You've got 240 choices among the Best Horror Movies Streaming this month. Pause and take it in. Breathe in all that terror. It's beautiful and quite useful since it is the scariest time of the year.
Arrow has All You Need Is Death, an independently produced Irish horror film, and Three…Extremes, a Japanese anthology film that contains some very special treats as Dumplings, directed by Fruit Chan (Hong Kong), Cut, directed by Park Chan-wook (South Korea), and Box, directed by Takashi Miike (Japan).
The Criterion Channel has three curated lists of scary movies: Body Horror, Directed by John Carpenter, and 2000s Horror. These are great because they have chosen some deep cuts like Ken Russell's Altered States, William Friedkin's Bug, Ishiro Honda's Matango, Andrzej Żuławski's Possession, Claire Denis' Trouble Every Day, Jaume Balagueró, and Paco Plaza's [•REC] , and a rare appearance of Joel Anderson's Lake Mungo.
Disney+ came from out of nowhere with a super rare streaming title that instantly shot up into the top ten, Something Wicked This Way Comes. The film, with a script from the author of the original book, Ray Bradbury, had a troubled production, but it is something that all horror fans should see at least once. It's got Pam Grier as the Dust Witch with Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce, Diane Ladd, and was directed by Jack Clayton.
HBO Max comes in strong with Danny and Michael Philippou's second film, the chilling and heartbreaking Bring Her Back, the first appearance of Coralie Fargeat's The Substance outside of Mubi's streaming service, and the premiere of IT: Welcome to Derry, Season 1, a new series from HBO.
Hulu isn't slacking with the premiere of The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, starring Maika Monroe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Raul Castillo, and directed by the Mexican director, Michelle Garza Cervera. That's something to be very excited about because Michelle Garza Cervera's first feature was the acclaimed Huesera: The Bone Woman, which was excellent. The streamer has a second original film premiere on October 8 with Stay. Werewolf fans can get their fill with Stephen C. Miller's Werewolves, which premieres on Hulu's service this month, as does The Rule of Jenny Pen, which was previously only available on Shudder.
Paramount+ has a healthy selection of repertory titles but is premiering Bryan Bertino's newest film, Vicious, in October. Bertino is the writer and director who brought us The Strangers and The Dark and the Wicked, so everything he does deserves a look. He always goes for the gusto and rarely shows his characters mercy. Vicious stars Dakota Fanning, Rachel Blanchard, and Kathryn Hunter. Other titles that you might want to check out are Jeremy Saulnier's Green Room, for an uncomfortably familiar and realistic fright scenario, and Peter Strickland's In Fabric, which tells the tale of a haunted red dress.
Peacock snuck a big reveal in under the wire with the premiere of M3GAN 2.0, including the unrated cut, on September 26, and will also usher in the latest Jurassic Park film late in October. If you want to revel in dinosaur terror, Peacock is the place for you since Peacock has queued up Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and Jurassic World Rebirth later this month.
Prime has classic Universal Monster movies on tap, as well as Companion, The Woman in the Yard, and Paul Schrader's remake of Cat People. If you've never seen it, fall is a great time to watch it for the first time.
Screambox brings it all home with such 70s and 80s low-budget classics as Don't Go in the House and Mortuary, and new films like Else and Bloodsuckers and the Grimoire.
Remember to carve up your pumpkins, get out the candy, be ready for trick-or-treaters, and have a scintillatingly scary Halloween season.
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Arrow
WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS? (Credit: Arrow) October 1
What Have They Done to Your Daughters (US/CA).
In 1972, director Massimo Dallamano (Colt 38 Special Squad, The Night Child) broke new ground in the giallo genre with the harrowing What Have You Done to Solange? Two years later, he followed up with an even darker semi-sequel – the chilling What Have They Done to Your Daughters?
A teenage girl is found hanging from the rafters of a privately rented attic, pregnant and violated. Hot-headed Inspector Silvestri (Claudio Cassinelli, The Suspicious Death of a Minor) and rookie Assistant District Attorney Vittoria Stori (Giovanna Ralli, Cold Eyes of Fear) are assigned to the case, the scope of which grows substantially when they discover that the dead girl was part of a ring of underage prostitutes whose abusers occupy the highest echelons of Italian society. Meanwhile, a cleaver-wielding, motorcycle-riding killer roars through the streets of Brescia, determined to ensure that those involved take their secret to the grave.
October 3
Family Dinner (UK/US/CA/IRE): An overweight teenager spends the holidays at her aunt's farm in the hope of getting help to lose weight, but soon after her arrival, she begins to suspect that something is very wrong at this place.
