What's new on Netflix this week?

Netflix has been a busy little bugger lately, adding all kinds of interesting new movies & TV shows to their library. Of course most of them aren't Horror or Genre related, but there are a few...

*Be sure to click the banner above to be taken to our full What's On Netflix? page, where you can find a bigger listing of Horror related titles streaming on Netflix.

The Middlins of 2014

Before we get into the Best & Worst Movies of 2014, we have to take a minute to make mention of the year's Middlins. What is a Middlin, you ask? Well the term is taken from the idiom "Fair to Middling," which for our purposes, can mean a few different things:

• Above average, but didn't make our "Best of 2014" list.
• Good, but had issues.
• Average.
• Not that great, but had some redeeming qualities.
  

Basically, these are the movies of 2014 that were "Not good enough to be one of The Best, but not bad enough to be one of The Worst." It's all subjective, of course, but we have to draw the line somewhere.

All of these movies are worth a watch.

*For more info on these movies, click through to the reviews.


A few quick notes:

• About the movies on this list that we didn't review outright: Deliver Us From Evil was a solid movie, much better than most critics gave it credit for; ditto, The Quiet Ones; Stonehearst Asylum was a really good flick, just not very Horror-like; The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears isn't much more than an odd curiosity, but it is a gorgeous one; V/H/S is as mediocre as every film in the series has been, and that's us being generous. Blah.
• We really liked Afflicted, Asmodexia, and The Damned a lot.
  
• We found All Cheerleaders Die, Housebound, Odd Thomas, and Open Grave to be above average, each in their own way, they just didn't make the cut for our "Best of" list.

What's new on VOD this week?

Another Christmas has come and gone, and if you're anything like us, relaxing and catching your breath is the #1 priority this weekend... and what better way to do that than by renting a new movie or two on VOD! *There are surely better ways, but this is a VOD column, so...

*Annabelle and The Guest have been in Early Release on VOD since 12/16, but we're including them here due to the fact that we did not do a VOD column last week.

** [REC] 4: Apocalypse was originally available in Early Release on Amazon Instant this week, but it looks like they've yanked it for some reason. It sees a proper release next week, so no big deal.

Annabelle: John Form has found the perfect gift for his expectant wife, Mia - a beautiful, rare vintage doll in a pure white wedding dress. But Mia's delight with Annabelle doesn't last long. On one horrific night, their home is invaded by members of a satanic cult, who violently attack the couple. Spilled blood and terror are not all they leave behind. The cultists have conjured an entity so malevolent that nothing they did will compare to the sinister conduit to the damned that is now... Annabelle..

You know, Annabelle isn't a bad movie, in fact, it's a pretty good one. It is however a bad Horror movie in that it didn't creep us out at all, and there were times that we actually laughed at some of the evil doll's antics. It's a shame too, because that frigging doll really skeeved us out when we saw The Conjuring last Summer. Meh.

You can buy Annabelle early on Digital HD HERE. *Or you can wait and rent it when it's released on 1/20.

Gone Girl: On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne reports that his wife, Amy, has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick's portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behavior have everyone asking the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?

We really liked Gone Girl, but then again we're huge fans of David Fincher, so make of that what you will. If you've read the book, the movie version does it great justice from start to finish. We hated the book ending though, and it's no different in the movie, but at least it plays well on screen. It's definitely worthy of a rental, or a buy, if you're so inclined.

You can buy Gone Girl early on Digital HD HERE. *Or you can wait and rent it when it's released on 1/13.

The Guest: A soldier introduces himself to the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their son who died in action. After the young man is welcomed into their home, a series of accidental deaths seem to be connected to his presence.

The Guest is one of our favorite movies of 2014 from any Genre, and if you've been thinking about giving it a go, just do it. You won't be sorry. Read our review below, to get a more in-depth look into why you should.

You can buy The Guest early on Digital HD HERE. *Or you can wait and rent it when it's released on 1/6.

Read our review of The Guest HERE.

Sanatorium: In 1955, a insane patient left his room, walking to the children's ward. There he killed three children while they were asleep. Now, a group of paranormal investigators will go into the asylum where the killer's ghost supposedly still lies.

The trailer for Sanatorium looks alright, but in all honesty, we're not expecting it to be any different from every other Found Footage flick that involves a group of people investigating a supposedly haunted building. Hopefully it will be clever and offer us some genuine scares. Hopefully.

You can rent Sanatorium HERE.