Neon Unwraps Halloween Treats

Neon is curating a selection of modern and classic horror premieres to usher in Halloween.

The first of these, Nightbitch, starring Amy Adams as a career woman whose stint as a stay-at-home mother turns surreal when she thinks she’s a dog, streams from October 6.

Critics were lukewarm but the New York Times and Financial Times gave the 2024 movie the thumbs up.

“It’s satisfying to watch Adams growl and howl, yet I wish she and the movie had gone harder, tougher, nastier,” said the former; “in the face of some eye-catching physical changes, you might be reminded of The Substance,” said the latter.

You may not have heard of it but 2024’s Witchboard (October 8) is another remake from director Chuck Russell, who helmed the reboot of The Blob  (as well as The Mask and Collateral).

About an artefact that’s the gateway to the spirit world, Rotten Tomatoes said it “conjures up an old-school horror romp with gonzo special effects, campy performances, and witchy atmosphere”.

Rosemary’s Baby (October 10) is the 1968 Satan’s spawn template in which Roman Polanski directs Mia Farrow as a New Yorker impregnated with a hellraiser while 1980 slasher trendsetter Friday the 13th (October 8) precedes Neon’s binging of franchise prequel Crystal Lake (October 15).

It’s about a small-town single mother still grieving over son Jason’s drowning a year earlier. When two strangers start digging into her past, it triggers a disturbing chain of events.

Linda Cardellini (DTF St Louis, Bloodline) heads the cast of this Peacock eight-parter that debuts here the same time as its US launch.

Other horror-themed premieres include:

• season two of Dexter: Resurrection (October 31)
• six-part Scottish serial killer thriller The Dark (October 19), which critics dubbed “unrelentingly grim” and “nasty noir”
• supernatural whodunit Yaga (Fridays from October 15)
• the original AMC+ series The Terror and sequel The Terror: Infamy (October 23)
• the panned 2010 comedy Vampires Suck (October 5).