Horror film aficionados, rejoice! Spooky season is upon us, which means a bevy of new thrillers, slashers and monster features. Including a Stephen King classic and a found-footage gem, these are a few standout new horror films to stream this Halloween season.
‘Late Night with the Devil’ (2024)
Late Night with the Devil: Official Trailer | Shudder – YouTube
This found-footage gem puts a scary spin on popular ’70s-style late-night talk shows. David Dastmalchian stars as a grieving host, Jack Delroy, competing with Johnny Carson for ratings. He comes up with an ill-advised plot to use a girl who claims to be possessed by a demon to attract ratings. Horror book kingpin Stephen King gave “Late Night with the Devil” his stamp of approval, dubbing it “absolutely brilliant” in an X post. The film’s “inventive plot, superb pacing and invigorating performance from Dastmalchian” makes the “enthralling masterpiece” one of the “best horror movies of 2024,” Josh Sorokach said at Decider. Stream on Shudder.
Speaking of Stephen King, “Annabelle Comes Home” director and “It” screenwriter Gary Dauberman is trying his hand at an adaptation of King’s vampire novel “Salem’s Lot.” Tobe Hooper made a miniseries version of King’s second novel in 1979 that became a cult classic, and there was a less successful take from Rob Lowe in 2004. The new version stars Lewis Pullman as a successful novelist who moves back to his Maine hometown, where he teams with locals to fight a fast-spreading vampire plague. Book fans might miss some characters and themes lost to brevity. If you have been “craving a straightforward vampire horror movie” with some “rather lovely imagery and sufficiently spooky vibes,” this Max original has you covered, said The Wrap. Stream on Max.
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‘The Platform 2’ (2024)
The Platform 2 | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube
Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s 2019 Spanish-language thriller “The Platform” made a splash on Netflix with its depiction of a futuristic vertical prison where inmates fight over food. The follow-up film is a prequel to the first film and explores the origins of the chaos. The first film was a “sharp, grisly piece of work” that seemed “extra dark” as people watched it during the early days of the Covid lockdown, said Vulture. A sequel can go so many directions, “making this easily one of the most interesting original streaming productions of the entire year, not just October.” Stream on Netflix.
‘It’s What’s Inside’ (2024)
It’s What’s Inside | Official Trailer | Netflix – YouTube
Netflix’s acquisition of this body-swapping indie horror for a staggering $17 million was the biggest deal out of Sundance this year. The film follows a group of young people having fun with a mysterious body-swapping device that “sets loose their suppressed desires and long-hidden secrets,” said The Wrap. “It’s What’s Inside” is not so much “scary as kind of psychologically nauseating,” and it offers an “inventive new slant on the body-swap genre that sets the imagination alight.” Stream on Netflix.
Director Brandon Espy’s new horror film “Mr. Crocket” is a “demented but deeply humane meditation on fathers and sins,” said The New York Times. The film “upends Gen X children’s television conventions” with a show called “Mr. Crocket’s World,” reminiscent of the era. The protagonist is a “strong mother-protector,” but the “probing script” centers on “failed fathers and their failed fathers and the messes these flawed men leave behind,” said the Times. “It’s a knockout.” Stream on Hulu.
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