Here we are in the middle of an ominous October and three of the wide releases are all rated PG-13.
We note two of them at the top -- both adaptations -- with the third, a remake, listed further down below.
Our headline also highlights two documentaries, which may not be scary in the traditional sense, but are truly frightening, nonetheless. Also opening this weekend are a handful of other genre releases of note, with reviews linked, where available.
Have a safe and cinematic weekend.
Whalefall
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via 20th Century Studios.
Our review by J Hurtado: "There's something invigorating about a film treating a boldly ridiculous premise with utterly intense sincerity. It's really the only way to approach a film like Whalefall, which finds its young adult protagonist, Jay (Austin Abrams), trapped in the belly of a whale, with less than an hour to find his way to freedom before everything goes dark."
Street Fighter
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Paramount Pictures.
Our review by yours truly: "I've not mentioned the plot because it hardly matters. (Also, I had to step out for another 10 minutes on a 'personal matter.') The action is busy and the screen rarely stops buzzing with activity. There were two moments that I absolutely loved, but one was about halfway through the movie, and the other was near the end, and I don't want to give those moments away, but they are quite enjoyable, and secured my vote for the movie as an action vehicle that knows what it is doing and takes great pleasure in the full measure of its PG-13 rating."
Musk
The film opens Friday, October 16, only in movie theaters, via Bleecker Street Media.
Our review by Mel Valentin: "We can take heart from a long-ago, though never forgotten, Saturday afternoon cartoon, G.I. Joe: 'Knowing is half the battle.' Knowing who Musk is and what he represents starts with Gibney's documentary. Everything else is up to everyone who wants a fairer, more equal world."
You Can See Everything
The film opens Friday, October 16, only in movie theaters, via A24.
Our review by J Hurtado: "The stories uncovered in You Can See Everything put the audience perpetually off-balance. Just when you think you've got it figured out, five minutes later, a new revelation makes us question everything we've seen and heard up to that moment. Even as the film builds to its absurdist crescendo, the question of what is real and what is manufactured leaves just enough doubt in our minds to wonder if we ever got the real story. With Fielder at the helm, it feels like this is the closest we'll ever get to a genuine truth, and it is ugly, confusing, optimistic, disturbing, and wildly entertaining."
Ken Russell's The Devils
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Warner Bros. Clockwork.
Official synopsis: "WARNING: This trailer is not for everyone. It also contains flashing lights or patterns that may potentially trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy. Pray for us all.
"'The restoration of the material is like cleaning the Sistine Chapel with saliva. It is insane, the epic size of the film. I mean, I've seen it on the big screen in Telluride at a theater - but I've never never seen the movie until I saw this restoration.' - Guillermo del Toro.
"An enduring masterpiece of cinema starring Academy Award®- winner Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed, Ken Russell's The Devils is a prescient epic of obsession and corruption - and a defining work of art from seminal filmmaker Ken Russell.
"Assembled from the original camera negative, this new 4K restoration presents Ken Russell's definitive vision of The Devils by referencing the edit he privately constructed in 2004. Ken Russell's The Devils is the uncut and unfiltered theatrical experience that Russell always envisioned - and the first time the film will be presented restored and in 4K."
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
The film opens Friday, October 16, only in movie theaters, via Sony Pictures Classics.
Our review by Mel Valentin: "Something truly special, a character study that doubles as a crime drama, a crime drama that also functions as a snapshot in time, a time capsule for a vanishing New York City and the multitudes who are born, live, and die in one of the greatest cities in America, leading not lives of quiet desperation, but lives of quiet contentment."
Sense and Sensibility
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Focus Features.
Our review by Olga Artemyeva: "During the two-hour runtime, Marianne insists multiple times that a man must necessarily have some passions. Well, the same does go for films."
Once Upon a Time in Harlem
The film opens Friday, October 16, only in movie theaters, via Neon.
Official synopsis: "A decade after his death, genre-defying filmmaker William Greaves has one last trick up his sleeve with what he considered the most important event he captured on film: a 1972 party he engineered with the living luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance. For four hours, this extraordinary group - many of whom had not seen each other in fifty years - reminisced, critiqued, argued, laughed and drank while wrestling with their place in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape.
"Shot on 16mm film, newly restored and now directed by Greaves' son David, this landmark film is at once a self-exploration and an inquiry into the heart of the critical mass of energy called the Harlem Renaissance. William Greaves' intent was not only to document these artists and intellectuals as they spoke about their lives and work but also to plumb the meaning of the extraordinary creative period in which they lived to help us better understand how culture has been passed on from one generation to another and the role that the artist plays in keeping it alive."
La Bola Negra
The film opens Friday, October 16, only in movie theaters, via Netflix.
Our review by Ankit Jhunjhunwala: "Moments of levity do not detract from the gravity of La Bola Negra. Hopefully, audiences will give it a chance on the big screen, as Netflix intends, because the sprawling canvas of the Javis' vision deserves to be experienced in a theatrical setting."
Crawlers
The film is now playing, only in movie theaters, via Roadside Attractions.
Official synopsis: "In Crawlers, a catastrophic infestation of venomous and deadly spiders sends an apartment building into lockdown. Trapped inside by a police-mandated quarantine, building manager Serena (Lutz) and her residents battle to survive as the creatures multiply by the second. Armed with her intimate knowledge of the complex, Serena may be the only one who can keep them alive--if she can confront her deepest fear."
Now Playing celebrates the cinematic experience, in movie theaters and at home.