Somebody created a Netflix clone to stream classic public domain movies for free

As the lockdown continues, people are looking for more and more entertainment to distract themselves from the horrific pandemic ravaging the world right now. And with belts being cinched ever tighter, people also want that entertainment to be free if possible. Well, we can tick both those boxes today with an option that should appeal to cinephiles, or even just folks looking for something new to watch. Or rather, something old. Very old. Enter Voleflix!

Created by online content creator Matt Round, Voleflix is a Netflix clone that has indexed a whole wack of public domain movies in a neat interface for you to stream. For the uninitiated, public domain refers to creative works on which the exclusive intellectual property rights have expired, been forfeited, or waived for whatever reason. In other words, nobody owns them so they can be used by anybody who wants to. And that’s why Round’s Voleflix can offer its service for absolutely no charge. Of course, with it being free, don’t expect things to be as polished as Netflix, despite Round clearly copying the streaming giant’s UI approach. There is a rudimentary watch-list, but there are no profiles and no way to save viewing progress across browsers.

What there is though, is a library of well-known and beloved classics including things like Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse precursor Steamboat Willie, Ed Wood’s iconic(ally bad) Plan 9 From Outer Space, Max Fleischer’s amazing motion-captured Superman cartoons, George Romero’s zombie classic masterpiece Night of the Living Dead, the original non-musical Little Shop of Horrors, the Boris Karloff-led The Terror, the very first A Star is Born, the hilariously bad Manos: The Hands of Fate (made famous by Mystery Science Theatre 3000), and much more. Hell, there’s even Roger Corman’s hard to find 1950s B-movie crime thriller The Fast and the Furious. Yes, there was a movie with that name before the Vin Diesel franchise.

It’s a very impressive collection that should excite any serious cinephile who has never been able to add these titles to their personal viewing lists. With these films being as old as they are though, don’t expect ultra high-def visuals and fancy surround sound. That was never the point of these productions. But there’s still so much good content here. And it’s free, gratis, mahala! So you have no reason to not check out Voleflix now!

Last Updated: April 8, 2020