I didn’t plan this. That’s the beauty of a horror streaming spiral—it just happens. You open Shudder thinking, I’ll just browse for a minute, and the next thing you know you’re watching a post-apocalyptic angel of wrath followed by a cursed ski resort slasher from the ‘80s and closing it all out with a sitcom where “at 12 minutes, Stan falls off the roof backwards, yet he is pictured lying face down” (thanks IMDB Trivia). This is what Super Shudder is all about: one night, three choices—two movies (pre- and post-2000), one TV episode, all straight from the bowels of Shudder’s digital crypt.
So here’s how the inaugural lineup played out:
Azrael (2024), Iced (1988), Stan Against Evil, Season 1 Episode 1 (2016).
Let’s get weird.
Azrael (2024)
I started with Azrael, the new hot drop with Samara Weaving front and center, because why not lead off with a potential banger? Turns out—this one’s mostly vibes. And I’m cool with that.
Set in a grim, near-silent wasteland where language has been banned by some sort of fascist cult (??), Azrael goes hard on atmosphere and light on context. There’s barely any dialogue, the world-building is all visual, and Weaving has maybe three lines total. She plays the titular Azrael—part victim, part unstoppable vengeance engine—who gets tangled up in a ritual sacrifice situation that naturally goes sideways.
What works? The look. This thing is shot gorgeously. Dust-choked forests, pagan freaks in DIY bone armor, high-contrast lighting that makes every silhouette look like a death metal album cover. It’s Mad Max by way of Valhalla Rising. The action pops in bursts, and the pacing’s tight enough that even when you don’t fully know what’s happening, you’re still locked in.
What doesn’t work? If you’re looking for character depth or clarity, maybe try literally anything else. This is tone-first, baby. It’s a metal album cover come to life, and on that front, it rips.
Vibe Check:
Moody, brutal, and kind of beautiful in its own dead-eyed way. Perfect starter for a night where logic doesn’t matter.
Iced (1988)
Now we’re talking. Nothing screams “pre-2000 Shudder pick” like a mostly-forgotten slasher set at a ski lodge. Iced is pure rental-era trash: bad acting, worse ADR, neon snowsuits, and a killer with ski goggles and a deeply vague motive.
The plot is textbook slasher nonsense. A group of thirtysomethings who are allegedly old ski buddies reunite years after a tragic death on the slopes. One by one, they get murdered in ridiculous ways—sometimes involving ski poles, sometimes involving hot tubs, always involving awkward line delivery.
But man, it’s fun. The pacing drags in the middle (shoutout to that one random guy doing coke alone for what feels like 45 minutes), but the kills are goofy, the synth score is legitimately awesome, and the vibes are just pure 1988 VHS fuzz. No one in this movie acts like a real person and that’s part of the magic. Also, you get a chainsaw chase on a snowy hill. In ski boots. If you know, you know.
Vibe Check:
Imagine The Shining if it was directed by a regional beer commercial director with a cocaine problem and a mannequin budget. Essential trash.
Stan Against Evil – Season 1, Episode 1
To close the night out, I needed something lighter—and Shudder’s been quietly stocking up on weird little horror-comedy shows, so I fired up Stan Against Evil. Never saw it before. Now I’m mad I slept on it.
First episode kicks off with Stan (John C. McGinley, in full grump mode), a recently fired small-town sheriff whose wife just died under some very sketchy circumstances. He teams up (grudgingly) with his replacement, a no-bullshit sheriff named Evie, and wouldn’t you know it—there’s a demonic plague tied to the town’s past, and ghosts and ghouls are just lining up to wreck their lives.
This show doesn’t reinvent anything, but it’s fast, funny, and way gorier than I expected. The tone is somewhere between Evil Dead II and Ash vs Evil Dead, but filtered through late-night Adult Swim energy. The monster effects are practical and janky in all the right ways. And McGinley kills it—he’s playing the same cranky dude he always does, but now he’s yelling at demons.
Vibe Check:
Chill, cheap, fun. Like watching Buffy after two beers. I’m in.
Final Thoughts – Super Shudder Vol. 1 Wrap-Up
This lineup? Weirdly cohesive for being completely random. Azrael gave me arthouse rage, Iced brought the analog sleaze, and Stan Against Evil sent me to bed with a smile and a decapitation. That’s a full-course horror meal. This is why I love Shudder—it’s the only place where you can watch an ultra-modern silent death cult movie and follow it up with a slasher that looks like it was edited on a toaster.
Night Score: 3.5 out of 5 evil snowboards.
Because the only thing scarier than a demon is a reunion ski trip in 1988.
