Shudder's Behind The Monsters Promises An In-Depth Look At Horror's Biggest Icons
Spooky season is officially upon us. If you're on the hunt for frightful flicks to add to your 31 days of horror marathon, you're going to want to give genre-centric streamer Shudder a look. The blood-lusting platform does, after all, play host to hundreds of horror treats from genre classics like "Halloween" and "Night of the Living Dead" to more modern creepers like "The House of the Devil" and "Mandy." And yes, they've even got an entire section dedicated to Giallo classics for all the Argento fans out there.
Like most streamers these days, Shudder has also been hard at it on the original content front of late, bolstering their blood-curdling slate of genre marvels with dozens of in-house productions and exclusives. Just FYI — they're about to unleash a new original docu-series that any fan of old-school slashers is going to want to add to their Shudder queue. It's called "Behind the Monsters," and it's set to take a deep dive into the making of some of the genre's most memorable and murderous madmen.
Behind the Monsters is perfect for October viewing
"Behind the Monsters" is hardly Shudder's first series dedicated to examining the horror genre. Past docs have found the streamer shining their unholy light on everything from the legacy of Black Americans in horror movies ("Horror Noire") to an in-depth study of "The Exorcist" from the POV of its legendary director. Where those were standalone films, Shudder's latest documentary is a multi-episode series, with each chapter dedicated to exploring the creation and legacy of a different killer from the slasher era.
While there are dozens of cinematic maniacs to choose from, "Behind the Monsters" will feature just six per its just-released trailer. Those six are more than worthy of the spotlight, however, with the series fronting the likes of Freddy Krueger ("A Nightmare on Elm Street"), Jason Voorhees ("Friday the 13th"), Chucky ("Child's Play"), Michael Meyers ("Halloween"), Pinhead ("Hellraiser"), and the hook-handed Candyman ("Candyman"). Each of those episodes will feature illuminating interviews with the actors and filmmakers who brought the horror icons to life, as well as experts well-steeped in the films, the characters, and each movie's place in the bloodied canon of slasher cinema.
It's unclear the order in which the episodes will arrive, but given that "Halloween" was the first to find its way to theaters, it would make a suitable opening act. Whatever the case, "Behind the Monsters" will debut just days before Halloween on October 27, 2021, with fresh episodes arriving weekly. So mark your spooky season calendar accordingly.