A Most Atrocious Thing (UK/US/ CA/IRE): Oh deer! Ben, Dylan, and their three stoner buds embark on a graduation trip at a remote cabin with plans to drink, hunt, and drink some more. But, after inadvertently eating tainted deer meat, friends become foes and transform into demonic flesh-craving zombies who want nothing more than to tear the group limb from limb.
Creep Van (US): A 20-something slacker gets caught up in a deadly game of cat and mouse after answering a ‘For Sale' sign placed on a dilapidated van.
Housebound (US): A young woman is forced to return to her childhood home after being placed under house arrest, where she suspects that something evil may be lurking.
RUE MORGUE SELECTS (Credit: Arrow) October 7:
Rue Morgue Selects (UK/US/CA/IRE):
Launched in 1997 by Rodrigo Gudiño, RUE MORGUE is the world’s leading horror in culture and entertainment brand, spearheaded by its multiple award-winning periodical, Rue Morgue Magazine and Rue Morgue Digital; Rue Morgue TV specialty horror channel; the Rue Morgue Library book series; Rue Morgue Presents Frightmare in the Falls horror expo and Rue Morgue Presents CineMacabre Movie Nights monthly film series. Rue Morgue Magazine is issued bimonthly and distributed worldwide.
“Damn, I love making a horror movie playlist. It’s like making a mixtape for your crush in high school – the ultimate gesture in the endeavor to be heard and understood on an experiential level. As Executive Editor of Rue Morgue magazine and one-half of the Faculty of Horror podcast, I have the pleasure and the privilege of talking horror all day long alongside some of the best and brightest in genre criticism, but making a list still feels especially intimate somehow. For someone to take me up on a horror movie suggestion is deeply gratifying. For them to enjoy it? Sublime! And so, it’s with a weird mixt of vulnerability and pride that I share these selects, and I’m so grateful to ARROW Selects for not only giving me the opportunity to do so, but for having such an expansive catalog to pick and choose from.
Selecting the fright flicks was easy – describing them here is proving to be a bit trickier. The best I can do to articulate my taste in horror is to say I like movies that make me feel changed, rattled, shaken, and not stirred. It could be that unexpected flash of absurdity amid the rough realism of Calvaire, the sight of uniformed Japanese teens being riddled with machine gun bullets in Battle Royale, or the various “oh shit” moments in Hounds of Love when you realize that oh yeah, we’re going there, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Titles include: Spider Baby, Audition, Calvaire.
October 10:
She Freak (UK/US/CA/IRE): A waitress leaves the greasy-diner business for the excitement of the carnival, where she quickly discovers that she despises freaks and human oddities in this newly restored 60s exploitation classic.
Resolution (US): A man imprisons his estranged junkie friend in an isolated cabin in the boonies of San Diego to force him through a week of sobriety, but the events of that week are being mysteriously manipulated.
Boardinghouse (UK/US/CA/IRE): In this 80s shot-on-video favorite, a boarding house is reopened years after gruesome murders were committed there. Suddenly, the body count begins once more.
GIALLOWEEN (Credit: Arrow) October 17:
Gialloween (UK/US/CA/IRE), ARROW's spotlight on the bloodiest and best of Italian horror. Halloween is usually a time for creepy killers in scary masks hacking up teenagers for no discernible reason. Why not spend this Halloween with stylish black-gloved killers who leave a trail of dead bodies in order to cover up crimes of passion?
This Halloween, forget the monsters and the slashers and enjoy some of the best Giallo films ever made in new restorations that make these important and influential films just as terrifying as they were back in their heyday. Just don't turn the lights off, because you never know who's lurking around the corner. Titles include: Tenebrae, The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, Deep Red, What Have They Done To Your Daughters?, The Killer Reserved Nine Seats.
Tenebrae and The Bird With The Crystal Plumage are available to North American subscribers for the first time!
The European nightmares continue with The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (UK/US/ CA/IRE): An ambassador's unfaithful wife discovers that one of the men in her life — either her husband, an ex-lover, or her current lover — may be a vicious serial killer who targets women with razor blades in Vienna.
October 17:
Haunted Ulster Live (US/CA): On Halloween night 1998, a Northern Ireland TV veteran teams up with a popular new children's presenter to investigate poltergeist activity in a reputedly haunted house in Belfast. Light entertainment turns to horror when an unseen terror reveals itself.
