October 3rd, 2023

AFTER EVERYTHING - $24.99 Sale / $19.99 Rental

The success of the ‘After’ movie series kind of fascinates us, mostly because the titles are so hilariously banal. It started with ‘After’ in 2019, then ‘After We Collided’ in 2020, then ‘After We Fell’ in 2021, then ‘After Ever Happy’ in 2022, and now ‘After Everything.’ The whole series feels AI-generated. Still…we don’t want to yuck anybody’s yum. They clearly have their fans. And there are two prequels in the works, the first of which is reportedly titled…of course….’Before.’ Perfect. No notes.

THE EQUALIZER 3 - $24.99 Sale / $19.99 Rental

Denzel Washington’s staying power is remarkable. A solid box-office draw in his fifth decade of making movies, his longevity is really only matched by Tom Cruise. What other 68 year-old could open a movie to $34M? We’re tempted to say the re-pairing of Denzel and Dakota Fanning helped goose the numbers. But let’s be real…this was all Denzel. Next up for him is Gladiator 2, which reunites him with his American Gangster director Ridley Scott.

THE NUN II - $24.99 Sale / $19.99 Rental

If Denzel is the sure-bet superstar of the box-office, then the Conjuring-universe films are the sure-bet of horror. With eight films grossing $2.1B combined, the films have overcome mixed reviews to become a staple of the horror fan’s diet. For The Nun II, credit must be paid to actress Bonnie Aarons, who once again portrays the titular nun. Her sinister looks do a lot of heavy lifting in the ad campaign for the film. But did you know she’s also responsible (along with David Lynch) for the greatest jump-scare in movie history?

That’s Bonnie Aarons as the hobo. Iconic!

October 4th, 2023

THE BLACKENING - Starz

Horror comedies are tough to get right. Can anything be truly scary and funny at the same time? The Blackening didn’t quite break out and has yet to become a cultural staple like Scream or Scary Movie, but it did get credit for being, as Indiewire called it, ‘"the first great horror parody of the post-Get Out era." Here’s hoping it expands its audience as it hits Starz.

HAUNTED MANSION - Disney+, PVOD Sale (Price TBD)

It would be easy to excuse Haunted Mansion’s box-office underperformance by noting it came out a week after Barbenheimer. But let’s be honest, this is a film that was destined to fall short no matter what the competition. It can now be re-introduced to audiences in the proper time of year. And yes, it really should have been released in theaters during Halloween season, but Disney+ is clearly the company’s priority. Still…we love director Justin Simien, and super-talented screenwriter Katie Dippold will also have a place in our hearts for this fantastic tweet:

October 5th, 2023

THE BOOGEYMAN - Hulu

Originally planned as a direct-to-Hulu release, we’re hoping The Boogeyman’s box-office success ($82M worldwide) gives Disney more incentive to release the 20th Century Studios films to theaters. Last week’s NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU should have gone to theaters in the summer. We’re excited to catch up with The Boogeyman, even if the PG-13 rating gives us pause, as do the mixed reviews.

October 6th, 2023

THE CAINE MUTINY COURT-MARTIAL - Paramount+ w/Showtime

The final film of legendary director William Friedkin, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial also has one of the last screen performances of character actor Lance Reddick, who died suddenly in March of this year. None other than Guillermo Del Toro served as back-up director on the film for liability reasons, due to Friedkin's age, and sat beside him every day during the shoot. The film premiered to positive reviews at this year’s Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.

FAIR PLAY - Netflix

The directorial debut of Chloe Dumont, Fair Play was probably the buzziest title to come out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where Netflix snapped it up for a reported $20M. It’s been a called a throwback to the thrillers of the 90s, which has us very excited! And we’re all for the comeback of Alden Ehrenreich, who continues to shake off the stench of Han Solo. And we’ll take any opportunity to revisit this classic scene:

PASSAGES - MUBI & PVOD ($14.99 Sale Only)

Rated NC-17 by the MPA, MUBI elected to release Passages in theaters without that restrictive (and dumb) rating. It’s ridiculous that we’re still stuck with this antiquated ratings system, one that hasn’t changed in over three decades. Throw it out and start from scratch, we say! In the meantime, we’re looking forward to finally catching up with this extremely horny film.

PET SEMATARY: BLOODLINES - Paramount+ w/Showtime

A prequel to the 2019 Pet Sematary remake, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is the directorial debut of Lindsey Anderson Beer. The film takes place in 1969, when a young Jud Crandall (played memorably by Fred Gwynne in the original 1989 film) dreams of escaping his hometown, until he discovers the malevolent secrets of what is buried in a cemetery. Our expectations are low, but we’re very encouraged that Pam Grier, Samantha Mathis and Henry Thomas are among the cast.

STRAYS - Peacock

Here at When To Stream headquarters, we have three dogs. These dogs hate seeing other dogs on the television. They growl, bark, and generally start pacing whenever there’s a canine on the screen. It’s annoying, but we love them dearly. A movie like Strays is pretty much their nightmare. So it will continue to be unwatched by us, not because of the quality of the film (which we hear is pretty low), but because it would cause chaos.

TOTALLY KILLER - Prime Video

Another horror comedy, this one sounds like a clever riff on Back to the Future. The premise is as follows: After Jamie's mother’s friends are murdered by the Sweet Sixteen Killer on Halloween, she travels back in time to 1987 where she pairs up with her mom to stop the young would-be-killer and get back to her timeline before she's trapped in the past forever. That’s actually a terrific premise! Blumhouse Television produced, so hopefully they can deliver a solid mix of laughs and scares.

V/H/S/85 - Shudder

The sixth installment in the V/H/S franchise, V/H/S/85 is another found-footage anthology that features segments from directors David Bruckner, Scott Derrickson, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Natasha Kermani and Mike P. Nelson. It premiered at this year’s Fantastic Fest, where it was met with overall positive reviews, with critics considering it a step-up from the previous film and praising the return to more horror-focused stories. Shudder’s really bringing the good stuff in October, we’re excited for this.

Happy Streaming Everyone!

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