Top 10 Genre Flicks To See This Fall!

Last Updated on August 3, 2021

Man oh man, September already? Where in the hell did the summer go? Kind of a bummer, no?

Oh well, don’t fret friends, out with the sand and sunshine and in with the cold and darkness. No, not the just weather, we’re talking horror flicks here…genre joints…must-see movies coming out this Fall! Granted, this year is a bit strange in that there is no single major October-release franchise leg – a la SAW or PARANORMAL ACTIVITY of the past – but we do have some high and low profile properties, indie releases, studio tent-poles, foreign horror affairs, big and small name directors, and even long-awaited franchise returns. All in all, a pretty solid assortment of upcoming theatrical work to get your thrills and chills on this Halloween season.
Care to see who made the deep cut? Good! Forge ahead and peep our Top 10 Genre Flicks To See This Fall!

#1. ARRIVAL (NOVEMBER 11TH)

Up front, the fact remake-schlock-hound Eric Heisserer wrote script does furrow the brow a bit, but since French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villenueve has proven himself time and time again with flicks like MAELSTROM, PRISONERS, ENEMY, SICARIO, and soon to be the BLADE RUNNER sequel – not to mention attracted the A-list likes of Amy Adams, Forest Whitaker, Jeremy Renner and Michael Stuhlbarg for his newest venture – there’s no wonder why ARRIVAL holds strong as the #1 flick we’re down see this autumn. The story – based on the 2000 short “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang – centers on a linguist (Adams) tasked with trying to communicate with an alien race when a spate of mysterious spacecraft land across the globe. Early word is this is a smart, engrossing, dare we say realistic treatment of extraterrestrial contact. Can’t wait for its ARRIVAL!

#2. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS (DECEMBER 9TH)

Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Shannon in the same flick? Tell us when, show us where…we’re all f*cking there! Technically still released in the fall, Tom Ford’s surefire awards contender NOCTURNAL ANIMALS – based on the Austin Wright novel – boasts a hell of a premise. When a woman receives a manuscript from a man she left 20 years ago, the story is little more than a thinly veiled account of their lives together, and veers into the violent when the woman starts feeling physically threatened by where the story is headed on the page. Amy Adams, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney and Michael Sheen round out the stellar cast of a flick that’s already garnering legit unanimous buzz. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS, the freaks come out at night!

#3. DEMON (SEPTEMBER 9TH)

If you want a skin-seeping dose of evil this Fall, look no further than the superb Polish chiller DEMON out in limited release later this week. Here’s an eerily atmospheric take on an age-old folktale – one about a groom who slowly falls victim to an accursed demonic possession during his own wedding ceremony. Unfortunately, the merits of this more than competent horror-import that deserves your attention may be eclipsed by the fact the director – Marcin Wrona – committed suicide at a film festival while DEMON was screening in competition last September. Heartbreaking to say the least, and as a movie, utterly soul-clinching. Do wise and scope this one out if it happens your way!

#4. THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (OCTOBER 7TH)

Though deceptively nodding toward Hitchcock’s suspense classics – STRANGERS ON A TRAIN and THE LADY VANISHES – Tate Taylor’s THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN actually boasts a more complicated plot than you may assume. See, Emily Blunt plays a bereaving young lass in the film who, after her messy divorce, is forced to pass by her old house every day on the NYC subway en route to work. Her ex-hubby has since remarried and fathered a child, but when the new wife goes missing one day, Blunt’s character is thrown headlong into a maddening mystery as to what happened? Hell, the invidious jilted ex may even be responsible. Luke Evans, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Edgar Ramirez and Allison Janney add solid support. All a-motherf*cking-board!

#5. ELLE (NOVEMBER 11TH)

Holy hell. Isabelle Huppert is 63 years old and still hotter than the lot of young anorexic whippersnappers half her age. Those who’ve seen THE PIANO TEACHER can corroborate, and now that the sexy French actress hooks up with unabashed Dutch madman Paul Verhoeven for the new pyschosexual revenge tale ELLE, our big and little heads are, ahem, at firm attention. Seriously, Huppert getting loose with the dude who gave us BASIC INSTINCT and SHOWGIRLS? Can’t wait! ELLE follows the victimized Huppert, who, after being sexually accosted one day in her own home, becomes embroiled in a steamy and sexually charged game of role-playing with her assailant. Of course, she’s likely just playing the dude like a fiddle, waiting for the most opportune time to serve an icy order of justified comeuppance…Verhoven style!

