Happy Halloween month! Tonally dark entertainment isn’t the only thing streamer Showmax is serving in October but they’re really stepping up in terms of seasonally appropriate new offerings. You can find the full October Showmax schedule here, while below are our top picks for the coming 31 days.
Films
Normally we’d lead with Series but Showmax is ramping up horror and supernatural movies this month – for viewers of all ages. So you can look forward to the likes of acclaimed Saw X (stream from Thursday, 31 October), The Nun II (also 31 October), last year’s The Exorcist: Believer (Thursday, 17 October), video game adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s (Monday, 14 October), and even the original Brandon Lee-led The Crow (17 October).
That said, we’re excited for the chance to finally watch period horror film The Last Voyage of the Demeter on the small screen. Based on a single chilling chapter from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, this adaptation focuses on events aboard the doomed merchant ship ferrying 50 mysterious wooden crates from Carpathia to London. Look out for familiar Game of Thrones and 3 Body Problem face Liam Cunningham.
Stream The Last Voyage of the Demeter from Thursday, 3 October.
For a fun frightfest, suitable for adolescents upwards, there’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the second installment in the revived Ghostbusters franchise. Leaving behind the Midwest, the Spengler family returns to New York City to team up with the original Ghostbusters as a powerful entity is unleashed and threatens a second Ice Age. The star-studded cast includes Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, Carrie Coon, Mckenna Grace, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts, and Kumail Nanjiani.
Watch Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire from Monday, 28 October.
Homegrown body horror, with sci-fi and superheroic action thrown in the mix, can be found in Showmax Original film The Fix. You can read our full review here, but in short, the movie is set in a dystopian future where the air has turned toxic. Self-destructive model Ella (Grace van Dien) finds herself pursued after she takes what she thinks is a new designer drug, and begins to transform in ways that could save humanity.
Catch The Fix from Thursday, 31 October.
If you need a break from horror, there’s always action thriller Monkey Man, directed by and starring Dev Patel (Lion, Slumdog Millionaire). In what can be considered an Indian John Wick, a young man seeks vengeance against the corrupt figures who murdered his mother and victimise the poor and powerless in Mumbai. Also with South Africa’s Sharlto Copley.
Stream Monkey Man from Monday, 28 October.
Documentaries
More intriguing than frightening is our documentary pick for the month: Great African Mysteries. This three-part series, made in conjunction with The History Channel, is presented by Talk Radio 702’s John Robbie and explores some of South Africa’s most fascinating mysteries, like the doomed Helderberg flight, the lost Kruger millions, and the discovery of Homo naledi. As a side note, Season 2 is already complete as well.
Watch all three episodes of Great African Mysteries S1 from Monday, 21 October.
October also gives local audiences the chance to watch HBO documentary feature The Truth vs Alex Jones. Shot over four years, with unprecedented access to those involved, the film delves into how radio show host Alex Jones claimed the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting was a hoax, followed by victims’ families taking Jones to court over his misinformation campaign.
Stream The Truth vs Alex Jones from Wednesday, 2 October.
Series
As for series on Showmax in October, it’s more about returning favourites than fresh debuts, although The Batman spin-off The Penguin is currently enjoying weekly episode drops – and it’s very good!
Anyway, Look out for award-winning local drama Lioness S2 (from 21 October); the second season of Julia Childs’s centred Julia (Thursdays from 17 October at 21:30); as well as period limited series Belgravia: The Next Chapter (which you can watch in its entirety from Monday, 14 October). Then there’s recent Emmy winner for Outstanding Comedy Series, Hacks S3, which is ready to binge from Friday, 11 October.