It is another month and though October is now behind us, there are still plenty of scary good films to sit down with to watch on Prime Video as we fall into autumn. From horror new and old to an underrated musical plus a whole host of compelling dramas, this list has the best of what you can check out on the platform in the weeks ahead.
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10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
Director: Gil Junger | Run Time: 97 min | Genre: Comedy, Romance
Available On: November 1
We begin with the modern retelling of Shakespeare to end them all that is 10 Things I Hate About You. It stars the late Heath Ledger as Patrick, a bad boy who enjoys making singing confessions on the stairs of stadiums and is also actually a good guy underneath it all. Alongside him is Julia Stiles as the sharp-witted Kat who initially wants nothing to do with Patrick despite his attempts to woo her. As the two navigate high school in the Seattle area (a bit of creative license as the iconic building itself is actually in nearby Tacoma), they begin to become drawn to each other. It is one of those films that shouldn't work yet still does, with both Stiles and Ledger giving typically great performances. Both snarky at moments while proving to be plenty genuine at others, it is one of those fun films of yesteryear that feels sweetly sentimental every time you put it on.
Cyrano (2021)
Director: Joe Wright | Run Time: 123 min | Genre: Musical, Romance
Available On: November 23
The most recent retelling of the classic 1897 Edmond Rostand play is hardly the only one to take on the material, though it is the one with the greatest acting asset one could hope to have: Peter Dinklage. From the very moment we hear his voice booming through a crowded theater in the opening, he completely owns the titular character. Though it also has a strong cast around him including Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Ben Mendelsohn, Dinklage makes it worth seeing the film for him alone. A wordsmith without compare who is seeking love though becomes struck by his own self-consciousness, we follow Cyrano as he undertakes a deception that sees his love believe his letters come from another. This misunderstanding, while comedic in its construction, soon takes a turn for the tragic. The result is a film that boasts great music, with both parts of “Wherever I Fall” still serving as a standout and plenty of great performances that make for sublime cinematic poetry all its own.
High Fidelity (2000)
Director: Stephen Frears | Run Time: 113 min | Genre: Comedy, Romance
Available On: November 1
Based on the 1995 British novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, though transplanted from London to Chicago, High Fidelity is one of those messy yet engaging films that feels authentic in a way that remains timeless. It places us in the shoes of John Cusack’s Rob, a music-loving man who has recently been dumped by his long-term girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle) and turns inward to find out why his relationships keep failing. The journey he then undertakes is more than a bit all over the place and chaotic though it settles into a unique groove all its own. Oh, plus it features a scene-stealing Jack Black who always makes every movie better.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Director: Philip Kaufman | Run Time: 80 min | Genre: Science Fiction, Horror
Available On: November 1
A seminal work of science fiction that still holds up all these decades later, 1956’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a film worth seeking out whether for the first time or the hundredth. Based on Jack Finney's 1954 science fiction novel “The Body Snatchers,” it follows a series of strange events in a fictional California town that leaves the characters uncertain about who they can trust. Packing plenty of subtext about McCarthyism, with one particular monologue about humanity draining away and the importance of staying human still striking a cord, it provides a historical glimpse of the American psyche while also being a thrilling film in its own right.
Fruitvale Station (2013)
Director: Ryan Coogler | Run Time: 85 min | Genre: Drama
Available On: November 1
The feature debut of writer-director Ryan Coogler, Fruitvale Station is a painful portrait of the late Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who was killed by police in 2009, and his last day alive. Played by Michael B. Jordan, we are given a slice of a life glimpse into who Oscar was in the hours leading up to the grave injustice that would take his life and still remains profoundly painful to this day. For all the ways a film like this could have gone wrong, Coogler has created a work that shines in the smaller moments of joy that are then tempered by sadness in seeing a man who will be taken far too soon.
Road to Perdition (2002)
Director: Sam Mendes | Run Time: 117 min | Genre: Crime, Drama
Available On: November 1
A beautifully shot though eternally bleak film, Road to Perdition is one of those works that only has gotten better with age for all it managed to do. The film centers on a grim Tom Hanks as Michael Sullivan, a brutal enforcer for the Irish mob who keeps what he does from his children. He soon gets caught up in a conflict that threatens his family and leaves him on the run with his son, Michael Sullivan Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin). It is a tense and turbulent film full of violence that unflinchingly shows the dark path the elder Michael has taken while holding onto the prospect of a future for his son that is free of this life. It is meticulously constructed and just keeps building, making for an experience that is as magnificent as it is macabre. It also features an incredible Paul Newman in his last live-action role as the head of the mob, a character he inhabits with grace all the way to a final scene that is up there as one of his very best in a career full of great performances.
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Director: Drew Goddard | Run Time: 95 min | Genre: Horror
Available On: November 3
Lastly, we have a fun horror romp that never takes itself too seriously, even as it is quite serious about poking fun at the genre itself. If you haven’t yet seen The Cabin in the Woods, then you best remedy that with as little information about what it is actually about as possible. Following five college friends, who represent a variety of tropes from the stoner to the jock, as they take a trip into a remote forest cabin, everything we expect about how this is supposed to go gets turned on its head. What follows is a silly yet spectacular work of cinematic subversion that never loses sight of the fun as it takes us on a descent into the depths of horror lurking underneath the story.