October 24:
Terror comes in threes with the bite-sized horror of the pan-Asian anthology Three and its sequel, Three… Extremes. Featuring haunted tales of terror, each from a different Asian country, forms the anthology Three, directed by South Korea's Kim Jee-woon (A Tale of Two Sisters), Thailand's Nonzee Nimibutr (Nang Nak), and Hong Kong's Peter Ho-Sun Chan. The first film would shock audiences with its approach to Asian horror, and lead to the sequel, Three… Extremes, directed by Hong Kong's Fruit Chan (Made in Hong Kong), South Korea's Park Chan-wook (Oldboy), and Japan's Takashi Miike (Audition).
Arrow also brings a new restoration of the terrifying revenge thriller in the tradition of Death Wish and Taxi Driver: Ms. 45 (US/CA): New York, 1980. Raped at gunpoint on her way home from work, mute seamstress Thana returns to the safety of her apartment only to be assaulted again by a burglar, but this time she fights back. Bludgeoning her assailant with an iron, she takes his gun and begins to dispose of the body piece by piece. Fuelled by her trauma, Thana sees that sexual threat is everywhere in the city and decides to bring a .45 caliber solution to the problem.
October 27:
Slugs (US/ CA): The townsfolk of a rural community are dying in strange and gruesome circumstances. Following the trail of horrifically mutilated cadavers, resident health inspector Mike Brady is on the case to piece together the mystery. He soon comes to a terrifying conclusion – giant slugs are breeding in the sewers beneath the town, and they’re making a meal of the locals!
Apprentice to Murder (US/ CA): In early twentieth-century Pennsylvania Dutch Country, young Billy Kelly (Chad Lowe, Highway to Hell) falls in with a charismatic “powwower” or folk magic healer, Dr John Reese (Donald Sutherland, Don't Look Now), shunned by the rest of the community for his non-conformist beliefs. Together, they investigate the mysterious sickness that is blighting the area, which Reese believes to be the work of a sinister local hermit. But as the plague spreads and the wide-eyed Billy falls ever deeper under Reese's spell, are they doing God's work or the Devil's bidding?
Dead-End Drive-In (US/ CA): One of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite directors, Brian Trenchard-Smith, was a key figure in the Ozploitation movement, responsible for The Man from Hong Kong, Stunt Rock, Turkey Shoot, BMX Bandit, and dystopian cult classic Dead-End Drive-In.
Set in a near-future where the economy has crumbled and violent gangs play havoc in the streets, the powers-that-be have decided to lure the delinquent youth into drive-in cinemas and keep them there. No longer just a place to watch trashy movies and make out, these outdoor picture shows have become concentration camps for the unruly and unwanted. With its day-glo color scheme, new wave soundtrack, and extraordinary stunt work, Dead-End Drive-In is in the tradition of Ozploitation milestones Mad Max and The Cars That Ate Paris, only very, very eighties.
Flowers in the Attic (US/ CA): Home sweet home is murder… When her husband dies in a tragic accident, widow Corrine Dollanganger (Victoria Tennant, The Holcroft Covenant) takes her four children to the ancestral family home she fled before they were born. Locked away in the attic by their tyrannical grandmother (Academy Award winner Louise Fletcher, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), it falls to older brother and sister Chris (Jeb Stuart Adams, The Goonies) and Cathy (Kristy Swanson, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) to care for their younger siblings. But with their mother growing increasingly distant and erratic and a mysterious sickness taking hold, will any of the Dollanganger children survive to escape the clutches of the house's cruel matriarch?
Return of the Killer Tomatoes (US/ CA): Ten years on from the Great Tomato War, mankind lives in fear of another uprising by the waxy red menace. Meanwhile, Professor Gangreen – played with gusto by the great John Astin from TV’s The Addams Family – sets out to pursue his own evil ends by creating a burgeoning army of tomato militia men.
The Criterion Channel
DIRECTED BY JOHN CARPENTER (Credit: The Criterion Channel) Body Horror:
Transformation, infection, contagion, and mutation run rampant in these fleshy nightmares that render the human form unstable, uncanny, and sublimely grotesque. While David Cronenberg established himself as the reigning king of body horror with gloriously gooey, thematically provocative cult favorites like The Brood and The Fly, master directors ranging from Ken Russell (Altered States) to Claire Denis (Trouble Every Day) to William Friedkin (Bug) have each put their own stamp on a genre that posits the body as a site of trauma, desire, and uncontrollable change.