#6. UNDER THE SHADOW (OCTOBER 7TH)

UNDER THE SHADOW seems a perfect title for our least known horror flick of the lot, does it not? But don’t get it twisted, by all accounts, this intense Iranian haunted house yarn may prove the boldest and brightest of all this fall. Set in war-torn Tehran in the 1980s, the movie follows a mother and daughter who not only struggle under the oppressive thumb of their local government, but must ward off an invasive evil that has permeated their home. The flick marks the feature debut of writer/director Babak Anvari, and has already garnered a whopping score of 84 on Metacritic.com. Hell, our very own Chris Bumbray gave this sucker a 9/10 out of Sundance this year. Let’s all crawl UNDER THE SHADOW this fall and shed some light on the underdog!

#9. THE DISAPPOINTMENTS ROOM (SEPTEMBER 9TH)

Let’s be clear, a blonde Kate Beckinsale does not disappoint. At all! That said, director DJ Caruso has certainly let us down from time to time in the past (I’m looking at you EAGLE EYE). However, there’s something undeniably intriguing about the new R-rated film uniting the two, THE DISAPPOINTMENTS ROOM, which, despite opening this week, still remains shrouded in a dark cloak of mystery. All we really know is that Kate Beckinsale and her son uncover a cache of unspeakable horrors that have been kept at bay in their attic for years. Wentwroth Miller penned the script with Caruso, Lucas Till costars. Let’s hope this one actually does NOT live up to its title, but instead resembles the best of Caruso…DISTURBIA, TAKING LIVES, etc. For crying out loud, no more I AM NUMBER FOUR!

#7. OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL (OCTOBER 21ST)

Despite the first film eating more donkey balls than first place Survivor contestant, we truly believe OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL has a chance to, if not redeem the franchise, certainly be a proper standalone horror flick to see this Halloween. Hear us out. The sequel is directed by Mike Flanagan, the up and coming horror director who gave us OCULUS in 2013 and HUSH in 2016. Okay, so he also helmed the underwhelming BEFORE I WAKE this year too, but still, setting OUIJA 2 in 1967 L.A. is a brilliant way to explore the rich history of the witch-board. Horror stalwarts Doug Jones and Lin Shaye headline, along with Henry Thomas, Elizabeth Reaser, and Flanagan’s wife Kate Siegel (star of HUSH). Mark it here, this could be a sleeper! (Check out the cool new trailer!)

#8. RINGS (OCTOBER 28TH)

We really don’t know who on Earth was clamoring for a third RING movie more than a decade after the last, or why the property has oddly migrated from a J-horror mainstay under Hideo Nakata to a Spanish endeavor for director F. Javier Gutierrez (BEFORE THE FALL) to explore. But whatever the case, based on the trailer, stills and posters for the flick, RINGS just might prove to be a more than welcomed return for a once thought moribund horror franchise. After-all, the always entertaining Vincent D’Onofrio headlines the flick, so it must have some merit. Aimee Teegarden and Johnny Galecki lend support, in a story that continues the urban legend about a vile videotape that kills its watcher a week after seeing it. RINGS comes full circle this Halloween!

#10. SHUT IN (NOVEMBER 11TH)

We flirted with a number of titles for the ol’ 10th spot kickoff, from Tim Burton’s anodyne family outing MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN to Rob Zombie’s apparently abysmal 31, but in the end, Naomi Watts’ fine behind was too damn compelling to pass up (ever see her booty in FUNNY GAMES? Sheesh!) Funnily enough, producers of SHUT IN thought it oh so original to cast young Jacob Tremblay – in essence reprising his ROOM role – here in the part of a young boy trapped in an isolated old home with his a tormented older gal. Watts plays embattled child psychologist and widow who must not only brave a harsh New England storm, but rescue the young boy as a means of her own postpartum catharsis. Longtime TV director Farren Blackburn takes the helm, with Oliver Platt among stand out supporters.