Love is in the air this week. Not only is Valentine’s Day arriving on Saturday, but it’s preceded by the first of three Friday the 13ths of the year. That feels almost kismet, considering that when it comes to horror movies set on Valentine’s Day, slashers have emerged as the dominant subgenre.
This week’s streaming picks are entirely comprised of holiday slashers set on Valentine’s Day, wielding Cupid’s bow with a passion for murder.
Here’s where to stream them.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.
Heart Eyes – Netflix
The classic rom-com gets a slasher spin in this charming horror comedy heavily themed around Valentine’s Day. Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding star as coworkers forced into an intense survival scenario when the rampaging Heart Eyes Killer mistakes them for a couple, sending sparks flying between them in their fight for survival. Director Josh Ruben (Werewolves Within, Scare Me), and writers Phillip Murphy (The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard) and Christopher Landon (Drop, Freaky) & Michael Kennedy (Freaky) dial up the ’90s slasher madness while lovingly poking fun at romcom tropes, making the perfect date night flick.
Lover’s Lane – MGM+
Before breaking out in Scary Movie, Anna Faris made her feature debut in this underseen Valentine’s Day slasher from the late ’90s teen slasher cycle. While the plot borrows more from Halloween, the setup is similar to My Bloody Valentine in that a killer with a nasty hook gets apprehended after a Valentine’s Day massacre at the local makeout spot. Years later, a new wave suggests the killer is back with a vengeance. The low budget exposes rough seams, making for a campier affair, but it’s offset by its holiday theme and whodunnit style slasher plotting.
My Bloody Valentine 3D – Fandango at Home, Hoopla, Kanopy, Tubi
This 2009 update of the 1981 slasher favorite was directed by Patrick Lussier (Dracula 2000, Drive Angry) and co-written by Todd Farmer and Zane Smith from John Beaird’s original screenplay. My Bloody Valentine 3D goes for broke in attempting to top the kills of its predecessor, while keeping the core plot nearly the same. In both, miner Harry Warden and his murderous rampages hold a sleepy mining town in a grip of terror on Valentine’s Day, and he’s back to slaughter hearts once more. While this update lacks the charms of Valentines Bluffs, it makes up for it with in-your-face slashings designed for eye-popping 3D.
Valentine – Hoopla, Roku Channel, Tubi
In junior high, outcast Jeremy Melton was ruthlessly rejected by five classmates at the Valentine’s Day dance, then publicly humiliated. In adulthood, those same classmates find themselves getting stalked and picked off, one by one. It’ll end up one bloody Valentine’s evening. It’s a holiday-themed slasher full of excellent set pieces and kills, and the cast offers up several memorable characters, too.
X-Ray (aka Hospital Massacre) – MGM+, Tubi
A woman finds herself trapped on an empty hospital floor with a killer posing as a surgeon, almost two decades after she humiliated a romantic hopeful on Valentine’s Day. That means the weapon of choice here is a myriad of hospital tools, making for a fun deviation to the familiar slasher formula. The killer reveal holds no surprises, and pacing can be an issue, but X-Ray brings enough creativity in the setting and demise department to deliver some slasher comfort food this Valentine’s Day.