Spooky season is upon us, and the best streaming services are rolling out a new slate of great new movies to kick off fall. But with so much on offer, narrowing down what to watch is no small task.
So let us do the work for you. We've curated a list of the best movies to add to your to-watch list this weekend, a mix of old and new that's sure to have something for everyone. Leading the pack is the debut of Stephen King's classic vampire story "Salem's Lot" on Max as well as Marvel's blockbuster "Deadpool & Wolverine" hitting video-on-demand platforms. Elsewhere, Netflix has a new poignant coming-of-age story in "We Grown Now," Hulu gets a riveting neo-noir crime thriller starring Kit Harrington and Scoot McNairy with "Blood for Dust," and one of the best horror movies of the last decade, "It Follows," arrives on Tubi.
So without further ado, here are our top picks for what to watch on streaming this weekend.
'Salem's Lot' (Max)
"Salem's Lot," the latest adaptation of Stephen King's classic horror novels, is an interesting take on vampires, using the lore of Bram Stoker's "Dracula" and the like to explore the slow death of small-town America. The film has had a cursed production journey, first announced in 2019 before getting delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic that pushed its theatrical debut further and further back until now it's finally making its streaming premiere in the U.S. on Max.
When author Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman) returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem’s Lot to find inspiration for his next book, he finds himself in the middle of a nightmare. He discovers his hometown is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire and bands up with a group of locals to save what's left of the community they love before it's too late.
Watch it now on Max
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (PVOD)
The merc with a mouth is back in his first official MCU venture. "Deadpool & Wolverine" sees a retired and listless Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) dragged back into the world of superhero-ing once more when the Time Variance Authority crashes his birthday party and recruits him to safeguard the multiverse.
That sends Deadpool traipsing across the multiverse to reunite with an old would-be pal Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to save his universe from extinction. Packed to the gills with fourth-wall-breaking jokes, blood-soaked action sequences and cameos, Deadpool & Wolverine” earns its massive success at the box office and serves as a timely reminder of the superhero genre's enduring appeal.
Buy it now on Amazon
‘We Grown Now’ (Netflix)
"Hala" filmmaker Minhal Baig is back with a coming-of-age tale that takes an unflinching but heartfelt look at the reality of growing up in poverty. Set in 1990s Chicago, it follows grade-school besties Malik (Blake Cameron James) and Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez) and their close-knit families as they navigate childhood in the Cabrini-Green housing project.
The two spend their days creating games out of jumping on old, piled mattresses and finding constellations of stars in the mold and cracks in their ceiling. But their family's well-tended sanctuary isn't immune to the realities just outside their front door, evident when a 7-year-old classmate falls victim to gun violence on the way to school and the looming threat of illegal and dehumanizing police raids.
Watch it now on Netflix
'Blood for Dust' (Hulu)
If you're in the mood for a neo-noir crime thriller, "Blood for Dust" treads familiar territory but manages to impress with its terrific cast and solid execution. Directed by Rod Blackhurst from a script by David Ebeltoft, it stars Scoot McNairy as Cliff, a traveling salesman freshly out of a job who's struggling to make ends meet and provide for his family.
Enter Kit Harrington's Ricky, an old colleague and gun-runner who convinces a desperate Cliff to smuggle contraband under his old traveling salesman cover for a local gang. When a routine exchange goes south after Ricky massacres everyone in a territory grab, the duo is thrust into a high-stakes struggle to survive.
Watch it now on Hulu
'It Follows' (Tubi)
One of the most acclaimed horror movies of the last decade, "It Follows" is hitting one of the best free streaming services just in time for spooky season. Its premise is as simple as it is terrifying: a supernatural entity relentlessly stalks its victims.
But instead of hiding under beds or lurking in corners, this monster simply follows, disguised as anyone under the sun. This gives the movie's gorgeous wide shots a pervading sense of tension as you catch yourself watching every background character like a hawk. The only way to rid yourself of this curse is to have sex with another individual to pass the nightmare onto them, and that’s the impossible choice that protagonist Jay (Maika Monroe) faces.
Watch it now on Tubi
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