Horror Movies To Stream For Halloween: At The Movies With Kasey
The time has come again my annual roundup of what new horrors are streaming. I want to say that I dutifully paced myself over months, but really, I engaged in a horror binge, making my October very spooky indeed. Still, this is not an exhaustive list, and I have limited myself to films released in 2023 and 2024.
In addition to its extensive catalog of older horror, Netflix recently released It’s What’s Inside, in which a group of friends play a mind-bending party game and face dire consequences. More thriller than horror, It’s What’s Inside is like Bodies Bodies Bodies crossed with an episode of Black Mirror. The ensemble cast does a great job switching characters throughout and the story is too twisty and fun to miss.
Netflix has also become a destination for Spanish films, including the creepy but dragging horror flick Tin and Tina. I preferred Killer Book Club, a slasher film reminiscent of I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream. With its goofy cast and likable final girl, Veki Velilla, the movie may feel like a copycat, but it is still plenty of fun.
Shudder is the obvious choice for horror movies this season. Earlier this year, I reviewed their exceptional original feature, Late Night with the Devil. In time for Halloween, they also have the breakout hit, Oddity, my favorite new movie this season. Oddity focuses on a blind psychic who owns an oddity shop and uses a cursed object to investigate her sister’s murder. The cursed object is bizarre and creepy and there were a couple of jump scares that got my adrenaline going. Carolyn Bracken gives a stunning performance as the twin sisters in this tense, well-plotted horror mystery.
Also on Shudder, The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster, draws on Frankenstein to tell the story of Vicaria (Laya DeLeon Hayes), a girl who thinks she can cure death. Hayes gives a compelling performance and writer/director Bomani J. Story infuses the story with cultural commentary, but I think the movie would have been stronger with less neighborhood drama and more of the monster. Suitable Flesh stars Heather Graham in something like a Lifetime movie crossed with a thriller—not my thing. I turned it off because I could no longer take the bad acting or corny narration.
On Hulu, Hold Your Breath features Sarah Paulson as a mother trying to keep it together in the Dust Bowl. Almost a Western, the film has such a slow pace I almost gave up on it, but Paulson’s considerable talent and the beautiful details kept me watching.
The name is stupid because spiders bite, but Sting offers a modern twist on classic B monster movies. It is slightly slanderous against spiders, but also plenty creepy, with a great jumpscare using a spider plant and a sweet family story.
Mr. Crocket also feels like a B-movie—Mister Rogers crossed with The Ring. Elvis Nolasco plays a children’s TV host who comes through the screen to punish bad parents and steal their children. The movie was too campy for my taste, but audiences who enjoy horror comedy will get a kick out of it. Jerrika Hinton gives a somber performance that grounds all the silliness.
Hulu also has both Immaculate and The First Omen, two markedly similar horror movies. Immaculate features scream queen Sydney Sweeney in a bonkers story that verges on heresy. The First Omen, a prequel to the famed series, has a more measured pace, and Nell Tiger Free in a comparatively understated performance. Both films have gruesome birth scenes and evil nuns. I do not recommend them back to back.
On Amazon, you can find several new releases or in-theater films available to rent, such as the serial killer movie Longlegs and the latest from M. Night Shyamalan, Trap. They also have less-splashy films such as Nightswim, a pretty average horror flick about a haunted pool. It would have been far creepier had the monster never been shown, but Wyatt Russell gives a strong performance as an ailing baseball player.
Don’t Look Away stars Kelly Bastard as Frankie, a woman who believes she is being stalked by a killer mannequin. The plot is so absurd, especially in contrast to Bastard’s moody, traumatized performance, that it falls into the so-bad-it’s-good camp. It’s not a good movie, but the monster is so silly it was fun to watch anyway.
This year, Max is the destination for horror classics such as The Conjuring movies, many Stephen King films, and older slasher flicks. Through their partnership with the Criterion Collection, they also have a decent catalog of films noir, if you prefer suspense to horror. For something new, Max is the streaming home to I Saw The TV Glow, which debuted to critical acclaim earlier this year. Although the style is something like an evil Lisa Frank folder and the nostalgia factor is high, the film’s plot takes a halting pace and the performances are underwhelming. It is an interesting, innovative film, but I wished it had leaned more toward a classic episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? than the moody, pretentious tone it took.
This year, many films lean on nostalgia or campy horror, which got me in the mood for my traditional screening of the classics: Halloween and Scream. Happy Halloween!
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