With the dark, autumnal nights drawing in – and Halloween 2020 very nearly upon us – what better time to sit down in the evening and catch up on the latest spooky movies and box sets!
With a little something available for everyone, we’ve rounded up a selection of our favourite recent Theatrical and Home Entertainment releases that can be enjoyed at home, on demand, or in select cinemas, just in time for Halloween!
Just in time for Halloween, Robert Zemeckis’s reimagined new adaptation of “Roald Dahl’s The Witches” is available to rent now on Premium Video On Demand (PVOD) in the UK.
The film will be available to watch instantly for a 48-hour rental from participating digital retailers, including the likes of Sky Store, Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Microsoft Store, and Google Play store.
Adapted by Zemeckis, Guillermo del Toro and Kenya Barris, the film stars Anne Hathaway, Octavia Spencer, Stanley Tucci, Jahzir Kadeem Bruno, Codie-Lei Eastick, Kristin Chenoweth and Chris Rock.
“Roald Dahl’s The Witches” may not have the overall magic of the much loved original, however it is a fun new reimagining of the Dahl classic and perfect viewing for all the family this Halloween!
If you fancy binge-watching a spooky box set this Halloween weekend, look no further than the essential new Netflix Original series, The Haunting of Bly Manor, creator Mike Flanagan‘s eagerly anticipated follow-up to the critically acclaimed The Haunting of Hill House, and the second entry in his The Haunting anthology series.
Boasting a brilliant ensemble cast including Victoria Pedretti, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Amelia Eve, T’Nia Miller, Rahul Kohli, Tahirah Sharif, Amelie Bea Smith, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Carla Gugino and Henry Thomas, and based on Henry James‘ classic gothic novella The Turn of the Screw, The Haunting of Bly Manor both looks and sounds exquisite, and is perfect for a late night Halloween box set binge!
The Shudder Original, found-footage British horror sensation, HOST, will be available to watch in select UK cinemas on 31st October 2020, courtesy by Vertigo Releasing. The Special Halloween Screenings will be followed by an exclusive Q&A with members of the cast and crew.
Filmed remotely during the COVID-19 lockdown, HOST is directed by Rob Savage and based on a script written by Savage, Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepherd.
Six friends get together during lockdown for their weekly zoom call. It’s Haley’s turn to organise an activity and instead of a quiz, she’s arranged for a medium to conduct a séance. Bored and feeling mischievous, Jemma decides to have some fun and invents a story about a boy in her school who hanged himself. However, her prank gives license for a demonic presence to cross over, taking on the guise of the boy in Jemma’s made-up story. The friends begin noticing strange occurrences in their homes as the evil presence begins to make itself known, and they soon realise that they might not survive the night.
HOST will also be available to watch at home via SHUDDER this Halloween, and will be released in UK and Irish cinemas – and on Digital platforms – on 4th December 2020, courtesy of Vertigo Releasing.
Nigel Kneale’s spine-tingling TV adaptation of Susan Hill’s classic horror novel, THE WOMAN IN BLACK, is available now on Blu-ray for the very first time ever in a newly restored edition from Network.
Unseen for decades, Kneale’s chilling adaptation was first broadcast on ITV in 1989 and has been painstakingly-restored by Network‘s award-winning in-house restoration team in high definition from original film elements for this long-awaited release.
Atmospherically directed by BAFTA-nominated Herbert Wise, and starring Adrian Rawlins, Pauline Moran, Bernard Hepton, and David Daker, this unsettling drama remains a high watermark for ghost story adaptations on British television and still retains its significant potential to shock.
A true 00s cult horror classic, Jeepers Creepers is now available to own on Blu-ray for the very first time in the UK courtesy of 101 Films, packed with a host of new special features.
The film stars Gina Philips, Justin Long, Jonathan Breck, Patricia Belcher, and Eileen Brennan.
On a desolate country highway, two homeward-bound teens (Philips and Long) are nearly run off the road by a maniac in a beat-up truck… and later spot him shoving what appears to be a body down a sewer pipe. But when they stop to investigate, they discover that the grisly reality at the bottom of that pipe is far worse than they could have ever suspected… and that they are now the targets of an evil far more unspeakable (and unstoppable) than they could have ever imagined!
A perfect family-friendly movie night option for Halloween, Warner Bros.‘ animated family adventure SCOOB!, the first full-length animated Scooby-Doo adventure for the big screen, is available now on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
SCOOB! is the never-before told story of Scooby-Doo’s origins and the greatest mystery in the career of Mystery Inc.
