1 of 3 | Sarah Paulson plays the titular nurse in "Ratched," Netflix's prequel series that explores Mildred Ratched's life before the events of 1976 film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." File Photo by Chris Chew/UPI |
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Oct. 28 (UPI) -- The spooky season is in full swing as Halloween creeps ever closer, and streaming platforms are offering up a witches' brew of unsettling entertainments, including Ratched, Netflix's top Season 1 release of the year.
Here are some of the most macabre movies and TV series released in 2020 that are available to stream in celebration of All Hallows' Eve.
'Antebellum' -- VOD
Antebellum, written and directed by Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz, follows Janelle Monae as successful author Veronica, who is sent back in time to the American South before the Civil War. Veronica is enslaved and fights to return home in this video on demand hit.
'The Haunting of Bly Manor' -- Netflix
Mike Flanagan, creator of 2019 hit The Haunting of Hill House, returns with the second installment of his horror anthology series, The Haunting of Bly Manor. The newer series, based on the gothic works of Henry James, features several Hill House alums returning as unrelated characters.
'Helstrom' -- Hulu
Tom Austen and Sydney Lemmon play siblings Daimon and Satana Helstrom in this Hulu series based on characters appearing in Marvel Comics. The estranged siblings reunite after an incident involving their demonically possessed mother, Victoria (Elizabeth Marvel), and set out to solve a supernatural mystery that involves their presumed-dead father.
'I'm Thinking of Ending Things' -- Netflix
Writer-director Charlie Kaufman's psychological horror film, based on the book by Iain Reid, stars Jessie Buckley as a woman who begins to experience unusual phenomena while considering ending her six-week relationship with boyfriend Jake (Jesse Plemons) during a visit to meet his parents (Toni Collette and David Thewlis).
'Lovecraft Country' -- HBO
Drama series Lovecraft Country, which aired its first season finale Oct. 18, follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) and Letitia Lewis (Jurnee Smollett) as they navigate the racism of the 1950s, as well as the eldritch monsters of H.P. Lovecraft's stories, while on a road trip to find Freeman's missing father (Michael K. Williams).
'Monsterland' -- Hulu
Hulu's original horror anthology Monsterland is the first series created by writer-producer Mary Laws (Succession, Preacher). The series, based on North American Lake Monsters: Stories by Nathan Ballingrud, gets into the human side of horror, following diverse and believable characters as they deal with real-world horrors like mental illness alongside supernatural threats.
'Ratched' -- Netflix
Netflix's top-performing new series of the year Ratched stars Sarah Paulson as the titular nurse, who was played by Louise Fletcher film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The series tracks nurse Mildred Ratched's journey from a new hire at the Lucia State Hospital mental institution to becoming the cold villainess of the 1976 film.
'Scare Me' -- Shudder
Josh Ruben, writer and director of Scare Me, stars as Fred, a copywriter working on his first novel when a power outage leads to his trading scary stories with bestselling novelist Fanny (Aya Cash). The pair end up with an audience in the form of a pizza deliveryman, played by Saturday Night Live star Chris Redd, as their stories escalate and bleed into reality.
'The Walking Dead: World Beyond' -- AMC
The second spin-off series of AMC's zombie drama The Walking Dead focuses on a younger cast as teen sisters Hope (Alexa Mansour) and Iris (Aliyah Royale) navigate the post-apocalyptic United States on a mission to rescue their scientist father after a mysterious distress call. The show, a two-season limited event, casts a wider scope on world events than its parent series and fellow spin-off Fear the Walking Dead.
'Welcome to the Blumhouse' -- Amazon Prime
Jason Blum, producer and founder of horror production company Blumhouse, said the aim of the Welcome to the Blumhouse series of films on Amazon Prime is to give a platform to underrepresented filmmakers. The first batch of films includes Black Box, from co-writer and director Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour, and Evil Eye, from writer Madhuri Shekar and director brothers Elan and Rajeev Dassani.