Get your horror fix at new Israeli-built movie site

Fans of horror movies around the world have a new place to hang out: An Israeli company called Craze Digital has launched a new VOD (video on demand) web site that will satisfy their need for creepy-crawly thrills and chills. The Horrorinc.com site, just a few weeks old, is already making waves among fans of thrasher, slasher, and creature features, said site director Hadas Gur-Ze’ev – and the site, she believes, will become the go-to one for fans of the horror genre.

Horrorinc is the property of Craze Digital, based in Israel with an office in the UK. The company owns the rights to over 5,000 movies, TV shows, music videos, songs, and other content. It distributes that content for its creators and copyright owners via web sites, and licenses it for use in other works, such as music videos. The company also has several apps that allow viewers to watch content on mobile devices and tablets.

Craze doesn’t discriminate in its content acquisition, and after awhile, said Gur-Ze’ev, “we noticed we had a lot of content in the horror genre.” Since there was no in-depth site for on-demand horror films (large movie sites like Netflix generally have very skimpy selections, said Gur-Ze’ev), Craze decided to go full-force into the horror business, and opened Horrorinc.

The site doesn’t have the mega-blockbusters, like the Freddy Kruger (Nightmare on Elm St.) and Jason (Friday the 13^th) films that have broken out from the horror genre to become big grossers among the general movie public, but then you don’t need Horrorinc for that. What the site does have, said Gur-Ze’ev, is just about everything else, including classics of the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and beyond (Night of the Living Dead, Halloween, Steve McQueen’s The Blob, etc.) as well as independent productions that may or may have not made it to theaters (or video, for that matter). Zombie, slasher, vampire, cannibal, creature – they’re all here, many of them hidden away in attics (or the back of video stores) for years. Where else, said Gur-Ze’ev, “are you going to see a vampire classic like Billy the Kid vs. Dracula?”

Horrorinc isn’t free, but many fans (the company refused to disclose specific numbers, but Gur-Ze’ev said that growth has “been great”) have been happy to pay the $5.99 a month to join and get unlimited access to the over 700 films in Horrorinc’s library. Users can also watch single films for 99 cents, and the site also has a free feature. Called TVicious, the mini-site plays a random horror film (it’s different each time you click on the TVicious link), letting viewers who don’t care what form they get their gore in to enjoy the site as well.

“As far as we know, we have more horror films on Horrorinc than any other site anywhere, and we are certainly the cheapest,” she said, adding that it wasn’t just about watching films, but about building a community of horror fans, giving them a home on the Internet to watch, enjoy, and interact. “We have a very active Facebook page and have gotten a lot of great feedback on social networks and in forums of horror film fans,” said Gur-Ze’ev.

Part of building that community is reaching out to amateur and even professional movie-makers, and striking deals with them to license their work to Horrorinc. “We want to make sure that producers and directors with a great film who can’t get a distribution deal don’t get discouraged, so we offer a platform where they can upload their work” said Gur-Ze’ev. The site has a standard licensing agreement with these independent filmmakers, who can get exposure, as well as licensing fees, for their work.

Horrorinc was developed in and is managed from Israel, “but the viewing rights are worldwide, so anyone anywhere can join,” said Gur-Ze’ev. “This site is perfect for fans who love this genre. Our content and biz-dev teams are making real efforts to create a unique web-based blend of the best films we can put our hands on.”