One thing that has remained true throughout the entirety of the pandemic is that there’s been no shortage of new horror content being brought to the table, with the various streaming services and On Demand platforms making up for the fact that not a whole lot has been releasing in theaters the past year and a half. And oh boy is that the case in the month ahead.
As usual, October means we’re going to be getting a TON of new horror in the coming weeks, so much of it that it’s quite frankly too much to cover the way we usually do. While we typically write up one article at the start of every month letting you know what new movies and shows are releasing in that month, for October 2021 we’re going to publish *weekly* previews.
And we’re kicking off the month so strong that this first spotlight covers only the first three days of October, and yet it’s packed with TWELVE brand new shows/movies to watch!
Here’s all the new horror for October 1-3, 2021…
Easily the biggest release of this first weekend in October is a movie that some may not consider a horror movie, per se, but it’s undeniably a *monster* movie. Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage is unleashed into theaters this weekend, directed by Andy Serkis(!) this time around and starring Tom Hardy as Venom and Woody Harrelson as Carnage.
The plot? Well, Venom’s in there and Carnage is in there. And they fight.
Meagan wrote in her 3-star review for Bloody Disgusting, “If you’re in the mood for silly, this sequel nails it. But for an epic showdown among monsters, it lacks bite.”
Also in theaters, NEON releases Julia Ducournau’s (Raw) critically acclaimed new movie Titane on October 1, and it’s been generating quite the buzz on the festival circuit.
Meagan wrote up a glowing 4-star review for BD, writing: “Titane throws everything at its audience in an aggressive style. Visceral, cringe-worthy violence, and even more bizarre sexual encounters. Surreal moments of tenderness and another round of awkward dance scenes ensue. Twisted humor heightens the strangeness of it all, right down to gross-out body horror. Ducournau makes all of it, visually and narratively, remarkably coherent.”
What’s it about, you ask? It’s a movie that probably defies an easy description, but here’s the nuts-and-bolts synopsis from IMDb: “Following a series of unexplained crimes, a father is reunited with the son who has been missing for 10 years.”
For a much younger audience, animated sequel The Addams Family 2 is also coming to theaters this weekend, or if you’d prefer, you can watch at home through Premium VOD.
The sequel to the 2019 hit takes the beloved family on a ghoulish road trip across America this time around. Think the Griswolds… only just a little bit more bizarre…
While we’re talking about kid-friendly horrors, we can’t forget the Disney+ Halloween special “LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales,” which will be available starting October 1st.
The animated special celebrates the dark side of the Star Wars universe, taking place after The Rise of Skywalker and telling three creepy stories linked to iconic villains and artifacts.
‘Bingo Hell’
“Welcome to the Blumhouse” returns to Amazon for its second year on October 1st, with two of the four new movies premiering Friday: Black as Night and Bingo Hell.
Directed by Maritte Lee Go, Black as Night is about a “teenage girl with self-esteem issues who finds confidence in the most unlikely way, by spending her summer battling vampires that prey on New Orleans’ disenfranchised with the help of her best friend, the boy she’s always pined for, and a peculiar rich girl.”
And directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero, Bingo Hell is set in the Barrio of Oak Springs, where “a strong and stubborn group of elderly friends refuse to be gentrified. Their leader, Lupita, keeps them together as a community, a family. But little did they know, their beloved Bingo hall is about to be sold to a much more powerful force than money itself.”
Dark Sky Films will be bringing Coming Home in the Dark to select theaters and On Demand on October 1st, called a “nihilistic morality thriller” by Meagan Navarro out of the Sundance Film Festival World Premiere earlier this year.
Meagan continued, “James Ashcroft’s feature directorial debut wastes no time at all cutting right to the dark heart of his grim, jaw-dropping morality thriller. Just enough time is given to establish key protagonists before they’re plummeting into a pitch-black evening full of unspeakable horrors. Whether there’s enough story to fill out an entire feature is a different story, but Coming Home in the Dark succeeds in sheer intensity and extremism to make it worth the journey.”
Oh right, the plot. In this one, “A school teacher is forced to confront a brutal act from his past when a pair of ruthless drifters takes him and his family on a nightmare road-trip.”
Another indie horror movie arriving on VOD platforms this Friday is The Exorcist-inspired While We Sleep, which follows a young girl who suffers from a rare sleep disorder and haunting dreams. “The family hires a radiologist to discover the source of the bad dreams but what she finds is more terrifying and menacing than the dreams themselves.”
Andrzej Sekula directed the film, and you can watch the trailer here.
Head Count director Elle Callahan is also back on Friday, October 1st, with new movie Witch Hunt hitting theaters, Digital and On Demand courtesy of Momentum Pictures.
“In a modern America where witches are real and witchcraft is illegal, a sheltered teenager must face her own demons and prejudices as she helps two young witches avoid law enforcement and cross the southern border to asylum in Mexico.”
Watch the trailer for Witch Hunt here.
AMC’s month-long FearFest event begins on October 1st (full schedule here), just in time for the Season 3 premiere of Eli Roth’s documentary series “History of Horror.”
The six-episode third season premieres on October 1, with topics this year including Sequels (That Don’t Suck), Infections, Psychics, Apocalyptic Horror, Holiday Horror, and Mad Scientists.
Moving onto Saturday, October 2nd, the horror continues with the premiere of “The Haunted Museum” on discovery+, an interesting project that brings together filmmaker Eli Roth and “Ghost Adventures” star Zak Bagans. Part of the “Ghostober” lineup, the new series features “mini horror films” based on haunted items from Bagans’ vault of haunted objects.
The scripted shorts are produced by Roth, and you can watch a preview here.
And last but not least, spinoff “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” returns to AMC for its final season on Sunday, October 3rd, with ten new episodes in total on the way.
Season 2 is said to conclude the “epic story of Iris, Hope, Elton, and Silas — four friends who journeyed across the country on a mission that transformed everything they knew about themselves and the world. As they face off against the mysterious Civic Republic Military and fight for control of their own destiny, goals will shift, bonds will form and crumble, and innocence will be both lost and found.” Pollyanna McIntosh (The Woman), who played Jadis on “The Walking Dead,” will be making her return in “World Beyond” this year.
Much more horror is on the way in October! Stay tuned…