Wattching Movies: Spooky Season Streaming

The calendar has made its ominous flip to October which means it’s time to spookify your streaming choices. Here I have assembled a list of quality horror movies from the last decade to satisfy 5 different spooky sensibilities and paired them with complimentary undervalued fright flicks of years gone by to tingle your spine.

Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

Barbarian (2022)

Where to Watch: Streaming on Hulu

The less you know about the plot of this film the more enjoyable the experience it becomes. What you do need to know is that this is an impossibly confident solo directing debut from former Whitest Kids U' Know comedy troupe member Zach Cregger. Much like fellow sketch comedian turned horror auteur Jordan Peele, Cregger understands that the formulas for getting audiences to produce laughter and screams both share a delicate structure of set up, expectation twisting misdirection, and punchline. Cregger’s self penned script has a very unique and pleasing structure where a tense first act methodically sets a willies inducing mood before deliriously just going for it in an off the wall second half. Behind the camera Cregger and his production team use masterful framing, perfectly synched cuts, and unique shots to create a pitch perfect claustrophobic atmosphere. The booming synth score and dark, damp, midwestern rot set design only enhances that disquieting effect. It’s no surprise given Cregger's comedy background that there are quite a few laughs alongside all the genuine frights including a pitch perfect performance from Justin Long as one of the most loathsome douchebags ever put to screen.

In The Mouth of Madness (1994)

Where to Watch: Available for Rental

This underseen film comes from master of horror John Carpenter. Released a few years outside of the director’s generally acknowledged heyday, Madness initially received mixed reviews and barely recouped its $8 million budget but in subsequent years has experienced some reappraisal from critics that fit it nicely alongside Carpenter’s more applauded work from the ‘80’s like The Thing and They Live. Here a Stephen King style prolific horror author named Sutter Cane is publishing novels that appear to be driving readers literally insane. Sam Neil plays a skeptical insurance investigator hired by Cane’s publisher to track down the missing author and procure his latest manuscript. In his search, Neil somehow makes his way to a Castle Rock type town thought to only exist in Cane’s novels and proceeds to descend deeply into madness in an uncanny world of Lovecraftian horrors. Carpenter, no stranger to terrifying creature design from the aforementioned The Thing, uses just brief glimpses of some impressive practical effects and sound design to provoke perhaps the best on screen depiction of Lovecraft’s famously incomprehensible other worldly terrors.

Killer Thriller

The Guest (2014)

Where to Watch: Available for Rental

A family still grieving the recent loss of their eldest son in the war in Afghanistan is visited by a former soldier named David who professes to be the late son’s best friend. David’s invited to stay with the family and the seemingly heaven sent well mannered handsome young man begins to help solve all of their problems at school and at work. But everything is not as it seems with the altruistic All American David and things quickly take a dark turn. The film made under $3 million at the box office upon release but was justifiably praised by critics who enjoyed its throwback gritty thrills to the tune of a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. Dan Stevens (Legion) always rocks and he has a ton of fun in the lead role relishing the opportunity to play a cracked Steve Rogers. The Guest also marks the first major horror role for Scream Queen Maika Monore who would go on to star in It Follows and this year’s scream sensation Longlegs. Lest you doubt its seasonal bonafides, director Adam Wingard stages the chilling climactic showdown at the big Halloween Dance complete with fog machines, spooky strobe light maze, and hall of mirrors. 

Cure (1997)

Where to Watch: Streaming on the Criterion Channel (7 Day Free Trial Available)

Cure is a Japanese psychological thriller from writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa that plays like David Fincher’s Seven but with the nihilism turned up even higher. Koji Yakusho stars as a Tokyo detective investigating a string of eerily similar gruesome murders where each time the distressed perpetrator is found at the scene, confesses to their act, but has no explanation or recollection of their motives. They each seem to have been going about their normal day and suddenly snapping. The inexplicable nature and mundanity of the violence is what makes it so haunting. The film provides a terrifying vision of the vast rage filled rot that dwells just beneath the surface of humanity. The narrative provocatively suggests all humans are inherently capable of violence and examines the repressed darkness that can burst forth shattering the thin veneer of civility holding society together when given even the slightest push. With slightly off kilter set designs, an impossibly deserted feeling Tokyo, and a cold removed directorial style that often lingers on static frames after characters have exited, Kurosawa sustains a truly unnerving atmosphere for a haunting film permeated with bad vibes.

A Touch Of Romance

Bones and All (2022)

Where to Watch: Streaming on Prime

Acclaimed Director Luca Guadagnino (Challengers) and screenwriter David Kajganich adapt a young adult cannibal romance novel into a surprisingly moving allegory about addiction. In a cast featuring Academy Award winner Mark Rylance, nominee Timothee Chalamet, and pro’s pro Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man), little known actress Taylor Russell shines brightest as a teen coming to grips with the horrific nature of her being. She and Chalamet have a poignant dynamic as two broken people trying to jam their jagged edges together to be whole if only for a fleeting moment. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross provide their standard awards worthy score with a mix of longing acoustic strums and pounding synths to soundtrack a journey across the sweeping plains of an 80’s midwest populated by broken down homes and rusted trucks. Squeamish viewers perhaps intrigued by a romantic junky allegory should be forewarned, Guadagnino reminds you he not only directed the coming of age film Call Me By Your Name but also the gnarly Suspiria remake with some truly gruesome moments.

