These 10 Underrated Movies Are Streaming Everywhere, so You Have No Excuse Not To Watch Them

Streaming has had a major impact on the way movies are made, distributed, and watched. For all the major effects streaming services have had on motion pictures, they’ve inspired just as much debate as to whether those effects have yielded a net positive or negative. Some argue that the theatrical experience will never be beat, while a certain CEO insists his streaming service is “saving movies,” much to the chagrin of fans and experts alike.

Regardless of what streaming may or may not be doing for the movies, one thing that cannot be denied is that they have made many movies more accessible than ever before. With hundreds of separate streaming services of both the pay and free varieties, there are thousands upon thousands of movies that are just a simple search away, which is good news for both viewers and for those movies that have flown under the radar for far too long. These are ten underrated movies currently streaming on multiple services, so there’s no excuse not to watch them.

10

‘The Hitch-Hiker’ (1953)

Directed by Ida Lupino

The Hitch-Hiker is a true crime noir that manages to wring an incredible amount of tension out of a simple premise and minimal cast and budget. It also happens to be the first film noir to be directed by a woman, which is more than enough reason that it should have a higher profile than just among genre cinephiles. Ida Lupino began her film career as an actress before forming an independent film company with her then-husband to produce low-budget movies that took on sometimes taboo subject matter.

The Hitch-Hiker was Lupino’s fifth credited film as director and was based on the real-life crime spree of Billy Cook. The plot centers on two friends who have headed out for a fishing trip when they pick up a hitchhiker who is wanted by the law. He takes the two men hostage, and a dark, days-long journey ensues. Lupino’s directorial career would eventually become relegated to episodes of television (including a disturbing Twilight Zone episode), but her work in film deserves a lot more recognition, and The Hitch-Hiker is as economical a thriller as any of her male contemporaries ever made.

9

‘The Last Man on Earth’ (1964)

Directed by Sidney Salkow and Ubaldo Ragona

Richard Matheson‘s post-apocalyptic horror novel I Am Legend has inspired three separate adaptations, including the eponymous 2007 film starring Will Smith and The Omega Man with Charlton Heston. The novel was also a major influence on George A. Romero‘s classic horror film Night of the Living Dead. There are whispers of that landmark horror film in the first adaptation of Matheson’s novel, The Last Man on Earth, which came out four years prior to Romero’s masterpiece.

Starring Vincent Price as the supposed sole survivor of a vampiric disease outbreak, the film hews closer to the novel than either of the later adaptations, likely due to the fact that Matheson himself had a hand in writing the screenplay, though he was disappointed in the final version of the film and went under a pseudonymous writing credit. The movie is rough around the edges and suffers from its low budget, but Price gives a terrifically haunted performance, and the film also nails the downbeat ending from the novel that was infamously ruined in the 2007 version.

8

‘Eight Men Out’ (1988)

Directed by John Sayles

Writer-director John Sayles has a career filled with underrated films. From his forgotten neo-Western starring Matthew McConaughey to his brilliantly satirical sci-fi comedy, Sayles has made enough hidden gems to fill out any film fanatic’s treasure chest. Add to that the wildly entertaining baseball period piece Eight Men Out. Based on the true story of the “Black Sox Scandal” and starring an incredible cast of up-and-coming talents, it’s one of the finest films to ever be made about America’s favorite pastime.

The film follows the 1919 White Sox team, who were widely considered one of the greatest ball clubs of all time but who considered themselves undervalued and underpaid by their owner, Charles Comiskey. Heading into the World Series, this discontent was taken advantage of by a group of shady gamblers and ruthless gangsters, who convinced a number of players to throw the series. Sayles captures the period with an incredible amount of detail, which is impressive considering the relatively low budget he was working with, and the cast is uniformly excellent, including John Cusack, Charlie Sheen, and David Strathairn as the put-upon ball players.

7

‘The Exorcist III’ (1990)

Directed by William Peter Blatty

The Exorcist is an essential horror film, while its first sequel is one of the worst. The Exorcist III, thankfully, comes far closer to the heights of the first film than it does the lows of the second. Directed by William Peter Blatty, who wrote the novel the original film was based on, as well as the novel Legion, which this film used as its basis, The Exorcist III blends police procedural with its demonic thrills to incredible effect. George C. Scott stars as Lieutenant Kinderman, taking over the role from the late Lee J. Cobb from the first movie, who is investigating a series of murders that seem to follow the methods of a serial killer who was previously executed years prior.

Despite spending a long period in development hell, during which time John Carpenter was approached to direct, and a contentious production which saw Blatty forced by the studio to reshoot the entire climax, the film still manages to maintain an aggressively unsettling atmosphere. It also features one of the all-time best jump scares that is best experienced unspoiled, if possible. The cast, beyond the always watchable Scott, is also terrific, with horror icon Brad Dourif stealing every scene as a very villainous entity. Despite all the recent attempts to reboot the franchise pulling influence from the original, this terrific third entry should be looked to for more devilish inspiration.

6

‘Fear of a Black Hat’ (1994)

Directed by Rusty Cundieff

A mockumentary in the vein of This is Spinal Tap, except instead of taking aim at heavy metal bands it focuses on early 90s hip-hop culture, Fear of a Black Hat was the directorial debut of Rusty Cundieff, who would follow it up with the social horror Tales From the Hood and would go on to direct multiple episodes of the influential sketch comedy series Chappelle’s Show. His first film was a critical success at the Sundance Film Festival but unfortunately bombed at the box office, likely due to its limited release, which was delayed after the release of the similar film CB4 starring Chris Rock.

