Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video
  3. Reviews

Netflix in October: What’s coming and going on the popular streaming service

Alex Tretbar
By

netflix new arrivals django unchained edit
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Part of what’s made Netflix such a ubiquitous service in the U.S. and beyond is its ever-revolving door of content. Even if you spend all month binging on every show and movie you can get your popcorn butter-greased hands on, the big red service adds and removes selections just often enough to keep things relatively fresh. Next month won’t be any different, as the leading streaming service has a slew of additions, new and old, slated for October, including a few Halloween-oriented options for chill- and thrill-seekers.

October’s bevy of content has its fair share of binge-able TV shows, cult comedies, and just plain-old classic films. We’ve singled out a few of the mentionables below, followed by a complete list of adds in October. [note: all titles will be made available Oct. 1, unless otherwise noted]

Recommended Videos

Marquee new titles

  • ‘Django Unchained’ (2012) — Starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, and Leonardo DiCaprio. With the help of a German bounty hunter, a freed slave sets out to rescue his wife from a brutal Mississippi plantation owner. (available Oct. 25)
  • ‘Rain Man’ (1988) — Starring Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, and Valeria Golino. Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt’s father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie; they travel cross-country. (available Oct. 31)
  • ‘Arrow’ Season 2 (2013) — Starring Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, and David Ramsey. After having being lost at sea and presumed dead, the spoiled son of a millionaire returns to cleanse his hometown from crime as a masked arrow-slinging vigilante, based on the comic book character Green Arrow. (available Oct. 8)
  • ‘Shadow of the Vampire’ (2000) — Starring John Malkovich, Willem Dafoe, and Udo Kier. The filming of Nosferatu is hampered by the fact that the star is taking his role far more seriously than what seems humanly possible.
  • ‘Galaxy Quest’ (1999) — Starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, and Alan Rickman. The alumni cast of a space opera television series have to play their roles in real life when an alien race needs their help.
  • ‘Team America: World Police’ (2004) — Starring Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Elle Russ. Popular Broadway actor Gary Johnston is recruited by the elite counter-terrorism organization Team America: World Police. As the world begins to crumble around him, he must battle with terrorists, celebrities and falling in love.
  • ‘The Following’ Season 2 (2014) — Starring Kevin Bacon, Shawn Ashmore, and James Purefoy. A brilliant and charismatic, yet psychotic serial killer communicates with other active serial killers and activates a cult of believers for his every command. (available Oct. 7)
  • ‘Carrie’ (2013) — Starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore, and Gabrielle Wilde. A reimagining of the classic horror tale about Carrie White, a shy girl outcast by her peers and sheltered by her deeply religious mother, who unleashes telekinetic terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom. (available Oct. 2)
  • ‘Kramer vs. Kramer’ (1979) — Starring Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, and Jane Alexander. A just-divorced man must learn to care for his son on his own, and then must fight in court to keep custody of him.
  • ‘The Boxcar Children’ (2013) — Starring Mackenzie Foy, Zachary Gordon, and Joey King. A group of orphaned children make a home and a life for themselves in an abandoned boxcar in this animated film. (available Oct. 4)
  • ‘Annie’ (1982) — Starring Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney, and Carol Burnett. The classic musical centering on a young orphan girl’s adventures to find a family that will take her.
  • ‘Freakshow’ Season 2 (2013) – A family drama that centers on former music producer Todd Ray as he pursues his dream to own and operate his own Freakshow on the famed boardwalk in Venice Beach, California. (available Oct. 23)
  • ‘Romeo + Juliet’ (1996) — Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, and John Leguizamo. Shakespeare’s famous play is updated to the hip modern suburb of Verona, while still retaining its original dialogue. (available Oct. 1)
  • ‘Finding Forrester’ (2000) — Starring Sean Connery, Rob Brown, and F. Murray Abraham. A young writing prodigy finds a mentor in a reclusive author.
  • ‘Tombstone’ (1993) — Starring Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, and Sam Elliott. A successful lawman’s plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona, are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating.

TV – New Seasons

  • The 100 (Season 1) (available Oct. 22)
  • The Carrie Diaries (Season 2) (available Oct. 25)
  • Hart of Dixie (Season 3) (available Oct. 7)
  • Hostages (Season 1)
  • Last Man Standing (Season 3) (available Oct. 18)
  • The Originals (Season 1) (available Oct. 3)
  • Raising Hope (Season 4) (available Oct. 7)
  • Reign (Season 1) (available Oct. 2)
  • Sons of Anarchy (Season 6) (available Oct. 25)
  • Supernatural (Season 9) (available Oct. 7)
  • The Tomorrow People (Season 1) (available Oct. 9)
  • The Vampire Diaries (Season 5) (available Oct. 2)
  • The Walking Dead (Season 4)

Comedy specials

  • Chelsea Handler: Uganda Be Kidding Me (2014) (available Oct. 10)
  • Jay Mohr: Funny for a Girl (available Oct. 8)
  • Tim Minchin and the Heritage Orchestra Live (2011) (available Oct. 15)
  • Wyatt Cenac: Brooklyn (2014) (available Oct. 21)

