Shudder has established itself as a major force in modern horror, with Good Boy highlighting exactly why they’re doing so well. The streaming series launched in 2015 and has subsequently become one of the de facto homes for horror in the streaming era. This has also included an increasing number of original content, including documentaries and TV shows.

Their original films have also increasingly found success, starting with early critical darlings like Blood Quantum and Scare Me that established the streamer as a good home for inventive new takes on classic formats. Their 2025 slate has only improved on 2024’s impressive run of original horror movies on Shudder, further cementing it as the future of the genre.

Good Boy Is The Latest Shudder Experiment To Pay Off

Shudder has increasingly been establishing itself as a major player in original horror with experimental takes on the genre, with the success of Good Boy further cementing its wins critically and commercially. Good Boy is a well-executed filmmaking experiment. Grounding a typical ghost story entirely from a dog’s perspective is a tricky ask for audiences.

Luckily, the experiment paid off. Good Boy is terrific, expertly using a small cast and a contained setting to great effect. It leaves the filmmakers with the room to underscore the emotional core of the story, and the freedom afforded to the filmmakers ensured that the movie could confidently have a short-run time that doesn’t risk ruining the effect.

Good Boy isn’t just a hit with horror fans, either. Despite the potential hurdles of selling the concept to a wide audience, Good Boy has earned an impressive box office for its indie release, earning $2.4 million at the box office. That almost makes up for its entire budget. It’s also done very well with critics and audiences alike.

Good Boy is another strong theatrical release by Shudder and IFC, following the success of In a Violent Nature and Late Night with the Devil. On top of this, Shudder became the home for the V/H/S series, and the series found new heights with the release of the critically acclaimed V/H/S/Halloween.

This year, the streamer has also released critically acclaimed films like The Ugly Stepsister and The Surrender. It’s also set to release Queens of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. All of these films are unapologetically driven by a female or LGBT+ focus that can feel underserved in the genre but fit in perfectly with Shudder’s wide-ranging experimental approach to horror.

Even beyond those successes, films like Clown in a Cornfield have also proven to be surprise hits before making their way to Shudder. All of this goes to show how horror remains a profitable and creatively fertile genre, and highlights how Shudder has perfected a creative focus and reliable release strategy that audiences are embracing.

How Shudder Has Cornered The Market On Inventive Horror

The thing that makes Shudder’s recent string of successes all the more impressive is how varied their releases have been. Shudder isn’t just leaning into one horror genre and doubling down on it. Rather, their embrace of experimentation in the genre has resulted in very different films, many of which are successes.

V/H/S/Halloween isn’t just a fresh couple of swings at the found-footage sub-genre; it’s a gleefully gory throwback to creature effects of horror’s schlocky past. It also came out the same week as Good Boy, a low-key and emotionally powerful film that features very few overt jump scares. This highlights how impressive and varied Shudder’s film catalog has become.

Queens of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ is just as funny as it is scary, while The Ugly Stepsister brings the undeniable body horror of a period drama to the forefront for a strong effect. There’s a variety in their output that ensures that the streamer isn’t defined by one particular style or genre, but always leans into original perspectives and stories.

All of these films differ from the conventional wisdom surrounding the genre, which is to focus on established IP and deliver broad horror that can appeal to a wide audience. Rather than conform to the typical PG-13 jump scares, Shudder’s original films all take original approaches to their subject matter, with a frequent willingness to be gleefully gory.

This flexibility speaks not only to the adaptability of the horror genre as a whole, but the benefit of exploring different styles of scary movies. Shudder has found critical success with many of their releases, and earned increasingly impressive box office results with their more broadly appealing experiments.

Shudder has always been good for horror fans. However, it’s become an invaluable part of the modern horror landscape, with a willingness to take a chance on format-challenging movies or stories with unlikely protagonists. The result is a collection of films that stand out in a perpetually crowded field.

Shudder is killing it, and that trend doesn’t seem to be in any risk of ending anytime soon. Shudder is embracing filmmakers from around the world while doubling down on successes with films like the upcoming In a Violent Nature 2. Good Boy is just the latest proof that Shudder has become a standard-bearer in the world of horror.