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- Family-friendly animation and heartwarming adventures on The Roku Channel
- Holiday favorites and vintage chills to stream on Roku
- Fierce fighters and tense action—martial arts and dystopian thrills
- Serious drama and wartime realism on Roku
- Smart comedies and social satire available to watch
- Essential horror and shock cinema streaming free
The Roku Channel hides a treasure trove of films beyond the usual streaming giants. Free, ad-supported, and built into Roku devices, this hub mixes beloved classics, bold horror, sharp comedies and standout animation. Below are curated picks you can stream now on The Roku Channel, with quick facts and what makes each title worth a click.
Family-friendly animation and heartwarming adventures on The Roku Channel
Coraline (2009)
- Director: Henry Selick
- Cast: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Ian McShane
- Rating: PG
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Neil Gaiman’s eerie fairy tale gets a vivid stop-motion makeover. A curious girl discovers a seemingly perfect parallel home. The bright, uncanny visuals give way to darker stakes as the alternate world reveals a sinister edge. It’s a modern classic in handcrafted animation.
The Iron Giant (1999)
- Director: Brad Bird
- Cast: Eli Marienthal, Vin Diesel, Jennifer Aniston
- Rating: PG
Set against 1950s paranoia, this tender tale pairs a boy with a gentle robot. The film blends humor, action and emotional depth. It’s an ode to traditional animation and a deeply human story about choice and courage.
Holiday favorites and vintage chills to stream on Roku
A Christmas Carol (1984)
- Director: Clive Donner
- Cast: George C. Scott, Frank Finlay
- Rating: PG
One of the more solemn adaptations of Dickens’ tale, this version centers on a fiercely convincing Ebenezer Scrooge. It leans into the story’s moral weight while keeping the ghostly moments affecting rather than gimmicky.
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
- Director: William Castle
- Cast: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart
- Rating: NR
A campy, atmospheric haunted-house ride anchored by Vincent Price. The film’s theatrical stunts and wicked charm make it a quintessential piece of 1950s horror cinema.
Fierce fighters and tense action—martial arts and dystopian thrills
Ip Man (2008)
- Director: Wilson Yip
- Cast: Donnie Yen, Lynn Hung
- Rating: R
Donnie Yen stars as the legendary Wing Chun master in a film that balances historical setting with kinetic fight choreography. It’s both a character study and a showcase of world-class martial arts.
Escape From New York (1981)
- Director: John Carpenter
- Cast: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef
- Rating: R
Carpenter’s gritty, neon-drenched vision of a crime-ridden Manhattan-turned-prison pairs sardonic antiheroism with a tight, high-stakes rescue plot. Snake Plissken is the archetypal reluctant savior.
Serious drama and wartime realism on Roku
Platoon (1986)
- Director: Oliver Stone
- Cast: Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Charlie Sheen
- Rating: R
A raw, unflinching portrait of combat and moral fracture. The film uses harrowing imagery and character conflict to explore the chaos of war and its human costs.
Smart comedies and social satire available to watch
Trading Places (1983)
- Director: John Landis
- Cast: Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis
- Rating: R
A sharp, laugh-out-loud sendup of class and privilege. Two men swap lives in a wealthy social experiment, and the film mines both comedy and commentary from its premise.
Essential horror and shock cinema streaming free
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
- Director: Tobe Hooper
- Cast: Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen
- Rating: R
Raw and relentless, this film shaped modern terror with brutal, unsettling imagery. It trades explicit gore for relentless atmosphere and a distorted view of rural menace.
Terrifier (2016)
- Director: Damien Leone
- Cast: David Howard Thornton, Jenna Kanell
- Rating: NR
A modern slasher that thrives on shock and inventive practical effects. Art the Clown has become a cult figure thanks to a chilling central performance and graphic set pieces.
