Stephen King calls new Netflix horror movie “amazing”

A new creature feature has dropped on Netflix, prompting ‘Master of Horror’ Stephen King to call it “really quite good,” and the movie’s climax “amazing.”

Stephen King is a busy man. The acclaimed author pretty much pens a novel a year, while also finding time to read books he hasn’t written and watch scores of movies and shows, the best of which he recommends to his seven million followers on Twitter/X.

This week, a new scary movie on Netflix has taken his fancy, with aquatic horror Under Paris catching King’s eye, prompting him to write the following:

“I thought Under Paris would be a jokey movie, like Sharknado, but Twitter convinced me to give it a watch, and it’s really quite good. The last 25 minutes were amazing.”

He’s right regarding those Sharknado comparisons, as the official synopsis for Under Paris makes it sound like a spoof: “Paris. A city known for its beauty, its culture, its culinary delights. But with a dangerous beast at large, this capital is headed for disaster.”

The dangerous beast in question is a giant shark, and the weekend it attacks coincides with a Triathlon, meaning scores of swimmers in the water. This being a horror movie, it gets pretty insane, in the Seine.

But while the concept is high, and the streaming service’s film’s story silly, Under Paris is played dead straight. Leads Berenice Bejo and Nassim Lyes act like they are in a serious drama where real lives are at stake.

Director Xavier Gens turns something ridiculous into a consistently compelling disaster movie. This builds up to those last 25 minutes that King references, which really have to be seen to be believed. And they pave the way for a sequel.

With Under Paris currently riding high at the top of the Netflix charts — in spite of a lawsuit pending — don’t be surprised if an Under Paris 2 announcement happens very soon.

Until then, check out the best movies streaming this month, as well as the best streaming shows to add to your watchlist.