My Top 5 Obsessions This Week
Greetings to all my semi constant readers. This October is shaping up nicely with all kinds of things that go bump and some great offerings across streaming platforms and at the movies.
1) Channel Zero The Dream Door now available streaming its first season 4 opener on the Syfy app only until October 26th when the series is available. It has all the hallmarks of the Channel Zero franchise. A happy young couple ( Maria Sten and Brandon Scott ) moves into the family home and discovers a door in the basement that beckons and repels at the same time. Mysterious happenings start occurring and a scary protector from a young Jillian's childhood has materialized like an evil Drop Dead Fred.
2) The Haunting of Hill House is the series I cant say enough good things about. Now streaming on Netflix this horror series is able to build the suspense, terror and overall creepy each episode. Reimagined from the famous Shirley Jackson novel by the same name , this focuses on a family who moves in to the monstrosity that is Hill House with the plan to restore and sell at a huge profit. Dad( Henry Thomas) and Mom ( Carla Gugino) and the five children Luke and Nell -the twins and Steve, Theo and Shirley round out the amazing cast. Superbly directed by Mike Flanagan the story is told in "then and now" as we see the young family discover that they are living with something evil and just maybe more than one kind. We are shown in flashbacks how the horror they encountered has followed through to their adult lives. The whole cast is amazing with special nods to the extremely talented Carla Gugino and McKenna Grace who plays Theodora "Theo" the girl with the gift of visions as well as the older Steve played by Michael Huisman (Game of Thrones) who wrote the fictional tale that we are seeing. Very Meta!This is an extremely high recommendation
3) Malevolent streaming on Netflix is a good fast paced horror/thriller with two kinds of evil- Supernatural and Unnatural and both will scare the pants off you. A brother and sister team Jackson (Ben Lloyd Hughes) and Angela (Florence Pugh) make their way through Scotland scamming unsuspecting folks with their charm and Ghostbuster gadgets to get rid of annoying or evil spirits. the only thing is... the sister actually has the gift to see the spirits and that is when it starts to get interesting. Replying to a request to get rid of the spirits of a group of young girls that were brutally murdered , they end up at a very spooky old foster home run by a very creepy lady ( the supremely talented Celia Imrie) where the horror begins and their con act falls apart and so do they.
4) Light as a Feather is a Hulu original series is really holding my interest . Similar to The Craft ( One of my personal favorites) a group of high school girls befriend a new girl in school and invite her into their lives. All of it started with a simple game of "light as a feather stiff as a board" in a cemetery ( doesn't it always?) and one by one each of the girls is faced with a supernatural predator trying to pick them up. All five of the young actresses already have a pretty impressive resume and this could lead to much more if it has the same life expectancy of Riverdale or Pretty Little Liars.
5) Veronica a film streaming on Netflix is set in Madrid in 1991 . A teenage Veronica ( Sandra Escacena- amazing) convinces her best friends to use a Ouija board to contact her deceased father during a solar eclipse in the Catholic school they attend. We all know what happens when you don't say adios on the Ouija board. Whatever you summon stays with you. This has everything- blind nuns, demonic possession and creatures that can be seen in mirrors and out of the corner of your eye. As Veronica realizes she has summoned something evil and tries to protect her three younger siblings, the mounting horror begins. Lots of jump scares and overall goosebump chill factors. Perfect to start Halloween.
