October has arrived, and so has the schedule of new HBO Max movies that are about to make the streaming service's catalog of titles even better – and spookier.
Our top picks this month all hail from the horror genre, all with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes from the critics. Three of these are slasher movies, such as Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), but I've also picked a supernatural horror, which is considered one of the scariest movies ever made and a witchy folk movie – both by A24.
I'm confident that these picks will perfectly assist you in the transition to the official spooky season, but it doesn't all have to be about horror, as HBO Max has a plethora of genres on the way that you can view below. It's why it's one of the best streaming services.
The Witch (2015)
RT Score: 91%
Age rating: R
Runtime: 92 minutes
Director: Robert Eggers
Arriving on: October 1
Across Robert Eggers' filmography, he's tackled a plethora of horror sub-genres from psychological to gothic, but it all started with his debut: The Witch in 2015, a folk horror movie that's also Anya Taylor-Joy's feature film debut.
Set in 1630s New England, the family of devout Christians William (Ralph Ineson) and Katherine (Kate Dickie) is banished from their Puritan community. They uproot the family, taking their five children to the edge of a eerie forest to settle in a farmhouse, but they notice odd happenings upon their arrival.
Chaos unfolds when their newborn baby disappears and mysterious supernatural events occur, leading the parents to believe that their eldest daughter Thomasin (Taylor-Joy) has turned to witchcraft – but are they right in their assumption?
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
RT Score: 94%
Age rating: R
Runtime: 91 minutes
Director: Wes Craven
Arriving on: October 1
A horror classic from the mastermind behind the slasher genre, A Nightmare on Elm Street is just one example of how Wes Craven earned his rightful status as one of the kings of horror movies.
In Springwood County, Ohio, student Nancy Thompson (Heather Langenkamp) and other teenagers in her town find themselves being stalked by gruesome child killer Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) in their dreams. But if Krueger kills you in your dream, you die in the real world.
As more teenagers are murdered one-by-one, Nancy realizes that to evade the killer she must stay awake, devising a plan to find Krueger's weak spot and catch him before he gets to her.
X (2022)
RT Score: 94%
Age rating: R
Runtime: 106 minutes
Director: Ti West
Arriving on: October 1
From a classic slasher to a modern masterpiece, Ti West's X is one of the most-acclaimed modern horror movies of recent years. It features two contemporary scream queens – Jenna Ortega and Mia Goth. X is the first in West's slasher trilogy, all of which star Goth as the lead.
In X, a group of aspiring filmmakers and actors travel to an isolated farm in Texas to shoot a movie, hoping to resurrect the art of the adult film – it's 1979 for reference. When they arrive they're greeted by farm owners Howard and Pearl who, after discovering what the group's intent is, express their disapproval in the most sinister way.
Soon, the group find themselves fighting for their survival as they're hunted for murder by their crazy hosts, which is all fuelled by Pearl's immense jealousy over their youth.
Hereditary (2018)
RT Score: 90%
Age rating: R
Runtime: 127 minutes
Director: Ari Aster
Arriving on: October 1
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, Toni Collette's performance as a grieving mother didn't get enough recognition from the major awards ceremonies, but it made a lasting impression on horror fans at least.
When the matriarch of the Graham family passes away, her daughter Annie is left not knowing how to cope with the recent loss, but doesn't see how it's also effecting her 13-year-old daughter. As the family come to terms with the loss, sinister things start to happen.
The series of occurrences get more disturbing, and Annie soon discovers that this evil could root back to her own mother, learning that a dark occult runs in her bloodline.
Pearl (2022)
RT Score: 93%
Age rating: R
Runtime: 102 minutes
Director: Ti West
Arriving on: October 1
The second, and arguably best installment, to Ti West's slasher trilogy is also coming to HBO Max this month – and it packs a perfect balance between horror and comedy. In X, we saw elderly farm owner Pearl unleash her jealous in a murderous rampage, but Pearl is the origin story.
Set in Texas, 1918, Pearl (Mia Goth) lives on a secluded farm with strict parents, but all she can do is daydream about leaving her home and becoming a big Hollywood actress. She is obsessed with fame, but more obsessed with not turning out the way her mother did.
Her dreams are soon crushed when she learns how much work and talent is required to be a true star, but as her intense ambitions grow stronger, so do her murderous tendencies.
Everything new on HBO Max in October 2025
Arriving on October 1
2 Days in New York
50 First Dates
A Nightmare on Elm Street
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
Alan Partridge
All Eyez on Me
Beetlejuice
Broken English
Bronson
Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh
Christine
Confidence
Crime in the Streets
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
Drag me to Hell
Edward Scissorhands
Enemy
Fay Grim
Firestarter
Freaks
Freddy vs. Jason
Friday the 13th (2009)
From Hell It Came
Gone Girl
Gremlins (1984)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later
Halloween: Resurrection
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers
Hereditary
Highway 301
House of Wax (1953)
House on Haunted Hill (1958)
I Died a Thousand Times
I Give it a Year
Indestructible Man
Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison
Insidious: Chapter 2
Insidious: Chapter 3
Interview with the Vampire
Intruder in the Dust
Isle of the Dead
It’s Complicated
Krypto Saves the Day: Halloween Havoc
Lady in the Lake
Los Cronocrimenes
Macabre
Marcel the Shell with Shoes
Mirror Mirror
National Velvet
Nora Prentiss
Paddy Chayefsky: Collector of Words
Page One
Pearl: The X-Traordinary Origin Story
Phenix City Story
Poltergeist (1982)
Practical Magic
Pride
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
Shame
Talk to Me
Tension
The Black Scorpion
The Brothers McMullen
The Cyclops
The Disembodied
The Exorcist
The First Monday in May
The Gangster
The Harvey Girls
The Lobster
The Monster
The Mummy (1959)
The Mummy (2017)
The Mystery of the Wax Museum
The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Return of Doctor X
The Shining
The Sixth Sense
The Steel Jungle
The Switch
The Tattooed Stranger
The Unfaithful
The Walking Dead (1936)
The Watch
The Witch
Tickled
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
Trick 'r Treat
Uncut Gems
War for the Planet of the Apes
X
You Can't Get Away with Murder
Zombies on Broadway
Arriving on October 3
Bring Her Back
Arriving on October 10
The Alabama Solution
The Substance
Arriving on October 15
Pan
Arriving on October 22
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
Arriving on October 30
Sorry, Baby
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