AMC moved through the 2000s and 2010s as an awards darling, sweeping up accolades with classics like Mad Men and Breaking Bad. While the beginning of this century established them as a creative company that knew how to create a good drama, since breaking new ground with The Walking Dead, AMC has become a titan in the genre sphere. The 2020’s have been a fantastic decade for horror television, and at the forefront is AMC. Pushing the boundaries of what genre can be amongst the rise of prestige TV, AMC is producing singular director driven properties.
At the beginning of August, a new streaming deal with Netflix saw many of AMC’s shows finding a new home on the streaming service. Here, a handful of their genre shows have found a new life, and hopefully if this deal continues, they will continue to do so. Horror fans rejoice, for here is a list of the best AMC genre series you can now stream.
Interview With The Vampire
One of the best adaptations of the decade, this series expertly adapts Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles novels and reworks it for the better. The result is an explosion of queerness, violence and sensuality that blows all of its peers out of the water. Developer Rolin Jones breathes new life into vampirism, in turn creating a show that feels like it’s breaking new ground for the horror genre and queer representation on screen. From the sweeping score by Daniel Hart, to the startlingly magnetic chemistry between Jacob Anderson and Sam Reid, this is a show you won’t regret sinking your teeth into. While this first season is currently the only one available on Netflix, there’s no doubt that it’s fantastic second season will soon follow.
Dark Winds
Like Interview with the Vampire, Dark Winds is another AMC show that hasn’t been given the awards attention it deserves. Set within the Navajo Nation, the series follows Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) as he and office Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) attempt to solve two warring cases that may be more connected than they believe. The supernatural aspects that Dark Winds initially hints at become the reason why the show is a standout from its peers. Detective series have been done to death, but here, with a fantastic noir flair, AMC has created something wholly original. At the show’s center is McClarnon, who’s turn as Leaphorn is one of the ages. The character actor is finally given a scope wide enough for his talents, and what comes of it is a performance that not only defines Dark Winds, but McClarnon’s career as well.
The Terror
Although it’s based on Sir John Franklin and the very real expedition he took, The Terror boldly reworks this story, instead adapting it from the 2007 Dan Simmons novel of the same name. Because it isn’t bound by the confines of history, the series sprawls into a haunting tale of survival in the vast openness of the arctic. The supernatural elements aren’t shied away from, instead becoming a crutch that propels the show into greatness. Seasoned actors Jared Harris and Tobias Menzies give what is arguably the best performances of their careers, as the frigid brutality of their environments begins to chip away at them.
Though it’s been five years since the anthology’s second season, a third season was recently announced, with scream king Dan Stevens set to lead the series.
Preacher
Before there was Prime Video’s The Boys, there was Preacher. The series, while incredibly different, feels almost like a spiritual successor to the superhero show that has now swept through the industry. It follows a preacher and former criminal, Jesse Custer (Dominic Cooper), who realizes he has a superpower. This isn’t simply flying or invisibility; Custer can command others to do exactly as he asks. The series explores the intersections of religion and violence, and how the two are often directly linked. It also featured a scene-stealing Ruth Negga as Custer’s girlfriend Tulip O’Hare, who remains the show’s heart. As the years have passed, it feels like Preacher has been forgotten, though when it was airing, it was undeniably one of the boldest shows out there and a resurgence is welcomed.
Kevin Can F**k Himself
Unlike the majority of the show’s on this list, Kevin Can F**k Himself doesn’t seem like a genre show at first glance. The series follows Allison (Annie Murphy), a disillusioned wife who is tired of her husband Kevin’s (Eric Petersen) laziness. Here’s the kicker: the show shifts back and forth from the style of a traditional sitcom, to a black and white drama. As Allison’s jokes about killing her husband morph into real desire, the split genres showcasing her view or her life and her husbands become more fractured. It’s a pitch-perfect dramedy that becomes increasingly uncomfortable to watch, and the craft behind the series composition is some of the most original in AMC’s lost history. Kevin Can F**k Himself is a fascinating exploration or a marriage on the brink, and the sacrifices we go to to keep our relationships in tact.
Mayfair Witches
While horror TV is definitely on the rise, it feels like we are still in desperate need of shows centered on witches. Luckily, AMC has you covered (two times over!) Based on another Anne Rice series, the show follows Rowan Fielding (Alexandra Daddario), a neurosurgeon who’s newfound powers force her to seek out her birth family. She eventually discovers that she is the descendant of a powerful coven of witches, whose hidden world begins to creep into her old one. While the narrative is duller than other AMC shows, there is a tremendous amount of promise here, that if given the right care, can blossom into something great. Hopefully, like Interview with the Vampire, season two (coming in 2025) will embrace the darkness of Anne Rice’s work, let loose, and allow this series to climb to new heights.
Fear the Walking Dead
Despite airing for almost as long as its predecessor, Fear the Walking Dead doesn’t get nearly as much credit as it deserves. Unlike the original that begins as the apocalypse is already taking place, this series instead follows an ensemble cast of characters in the first days of the virus spreading. It’s an interesting look into how nations crumble, and how characters attempt to survive, no matter the cost. Like the show it’s spinning off from, it eventually begins to crumble towards the end. Despite this, there is no denying that the first few seasons are especially strong, and if you’re a fan of zombies, this series is one that deserves more eyes on it.
A Discovery of Witches
Based on the bestselling All Souls trilogy by Deborah Harkness, A Discovery of Witches has already found a new audience since it appeared on Netflix. The show follows Diana Bishop (Teresa Palmer), a historian and non-practicing witch who finds a book during her research, and inadvertently opens up a world of magic filled with vampires, and you guessed it, witches. She teams up with Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Goode), a professor who also happens to be a magical creature. As the two attempt to thwart the ancient beings that try and destroy them, a true connection begins to blossom between them. The show is a perfect watch for anyone who enjoys romantasy, and predates the trend that is now taking the book and TV industry by storm.
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