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Arrow Player Review 2023

We tested the Arrow Player for five months. Its content curation, massive library, beautiful app, and affordable price make it a must-have streaming service for genre film fans.

Best for cult films

Arrow Player

Price: $6.99/mo. or $69.99/yr.

Library: 600+ titles

Free trial: 30 days

Data as of post date.

Is Arrow Player good?

We’ve used the Arrow Player streaming TV service for five wonderful months—it rules. That’s because Arrow Player’s parent company is Arrow Video, the UK-based company renowned for exceptionally high-quality boutique Blu-ray and 4K releases of cult films.

Think of Arrow Player as an extension of Arrow Video. Arrow Player’s hefty, well-curated catalog, attractive app, and low price make it the ideal streaming experience for cult film fanatics.

Arrow Player pros and cons

Pros

  • Affordable price
  • Deep, well-curated library
  • Gorgeous, reliable app
  • 4K HDR resolution
  • Offline viewing
  • 30-day trial

Cons

  • Some missing Arrow Video titles

Can’t get enough spooky stuff?

Check out our trivia contest with Full Moon Features, running on our Twitter all of October. Answer horror movie trivia questions to win daily prizes… if you dare.

Arrow Player deals and promotions

We don’t see any active deals from Arrow Player, but its 30-day free trial is one of the most generous around.

Arrow Player plans and pricing

Plan Price Streams Resolution (up to) Details
Arrow Player (monthly) $6.99/mo. 3 4K View plan
Arrow Player (yearly)
Saves 17%
$69.99/yr. ($5.83/mo.) 3 4K View plan

Data as of post date.

For only $6–$7 a month, Arrow Player has 600+ movies, three simultaneous streams, 4K HDR resolution, and offline viewing. That’s an explosive bang for your buck. Arrow Player might even be the best value among its rival streaming services.

A collage of Arrow Video Blu-ray covers

Use Arrow Player to audition Arrow Video

If you collect physical media, you know all about Arrow Video’s boutique Blu-ray releases. As fellow collectors, we know you sometimes gamble and “blind buy” movies you haven’t seen. Arrow Player is an inexpensive way to screen Arrow Video (and some Vinegar Syndrome) releases before putting them on your shelves. We’ve already saved around $125 this way.

Arrow Player vs. the competition

Service Monthly price Annual price Library size* Streams Resolution (up to) Details
Arrow Player $6.99/mo. $69.99/yr. ($5.83/mo., saves 17%) 600+ 3 4K View Plan
Our pick
Shudder
$5.99/mo. $56.99/yr. ($4.75/mo., saves 21%) 630+ 1 1080p View Plan
Full Moon Features $6.99/mo. $59.99/yr. ($5.00/mo., saves 28%) 500+ 3 1080p View Plan
Night Flight Plus $4.99/mo. $39.99/yr. ($3.33/mo., saves 33%) 666+ Unlimited 1080p View Plan
Screambox $4.99/mo. $35.88/yr ($2.99/mo., saves 40%) 200–300* 3 1080p View Plan

Data as of post date.
* Estimated.

Price-wise, every service in the above table is affordable. Arrow Player and Full Moon Features are the most expensive, followed by Shudder, Night Flight Plus, and Screambox.

At 600+ titles, the Arrow Player library is roughly the same size as those of Shudder and Night Flight Plus. But the overall content of each library is different. (We discuss this in more detail in the movies and shows section.)

So Arrow Player’s edge is thin but keen. It comes down to the overall experience, which is informed by Arrow’s excellent quality control, with the 4K HDR resolution, beautiful app, and a library that‘s both comprehensive and on-brand.

Pro tip: Not every Arrow Video release is on Arrow Player. Some of the more mainstream titles—like Flatliners, Mallrats, and Sixteen Candles—aren’t included (probably due to licensing issues).

Stream all things spooky all the time with #Bloodstream

Arrow Player movies and shows

With niche streaming services, the library is the main attraction. Arrow Player is like having an arthouse cinema (the crème de la crème) and grindhouse theater (the cream of the crap) in your living room—or, if you’re on mobile, your pocket. So, for genre film fanatics, Arrow Player is a comprehensive and satisfying dream.

Arrow Player has Shudder’s and The Criterion Channel’s curation quality, Full Moon Features’ reverence for the irreverent, and the pop-culture sensibility of Night Flight Plus. Arrow even includes content from these streaming services plus titles from other boutique Blu-ray companies like Blue Underground, Severin Films, Vinegar Syndrome, and more.

List of 31 horror movies to watch in October on Arrow

Pro tip: Night Flight Plus has Arrow Video and Vinegar Syndrome hubs where you can watch 29 popular titles found on Arrow Player—just not in 4K.

