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October signifies the start of “spooky season,” a period where pumpkins see their yearly run-out before they’re subsequently discarded, and people forget you can actually eat them as well. Traditions can often be peculiar tropes, a sign that we are still very much interlinked with our past. However, the annual ritual of scooping out the internal make-up of a pumpkin and carving a devilish face into its exterior is perhaps one of the strangest customs. A quick Google search tells you that the Halloween pumpkin fetish is actually named “Jack-o-lanterns” and were designed to scare away “Jack’s wandering soul”… Frightened of pumpkins? Jack, whoever you are, you’re a monumental dweeb.
As the date quickly approaches, production companies begin to churn out their yearly Halloween horror, most of which become instantly forgotten as soon as the next big horror movie is released. Of course, Netflix is in on the bandwagon as usual and has scheduled a list of original movies that are set to appear on the streaming platform in October 2022; these are arguably the best.
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone
The formulaic horror usually begins by attempting to lure you into a false sense of security, and Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is no different. The horror film based on Stephen King’s story portrays the initially charming, sweet tale of Craig, a young boy who befriends John Harrigan, a lonely, elderly man (played by the great Donald Sutherland), living in solitude with a vast fortune. Helping him to adjust to 21st-century tech, Craig gives John a phone; however, when John dies, that’s when the true horror springs into action, as Craig finds himself communicating with John from six feet under. Mr. Harrigan’s Phone is available on Netflix beginning Oct. 5th.
Luckiest Girl Alive
Mila Kunis takes center stage in this mystery thriller, based on Jessica Knoll’s New York Times Bestselling novel of the same name. The foundations have been laid for Luckiest Girl in the World to translate just as spectacularly on-screen as it did on paper. The mystery flick presents the story of Ani FaNelli, a successful writer, and New York Times editor, whose life has the perfect mix of emotional and financial stability, not to mention her razor-sharp tongue and an extremely wealthy fiancé. However, all is not as it seems, when her turbulent, deeply-concealed past comes back to haunt her existence and threatens to derail her idyllic life. Luckiest Girl Alive is streaming on Netflix beginning Oct. 7th.
The Curse of Bridge Hollow
The Curse of Bridge Hollow is firmly in keeping with October’s spooky theme and certainly promises to be a comedic horror that, judging by the synopsis and Marlon Wayans’ involvement, doesn’t take itself too seriously. When a young family moves out of town and into suburbia, the couple’s teenage daughter inadvertently activates an ancient curse, leading to the town’s Halloween decorations coming to life. With a mixture of pumpkins, haunted mannequins, and hang-up plastic skeletons roaming free and ravaging the quiet town, Sydney (Priah Ferguson) and her father must battle against the decorations wreaking havoc to save the town. The Curse of Bridge Hollow begins streaming on Netflix Oct. 14th.
The Good Nurse
The Good Nurse is poised to be a complex film and one of the stand-out Netflix original arrivals next month, with Academy Award nominee Eddie Redmayne and Academy Award winner Jessica Chastain starring alongside one another in this crime thriller. Directed by the writer behind the phenomenal Danish thriller The Hunt, Tobias Lindholm, The Good Nurse tells the story of Amy Loughren (Chastain), who is left in utter disbelief when one of her friends and colleagues, Charlie Cullen (Redmayne) is found to be responsible for the murders of multiple patients over a 16-year span. The Good Nurse will be streaming on Netflix beginning Oct. 16th.
The School for Good and Evil
Starring some stellar A-list names (Charlize Theron, Laurence Fishburn, Kerry Washington, and Cate Blanchett), the teen fantasy movie The School for Good and Evil (the screen adaptation of Soman Chainani’s novel) tells the mystical tale of an enchanted school, whose students are aspiring heroes and villains, in a Harry Potter, Hogwarts-esque set-up. The School for Good and Evil is on Netflix beginning Oct. 21st.
Wendell & Wild
Directed by Henry Selick (of Coraline fame, and the man behind the stop-motion in The Nightmare Before Christmas) and written by Selick and horror-fantasy sovereign Jordan Peele, this stop-motion animation will certainly get those Halloween pulses racing in the build-up to the most fearsome day of the year. Wendell and Wild are two demonic brothers (played by Peele and his long-time partner Keegan-Michael Key), who face off against their nemesis and acquire the help of Kat, a 13-year-old who aids them on their quest to reach the Land of the Living. Wendell & Wild will be on Netflix beginning Oct. 21st.
All Quiet on the Western Front
Like Halloween, we’ll undoubtedly be wishing away the entirety of October to get to the good bit. A remake of the 1930 classic, and the film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel of the same name, this movie tells the story of a 17-year-old’s WWI journey. From the initial excitement of being hoisted into war, to the dawning realization of its horrors, and the very real danger it poses to his and his comrade’s lives, it has Paul Baumer (Felix Kammerer) in for a very rude awakening.
All Quiet on the Western Front offers a devastating insight into what it was like in the German trenches, and truly humanizes the people that have largely been seen as the “enemy” ever since. Edward Berger’s film won’t just be a moving illustration of German soldier’s lives during WWI, but also invariably has the makings of one of the best movies from an Axis-perspective. All Quiet on the Western Front will be on Netflix starting Oct. 28th.
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