Happy Halloween! I hope your costumes are ready to go and not in transit because you’re a procrastinator like me. Some Halloweens are better spent inside watching scary movies anyway. If that’s exactly what you’re looking for, you’re in for a treat this weekend: There are new titles to watch about killer animatronics, a killer nun, and killer A.I., just to name a few. Savor the last days of spooky season while you can. —Savannah Salazar
Featured Presentations
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Five Nights at Freddy’s
There’s no new Halloween movie coming out in theaters and on Peacock this All Hallow’s Eve like there have been for the past couple years, but instead there’s an adaptation of the popular, jump-scare-heavy horror video game series Five Nights at Freddy’s. Josh Hutcherson plays a night watchman whose shift at a Chuck E. Cheese–esque pizza parlor takes a turn when the animatronics start trying to kill him. —James Grebey
➽ Josh Hutcherson went from fighting for his life in The Hunger Games to fighting for his life in a haunted pizza parlor.
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The Gilded Age
Sometimes dramas with the pettiest stakes are the most satisfying viewing, and this series has some of the smallest, most devastating stakes around. Bertha Russell can’t get a box at the opera? Competition over the best Newport mansion?! Glorious. —Kathryn VanArendonk
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Fellow Travelers
In this romantic political thriller, Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey star as two men who fall for each other in the 1950s, and in the decades that follow their romance must endure the homophobic Lavender Scare, McCarthyism, the Vietnam War, and *shudder* disco. Allison Williams co-stars in her first role since M3GAN. —J.G.
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The Holdovers
The great Paul Giamatti plays a prickly high-school teacher at a tony boarding school who has to oversee the kids who remain on campus through the winter holidays. Set in the early ’70s and at times filmed like a movie from that era, this is one of the best things director Alexander Payne has ever done. —Bilge Ebiri
➽ Gotta respect a Christmas movie that comes out on Halloween Weekend.
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Pain Hustlers
A failing pharmaceutical company in Central Florida engages in a criminal conspiracy? What an incredibly cursed sentence! (And, a pretty good premise for a movie.) Emily Blunt stars opposite Chris Evans as a high-school dropout who gets herself involved in the deadly drug happenings. —J.G.
➽ Because Netflix doesn’t think its movies merit a full theatrical release, it’s only fair that The Killer being in theaters for a hot second this weekend doesn’t merit a full entry, either. (It’s streaming on November 10.)
The Last Days of Spooky Season
The Enfield Poltergeist
The alleged haunting of a home in London circa 1977 is the subject of this four-episode docuseries, which relies on audio recordings from the paranormal investigation lip-synced by actors during reenactments. Even if you know this story, this is still a creepy watch. —Jen Chaney
When Evil Lurks
We all like a horror movie that’s more fun and silly than it is scary, but if Five Nights at Freddy’s left you hungering for some genuine horror, it’ll be hard to beat When Evil Lurks, now streaming on Shudder. The latest from Argentinian director Demián Rugna, When Evil Lurks might be the scariest movie of 2023, and it follows the residents of a small town once they discover that a demon is about to be born. Their attempts to flee or to prevent the demon from entering the world don’t, ah, go well. —J.G.
The Nun II
It’s too weird to explain my reasoning for which horror movies I can tolerate, but The Conjuring franchises are on that list — even The Nun series! The two movies aren’t exactly knockouts in the world of horror, but they get the job done for me. The Nun II is actually much better than the original as Taissa Farmiga’s Sister Irene must investigate the return of Valak, the scary looking nun/demon from The Conjuring 2. History and horror! Sign me up. —S.S.
➽ Instead of The Sister Act, it’s The Sister AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!
American Horror Stories
The spinoff of American Horror Story, this episodic anthology series returns with four new stories. While the cast won’t include AHS regulars like Emma Roberts, Sarah Paulson, or Billie Lourd, Petra Collins will be directing an episode of internet dating gone wrong with Raúl Castillo and Emily Browning as the leads. The three additional episodes include “Bestie,” “Tapeworm,” and “Daphne” in a very Black Mirror–esque season. —S.S.
Make It a Double Feature
Night at the Museum
Formative for children of the 2000s, Shawn Levy’s film is still a whole lot of fun and a great pairing for Five Nights at Freddy’s. From one night security haunt to another, Ben Stiller stars as security guard Larry Daley who finds out that thanks to an Egyptian curse, the museum literally comes to life at night. Apart from the scary premise of dealing with long-dead pharaohs and creatures, Night at the Museum is a chiller hang than the bloodthirsty shenanigans at Five Nights at Freddy’s, but together they’re a reminder to ask your future employers why the security guard position is constantly open. —S.S.
Want more? Read our recommendations from the weekend of October 20.
