Not every movie worth seeing was released in theaters. There’ve been plenty of genuinely great entertainment put out on the small screen well before streaming made it a regular thing. Here are six that we recommend:

Cast a Deadly Spell (1991)

From our review: “When I first heard about this movie, I got instantly hyped to see it. A film noir set in the ’40s where magic and fantasy creatures also inhabit our world? And Fred Ward is headlining it as the gruff private eye? It’s like a cult dream come true!”

The Night Stalker (1972)

From our review: “The journey that Kolchak takes from being a skeptic to a believer in the supernatural — at least in regard to this one vampire — is one that became the template of every X-Files episode.”

Condor (1986)

From our review: “This TV movie was fashioned from a series that was never picked up, which is a shame because I would’ve loved to see more of this grand vision of the turn of the century.”

Doorways (1994)

From our review: “What if I told you that there was a ’90s movie that was written by Game of Thrones author George RR Martin, featured dimensional hopping before Sliders came along, and starred The Matrix’s Carrie-Anne Moss and RoboCop’s Kurtwood Smith?”

Wish Upon a Star (1996)

From our review: “The filmmakers get a whole lot of mileage out of the relationship between these two siblings, and seeing each of them learn what the other’s worlds, interests, and goals are all about was as enjoyable as it was predictable.”

Generation X (1996)

From our review: “I was oddly riveted by it, all the more so by the X-Men connection. They were packing in a whole lot into these 90 minutes, what with the character and school intros, the villain’s mind-control plot, and various escapades. Good? No. Boring? Also no.”