Categories and genres on Arrow Player

  • 70s Cult
  • 80s Cult
  • 90s Cult
  • Action
  • The AGFA Collection
  • The American Horror Project
  • Arrow Shorts
  • Asia Extreme
  • Bodies of Water
  • Blood Lust
  • Britsploitation
  • Camp Arrow
  • Classics
  • Comedy
  • Dead Silent
  • Extras
  • The Films Of . . .
  • Giallo
  • Kaiju Collection
  • Magnifique
  • New Cult
  • Selects
  • Shawscope
  • Slashers
  • Starter Collection
  • Third Window Films
  • The Vinegar Syndrome Collection
  • Westerns
  • What the Folk
  • Yakuza

Director spotlights on Arrow Player

You’d expect auteur pages on a service like The Criterion Channel or Mubi. Genre film fans like to give their favorite filmmakers the same treatment. Here’s a partial list of the visionary directors who have collections on Arrow Player:

  • Dario Argento
  • Enzo Castellari
  • Claude Chabrol
  • Fernando di Leo
  • Jess Franco
  • Lucio Fulci
  • William Grefé
  • Meiko Kaji
  • Fritz Lang
  • José Ramón Larraz
  • Herschell Gordon Lewis
  • Brian Lonano
  • Takashi Miike
  • Jean Rollin
  • George A. Romero*
  • The Shaw Brothers
  • Rick Sloane
  • Seijun Suzuki
  • Pete Walker
  • Norman J. Warren

* No “Of the Dead” films.

Arrow Player title pages (mobile view) for The Sacred Spirit and The Stylist showing included special features.

Title screens for The Sacred Spirit and The Stylist show included special features (via Arrow Player mobile app).

Arrow Player original movies and shows

Arrow Player doesn’t have exclusive or original content in the usual sense. Arrow Video, however, produces many of the special features on its Blu-ray and 4K releases, so Arrow Player includes them with some titles.

A scene from The Day of the Beast viewed on a Samsung QN90A smart TV via the Roku Ultra.

A scene from The Day of the Beast viewed on a Samsung QN90A smart TV via the Roku Ultra.

Partial list of movies on Arrow Player

  • All the Colors of Giallo
  • Audition
  • Bad Black
  • Basket Case
  • The Baby
  • Beyond the Door
  • Beyond the Door 3
  • The Black Cat
  • Blood Beat
  • Blood Harvest
  • Bloodsuckers from Outer Space
  • Brain Damage
  • Burst City
  • Cat in the Brain
  • The Day of the Beast
  • Day of Anger
  • Death Warmed Up
  • Demon Wind
  • Dirty Ho
  • Django
  • Don’t Torture a Duckling
  • Eaten Alive!
  • Edge of the Axe
  • The El Duce Tapes
  • Evil Ed
  • The Five Venoms
  • Funky Forest: The First Contact
  • Girls Nite Out!
  • Gone With The Pope
  • Gwilliam
  • Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
  • The Hills Have Eyes (1 and 2)
  • Hobgoblins
  • House (1986)
  • Intruder
  • Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway
  • Just For The Hell of It
  • Kansas City
  • Killer Crocodile (1 and 2)
  • Killing Birds (Zombie 5)
  • Lady Street Fighter
  • The Lake Michigan Monster
  • The Last Matinee
  • The Legend of the Stardust Brothers
  • LFO
  • The Love Witch
  • Malabimba
  • Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood
  • Massacre in Dinosaur Valley
  • Mega Time Squad
  • Mutant Wars
  • The New Barbarians
  • Night of the Bloody Apes
  • Night Train to Terror
  • One-Armed Boxer
  • Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge
  • Psychomania
  • Puppet Master collection
  • Putney Swope
  • Rest in Pieces
  • The Righteous
  • Ringu
  • Robowar
  • Running Out of Time I and II
  • The Sacred Spirit
  • Santa Sangre
  • Savage Dawn
  • Schizo
  • Season of the Witch
  • Spookies
  • Star Time
  • The Stylist
  • The Subspecies collection
  • The Sword and the Claw
  • Tetsuo: The Iron Man
  • Tetsuo II: Body Hammer
  • Tideland
  • Torso
  • Two Thousand Maniacs
  • Vampyres
  • Vice Academy 1–3
  • Viy
  • Warning from Space
  • Whiskey Mountain
  • Who Killed Captain Alex?
  • Wolf Guy
  • The Woman
  • The Zero Boys
  • Zombie 3
  • Zombie 4
  • Zombie for Sale

Data as of post date.

A scene from Evil Ed viewed on a Samsung QN90A smart TV via the Roku Ultra.

