This weekend, you can either continue to sulk that Game of Thrones’ fourth season is over or you can pick one of approximately 14 billion options available on streaming over a variety of services, be it Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, On Demand, or other sites. Every Friday, Vulture tries to make life easier by narrowing it down to a handful of hearty recommendations. This week, here are some suggestions to fill that Westeros-size hole in your life, including a bloody Roman mayhem, bloody medieval English mayhem, and bloody Japanese mayhem.
Black Death
Starring Ned Stark (a.k.a. Sean Bean) and Stannis’s right-hand priestess Melisandre (Carice van Houten), this grimy, historical drama could easily be mistaken for a lost episode of Game of Thrones, if the people of Westeros ever battled a raging spat of bubonic plague. As 1348 England is ravished by disease, one village remains untouched. Suspecting supernatural foul play, a group of knights, led by an innocent young guide (Eddie Redmayne), set out to investigate. Smothered in mud and blood, Black Death plays like George R.R. Martin’s Village of the Damned. (Stream on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Rent on iTunes, Vudu, Amazon, Google Play, Xbox, Target Ticket)
The Wolves of Kromer
If you crossed Game of Thrones with True Blood and threw in a little Downton Abbey, the result might resemble The Wolves of Kromer, an oh-so-British gay allegory about “wolf†people. Based on a play by Charles Lambert, the film intertwines two threads: a budding relationship between Gabriel, a seasoned romantic, and Seth, a young man embracing his true, wolf nature. The men live in the woods, while conservative humans plot ways to stir up anti-wolf sentiment (in this particular instance, it involves framing wolves for the murder of a sweet old lady). There’s no actual were-changing in The Wolves of Kromer, but Gabriel and Seth do don furry tails as they discover their sexuality. A movie for those in need of a break from Game of Thrones’ endless battles. (Stream on Netflix, Amazon Prime)
13 Assassins
In the final years of feudal Japan, the Shogun’s brother, Lord Matsudaira Naritsugu of Akashi, roams the land, consuming and laying waste in Dothraki-like fashion. Enter: Shinzaemon, a veteran samurai, whose katana slices through murky politics as smoothly it could through a human adversary. Hired to take down Naritsugu by the Shogun’s own men, Shinzaemon recruits the country’s greatest warriors. The execution doesn’t go exactly as planned; Shinzaemon shows up with 13 men to take on Naritsugu’s 70-man army. Turns out, he’s got 200. Like Game of Thrones at its best, prolific Japanese action director Takashi Miike builds to his set pieces with eloquent, existential epic speak — the characters matter. Which gives him the freedom to go wild with action. The final battle lasts a solid 45 minutes and it is expertly crafted for high-drama bloodshed. (Stream on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus, Rent on iTunes, Vudu, Amazon, Google Play, Xbox, Target Ticket)
Centurion
“The Watchers on the Wall†and “Blackwater†director Neil Marshall proved his premodern action expertise in this sword-and-sandal tale of Rome’s Ninth Legion. Centurion pits Michael Fassbender against guerrilla armies of the British Isles in a savage battle over political power. Much like in the pricey Game of Thrones episodes entrusted to him, Marshall juggles large-scale battle sequences, grueling mano a mano fight scenes, and doses of drama that string it all along. Not as successful as the serial storytelling of HBO’s fantasy series, but just as visceral. Plus: Fassbender! (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Rent on iTunes, Vudu, Amazon, Google Play, Xbox, Target Ticket)
I, Claudius (Hulu Plus)
The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) (Rent on iTunes, Vudu, Amazon, Xbox, Target Ticket)
Deathstalker (Stream on Netflix, Amazon Prime)
Dragonslayer (Stream on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Rent on iTunes, Vudu)
Excalibur (Rent on iTunes, Vudu, Amazon, Google Play, Xbox, Target Ticket)
Kirikou and the Sorceress (Rent on Amazon)
Kingdom of Heaven (Rent on iTunes, Vudu, Amazon, Xbox)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Rent on iTunes, Vudu, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play, Xbox, Target Ticket)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Rent on iTunes, Vudu, Amazon, Xbox, Target Ticket)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Rent on iTunes, Amazon, Xbox)
Ladyhawke (Rent on iTunes, Vudu, Amazon, Target Ticket)
The Princess Bride (Rent on iTunes, Amazon)
Rome Season 1 & 2 (Amazon Prime)
The Sword and the Stone (Stream on Netflix)
Throne of Blood (Stream on Hulu Plus)
Valhalla Rising (Streaming on Netflix, Rent on SundanceNow)