Club Benefits
As one of the most notable streaming services around, Prime Video is home to some big-name properties, from star-studded dramas like “Landman” to sci-fi stunners like “The Fallout” to buzzy animated shows like the upcoming “Spider-Noir.” But though a treasure trove of choice, with new titles being filtered in every few weeks, Amazon’s massive streaming library means that some top-quality shows can get lost in the mix.
And one such hidden gem is “The Horror of Dolores Roach,” a pitch-black horror comedy starring Justina Machado in the title role as a New York City woman who finds herself in a “Sweeney Todd”-esque predicament: She can’t stop killing her massage customers and ends up using a local empanada shop to hide the bodies. (But all that murder is funny, we promise.)
The series only lasted a single season on Prime Video before it was canceled back in November 2023. But we still think all that dark humor and, uh, cannibalistic fun is well worth a revisit. Need more convincing? Here’s why you should check out “The Horror of Dolores Roach” on Prime Video.
What is 'The Horror of Dolores Roach' about?
Justina Machado (“One Day At a Time,” “Six Feet Under”) leads the cast as the titular Dolores Roach, an ex-convict fresh off a 16-year prison sentence after taking the fall for her drug-dealer boyfriend. Upon her release, she returns to Washington Heights and is horrified to find that her old neighborhood has been gentrified, with hiked prices to boot. Struggling to reenter this ritzed-up society, Dolores reconnects with an old friend, Luis Batista (Alejandro Hernandez), the chef-owner of family restaurant Empanada Loca; Luis lets Dolores live in the basement and use the space as an unlicensed parlor for her massage clients.
However, both of their lives get very complicated when Dolores kills a customer out of self-defense and Luis, who has always had a crush on her, helps to hide the body by turning it into mystery meat for his new empanada flavor. But when the body count continues to rise, ghosts from the past begin to pop up) and people in the neighborhood (including the health department) start growing suspicious about the goings-on of the local empanada shop, how can they keep the bloody business from ending up six feet under?
Why should you stream 'The Horror of Dolores Roach' on Prime Video?
If you’re into the campy gore and dark humor of fellow horror-comedy series like “Santa Clarita Diet,” “Dexter,” “Barry” and “Scream Queens,” you’ll have a gruesomely fun time with “The Horror of Dolores Roach,” which blends blood-soaked pulpiness, biting satire and stomach-churningly funny hijinks across its eight episodes.
Created by Aaron Mark (in an adaptation of both his 2015 one-woman off-Broadway play entitled “Empanada Loca” and his subsequent 2018 Gimlet Media podcast of the same name), “The Horror of Dolores Roach” was praised for Machado’s lead performance: Her “commitment to the zany premise makes for a savory snack of a series,” reads the critical consensus over at Rotten Tomatoes, where the series holds a 81% approval rating. And along with Hernandez’s Luis, Machado’s Dolores is surrounded by a colorful collection of characters, played by the likes of Marc Maron, K. Todd Freeman, Judy Reyes, Jessica Pimentel, Jean Yoon and pop icon Cyndi Lauper, among others.
Stream “The Horror of Dolores Roach” on Prime Video now
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Subscribe to Tom's Guide on YouTube and follow Tom's Guide Entertainment on TikTok and Instagram.
More from Tom's Guide
- 3 new to Prime Video thriller movies to watch this week
- Stream these 5 great Prime Video movies for free right now
- 3 feel-good movies on Prime Video you (probably) haven't seen
