List: Horror Films that will be Removed From Netflix

Click to EnbiggenAs many of you already know, Netflix and Starz were unable to make a deal to continue their licensing agreement and, beginning next year, Starz content will not be available for streaming.  In one way, this isn't terrible news, since the quality of the Starz streaming seemed worse than average, but Starz will be taking a number of genre films with it, and that is not a good thing.  I'm a horror fanatic at heart, so I'll start with those films.  Sci-fi and Fantasy losses will be coming soon.  I've included a bit of parenthetical commentary for the films, but mostly this is just a FYI post.  (By the way, the links go to IMDB unless there is a review here or on The Blackest Eyes, in which case they go to the review).

• The Crazies (Re-make)
• Jason X (I like this one better than most F13th fans)
• The Forgotten (big-budget snoozefest)
• Red Dragon (Manhunter is better anyway)
• Blade II (del Toro + Glittery Vampire Death)
• Hellboy (del Toro + much awesome sauce)
• Tales from the Hood (fun, if uneven, anthology of urban horror)
• House of 9 ("let's spend a night in a haunted house")
• Fragile (a Fangoria Presents film)
• His name was Jason (F13th documentary, should be "is Jason")
• Zombiemania (I need to see this zombie movie documentary)
• Haunting of Molly Hartley (no idea, but it has a 3.9 on IMDB)
• Staunton Hill (not a clue, 3.7 on IMDB)
• Igor and the Lunatics (looks like cheesy goodness other than the 2.6 IMDB rating--yikes!)
• Zombie Island Massacre (not much else to do on a zombie island)
• Bloodsucking Cinema (vampire movie documentary)
• Dracula [1979]  (This is one of my guilty pleasures)
• Laid to Rest
• Popcorn (I played this to death on VHS back in the day--decent slasher)
• Brush with Death
• Frankenstein Unbound (nice cast, slightly underated)
• Maniacts (alleged horror "comedy")
• The Tomb (Fangoria Presents, adaptation of Poe's Ligeia)
• Redneck Zombies
• Monster in the Closet (so, so bad)
• Nightbeast (more evidence that Troma has no quality control department)
• Dracula Vs. Frankenstein (should be more fun than it is)
• Frightmare 
• Terror Firmer (a Ron Jeremy movie you can show your mother, but you still shouldn't)
• Blood Hook (had a great box cover/poster back in the day, I don't remember the film)
• Beware, Children at Play (least scary horror film title, ever)
• Bugged (the film Skeeter wanted to be)
• House of Skull Mountain (used to go for a fortune on VHS before the DVD release)
• Graduation Day (a young Vanna White in a slasher film)
• Body Snatchers (I really like this 90's take on the pod people story)
• I Spit on Your Corpse (now, that's rude!)
• All Soul's Day (stars Melitta from Spartacus, which is a good thing)
• Blades (a killer lawnmower, bless their little hearts)
• The Asylum [2000] (in the running for most-used horror-film title)
• Frostbiter (craptacular, manages to be the worst of the wendigo movies)
• Bloodspell (part of a Troma triple feature)
• Don't Torture a Duckling (seminal Fulci film, watch this one first)

I may have missed a few, and I certainly left out some borderline thrillers, Troma films, and other oddities that might interest horror fans.  We have a few months left to watch these movies, so get cracking.  I'm going to start with the documentaries.  There just aren't enough horror-centric docs, and very few of them are any good.  I'll check in later with the sci-fi movies.

Netflix comes to Wii: For Parents, it is a mixed blessing...

We've finally got some time with the Wii version of Netflix streaming. Despite the fact that I have four devices in my home that can stream Netflix content, the Wii release is exciting for a few reasons.  First, like many families, our Wii is not hooked up to our main television.  The Wii doesn't support HD and doesn't benefit from being on our main setup, so it is in the little home theater area we set up in the children's playroom.  This meant that if Netflix worked smoothly, my daughter could take in an episode of iCarly or whatever while we watched other things on the big screen.  We don't have a sattelite receiver on that set because we strictly monitor what our children are allowed to watch.  This brings me to my second reason for anticipating the Wii release.  Since the Wii is a family-friendly console, I had hoped that the parental controls for the Netflix software would be more flexible and utilitarian than they are on the competing consoles.  Unfortunately, though the interface, controls, and streaming work really well in the Wii version, Netflix Wii features no additional parental controls beyond those built into the console.  Overall, this is a successful release, but there are some improvements I'd like to see in later releases.

If you have used Netflix streaming on the Xbox and PS3, you will notice that the Wii versiion more closely resembles the PS3 software.  The most obvious similarity is the need to load the software off disc each time you use it.  This is clunky and means the kids (or adults) have to keep up with a disc and keep it scratch free.  Speculation (though nothing official has been released) is that the disc is a way around an exclusivity agreement signed with Microsoft when Netflix first appeared on the Xbox 360.  Whatever the reason, the disc-based method is clumsy and I'd like to see a workaround as soon as possible.

Once the software is installed, there is little difference in the service.  The interface resembles that of the PS3.  The Wii-mote is fine for selecting the drop-down category menu and for scrolling through the available films and televison shows.  Once a program has been selected, it loads a bit quicker than the other versions, perhaps because it doesn't require a test for connection quality that the others use to scale the quality of the picture.  The max quality here is roughly the equivalent of the mid-range quality on the PS3, PC, and Xbox streams.  I watched a variety of programs and the only noticeably bad quality was on the Starz branded films.  Otherwise, the picture quality looked pretty much like standard definition cable television.  I really can't say I miss the HD since the television we have the Wii on is an old, standard definition CRT.  I can't imagine too many people own HD sets yet only have the Wii as an option for streaming Netflix.  Obviously, if you have HD and an Xbox, PS3, or supported Blu-ray player, those are a better option.  Otherwise, the Wii does a solid job delivering the content.

(If you don't have kids, or don't care what they watch, you can skip the next section) 

Before I watched a single program, I played around with the parental controls.  I had hoped to have flexible parental controls built in to the Netflix program itself.  Unfortunately, there are none.  Instead, parents only have the option to turn on the network parental controls on the Wii.  Anyone who has used that to block network access will know that it is an all or nothing feature.  If it is on, a password must be entered before the Netflix program will launch.  Once that password is entered, parents can't set a rating level for the films that can be watched.  This seems like a huge oversight.  I would have liked to have seen it on the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, but I actually expected it for the Wii--a system that sees lots of its base installed in children's bedrooms and playrooms.  So be warned, if you leave your kid watching Angelina the Ballerina, you can return to them watching Spartacus: Blood and Sand, assuming your kid has no taste in television shows whatsoever.

Overall, Netflix streaming for the Wii is a welcome product.  I have a one-year old passed out on the couch at the moment and my daughter is watching Angelina Ballerina in the toy room, far enough away to not wake the little one.  The fact that so many Wiis see installation away from the main entertainment center means this release give families more flexibility in their entertainment options.  The fact that it works well and is easy to navigate makes the release even better.  Only the lack of parental controls keeps me from being completely satisfied with the release.  So, Netflix and Nintendo, if you could get on with that, I'm sure lots of parents would appreciate it.

I'll leave it at that and wait for the snarky comments about how it is not Nintendo or Netflix's job to monitor my kids.  As always, I'll assume those comments are coming from 15 year-old Nintendo fanboys with no children of their own.