The Hard Rock Horror Debut That Deserves Another Look, Stream Without Netflix

Strangeland opens with two teenage girls living dangerously and meeting a man on the internet that they’ve been chatting with. Under the screen name Captain Howdy, the man lures the 15-year-old teens to what he says is going to be a party at his house, but it turns out to be a terrible trap. After not returning home, both girls’ parents frantically call the police and the search is on.

The tortured and mangled body of one of the girls is found inside of her car, which is submerged in a local lake. The investigators use online detection skills to identify and locate Captain Howdy, and find themselves busting into a home where they discover the other missing girl (still alive) inside of the predator’s torture chamber.

Strangeland takes an even darker turn when the rescuers find several other teens in Captain Howdy’s lair, limbs bound with their mouths stitched shut. After a struggle, police are able to place the killer under arrest. But his defense successfully argues that the online serial murderer is an unmedicated schizophrenic and he is able to avoid prison in lieu of a three-year stint in a psychiatric ward.

After his release, the man formerly known as Captain Howdy returns home but is understandably shunned by his former neighbors. His medication seems to have cured him, and he is apologetic and remorseful for his previous crimes. But when another local girl goes missing, the townsfolk come out with their pitchforks and torches to hunt down and kill the reformed murderer.

Strangeland gets even weirder when it’s revealed that the missing girl turns up, making the accused man innocent. Unfortunately, he has been strung up and hung from a tree and left to die. A stroke of luck finds the weak rope breaking, leading to his escape and subsequent quest for revenge.

Strangeland gives horror fans a solid performance from Dee Snider in his feature film debut, along with a riveting storyline that came from the singer/actor’s pen. The acting throughout the film is noteworthy, particularly from Linda Cardellini, who plays the teen victim of Captain Howdy that barely escapes him with her life.

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The soundtrack to Strangeland is one of the best from the horror genre since Return of the Living Dead, which came out more than 15 years earlier. Metal giants Megadeth, Pantera, Anthrax, System of a Down, and Soulfly help round out a heavy hitting collection of new tracks from some of the best in their genre.

Strangeland was a box office bomb, however. But latter-day viewers have given it a sort of cult following, though not to the level that this underrated film deserves.

You can stream Strangeland for free with Tubi.