Kasi Lemmons stars as a grad student producing a documentary on gangsta rap group N.W.H. (the W and H stand for With Hats, and the N should be self-explanatory) featuring the rappers Ice Cold, Tasty Taste, and Tone Def. The film parodies many of the biggest names in hip-hop at the time of its making, and also serves as an interesting time capsule of the era. The satire is sometimes broader than it is sharply critical, but the film is undeniably funny and is far too clever to have gone so unsung for so many years.

5

‘The Last Seduction’ (1994)

Directed by John Dahl

The most underrated film of 1994, The Last Seduction is a sultry, twisted neo-noir thriller that should’ve rightfully earned some recognition at the Academy Awards, but was screwed out of nominations thanks to a technicality. Linda Fiorentino earns a place among the greatest film femme fatales as a woman who runs away from her abusive husband with six figures in cash and finds herself a fine patsy in a seven-layer loser, played by future director Peter Berg.

Fiorentino burns the screen up with her presence, and director John Dahl excelled in his early career in creating these kinds of throwback thrillers. In addition to The Last Seduction, the director also helmed the neo-Western Red Rock West with Nicolas Cage and the road thriller Joy Ride. Although he’s carved out a fine career in his latter days directing for television, it’s a shame that he hasn’t returned to the silver screen to deliver more slick, sick thrills. The Last Seduction still kills thirty years on and deserves a resurrection.

4

‘Dirty Work’ (1998)

Directed by Bob Saget

The comedy world lost a true original when Norm Macdonald died, but his legacy lives on thanks to the myriad compilations that have resurfaced from his time on Saturday Night Live, as the world’s most quick-witted talk show host, and in the filthy genius of Dirty Work. Co-written by Macdonald and directed by fellow fallen comedian Bob Saget, Dirty Work features the same kind of low-key brilliance mixed with low-brow humor as seen in the films of Norm Macdonald and his contemporaries, such as Wayne’s World and Happy Gilmore, but hasn’t enjoyed the same cult success as those films have.

Starring Macdonald alongside Artie Lange as two ne’er-do-well friends who decide to start a business that offers the unique service of revenge to its clients in order to save Lange’s sick father, played by the veteran Jack Warden. In addition to the late Warden, the film also features a pantheon of comedic talents in small roles, including Chevy Chase, Don Rickles, and Chris Farley. The film was originally written to be a raunchy R-rated comedy, but was unfortunately cut down at the insistence of the studio. Even in its neutered form on streaming, the film is a laugh riot, but for ’90s comedy purists, the physical media label Vinegar Syndrome has also put out a restored version of the original R-rated cut.

3

‘The Man From Earth’ (2007)

Directed by Richard Schenckman

The science fiction genre has a galaxy’s worth of films that are underrated or vastly underappreciated, but even among those films, the cerebral The Man From Earth is overlooked and deserves far more recognition. Set entirely around one house during a party, and consisting only of dialogue that often takes the form of philosophical and intellectual debates, the movie might be a challenge for those who prefer their sci-fi to feature space battles or acid-blooded aliens, but it is incredibly rewarding viewing.

Professor John Oldman, played by David Lee Smith, is leaving his teaching position, and his fellow academics have joined him for a farewell get-together, at which John reveals to his colleagues that he is, in fact, an ancient being who has lived for thousands of years. This inspires much debate and probing from the intellectuals, which begins with historical curiosity and eventually leads to headier debates about religion. The Man From Earth has more interesting ideas and does more with a talented cast and a sharp screenplay than entire decades of Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters have.

2

‘The Man From Nowhere’ (2010)

Directed by Lee Jeong-beom

South Korean cinema broke into the American mainstream in a major way in the 21st century, with films like Oldboy and Parasite leaving lasting cultural footprints on Hollywood. Somewhere among the deluge of South Korean action films that have crossed over to the States, the well-reviewed martial arts film The Man From Nowhere got lost, despite its major influence on action franchises like John Wick.

Won Bin plays a quiet man with a mysterious past (is there any other kind in movies?), who ends up unleashing his particular set of skills on a drug smuggling ring, when his young child neighbor is taken captive. The film is lethally efficient in its action, and bloody brutal as well, with one standout knife fight shot in POV. Fans of the intense R-rated action that has strongly come back into vogue over the last decade and a half owe it to themselves to check this one out.

1

‘Dave Made a Maze’ (2017)

Directed by Bill Watterson

Dave Made a Maze is a weird and wonderfully imaginative adventure that is better experienced than it is described. The story begins with an aimless artist named Dave, who builds an impossibly large cardboard maze in his house, which proves to be filled with a variety of perils for Dave’s girlfriend and friends as they try to make their way through it.

The plot and characters are about as thin as the production design, but the film’s visual creativity is boundless. Dave Made a Maze has few comparisons when it comes to its makeshift world, and will be well appreciated by fans of fantasy comedies. While A Minecraft Movie has become a global blockbuster with overblown CGI and empty fan service, Dave Made a Maze is a proper example of the kind of creative energy and imagination that made that video game so popular in the first place, and it does it all with effects that can be purchased at a Home Depot.

NEXT: 10 Flops From the 2010s Destined To Become Cult Classics