Altered States, Ken Russell
The Brood, David Cronenberg
Bug, William Friedkin
Eraserhead, David Lynch, 1977
Eyes Without a Face, Georges Franju
The Fly, David Cronenberg
The Face of Another, Hiroshi Teshigahara
Matango, Ishiro Honda
Possession, Andrzej Żuławski
Shivers, David Cronenberg
Teeth, Mitchell Lichtenstein
Trouble Every Day, Claire Denis
Directed by John Carpenter:
A master at turning B-movie premises into dazzlingly artful nightmares, horror legend John Carpenter mixes pulse-pounding thrills and subversive social commentary into some of the smartest, most stylish, and electrifying genre films of all time. From the atmospheric terror of The Fog and Christine to the dystopian world-building of Escape from New York and They Live to the apocalyptic metaphysics of Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness, Carpenter infuses propulsive action with deep existential dread, amplified by his synth soundtracks that have become classics in their own right.
Assault on Precinct 13
Big Trouble in Little China
Christine
Dark Star
Escape from L.A.
Escape from New York
The Fog
Ghosts of Mars
In the Mouth of Madness
Prince of Darkness
They Live
Vampires
2000s Horror:
The first decade of the early 2000s saw a chilling resurgence of horror cinema, with a wave of low-budget films proving that atmosphere, imagination, and thematic intelligence could produce profound dread with the most minimal of resources. Featuring unsettling new takes on the classic haunted-house movie (What Lies Beneath, The Others), innovative found-footage nightmares ([•REC], Lake Mungo), visceral shockers (Trouble Every Day, Toolbox Murders), intense psychological mind-benders (May, Triangle), and more, this survey of DVD-era cult favorites finds both veteran masters and provocative new voices pushing the genre toward edgier, more disturbing extremes.
Programmed by Clyde Folley.
Dahmer, David Jacobson
Ghosts of Mars, John Carpenter
Lake Mungo, Joel Anderson
May, Lucky McKee
The Others, Alejandro Amenábar
[•REC], Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza
Rogue, Greg McLean
Stuck, Stuart Gordon
Toolbox Murders, Tobe Hooper
Triangle, Christopher Smith
Trouble Every Day, Claire Denis
What Lies Beneath, Robert Zemeckis
Disney+
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (Credit: Disney+) October 3:Something Wicked This Way Comes
The ominous arrival of Dark’s Pandemonium Carnival in Green Town sparks the curiosity of two boys, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade. Dark transforms some of the townspeople as the boys try to find out the secret of the carnival. The boys hide from Dark, who threatens Will’s father, the town librarian, who in turn, finally helps good triumph over evil as he saves the boys and causes the destruction of the carnival.HBO Max
THE SUBSTANCE (Credit: IMDB) October 1A Nightmare on Elm StreetA Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s RevengeA Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream ChildCandyman: Farewell to the Flesh
ChristineDr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Drag Me to HellFirestarter
Freaks
Freddy vs. Jason
Friday the 13th (2009)
From Hell It CameGremlins (1984)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Halloween: Resurrection
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
HereditaryHouse of Wax (1953)
House on Haunted Hill (1958)Insidious: Chapter 2
Insidious: Chapter 3
Interview with the VampireIsle of the DeadMacabrePoltergeist (1982)The Cyclops
The Disembodied
The Exorcist (1973)The Monster
The Mummy (1959)
The Mummy (2017)
The Mystery of the Wax Museum
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Return of Doctor X
The Shining
The Sixth SenseThe Walking Dead (1936)
The Watch
The Witch
Trick ‘r TreatXZombies on BroadwayOctober 3
Bring Her Back (A24)October 10The Substance (MUBI)October 26
IT: Welcome to Derry, Season 1 (HBO Original)Hulu
THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE (Credit: Hulu) October 1
Blade (1998)
Blade 2
Blade: Trinity
Halloween (2018)
Hide And Seek (2005)
Hotel Transylvania
Hotel Transylvania 2
Joy Ride
Saw
Saw 2
Saw 3
Saw 4
Saw 5
Saw 6
Saw: The Final Chapter
Scream
Scream 2
Scream 3
Sinister
The Empty Man
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
Twilight
Twilight Saga: New Moon
Twilight Saga: Eclipse
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
Underwater
Vampires Suck
October 3The Happening
The Sixth Sense
Werewolves (2024)
October 7The Rule of Jenny Pen (2024)
October 8Stay: (Film Premiere)
October 10The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
The Hills Have Eyes 2
The Omen (2006)
Saint Clare (2024)
October 16The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
