October's horror slate pairs Chastain playing both mother and monster in Other Mommy with Hartnett's Netflix creature series Below, while Mike Flanagan has two separate projects hitting the same month.
Jessica Chastain is going full creature feature this month. In Other Mommy, out in theatres Friday, October 9, via Universal Pictures, she plays both the loving family matriarch and the supernatural beast that takes her exact shape. Rob Savage directs, with Jay Duplass and Arabella Olivia Clark playing the husband and daughter who have to figure out which version of mom is actually in the room with them.
Josh Hartnett's October outing is smaller scale but no less unsettling. He plays a Newfoundland fisherman squaring off against something in the water in Below, premiering October 8 on Netflix. Mackenzie Davis, Charlie Heaton and Natasha Henstridge round out the cast, and early footage has already drawn attention for its atmosphere.
Mike Flanagan is having a two-for-one month. His series reimagining of Carrie debuts October 7 on Amazon Prime Video, with Summer H. Howell stepping into the title role of Stephen King's telekinetic teenager and Flanagan regulars Samantha Sloyan, Matthew Lillard, Kate Siegel and Rahul Kohli filling out the cast. Then on October 23, Clayface opens in theatres via Warner Bros, a standalone Batman villain story that Flanagan wrote and co-scripted, with James Watkins of Speak No Evil directing a film built around body horror.
The rest of the month is stacked. Whalefall, out October 16 from 20th Century Studios, has Austin Abrams as a scuba diver swallowed whole and racing his oxygen supply, directed by Brian Duffield, whose last film was the nearly wordless No One Will Save You. Peacock's Crystal Lake, a Friday the 13th prequel built around Jason Voorhees' mother, arrives October 15 with Linda Cardellini and A24 behind the camera.
There's a giant-snake movie too. Beware Boiúna, from Wrong Turn reboot director Mike P. Nelson, opens October 2 with Kiana Madeira, Jessica Rothe and Logan Marshall-Green. Shudder has V/H/S/Mixtape on October 9, the ninth entry in the long-running anthology with music-driven segments from contributors including RZA and Flying Lotus, followed by the crime drama The Cycle on October 23 starring Deborah Ann Woll and Jeffrey Donovan.
Halloween weekend itself is crowded. October 30 alone brings Eli Roth-produced slasher Stiletto and the seasonal horror comedy Christmas at the Kringles, which somehow has Ron Livingston, Rachel Bilson and Rob Riggle sharing a cast list. Crawlers, a killer-spider thriller with Matilda Lutz and Gregg Sulkin, lands October 16.
With this many titles dropping across theatres and three separate streamers inside four weeks, the real test starts once Halloween night passes and everyone compares notes on what actually held up.
Be the first to comment
Join the argument. No password, just your email or a passkey.