A scene from Evil Ed as viewed on a Samsung QN90A smart TV via the Roku Ultra.

Shows on Arrow Player

Arrow Player has no TV series—it’s all about movies. But you can still binge-watch movies. Just think of them as late–fourth season Stranger Things episodes.

Pro tip: If you’re into Arrow Player, check out 9 Streaming Bundles to Replace Cable, where we’ve compiled themed streaming TV bundles for all types of circumstances and fandoms. Arrow Player is part of the Mondo Bundle (for cult film fanatics) and the soon-to-be-added Bloodstream Bundle (for horror fans).

Arrow Player specs and features

What else does Arrow Player have going for it besides a buxom library and eye candy app? Let’s find out.

Arrow Player simultaneous streams

Service Streams
Arrow Player 3
Our pick
Shudder
1
Full Moon Features 3
Night Flight Plus Unlimited
Screambox 3

Data as of post date.

Arrow Player gives you three simultaneous streams—that’s the industry average. Some streaming services have fewer (Shudder has only one), and some have more (Night Flight Plus has unlimited streams). But three is a good amount.

Arrow Player offline viewing

Offline viewing is one of the best features of any on-demand streaming service. It’s the next best thing to cloud DVR. Arrow Player’s offline viewing has a couple of restrictions:

  • To complete a download, you must keep the Arrow Player app open, and your screen must remain on. If your screen goes dark, you’ll have to start over. So turn off your screen timer to avoid frustration.
  • Once you’ve downloaded a movie, you have 30 days to start playback. Once you hit ‘play,’ you have 48 hours to finish the film.

Pro tip: Arrow Player’s 30-day/48-hour offline viewing limitations apply only to digital rights management (DRM) content—non-DRM content never expires.

Arrow Player app

The Arrow Player is one of the best-looking and most reliable mobile streaming TV apps we’ve used, regardless of the devices used to test it.

Based on the Vimeo over-the-top (OTT) platform, the Arrow Player app works just the Brown Sugar, Full Moon Features, and Troma NOW! apps. There are four links on the left-hand side of the screen (Search, Explore, Library, and Settings). To the right is a long list of category-specific carousel menus with thumbnails in three sizes (think of Netflix) for visual variety.

Vimeo (and other OTT platforms like Matchpoint) leaves the app’s aesthetic design up to the individual services—and the Arrow Player looks amazing. Clearly, the high aesthetic standards Arrow Video applies to its boutique Blu-ray releases also extends to the Arrow Player app. Bravo, Arrow.

The Arrow Player home screen (Samsung QN90A via Roku)

The Arrow Player home screen viewed on a Samsung QN90A smart TV via the Roku Ultra.

The Arrow Player home screen viewed on Google Chrome)

The Arrow Player home screen viewed on a Windows 10 laptop via the Google Chrome browser.

The Arrow Player home screen viewed on mobile via the service's Android app.

The Arrow Player home screen viewed on a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 smartphone via the Arrow Player app for Android.

If there’s one part of the app design that could be better, it’s how Arrow Player lays out the “My List” page across apps.

On the Roku Ultra version of Arrow Player, “My List” includes two carousel menus: “My List” and “Resume.” The latter menu is redundant with “Continue Watching” on the main page. It robs precious space from “My List,” which shows only the 20 most recently added titles, with a “View All” link that opens a scrollable list of thumbnails.

On Google Chrome, “My List” and “Continue Watching” are the first two carousel menus. In the Android app, “Resume” is on the home screen (which is also called “Explore”), while “My List” is under “Library.”

Some consistency would be nice, but the current layouts aren’t awful when you weigh them against everything good about Arrow Player—and awful app experiences like Screambox.

The Arrow Player "My List" page viewed on a Samsung QN90A smart TV via the Roku Ultra.

The Arrow Player “My List” screen as viewed on a Samsung QN90A smart TV via the Roku Ultra.

The Arrow Player "My List" pages viewed on a Lenovo ThinkBook laptop (Windows 10 Pro) via the Chrome browser.

The Arrow Player “My List” screen viewed on a Lenovo ThinkBook (Windows 10 Pro) via Google Chrome.

The Arrow Player "My List" page viewed on mobile via the service's Android app.

The Arrow Player “My List” screen as viewed on the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 smartphone via the Arrow Player app for Android.

Arrow Player supported devices

Device Full Moon Features support
Amazon Fire Cube, Stick, TV
Android phones, tablets
Android TV
Apple TV (4th gen.)
Apple TV 4K
Chromecast, Chromebook
Echo Show
iPhone, iPad
LG smart TVs (select models)
Nintendo Switch
NVIDIA Shield Pro TV
PC, Mac web browsers Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari
PlayStation 3, 4, 5
Roku devices
Samsung smart TVs (select models)
TiVo Stream
VIZIO smart TVs (select models)
Wii
Xbox One
Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S

Data as of post date.