October 22The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (Film Premiere)
October 28The Exorcism (2024)
Paramount +
VICIOUS (Credit: Paramount+) October 130 Days of Night
American Psycho
American Psycho II: All-American Girl
Green Room
Hellboy (2004)
Hostel
Hostel: Part II
House at the End of the Street
In Fabric
King Kong (1976)
Prophecy
Scary Movie 4
Scary Movie V
Scream
Scream 2
Scream 3
Shadow Land
Silence
Single White Female
The Craft
The Evil Dead (1981)
The First Purge
The Fly (1986)
The Menu
The Prophecy
The Prophecy II
The Prophecy 3: The Ascent
The Prophecy: Forsaken
The Prophecy: Uprising
The Shallows
October 10Vicious (Original movie premiere)
Peacock
M3GAN 2.0 (Credit: IMDB) Sept 26M3GAN 2.0 – Premiere (Peacock Exclusive)*M3GAN 2.0 (Unrated) – Premiere (Peacock Exclusive)*October 1American PsychoAmerican Psycho 2Bones And All*Buffy The Vampire SlayerThe CrowDarkmanDead SilenceEvent HorizonExorcist: The BeginningFriday The 13thFriday The 13th – Part IIFriday The 13th – Part IIIFright NightThe FrightenersFrom Dusk Till DawnGhostbusters*Ghostbusters II*The HitcherKrampusLeatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3LeprechaunLeprechaun IILeprechaun IIILeprechaun 4: Lost In SpaceLeprechaun OriginsLeprechaun V: In The HoodLeprechaun VI: Back 2 Tha HoodMamaThe MistMonster House*The OmenOuija: Origin Of EvilThe People Under The StairsPoltergeistThe PurgeThe Purge: Election YearQuarantine*The RingScary MovieScreamScream 2Scream 3Shaun Of The DeadSilent Hill*Silent Hill: Revelation 3D*Silent House*The Skeleton KeySlitherTexas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next GenerationTim Burton's Corpse BrideVan HelsingThe VisitThe Wolf Man (1941)World War ZOct 14Cocaine Bear*Oct 15Don’t BreatheJurassic WorldJurassic World: Fallen KingdomOct 16The Cabin In The WoodsOct 30Jurassic World RebirthPrime
US (Credit: IMDB) October 1
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Candyman (1992)
Cat People (1982)
Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)
Dracula (1931)
End of Days (1999)
Frankenstein (1931)
Ghost Story (1981)
Jeepers Creepers (2001)
Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003)
Tremors (1990)
Us (2019)October 5
The Boogeyman (2023)
October 16
Dracula Untold (2014)October 18
Companion (2025)October 31
The Woman in the Yard (2025)
Screambox
BLOODSUCKERS AND THE GRIMOIRE (Credit: Screambox) Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting are once again teaming up for the 31 Days of Halloween and have six top horror creators scheduled to take over Screambox and deliver their favorites as curated lists starting on September 28 and continuing until the Day of the Dead. The schedule is as follows:
9/28-10/4: Victoria Venin
10/5-10/11: Stoney tha Great
10/12-10/18: Beckie-Ann Galentine
10/19-10/25: Slasher Talk
10/26-11/1: Ted RaimiElse: A romance blossoms between an introvert and a confident woman, but their relationship faces a threat when a strange epidemic causes the infected to merge with their surroundings, trapping the couple in a shapeshifting nightmare
Bloodsuckers and the Grimoire: Oliver, a college senior, inherits his estranged father's secluded home and discovers a dark reality of witchcraft, vampires, and a devil, after unlocking a powerful grimoire that brings these malevolent forces to life, leading to a battle for his soul.
Bloody Bites: Season 15: From Bloody Disgusting and Screambox, Bloody Bites is a compilation of snack-sized horror films that will terrorize, astonish, and disturb.
The Convent: A group of college students breaks into an abandoned convent and becomes possessed by demonic spirits.
Zombie Holocaust: Members of an expedition in the East Indies encounter not only the cannibals they were looking for, but also an evil scientist and his zombie army.
Don't Go In the House: A disturbed young man who was burned as a child by his sadistic mother stalks women with a flamethrower.
Mortuary (1982): A young woman investigates the seemingly accidental death of her father, revealing many unsettling secrets and putting her in mortal danger.
Killers: Odessa and Kyle James were just your average American boys until the night they went upstairs and killed their parents in cold blood… and smiled.
The Surgeon: A small boy witnesses his brother being killed in surgery, grows up to become a monster with a scalpel.
100 Years of Horror: Season 1: Hosted by Christopher Lee, 100 Years of Horror is the first show of its kind ever produced; chronicling the history of movie horror from the earliest experimental chillers through the unforgettable golden age of movie monsters, and on through today's terrifying fright films.
