Prime Video has such a wide variety of movies that it would be a shame not to sample a little bit of everything. But who has the time?
Watch With Us does, and we’ve selected three underrated movies from different genres for you to watch this weekend.
Horror fans who like The Conjuring movies should love Winchester, a similar screamfest that’s based on real-life people.
Hungry for a decent comedy? Then Chef will surely satiate your appetite. Finally, sci-fi nerds should check out the ‘80s cult classic Lifeforce.
‘Winchester’ (2018)
Helen Mirren in a horror film? Yeah, it happened, and the result is better than it has any right to be. In Winchester, Mirren stars as Sarah Winchester, the real-life widow of the man who invented the Winchester rifle. She’s plagued by all the spirits of the people who have died because of her husband’s invention, and she thinks the only solution is to build a massive manor with many rooms to contain all those ghosts.
The Winchester company thinks she’s insane and hires Dr. Eric Price (Jason Clarke) to visit her at her home so he can declare her mentally unfit to run the company. But after a few nights in the house, Eric isn’t so sure Sarah is crazy after all. Much to his surprise, he begins to believe Sarah’s ghosts do exist — and they are coming after him.
Winchester is a B-movie that effectively utilizes its real-world premise and historical setting. Of course, Sarah Winchester wasn’t actually haunted by ghosts. Still, most of the movie’s fun derives from its liberal use of the supernatural in a character and a place that actually existed. The result is a horror movie that’s a little serious but mostly silly, like a Conjuring movie that’s gone off the rails. With her committed performance, Mirren makes it all work and sells the movie’s hokum like it’s Shakespeare. In her hands, it is.
Winchester is streaming on Prime Video.
‘Chef’ (2014)
When professional chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) quits his job after a clash with his boss, his life descends into chaos. He’s unable to find work, his ex-wife, Inez (Sofía Vergara), thinks he’s a loser and his young son, Percy (Emjay Anthony), doesn’t understand him. But when Car returns to his hometown of Miami, he begins to find the passion that made him a chef in the first place. Can Carl regain the love and respect of his family and peers?
Written and directed by Favreau, Chef is a winning dramedy about the risks we take in life to follow our dreams. For Carl, it’s not just about cooking meals to impress critics and win awards — it’s making the kind of food he wants to eat. He’s not chasing Michelin stars for the hell of it; he just wants to please himself and his customers. If you love a heartwarming movie that isn’t cheesy and have a taste for Cuban food, Chef should definitely be on the menu to view this weekend.
Chef is streaming on Prime Video.
‘Lifeforce’ (1985)
When a spaceship crash-lands on Earth, the military is called in to investigate. To no one’s surprise, there are aliens on board — including a beautiful female that appears to suck the life force out of her victims. She escapes and begins to wreak havoc on the planet, creating an army of parasitic vampires that threatens all of humanity. It’s up to Col. Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback) to stop this invasion, but he might be too late to prevent the inevitable.
Directed by Tobe Hooper, Lifeforce is a wild movie that blends Invasion of the Body Snatchers with Nosferatu. It’s horror sci-fi at its weirdest, with a plot involving Haley’s Comet, sexy aliens taking over human bodies and a climactic showdown at the historic St. Paul’s Cathedral in New York City. It’s cheesy fun, with a mid-’80s look and feel that Stranger Things could only hope to emulate.
Lifeforce is streaming on Prime Video.
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