October’s second weekend brings a varied streaming line-up for Australian viewers, from a modern Stephen King adaptation and a post-apocalyptic animated adventure to sea-monster horror, vampire comedy and true crime.
Eight streaming picks for the weekend
These new series cover horror, animation, action, drama, comedy and documentary. If you are planning a screen-heavy weekend, they also pair neatly with an arcade gaming break or a session on a compact bartop arcade.
1. Carrie
- Where to watch: Prime Video
- Genre: Horror
- Episodes: 8
- Cast: Summer H. Howell, Samantha Sloyan, Sienna Agudong
Mike Flanagan revisits Stephen King’s story of Carrie White, the novel that launched King’s career and inspired Brian De Palma’s Academy Award-nominated film, Kimberly Peirce’s less successful adaptation and a much-disliked sequel. This version updates the school setting for Gen Z, where smartphones intensify Carrie’s public humiliation. The eight-part series remains close to the source while giving more sympathetic attention to figures including Margaret White, Carrie’s intensely religious mother, and bully Chris Hargensen.
Flanagan’s adaptation aims to balance loyalty and reinvention. Its depiction of online bullying and school-shooting drills brings the story into the modern high-school experience, although the journey to the familiar climax can occasionally feel slow.
2. Avatar: Seven Havens
- Where to watch: Paramount+
- Genre: Animation
- Episodes: 26
- Cast: Saheli Khan, Aishu Devan, Ashkay Khanna
The Avatar universe moves hundreds of years beyond the earlier stories with Pavi, a young earthbender who discovers she is the next Avatar. Unlike Aang and Korra, Pavi enters a world that views the Avatar as connected to its destruction. The series is set roughly 225 years after The Legend of Korra, following a cataclysm that collapsed civilisation. The original four nations have given way to seven isolated strongholds known as Havens, while hoverboards and motorbikes add a cyberpunk edge.
3. Below
- Where to watch: Netflix
- Genre: Thriller
- Episodes: 6
- Cast: Josh Hartnett, Charlie Heaton, Mackenzie Davis
In a small Canadian coastal town, a fisherman played by Josh Hartnett tries to protect his family and neighbours from a mysterious sea creature. He works with a marine researcher, played by Mackenzie Davis, to understand the threat before it claims more victims. The series draws on the creature-feature tradition of Jaws and the handcrafted genre atmosphere associated with John Carpenter’s The Fog and The Thing.
4. Haunted Hotel
- Where to watch: Netflix
- Genre: Animation
- Episodes: 8
- Cast: Will Forte, Jimmi Simpson, Eliza Coupe
Created by Matt Roller of Rick and Morty, this adult animated comedy follows Katherine, a single mother who inherits The Undervale from her late brother Nathan. Running the hotel is difficult enough before she discovers its eccentric ghosts. Nathan’s ghost remains behind and offers help as Katherine juggles the business, the supernatural residents and raising her two children.
5. NCIS: New York
- Where to watch: Paramount+
- Genre: Action
- Episodes: 20
- Cast: LL Cool J, Scott Caan, Jennifer Beals
This new branch of the long-running NCIS franchise follows Sam Hanna, played by LL Cool J after his time in NCIS: Los Angeles. Returning to New York, Hanna joins the city’s NCIS unit and meets a new group of colleagues while taking on fresh cases.
6. Eternally Yours
- Where to watch: Paramount+
- Genre: Comedy
- Episodes: 20
- Cast: Ed Weeks, Allegra Edwards, Helen J. Shen
Charles and Liz are vampires who have been married for 500 years, but their once-passionate relationship has become routine. Their stagnant partnership is tested when their daughter brings home an earnest human boyfriend. The comedy uses an unusually long marriage to explore familiar relationship problems through a supernatural lens.
7. Cupertino
- Where to watch: Paramount+
- Genre: Drama
- Episodes: 20
- Cast: Rachel Keller, Busy Phillips, Mike Colter
From television law specialists Michelle and Robert King, Cupertino follows lawyers played by Mike Colter and Rachel Keller. Their firm represents people harmed by technology companies and their products, with cases involving everything from drones to chatbots. The drama focuses on the personalities and power struggles surrounding Silicon Valley.
8. The Pet Cemetery Murders: A Ghost Story
- Where to watch: HBO
- Genre: Documentary
- Episodes: 3
- Cast: Dorothy Lou Thompson, Detective John Doran
This three-part documentary examines the 1985 disappearance and murder of Dorothy Lou Thompson, a pet-cemetery owner whose body was discovered bound in chains in the Mississippi River. The investigation continued for decades, with the series tracing its unexpected developments.
More to watch after the weekend
For more screen-friendly entertainment, browse RETROCADE’s arcade videos, explore the virtual pinball collection or use the arcade machine buying guide before choosing your next home setup.
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