The Best New Movies and Shows to Stream on Netflix in July 2021

Crossing the Streams is a series of columns spotlighting all the offerings hitting the big streaming services each month. This time we’re checking out the new Netflix arrivals for July 2021 including an R.L. Stine trilogy, an action film with a stellar cast of talented women, and more!

Keep reading to see what’s new on Netflix for July 2021!

Netflix Pick of the Month for July 2021

R.L. Stine is still a popular author, but back in the 90s, he was a publishing juggernaut with genre tales for young readers under his Goosebumps and Fear Street series. The former got the feature treatment a few years ago, and now the older-skewing series is getting its on-screen due. Fear Street: 1994 (premieres July 2nd) is a 90s slasher made in the 21st century, and it’s a fantastic ride filled with neon lighting, catchy needle drops, and bloody kills. It also delivers laughs and likable characters, and that’s no small thing. The film embraces its older-skewing audience with R-rated language and gore including graphic and disturbing kill. Even better? It’s the first in a new trilogy with the other two installments premiering over the next two weeks — 1978 arrives July 9th, and 1666 premieres July 16th.

New Netflix Films with a Genre Bent

You’ve seen multiple iterations on the “cabin in the woods” theme, but now it’s time for an Italian one. A Classic Horror Story (premieres July 14th) sees five people survive an RV crash only to wake up in a forest near a creepy house. Their night goes from bad to worse, though, when an even creepier cult comes calling. Both the premise and the title intrigue, and both directors (Roberto De Feo, Paolo Strippoli), while relatively new on the scene, are already showing a clear interest in the spookier side of cinema.

Rabies (2010) and Big Bad Wolves (2013) are a pair of terrific genre flicks out of Israel, among the first from the country’s film community, and while the films’ two directors have gone their separate ways both have solo projects heading to a screen near you. Navot Papushado is first out of the gate with Gunpowder Milkshake (premieres July 14th), a stylish-looking action film about female gunslingers and the man foolish enough to try putting them down. So far so good, but check out this cast — Karen Gillan, Carla Gugino, Lena Headey, Michelle Yeoh, Angela Bassett, and Paul Giamatti. Yes, please.

Vampire movies are ubiquitous on genre shelves, and most are pretty interchangeable. It’s a nice change of pace, then, when filmmakers find an original spin with their bloodsucker tale. 2019 saw a fun little one with the cleverly named Blood Vessel about a vamp on a ship, and now Blood Red Sky (premieres July 23rd) sends one into the friendly skies on a passenger plane. The aircraft is hijacked, but the terrorists don’t know who’s seated in coach. A vampire versus hijackers 20,000 feet in the air? Could be fun!

Laughter Truly is the Best Medicine

Sure, horror and action are fun, but sometimes you just want to laugh at funny shit. Netflix has you covered this month with one of the more absurdly entertaining trilogies you’ve ever seen. Starting with 1997’s Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Mike Myers and friends delivered some ridiculously smart skewerings of the spy movie genre along with very big laughs. The fun continues through Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) and Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002). The films have fallen out of favor with some over the years, but recent rewatches have confirmed that they’re still damn funny, endlessly creative, and visually entertaining movies.

By contrast, Midnight Run (1988) has never been more loved than it is these days. Deservedly so, too, as Martin Brest’s film delivers action, heart, and some terrific laughs with its tale of a bounty hunter transporting a mob accountant. Robert De Niro is the former, Charles Grodin is the latter, and the pair have perhaps the best odd couple chemistry since, well, The Odd Couple (1968). Add in great supporting turns from Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton, Dennis Farina, and Joe Pantoliano, and you have one of the great comedies of the 80s.

Mindy Kaling is great in The Office, but her eponymously named show never found the same degree of laughs or emotional honesty. Happily, the newest time is the charm as her latest creative effort is already succeeding on both counts. Never Have I Ever (season two premieres July 15th) doesn’t star Kaling, but it’s about a first-generation Indian-American teen dealing with friends, school, dating, and home life. Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is fantastic in the lead role and shows real comedic chops, and it’s narrated by John McEnroe (as himself) delivering some very funny observations and references. The heart lands, the conflicts engage, and the laughs keep coming.

The Oldest New Arrival to Netflix

Netflix isn’t known for its older content, and by older I of course mean pre-2000, so it’s always special when they bring ancient movies onto the service. There are usually a few new ones added per month, mostly from the 90s, but once in a while they reach even further back — to the 80s. The Karate Kid (1984) was a summer hit, and its legacy carries on to today with the Cobra Kai series, but it also has a couple theatrical sequels as well. The Karate Kid: Part II (1986) and The Karate Kid: Part III (1989) are also new this month meaning you can binge the entire trilogy if you’re up for the challenge.

The Complete Netflix List for July 2021

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