4 Best Non-Traditional Valentine’s Day Thriller And Horror Movies To Stream Tonight

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Spend the night with the tragic romances, bizarre obsessions, and wild action of these films, all of which are driven by love.

Cemetery Man (1994)

Cemetery Man (1994)
The original Italian title of Cemetery Man is Dellamorte Dellamore, which is also the title of the 1991 novel by author Tiziano Sclavi which the movie is inspired by. (pictured: Rupert Everett and Anna Falchi)

Cemetery Man isn’t a love story in the traditional sense. It’s actually more of a dark fantasy horror comedy about obsession and zombies. However, the main character in the film, cemetery caretaker Francesco Dellamorte, is driven by love that turns into mind-shattering obsession when he meets a beautiful stranger who was recently widowed. Even after they’re separated, Francesco keeps seeing his beloved.

Stream on Shudder, or stream for free on Tubi.

Cloverfield (2008)

Cloverfield (2008)
There are currently three movies in the Cloverfield franchise, though a fourth installment has been talked about. (pictured: Michael Stahl-David and Odette Yustman)

Often when I tell people that Cloverfield is a love story, they look at me like I’m dumb. Sure, there’s a giant monster rampaging through New York City, and that makes it a monster movie. But, the whole motivation for Rob is to risk his life by running through town just so he can save Beth after they had a huge misunderstanding earlier in the night. And with the way the movie ends (no spoilers), it’s impossible to not see it as a monster movie and a love story.

Stream on AMC+, or rent on Amazon Prime Video.

Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993)

Return of the Living Dead 3 (1993)
Return of the Living Dead 3 was directed by Brian Yuzna (Society, Bride of Re-Animator). (pictured: J. Trevor Edmond and Mindy Clarke)

Return of the Living Dead 3 is a tragic romance with zombies. The story is about teenagers Julie and Curt who attempt to run away together. Julie is killed in a motorcycle accident as the couple hits the road, but Curt can’t let her go. He brings her back from the dead with a gas being used in his father’s military experiments, but Julie isn’t technically alive anymore. Also, she has an intense craving for brains, a craving that can only be ignored through extreme pain.

Stream for free on Tubi, or watch on Amazon Prime Video.

First Love (2019)

First Love (2019)
First Love is an underseen yakuza-action-romance film from Takashi Miike, the director of some of the greatest Japanese genre films including Audition (1999) and Ichi the Killer (2001). (pictured: Masataka Kubota and Sakurako Konishi)

There is a lot going on in First Love. To keep it relatively simple, the protagonist is Leo, a young boxer who receives some dire news from his doctor. By chance, Leo meets Monica, a drug-addicted young woman who is kept prisoner by a yakuza member and his girlfriend. With seemingly nothing left to lose, Leo decides to help Monica, not realizing that by doing so he’s getting involved in a battle involving the Japanese yakuza, the Chinese triads, and a dirty cop. Somehow, despite all the violence around them, Leo and Monica develop feelings for each other.

Watch on Amazon Prime Video, or stream for free on Tubi.

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About the author

Chris Catt

Chris has a degree in film studies at Temple University’s campus in Tokyo, Japan. He is a renowned expert on horror cinema and the editor of Creepy Catalog.