Other new films

  • Alfie (2004)
  • Annie: A Royal Adventure (1995)
  • Before I Go to Sleep (2014) (available Oct. 31)
  • Bound by Flesh (2012) (available Oct. 28)
  • Breathe In (2013) (available Oct. 11)
  • Charlie Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
  • Chicken Run (2000)
  • The Colony (2013)
  • Cowgirls n’Angels (2012) (available Oct. 11)
  • Domestic Disturbance (2001)
  • Ernest Saves Christmas (1988)
  • The Firm (1993)
  • Heatstroke (2013) (available Oct. 11)
  • Hit! (1973)
  • Hoop Dreams (1994)
  • The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete (2013)
  • Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)
  • A Long Way Down (2014) (available Oct. 9)
  • Liberal Arts (2012) (available Oct. 18)
  • Little Man (2006) (available Oct. 6)
  • My Father the Hero (1994)
  • Paths of Glory (1957)
  • Please Subscribe: A Documentary About YouTubers (2013)
  • Rescue Dawn (2006)
  • A Room with a View (1986)
  • Shane (1953)
  • Sleepless in Seattle (1993)
  • Shivers (1975)
  • Stay (2013) (available Oct. 15)
  • Suddenly (1954)
  • Swelter (2014) (available Oct. 11)
  • The Phantom of the Opera (1989)
  • Three Fugitives (1989)
  • The Wedding Planner (2001)
  • Witching & Bitching (2013) (available Oct. 14)
  • Why Stop Now (2012) (available Oct. 11)
  • Under the Electric Sky: EDC 2013 (2014) (available Oct. 2)

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Alex Tretbar
Alex Tretbar
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Alex Tretbar, audio/video intern, is a writer, editor, musician, gamer and sci-fi nerd raised on EverQuest and Magic: The…
How to choose the best anime streaming service in 2022
The Amazon Alexa Voice Remote in someone's hand.

Anime is the Japanese word for “animation.” These days, it’s become a blanket term for any Japanese-made or influenced cartoon series or film. Anime has been around for decades with international hits like “Dragon Ball,” “Sailor Moon,” and “Naruto.”

Its popularity is seeing a new surge thanks to streaming services, which have helped the genre gain new audiences in all corners of the world.

Read more
The best on-demand streaming services
Amazon Fire TV Streaming Stick 4K

Of the nearly countless on-demand streaming services out there, three stand out: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Netflix. Unfortunately, choosing which one is worthy of your credit card information and time isn't an easy task -- and with a combined subscription fee that's north of $40, subscribing to all three isn't a viable option for most.

Even if you're cutting the cord, the trio -- merged with a channel-specific service such as CBS All Access or HBO and a live TV platform such as Sling TV -- could add up to the same monthly cost as your traditional cable or satellite. So much for those cord-cutting savings, huh? That's why it's important to understand what you need from an on-demand streaming service. So, to help you find the best on-demand streamer for you, we've put together this comprehensive comparison guide.
Price
Amazon offers two main versions of its Prime subscription, either $119 annually or $13 per month (or $59 annually when you sign up with a valid student email address). Both versions net you the same perks, including two-day shipping -- or free one-day shipping in some cases -- discounted prices on select items, cloud storage, and, most importantly for our purposes, on-demand video (and music) streaming. The best part is that 4K Ultra HD content with HDR comes standard at no extra cost. Plus, you can share accounts with friends and family, so everyone can get in on the deals.
Netflix's various subscription tiers currently range from $9 to $18 depending on your desired video quality -- SD resolution is just $9 per month, but you can only stream on one device at a time. Moving up to HD will cost you $14 per month for two streams while moving up to 4K Ultra HD will now cost you $18 per month for four streams at a time. The prices will also go up should you add the DVD/Blu-ray rental service.
Hulu currently starts at just $7 for the ad-based service or $13 for the ad-free option (which we still highly recommend, even at nearly double the cost). Hulu's options don't stop there as it also offers a streaming live-TV package called Hulu+Live TV for $65 (increasing to $70 per month as of December 21, 2021), which is similar to Sling TV and YouTube TV. The subscription includes more than 75-plus channels on top of the service's regular on-demand library, and there are also add-on features at an additional fee, including a $6 fee to get rid of most ads altogether. You'll also get better savings with Hulu if you're a Disney+ and ESPN+ subscriber, as the illustrious Disney Bundle saves you $6 on the streaming trio.
Especially for those who want to stream 4K at the lowest possible price, Amazon is the cheapest bet and has stated that the company won't raise prices for 4K streaming. The sheer number of extra features and benefits included in Amazon Prime gives it an advantage over its competitors, as well. Throw in Amazon's student discount, and this is an easy win.
Winner: Amazon

Read more
Which streaming service will win the NFL’s favor? Let’s go to the chalkboard
NFL games on Amazon Prime Video.

If it seems like every major streaming service has been in the conversation to acquire the rights to distribute the highly desired NFL Sunday Ticket package, you're right. Anonymous sources have been busy in 2021. Amazon has been in talks. So has Disney. Anyone with money, really.

The latest round has Apple, whose discussions leaked earlier in the summer, as the preferred suitor, according to yet more anonymous sources from The Athletic. And it goes on to say that "everything is on the table," including a more à la carte plan that would allow you to only pay for the games you actually want to watch, something that's been verboten in the television world since, well, forever.

Read more