, Lars Von Trier, and Moon.

The post Hidden Streams: An American Crime Classic, Russian Science Fiction, and ’80s Horror appeared first on /Film.

from /Film http://bit.ly/2EVleff