The Arrow Player app supports many devices, including Xbox gaming consoles, so you shouldn’t have to buy any new gear to use Arrow Player.

Arrow Player playback controls

Arrow Player doesn’t skimp on the playback controls. Here’s what you can do on the mobile app. The Roku Ultra and browser-based Arrow Player apps have the same features except “Share,” “Cast,” and “Download.”

  • Play/pause
  • Rewind/fast-forward
  • 10-second jumps (both directions)
  • Subtitles
  • Chromecast icon
  • Full-screen toggle
  • Settings
  • Add to watchlist
  • Share
  • Download
  • Close app
  • Status bar
  • Timecode (elapsed and total run time)
Arrow Player playback controls viewed on mobile with the service's Android app.

Arrow Player playback controls viewed on mobile via the service’s Android app.

Arrow Player video and audio quality

Few niche streaming services stream in 4K HDR—but Arrow Player is one of them. See what we mean about attention to technical details? Arrow is all about giving users the best movie experience.

Remember, though, that streaming in 4K HDR depends chiefly on the source material. If a title isn’t available in 4K, it will stream in SD or HD.

Pro tip: If your smart TV has AI upscaling, it can bring a full HD 1080p stream up to near 4K quality.

Arrow Player testing

Test Screen (TV, phone, tablet, or laptop) Streaming device/app platfrom Internet connection Results
Test #1 Samsung QN90A smart TV (2021 model) Roku Ultra Google Fiber 1 Gbps Consistent 4K HDR*
Test #2 LG UH615A (2015) NVIDIA SHIELD TV Pro Google Fiber 1 Gbps Consistent 4K HDR*
Test #3 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 smartphone Arrow Player app for Android Google Fiber 1 Gbps Consistent 4K HDR*
Test #4 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 smartphone Arrow Player app for Android T-Mobile 5G mobile data 720p SD–1080p HD†
Test #5 Lenovo ThinkBook laptop (2021) Google Chrome browser (Windows 10 Pro) Google Fiber 1 Gbps Consistent 4K HDR*

Data effective as of post date.
* Depending on source material
† Depending on source material and location

We use Google Fiber 1 Gbps at home and the T-Mobile 5G mobile network when we’re out. Both connections, when stable, have more than enough bandwidth to stream in 4K. The T-Mobile connection, however, isn’t always stable if we’re driving (don’t worry, we weren’t behind the wheel). When that happened, the Arrow app adjusted image quality accordingly.

A scene from Django viewed on a Samsung QN90A smart TV via the Roku Ultra.

A scene from Django viewed on a Samsung QN90A smart TV via the Roku Ultra.

Final take: Is Arrow Player worth it?

Arrow Player is so worth it, with an impressively deep and well-curated library, an app that’s pure eye candy (not to mention reliable), 4K resolution, and offline viewing for only $6–$7 a month.

Actually, “worth it” sells Arrow Player short. Let’s call it what it is: a must-have streaming service for film fans of all stripes—but mainly those who hang out at the arthouse and enjoy weird movies as much as (okay, maybe more than) Best Picture candidates.

Arrow Player FAQ

What is Arrow Player?

Arrow Player is a streaming TV service specializing in cult action, comedy, horror, western, and other genre films.

Is Arrow Player the same as Arrow Video?

Yeah, pretty much. Arrow Player is the streaming TV service owned by Arrow Video, which puts out deluxe Blu-ray reissues of genre films.

Is Arrow Player any good?

Arrow Player is excellent. We think it’s a must-have. For what you get—an expertly curated library of 600+ genre films, 4K resolution, a nearly perfect app, and offline viewing, its price ($6–$7 a month) is a steal.

How much is Arrow streaming service?

Arrow Player is $6.99 a month or $69.99 a year (a 17% discount).

Is Arrow on Roku?

Arrow Player is on Roku.

Bloodstream - from CableTV.com

Methodology

Our TV experts have spent hundreds of hours testing Arrow Player and other streaming services. For this article, we tested Arrow Player on three smart TVs, two streaming devices, one smartphone, one laptop, and four internet connections.

Also, we compared Arrow Player to competing services based on pricing, features, libraries, and more to deliver accurate, helpful recommendations to our readers. Check out the CableTV.com How We Rank page to learn more about our process.

Endnotes

JustWatch.com, “All Movies and Shows on Arrow Player.” Accessed September 6, 2022.

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