Directed by Tony Cervone (Annie Award nominee for Space Jam and two-time Emmy nominee for Duck Dodgers), the film features a star-studded voice cast including Will Forte as Shaggy, Mark Wahlberg as Blue Falcon, Jason Isaacs as Dick Dastardly, Gina Rodriguez as Velma, Zac Efron as Fred, Amanda Seyfried as Daphne, Kiersey Clemons as Falcon Fury pilot Dee Dee Skyes, Ken Jeong as the Falcon Force’s Dynomutt, Tracy Morgan as Captain Caveman, and Frank Welker as Scooby-Doo.
Director John Parker‘s influential and experimental black and white horror film, DEMENTIA, is available on Blu-ray and DVD for the very first time in the UK in a Dual Format Edition release – as well as on Digital via iTunes and Amazon Prime – courtesy of the BFI.
A woman’s nightmare of murder, maiming and mistrust proves to be more than a mere dream, in Parker’s controversial (and once banned) 1953 horror.
Stripped of dialogue and using only sound effects and an unnerving score by George Anthiel (Ballet Mécanique), DEMENTIA combines horror, film noir and expressionist methods to depict a mind descending into madness.
Following on from TRAIN TO BUSAN, one of the most successful Korean films ever made, writer and director Yeon Sang-ho now presents the final instalment of his acclaimed zombie trilogy, TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS: PENINSULA, an all action, all thrills sequel, boasting an all-star ensemble cast.
TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS: PENINSULA will have special previews over the Halloween weekend, before being released in select cinemas nationwide on 6 November 2020.
TRAIN TO BUSAN PRESENTS: PENINSULA depicts a post-apocalyptic vision of Korea four years on from the events of TRAIN TO BUSAN, in which the entire country is overrun with zombie hordes.
For more information on Halloween screenings, and to book tickets, please Click Here.
From showrunner and executive producer Misha Green, HBO’s epic new horror drama, LOVECRAFT COUNTRY, is available to own now on Digital platforms courtesy of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
Based on the 2016 novel of the same name by Matt Ruff, the drama series follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) as he joins up with his friend Leti (Jurnee Smollett) and his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) to embark on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father, Montrose Freeman (Michael Kenneth Williams).
This begins a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the terrifying monsters that could be ripped from an H.P. Lovecraft paperback.
As part of the BFI‘s extensive JAPAN 2020 season, the BFI Player has now released a thrilling new J-Horror Collection just in time for Halloween!
Ghost cats, killer children and cursed videotapes comprise just some of the terrors that Japan has gifted our nightmares, with Japanese horror now firmly established as a terrifying horror genre unto itself.
Modern classics such as Ringu, Audition, Dark Water and Battle Royale are all featured alongside a host of influential 20th Century classics such as Ugetsu Monogatari, Kwaidan, Onibaba and Woman of the Dunes.
The BFI Player also has a wealth of other horror goodies available in their subscription catalogue, and many more cinematic gems available to rent at home and watch on demand.
Get ready to follow the breadcrumbs in director Oz Perkins‘ visually arresting fantasy horror, Gretel and Hansel, a dark and unsettling new take on the classic Brothers Grimm folk tale, out now on DVD courtesy of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
A long time ago in a distant fairy tale countryside, a young girl leads her little brother into a dark wood in desperate search of food and work, only to stumble upon a nexus of terrifying evil.
Omari Hardwick, Loretta Devine and John Beasley star in the terrifying new thriller, SPELL, available now on Download & Keep and rental formats from Paramount Home Entertainment.
While flying to his father’s funeral in rural Appalachia, an intense storm causes Marquis (Omari Hardwick) to lose control of the plane carrying him and his family. He awakens wounded, alone and trapped in Ms. Eloise’s (Loretta Devine) attic, who claims she can nurse him back to health with the Boogity, a Hoodoo figure she has made from his blood and skin. Unable to call for help, Marquis desperately tries to outwit and break free from her dark magic and save his family from a sinister ritual before the rise of the blood moon.
THE CRAFT: LEGACY, Blumhouse’s long-awaited sequel to the 1996 cult hit, The Craft, is out now in cinemas nationwide.
Written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones, the film stars Cailee Spaeny, Gideon Adlon, Lovie Simone, Zoey Luna, Michelle Monaghan, and David Duchovny.
THE CRAFT: LEGACY sees an eclectic foursome of aspiring teenage witches get more than they bargained for when they lean into their newfound powers.
