If one horror movie is not enough, maybe a dozen will suffice. Three long-running franchises popped up on Peacock this September, and while only the first ones in each series are known to be worthwhile to the masses, the demand for more of each continues today. If you start any of these tonight, expect a week or two of scary nights binge-watching.
Saw
The original 2004-2010 run of Saw finds its way in full to Peacock, and there’s no better time to binge the series than with the upcoming tenth film coming to theaters in late September. Though the reboot Jigsaw and stand-alone film Spiral are not currently available, the first batch of films have enough of a connected arc to make for a sufficient binge. But beware, this series is only for those who can handle the original nasty torture horror of the 2000s.
The seven films that begin the franchise detail the emergence of the Jigsaw Killer, with a semi-connected story of multiple characters trying to thwart the sadistic serial killer’s games. In each film, Jigsaw kidnaps allegedly deserving victims and concocts a survival scenario to make them pay for their sins. Many well-known and unheard-of actors populate the series, but the returning Tobin Bell became a horror icon thanks to this popular franchise.
Child’s Play
Not every Chucky appearance made it to Peacock this month, but we get a fascinating bunch nonetheless: all six sequels following the original Child’s Play. If you have seen the first film, you are in for a treat; the Child’s Play series gets zanier with every passing installment, ending with a surprising, positively-received finale in 2017 that capitalizes on the inherent ridiculousness of a murderous doll.
After a serial killer’s soul ends up in a creepy new toy, his plan of re-humanization ends thanks to six-year-old Andy, who comes up in most of the sequels as the hero against Chucky’s evil. But as the slasher sequel explosion swiftly became less profitable in the 1990s, the series shifted gears in the film Bride of Chucky, taking the knowing parody route into horror-comedy territory. With a constant winking eye for the rest of the franchise, the last four Child’s Play movies are an oddly fun diversion from your average unimaginative sequel.
Halloween
With so many horror sequels on Peacock to choose from, the last franchise on the list had to be the one started by the essential slasher film. All we get on this streaming service is three very different selections from across the franchise, each with its own sliver of merit. And before you ask, no: subscribers do not have to slog through the Rob Zombie versions with this batch.
These choices are all very different pieces of the long-running franchise, fitting a series scattered and fragmented as Halloween. II continues the original film’s timeline in the hospital where Laurie Strode is admitted after the first film, while III is an unrelated tale about Halloween masks capable of creating actual evil. That film is the only standalone feature, as Halloween (2018) is a direct continuation of the first film 40 years later, where Michael Myers escapes his asylum again to try and finish off an older Laurie.
Each of these horror franchises is streaming now on Peacock.