There’s plenty of spookiness to choose from this week, led by the streaming debut of A Haunting in Venice (Maybe! See update below!), but we also have star-studded Pain Hustlers, video game adaptation Onimusha, acclaimed WWII drama All the Light We Cannot See, and more!
SERIES
The Enfield Poltergeist S1
Apple TV+ – 27 October 2023
We’re still in Spook-tober, so here’s a little something to ramp you up to Halloween next week. The alleged supernatural activity that occurred at a council house in Enfield, England between 1977 and 1979, is considered the most famous poltergeist case in the world, having been mentioned, covered, and adapted in numerous books, TV series, radio documentaries, and feature films, most famously The Conjuring 2. But Apple’s The Enfield Poltergeist is taking a different approach to all those retellings. A dramatic reenactment by actors, this four-episode docudrama series claims to contain the actual audio recordings of events that happened in the house, spliced together from over 200 hours of tapes.
All the Light We Cannot See S1
Netflix – 2 November 2023
Hailing from director Shawn Levy (Stranger Things, Real Steel, Free Guy) and writer Steven Knight (Eastern Promises, Locke, Dirty Pretty Things), this sweeping four-episode miniseries is an adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2014 novel of the same name. Set during WWII, the story follows two teenagers – blind French girl Marie-Laure LeBlanc (Aria Mia Loberti), who fleed German-occupied Paris with her father to live a reclusive family who broadcasts clandestine radio messages as part of the resistance; and skilled young German radio operator Werner Pfennig (Louis Hoffman), who is forced to join the Nazis and use his skills to track down illegal radio transmissions. When their paths cross in the unlikeliest of circumstances, Marie-Laure and Werner end up sharing a secret, and most unexpected, connection.
Onimusha S1
Netflix – 2 November 2023
Capcom’s classic samurai slasher video game is getting an adaptation! And who better to oversee this anime adaptation – the first in the franchise’s 22-year history – than Takashi Miike, legendary and prolific Japanese filmmaker behind such iconic films such as Audition, Ichi the Killer, Blade of the Immortal, and 13 Assassins?! Set in Japan’s early Edo Period, when the country was transitioning from crippling wartime to peace, leaving plenty of old warriors without purpose, Onimusha follows Miyamoto Musashi, one such aging samurai (modeled on real life acting legend Toshiro Mifune). Armed with the mysterious “Oni Gauntlet”, Musashi must embark on an epic mission to vanquish a growing demonic evil in the land.
Curses! S1
Apple TV+ – 27 October 2023
Hoping to keep the kids entertained while you get your Halloween on? What’s better than some brightly coloured things that go bump in the night, actually aimed at youngsters? Curses! is a new animated kids series following the Vanderhouvens, a family of explorers and adventurers. When a generations-long family curse leaves patriarch Alex Vanderhouven turned to stone though, it’s up to his wo kids, Pandora and Russ, and his wife Sky, to return artifacts stolen by their ancestors to their rightful homes to finally lift the curse for good. The show features a huge collection of notable actors doing various voices, including Rhys Darby, Phyilicia Rashad, James Marsters, Rhea Perlman, and even Freddie Kreuger himself, Robert Englund!
MOVIES
Pain Hustlers
Netflix – 27 October 2023
Easily the highest-profile release for the week, Pain Hustlers stars fan-favourite A-listers Emily Blunt and Chris Evans. Blunt stars as struggling single mom Liza who, right as she reaches the end of her rope, manages to land a job after a chance meeting with Evans’ pharmaceutical sales rep Pete. But as Liza sees her career shoot off on a meteoric rise – despite an increasingly unhinged boss (Andy Garcia) – she soon finds herself entangled in some morally dubious situations thanks to the pharma company’s unethical practices. Practices that have deadly consequences!
Sister Death
Netflix – 27 October 2023
And if the Enfield ghosties above wasn’t enough spookiness for you, here’s another. Sister Death is a prequel to 2017 Spanish horror film Verónica. That original film, reportedly drawing inspiration from a real-life case in the early 1990s, was extremely well-received by critics and fans alike, so returning director Paco Plaza has his work cut out for him. Sister Death is set half a century earlier in the wake of the Spanish Civil War and follows Narcisa, a novice nun with supernatural gifts who joins a former convent-turned-school-for-girls as a teacher, only to find increasingly disturbing events unfolding around her.
A Haunting in Venice
Disney+ – 31 October 2023
What’s that? Still want even more creepiness? Well, how about some horror mixed with mystery?! A Haunting in Venice is the third of director/star Kenneth Branagh’s adaptations of the works of legendary mystery author Agatha Christie. Based on Christie’s “Hallowe’en Party”, this one sees Branagh’s flamboyantly mustachioed sleuth, Hercule Poirot, now retired and living in self-imposed exile in Venice, Italy. However, after reluctantly accepting an invitation to a seance at a haunted palazzo, Poirot’s skills are required once more when a guest is murdered in a fashion that implies something supernatural!
PLEASE NOTE: Disney SA is yet to confirm the local Disney+ release date for A Haunting in Venice, despite numerous other regions (including most of those that use the Disney-Hotstar version of the app like us) having already issued press releases to confirm the 31 Oct debut. That means there is a chance that the movie will not debut next week as advertised above. We’ve reached out to local Disney reps prior to publication, but unfortunately they neither confirmed nor denied this release date.
VOD RENTALS/PURCHASES
The following movies have recently become available for digital purchase/rental:
Cobweb
Purchase: Google Play Movies – R160 / Apple TV – R100
Fan-favourites Lizzy Caplan and Antony Starr stars in this horror as parents to an eight-year-old boy who is plagued by a constant tapping sound from inside his wall that only he can hear. But is it really just in his head or are his parents hiding something far more sinister from him?