With only two weekends until Halloween, streaming services are bound to bring you the best material to keep you scared and on the edge of your seat. The satanic panic of the 80s is brought back to life with none other than Bruce Campbell in Hysteria! And if you’ve been waiting to finish Ti West’s horror trilogy with Maxxxine, now’s your chance. Huluween also brings us another installment of the anthology series American Horror Stories. If you have the attention span for it, The Devil’s Hour is returning for its second season. And finally, Anna Kendrick makes her directorial debut with a story inspired by the real-life Dating Game serial killer in Woman of the Hour.
But we can’t go completely dark, and this week brings the sex-filled raunchy series Rivals, and it’s proving to be an instant hit that will almost certainly be renewed for a second season. And to round out the lineup for the week, Brothers comes to Prime Video and proves that there’s no movie or series that can’t be made better by simply casting Peter Dinklage.
7 Rivals
Hulu — Season 1 — October 18
Rivals, perhaps the most raunchy show ever to wear the Disney logo, launched to a remarkably high 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a second season is rumored to be a near certainty. David Tennant (Doctor Who), Alex Hassell (The Tragedy of Macbeth) and Aidan Turner (The Hobbit films) star in this adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s novel of the same name.
Set in the mid-80s, Rivals follows a bunch of high-powered one-percenters who can’t get up to enough pranks and never really know when to stop. The dialogue is witty, there’s a great cast, and there’s plenty of sex and scandal. What more do you need?
The full first season arrived on Hulu today, October 18, so there’s no waiting to binge it and start waiting for the renewal announcement.
6 Devil’s hour
Amazon Prime Video — Season 2 — October 18
There is another former Doctor (Who) with a hit series this week, although it returns for its second outing and has a much darker theme. The Devil’s Hour stars Peter Capaldi and Jessica Raine in a serial killer drama with elements of mystery and the supernatural. Its first season is often credited for taking big risks and embracing a plot that was complicated enough that most writers and directors wouldn’t dream of attempting it with modern audiences. You probably shouldn’t see this while scrolling on your phone.
The second season aims to be easier to follow, but puts Lucy (Raine) in a position to be more assertive and team up with Gideon (Capaldi) to meet the challenge he “remembers.” As the story unfolds, the world grows larger for the characters and the story.
This round of the story is told through a tight five episodes; and like all the series listed this week, they were released in a nice batch, so the season is available for binging on Prime Video.
5 Hysteria!
Peacock (and USA Network) – Season 1 – October 18
The satanic panic was one of the most comical phases of the 80s, when some people began to imagine hard rock and Dungeons & Dragons were rituals for the devil. Hysteria! takes us back to when a high school quarterback mysteriously disappears and a local heavy metal band decides to rebrand themselves as Satan Worshipers to capitalize on the growing attention.
While Hysteria! sitting in the horror/thriller category, there is plenty of comedy woven into the characters and writing. And it’s the perfect place for one of the stars of the show, Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead). He will be joined by many recognizable faces and names, including Julie Bowen (Modern Family), Garret Dillahunt (Fear the Walking Dead, Raising Hope), Anna Camp (True Blood) and many others.
The series runs for eight episodes, all of which are out today on Peacock, so it’s ready to rock from start to finish. But if you’d like to watch the first episode without a subscription, it airs tonight on USA Network and SYFY, and then continues to air a new episode each week on USA Network.
4 American Horror Stories
Hulu — Season 3, Part 2 — October 15
Huluween is back, and true to tradition, a new batch of American horror stories is here. For those who don’t know, this is a spin-off anthology series based on Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story anthology series, but there is a new story in each episode.
Some stories lean towards the more absurd and almost cartoonishly monstrous side of horror, while others take inspiration from Black Mirror with more realistic and practical terror. Either way, these are a great way to get the actual scare out of your night. Like any anthology series worth its salt, there are a few notable guest stars including Victor Garber, Henry Winkler, June Squibb, Debby Ryan and more. Again, all five episodes are available now on Hulu immediately, so they’re ready for a Halloween binge.
3 Brothers
Amazon Prime Video — Movies — October 17
No week is complete without some comedy, and Brothers is shaping up to be prime time watch. Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) and Josh Brolin (Deadpool 2) team up for a modern spin on Twins (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito). The pair have a criminal past, and while one aims to get clean, they embark on a road trip for “one last heist” that will set them up for retirement.
Of course, there’s a lot of enjoyable comedy and hijinks, but maybe tuning out the world for 90 minutes is just the thing. Brendan Fraser also stars as the criminal who motivates the scheme, and Glenn Close appears as the brothers’ mother.
2 Woman of the hour
Netflix — Movies — October 18
Anna Kendrick makes her directorial debut and stars in this true crime drama based on The Dating Game serial killer Rodney Alcala. Instead of focusing on the killer, Woman of the Hour literally focuses on Cheryl Bradshaw (Kendrick) as a collective stand-in for some of the victims as she goes on The Dating Game to make enough money to pay her bills.
Despite Kendrick’s light and bubbly reputation, this is a thriller. It limits the obvious scenes of violence, but doesn’t try to pretend they aren’t happening. All of this happens as the film illustrates the creepiness that makes many women feel justifiably uneasy around the people they encounter every day.
1 Maxxine
Max — Movies — October 18
The final chapter of Ti West’s unusual horror trilogy has hit theaters, then rentals, and now moves on to the MAX just in time for a Halloween shower. Maxxxine ties together the deliberately out-of-order first chapter, X, with its long-ago prequel, Pearl – well, watch them in publication order as they build on each other. Together, they serve as a subtle commentary on Hollywood while holding true to Maxine’s individually damaged life story.
Unfortunately, if you want to watch the entire trilogy at once, you’ll have to float around a bit across services because the middle chapter, Pearl, is currently unavailable on MAX. However, it can be found on Netflix, Hulu and Paramount+; and maybe some others.