Near Dark (1987)

Where to Watch: Streaming for Free with Ads on Pluto TV

20 years before the Twilight saga Academy Award winning director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) produced an infinitely cooler vampire love story. Tale as old as time, small town hunk Caleb hits it off with attractive mysterious gal Mae, one thing leads to another, and she bites him on the neck before scurrying off into the night. Next thing you know he’s begrudgingly welcomed into a roaming gang of vampires and has one week to see if he can hack it as a creature of the night. While on the topic of coolness, shoutout to the late great Bill Paxton. Hopefully he can continue to garner more appreciation with Aliens and Twister both back in the zeitgeist thanks to their recently released sequels. Here he plays maybe the 4th billed character at best, but knocks it so out of the park as the unhinged bloodsucker Severen, he gets the poster all to himself. He brings an electric energy to the proceedings and entertainingly bounces off the more tempered leader of the gang played by horror mainstay Lance Henriksen.

Kitchen Sink

Malignant (2021)

Where to Watch: Streaming on Max

Don’t be fooled by the standard jump scares and generic spooky atmosphere in the first half, this thing goes off the rails in the most deliriously enjoyable manner once an audacious big reveal finally hits before the manic third act. James Wan cashes in the clout he accumulated following the blockbuster success of Aquaman and his Conjuring franchise to make what has to be the most batshit crazy idea he’s ever had for a movie. It would have been nicer if he had enough clout to get a slightly better cast but some off questionable line reading and over the top reactions only enhance this premium trash. Wan and his screenwriter Akela Cooper, who would double down on dumb fun with 2022’s M3gan appear to have been inspired in equal measure by giallo slasher films and low rent American 80's/90's horror movies sold by gonzo premises and grimey cover art designed to scare the bejeezus out of you as you perused the Blockbuster shelves. Complete with a score that is largely just a synth heavy interpolation of The Pixies “Where is My Mind?” Malignant makes no illusions about being subtle and takes you on a wild ride.

Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)

Where to Watch: Streaming on Shudder (7 Day Free Trial Available)

Jason Voorhees is a horror icon but the cultural image of Jason as a hockey mask clad machete wielding supernatural killing machine doesn’t actually take shape until deep into the Friday the 13th series. Not only does Jason not wear his iconic mask until briefly in the back half of the 3rd film, there are multiple entries where Jason isn’t even the primary antagonist. It does not help that the bulk of his series is a cheap and uninspired impalement and boobs dispensing machine trying desperately to cash in on the Halloween induced slasher craze of the 80’s. To understand how this mute behemoth became a star, one must consume this piece of transcendently bonkers trash. At the start of this 6th installment, the deceased lumbering serial killer of horny teens Jason is revived into an even more unkillable zombie form when a lightning bolt strikes a fence post stabbed into his freshly dug up rotting corpse. The desecrator of Jason’s corpse is none other than Tommy Jarvis, who while portrayed by a 13 year old Corey Feldman killed Jason just 2 years and 2 films prior in the retroactively hilariously titled Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. Following an inexplicable James Bond title homage, the superhuman zombie Jason shrugs off gunshots, flips an RV, and folds a man to death on his path to a final showdown with a somehow now pushing middle aged Tommy on a flame engulfed Crystal Lake. None of it makes a lick of sense but the sheer audacity of its existence more than earns both a rocking Alice Cooper theme song and my admiration.

Lighter Fare

The Blackening (2023)

Where to Watch: Streaming on Starz (7 day free trial available)

Dating as far back as 1948’s delightful Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein comedy horror films have been around to spoof the spooky and add levity to night time frights. This June 2023 release flew a bit under the radar but is one of the best in recent memory. Collaborating with Girls Trip screenwriter Tracy Oliver and Barbershop director Tim Story, comedian Dewayne Perkins expands on his original sketch comedy short born out of the thought, “If the black character always dies first, what happens when all of them are black?” A group of black friends from college gather at a cabin in the woods for a reunion only to be greeted by a creepy racially insensitive board game and masked killer who starts picking them off one by one. Tonally the film splits the difference between Scary Movie and Scream in its genre homage. Its oft hilarious script uses the well known tropes and cornerstones of fright flicks for some light race conscious satire without descending into full blown low brow parody like the inferior post Wayans brother Scary Movie sequels.

Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh

Where to Watch: Can Click Right Here to Watch on Youtube

It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown gets all the shine but there were a number of high quality animated Halloween specials that used to get annual play on the networks before streaming services gave children Bluey access at all hours of the day. Cabins in the woods are a staple of the horror genre because the woodlands full of twisted trees with jutting leaf bare branches and strange noises are a naturally spooky place. The Hundred Acre Wood is no exception with the added threat of Heffalumps and Woozles. This puts trick or treating in danger for Christopher Robin’s gang as Piglet must overcome his inherent weenieness to spend a dark and windy All Hallows Eve with Pooh and pals for a change. The boisterous Tigger gets to the real heart of the season with a snappy song about how fun it is to give yourself a little spook, John Rhys-Davies, aka Gimli from Lord of the Rings and Salah from Indiana Jones, narrates the proceedings, and Piglet assembles an awesome Aliens style exosuit for combating spookables from household items. It checks all the boxes. Garfield’s Halloween Adventure is a bit on the scarier side what with its ghost pirates but is also rock solid.