When it comes to streaming, there will always be the giants of the industry, with few able to compete with the likes of Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+. Yet, to limit oneself to the major ones is missing out on a lot of great content. Those who like to dig a little deeper for hidden gems know that not everything they want is easy to track down. Whether you are a fan of indie films, documentaries, cult hits, international, art-house, or unearthed classics, these streaming services offer a significantly larger selection than what’s available on the major platforms.
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Eternal Family
If you think you have seen everything there is to see, Eternal Family has such sights to show you. An eccentric collection, Eternal Family offers up films, shorts, and found media from all corners of the world; we guarantee you will find plenty of bizarre movies you have never heard of or even envisioned would make it to streaming.
The Most Eccentric Collection of Media Online
It can be overwhelming when first landing on the page, with so many obscure titles here, but the streaming platform does also boast some established cult-classic titles alongside its one-of-a-kind collection. Start with the Italian horror film The Church, or the B-superhero flick The Return of Swamp Thing, and pretty soon you’ll find yourself obsessed with bizarre foreign fantasy kids’ movies and quirky PSA’s from a bygone era.
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Found TV
Once you have been inducted into the found footage fandom, you will discover a plethora of rabid fans who watch anything and everything in the format. This is how Found TV came about, catering to those who love shaky cams and jump scares. While the genre can get a bit of a bad wrap, its continued growth is due to its affordability and its ability to put the power of filmmaking in the hands of many. Because the format is easily accessible for filmmakers, though hard to finesse, some of the most inventive horror films are being made in the found footage format.
Found TV is a free platform that also boasts originals alongside favorites in the found footage genre. Going in and just picking something that stands out is the best way to browse the catalog, but if you want a few hidden gems, consider checking out A Record of Sweet Murder, Don’t Peek, NightShot, Savageland, or Tokyo Videos of Horror.
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Arrow Video
You know that film by an international director that got a buzz on the festival circuit last year, or maybe that one cult film that is beloved but hard to find at high quality? Chances are, Arrow Video is streaming it. While Arrow Video is primarily known for its physical releases of titles, the British distributor has dipped their toes into streaming, offering up a large mash-up of cult and future cult titles.
Curated Cult Titles and Themed Lists
Digging into their catalog will open up a lot of lesser-known cult titles. For example, the site features the Vice Academy series, a perfect watch for those who enjoyed the recent spoof-heavy relaunch of Naked Gun. The streaming platform’s collections are also wonderfully labeled to tease fans, from the cheeky “Not for Everyone” to the little-known outside of Japan “Ero Guro” collection. You can find gems while immersing yourself in the rich history of global cinema.
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Troma Now
Troma has long been heralded as the company that thrives in the cult space, having made such classics as Toxic Avenger, and Tromeo and Juliet in-house while also buying up multiple strange titles from around the world in the horror, sci-fi, action, and comedy genres. More recently, they have seen commercial success and a sort of trash renaissance with the hyped release of the Toxic Avenger reboot.
Decades of Experience Curating Cult Content
Troma Now has all the company’s classic titles, like Cannibal the Musical, Class of Nuke’em High, and Bloodsucking Freaks, all in glorious 4K. Still, their greater catalog extends past that to offer up a radioactive container’s worth of cinematic oddities. This ranges from family-friendly entertainment oddities adults can enjoy, including the animated Toxic Avenger series, to a Punk/Queer cinema collection. The platform also houses Rifftrax, the spiritual successor to MST3K, for those who want to share a laugh with some professional movie riffers.
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Retro Crush
For many fans of anime, the golden age of the genre belongs to a time past, with the late ’80s and ’90s delivering some of the best anime movies and TV series. How can you compete with Sailor Moon, Cowboy Bebop, and Dragon Ball when discussing the most iconic anime of all time? Retro Crush delivers classic anime titles from the golden age of the genre, both popular and lesser-known titles (they also carry some classic live-action movies from the era).
Presenting the Best of the Golden Era of Anime Alongside Hidden Gems
There is a selection of modern anime titles as well to be found on Retro Crush, but you are going to want to spend most of your time on the classics. Anime fans owe it to themselves to binge City Hunter, offered in dub or Sub, and check out hidden movie gems like Robot Carnival or The Night on the Galactic Railroad. While the site does have premium content, the ones we mentioned above are all free to stream.
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Rakuten Viki
Rakuten Viki has been around for a decade and has over 100 million registered users. So why have you, the reader of this, likely never heard of it? The California-based streaming giant focuses entirely on Asian content, with a massive library of exclusive TV dramas and movies not found anywhere else. If you want a romance series from Asia to binge, the streaming platform has more of a selection than Netflix.
A Massive Collection of Asian Series and Movies
Boasting free and premium content, classic beloved series alongside originals, Rakuten Viki offers up an immeasurable amount of steamy drama, period pieces, and fantasy series. Check out the popular or trending sections, or dig deep into the bowels of your favorite category and pick a title that sounds like the perfect binge session for yourself.
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Guide Doc
Documentaries have become somewhat of a niche interest, sadly, and sometimes the offerings on major platforms try to tap into sensationalism to craft an entertaining narrative instead of focusing on the facts. Guide Doc offers both exciting documentaries and a wide range of films on various subjects that cater to niche interests beyond your flavor-of-the-week Trainwreck entry. If you’re looking for a documentary on a specific topic, or to educate yourself on a myriad of important issues, you may just find it on Guide Doc.
The Place for Engaging and Award-Winning Documentaries
When it comes to documentaries, viewers will likely want to stick with their interest, but the streaming platform does house some notable documentaries worth mentioning. Workingman’s Death is a visually stunning documentary that chronicles the deadly working lives of people in the most impoverished corners of the world. Or, if you are looking for something more uplifting, check out The Man Who Skied Down Everest, the 1975 award-winning doc that tells the remarkable story of Japanese skier Yuichiro Miura.
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Fandor
Fandor has been around since 2010, and was billed as the Netflix for indie films in its earliest iteration. While the platform’s history has seen its ups and downs, including a change of ownership and a shutdown, it was revived in 2021. Fandor continues to champion independent cinema, expanding its catalog beyond the label to offer a diverse range of cinematic gems.
Home of Indie and International Cinema
Jumping around the globe and in different decades is the best way to experience the diverse catalog on offer from Fandor. You can start in the U.S. and cozy up with the touching story of strangers finding each other through music with American Folk, before heading over to Italy to watch the ’60s classic Western Django, then head to New Zealand to watch the underrated Sam Neill-led Sleeping Dogs. There is a lot to enjoy on Fandor that you won’t find elsewhere.
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