FearPix: First Impressions of the Free Horror Movie Streaming Service
FearPix is the latest streamer to devote its content library to fans of horror and thriller movies. It’s free, but is it worth your time?
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FearPix recently entered the highly competitive world of streaming services, and it is absolutely worth checking out for a specific audience. Why? For starters, the library of movies and shows on FearPix is curated specifically for fans of horror, thriller, and true crime. Even better, it’s completely free.
FearPix launched on Friday, September 13th, 2024, and I’ve taken time exploring the app—and actually using it to watch movies—since then. This article is an unbiased look at what FearPix has to offer in terms of content, ease of use, and its future potential. Basically, I’m answering questions regarding who FearPix is for, and whether or not it is a viable alternative to the myriad of other streaming services we all use. But before I have my say, here’s what FearPix is, according to FearPix themselves.
Disclaimer: Creepy Catalog is not affiliated with FearPix, and this is not a paid advertisement. I’ve actually been using the app for the past week, and these are my honest thoughts on it.
What is FearPix?
Here is an excerpt from the FearPix press release shared with us just prior to the streaming service’s launch:
Veteran television producer Eric Tomosunas and legendary media executive Michael Parnes, most recently VP of Insights and Strategy for Adult Swim, have teamed up to launch FearPix, the only free streaming destination for all things horror, thriller, and true crime. As part of this announcement, FearPix also announced several distribution deals and partners for the newly-launched ad-supported video on-demand service (AVOD) including, Alliance Entertainment, The Asylum, Filmhub, FilmRise, Green Apple Entertainment, Legacy Distribution, Leomark Studios, Woodcut Media and Atlanta-based content company Tenderfoot TV.
The press release also boasts about “over 3,000 hours of content” ranging from the early 1900s to “today’s cult favorites.” This appears to be a future goal and not a launch-day calculation, and I’ll get into how extensive FearPix’s library currently is down below. But the potential is certainly there.
One of the most intriguing parts of the press release is the mention of its own original horror movie which is currently in the works. Dollar $tore Killers is the title, and it is described as a “dark tale of revenge and redemption.” Hopefully we’ll see more news on that coming soon.
Also of note is that FearPix is actively seeking submissions from independent filmmakers for potential streaming consideration. If you have an independent production, you can email FearPix at submissions@fearpix.com to get more information. This seems like a great way to build a unique library for FearPix while helping lesser-seen filmmakers get their movies out to viewers. Creepy Catalog is not affiliated with FearPix, so we don’t know any of the details involved in the process, but it will be interesting to see what comes of this opportunity.
The FearPix Library
The FearPix library is divided into three categories: horror, thriller, and true crime. As of this writing (on September 27th, 2024), horror is the most well-represented genre. FearPix’s horror category has about 330 movies, and the thriller section contains about two-thirds as many titles. The true crime section is currently limited to just over twenty, but that is likely to change as the library grows. In the time I’ve been taking FearPix for a test drive, the overall catalog grew by well over a hundred titles.
In total, the entire FearPix library hovers around 530. That certainly isn’t bad for a streamer that just recently launched, especially since the entire cost to watch is nothing. For comparison, that number is closest to Shudder’s movie total which is about 570. I’m excluding TV/streaming series from these totals since FearPix’s selection of series is limited at this time.
The focus of the FearPix catalog is on lower-budget horror and thrillers from independent producers. For someone like me who loves the more obscure side of indie movies, this is great. Looking through FearPix’s movies reminded me of what first piqued my interest about Tubi, which is diving deep into the depths of their horror library. Looking for something to watch on FearPix is a similar experience, but it’s more focused since the FearPix app is made specifically for horror and thriller fans. Plus, as I was digging, I found a decent number of movies that aren’t streaming on Tubi, so FearPix is a good alternative.
Ease of Use
I used FearPix on Roku and through a browser on my PC. The interfaces look the same across both platforms, and it’s easy to use. The main page has multiple categories to choose from, with the full horror, thriller, and true crime sections available right at the top. Below that are various sub-categories such as creature features, paranormal movies, horror comedies,”FearPix Favorites,” and more. If you register for an account, you’ll also have a section on the front page for “Continue Watching.” It’s a fairly standard layout, and it works well.
The only thing I’d like to see added is a way to build a personal list. You can mark movies as a “favorite,” but I didn’t see any way to save movies to a list for watching later. A workaround is to start a movie and back out of it, which will add the movie to your “continue watching” list.
The Ads
Since FearPix is ad-supported, the ad breaks are a potentially big deal. Good news: the ads aren’t very obtrusive. On Roku, the ads are spaced out at a decent rate throughout the movies I watched, and none of the ad breaks are very long. On PC, I didn’t encounter any ad breaks within the movies I watched (there is just one ad at the beginning, before the movie starts). I’m not sure if that’s intentional, but I tried a couple of different browsers with the same result. But even with ads, it’s not bad at all.
Overall Impression of FearPix
I like FearPix. It’s easy to use, it’s free, and there aren’t too many ads breaking up the movies. FearPix is definitely designed for a specific audience, and that’s what I really enjoy about it. I am absolutely within that niche demographic of horror fans who love exploring smaller, lesser-known movies, and I think I’ll be spending a good amount of time using the app. If you’re looking for mainstream stuff, you’re not going to find it here, but adventurous horror fans should check it out.
In my mind, FearPix falls into the realm of good supplemental streaming services. It doesn’t necessarily have a big enough library to replace anything else I’m currently using, but it is unique enough for me to visit often when I want to watch something completely different. I’m looking forward to seeing how the library expands, but even with around 500 titles to choose from right now, it’s going to keep me busy for a while.
You can visit FearPix now at Fearpix.com. The app is also available to download on Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku TV, and iOS and Android devices.
