Okay, I’m clearly out of touch. Redbox is more than a kiosk that you rent movies from? You can also watch stuff for FREE , including horror? I knew you could on Crackle, but good to know about Redbox, too, especially since both have some great new additions for May 2023.
Although, there’s a lot of crossover between the two also. Which makes sense considering Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment now owns both. For instance, The Sonata and The Clearing, both of which were Crackle originals, are now available on Redbox this month. (The Clearing is also available again on Crackle this month.) And both Crackle and Redbox have movies likes Halloween (1978), Train to Busan (2016), and Marrowbone (2017). (Just to name a few.)
Yet they also very much have their own catalog of titles too, so they’re not mimicking each other by any means. Like, The Blackcoat’s Daughter will be on Redbox, but not Crackle, while the Crackle original series The Unknown won’t be on Redbox.
In case you’re like me and haven’t ever checked out either venue before, they both have a ton of horror titles. However, let’s check out the free horror titles that became available on both Crackle and Redbox as of May 1, 2023 (unless otherwise indicated).
May 2023 Free Horror Titles on Redbox
Train to Busan
While a zombie virus breaks out in South Korea, passengers struggle to survive on the train from Seoul to Busan.
Cast: Gong Yoo (Squid Game), Jung Yu-Mi (The School Nurse Files)
The Blackcoat’s Daughter (available 5/18)
Two girls must battle a mysterious evil force when they get left behind at their boarding school over winter break.
Cast: Emma Roberts (Scream Queens, American Horror Story), Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina)
V/H/S Viral
After watching on the news that an out-of-control ice cream truck is being chased by the police, a group of teens hell-bent on capturing the next viral video set out to chase the van.
Let the Right One In
Oscar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire.
Cast: Kare Hedebrant (Cupid’s Balls), Lina Leandersson (Broken Hill Blues)
The Sonata
A gifted musician (Freya Tingley) inherits a mansion after her long lost father (Rutger Hauer) dies under mysterious circumstances. She discovers his last musical masterpiece riddled with cryptic symbols that unravels an evil secret.
Cast: Freya Tingley (Freya Tingley), Rutger Hauer (Bladerunner)
Exorcist III
Ignoring Exorcist II: The Heretic, this one deals with a serial killer who was executed the same night of the exorcism in the first film with the girl Regan. The priest who fell down the flight of steps was been taken into the spirit of the killer to claim victim after victim some 20 years later.
Cast: George C. Scott (Patton), Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest)
John Dies at the End
A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return no longer human. Can two college drop-outs save humanity from this silent, otherworldly invasion?
Cast: Chase Williamson (The Guest), Paul Giamatti (Billions)
Phantasm III
Mike and Reggie continue to hunt the mysterious Tall Man, discovering along the way that the invasion has already begun.
Cast: Reggie Bannister (L.A. Law), A. Michael Baldwin (Phantasm)
The Clearing
A father must battle his way through the zombie apocalypse to save his daughter.
Cast: Liam McIntyre (Spartacus), Aundea Smith (Zombies)
The Void
A blood-soaked man limping down a deserted road is rushed by officer Carter to a nearby hospital with a skeleton crew. Trapped inside by hooded figures, Carter discovers that the patients and staff are transforming into something inhuman.
Cast: Aaron Poole (Most Dangerous Game), Ellen Wong (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World)
Murder Party
A random invitation to a Halloween party leads a man into the hands of a rogue collective intent on murdering him for the sake of their art, sparking a bloodbath of mishap, mayhem and hilarity.
Cast: Chris Sharp (I Don’t Feel At Home in This World Anymore), Stacy Rock (Blue Ruin)
Camp Cold Brook
A paranormal team sets to check out an abandoned summer camp where a mass murder had taken place decades previous.
Cast: Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill), Danielle Harris (Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead)
May 2023 Free Horror Titles on Crackle
Note: All are feature films unless otherwise specified.
In the Flesh (TV Series)
Four years after the Rising, the government starts to rehabilitate the Undead for reentry into society, including teenager Kieren Walker, who returns to his small Lancashire village to face a hostile reception, as well as his own demons.
Cast: Luke Newberry (Gentelman Jack), Harriet Cains (Bridgerton)
Demons (Limited Series)
A teen who discovers he’s a descendant of legendary vampire slayer Van Helsing takes up his destiny to seek out and destroy vampires.
Cast: Philip Glenister (Kingdom of Heaven), Zoe Tapper (Survivors)
South of Hell (TV Series)
A supernatural thriller set in South Carolina, South of Hell focuses on Maria Abascal, a stunning demon-hunter-for-hire whose power stems from within.
Cast: Mena Suvari (American Beauty), Lamman Rucker (Meet the Browns)
Ghost Wars (Crackle Exclusive Series)
A remote Alaskan town that has been overrun by paranormal forces. Local outcast Roman Mercer must overcome the town’s prejudices and his own personal demons if he’s to harness his repressed psychic powers and save everyone.
Cast: Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap), Kim Coates (Sons of Anarchy)
Dark Shadows (TV Series, Available May 4)
The rich Collins family of Collinsport, Maine is tormented by strange occurrences.
The Unknown (Crackle Original Limited Series)
In this Crackle Original Series, an anonymous blogger attempts to uncover the strange occurrences, supernatural events and conspiracy theories that are intentionally kept hidden from the world.
Cast: Dominic Monaghan (The Lord of the Rings), Brian Krause (Charmed)
Halloween
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis (Knives Out), Donald Pleasence (Escape From New York)
Gabriel
Fallen angel Sammael has claimed the midworld in the name of darkness. With the help of his menacing, gun-toting task force, he has smothered the dark, dreary city in vice, violence and cruelty. Sammael’s victory is assured–until the arrival of Gabriel, the last of Heaven’s seven archangels. Gabriel is young, strong and the mightiest warrior seen since Michael, his predecessor, disappeared. In no time, Gabriel’s bravery and skill threaten to decimate Sammael’s evil henchmen and redeem Jade, the lost angel with the heart of gold. But Sammael has one last card to play: the secret of his own past, the knowledge of which could destroy Gabriel forever.
The Caller
Troubled divorcee Mary Kee (Rachelle Lefevre, Twilight) is tormented by a series of sinister phone calls from a mysterious woman. When the stranger implies that she’s calling from the past, Mary tries to break off contact. But the caller doesn’t like being ignored, and looks for revenge in a unique and terrifying way. Also starring Stephen Moyer (HBO’s True Blood).
Let the Right One In
Oscar, an overlooked and bullied boy, finds love and revenge through Eli, a beautiful but peculiar girl who turns out to be a vampire.
Monsters
Six years ago NASA discovered the possibility of alien life within our solar system. A probe was launched to collect samples, but crashed upon reentry over Central America.
Cast: Scoot McNairy (Argo), Whitney Able (Godless)
Phantasm
A teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber known only as the Tall Man, who keeps a lethal arsenal of terrible weapons with him.
Cast: Bill Thornbury (The Lost Empire), A. Michael Baldwin (Voyagers!)
Prom Night
The anniversary of the death of a girl playing hide-and-seek with four friends coincides six years later with prom night. One by one the remaining four are killed until only one remains. All time top domestic box-office grosser ($6,000,000) Variety 01/14/81 list.
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis (Halloween), Leslie Nielsen (Airplane!)
For More Info
Visit https://www.redbox.com and https://www.crackle.com.
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Did you know you can watch things for free on Redbox.com?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
I sure didn’t! I’ve been using the library’s free streaming service when I have the time… (which is hardly ever…ha!)
Oooo! Your library offers a free streaming service? That’s SO freaking cool!