Hollywood Suite’s 2026 Halloween Lineup may well be Canada’s go-to destination for a full month of spooky films playing nonstop. What’s offered is huge, and with every genre well represented to be presented on demand and on air, even I may tune in to watch those titles I don’t have on home media.
But what caught my eye is the original documentary series Cinema A to Z. If you haven’t watched this program yet, it’s a good primer for those who’d rather not learn about cinema history from a book. A full episode guide can be found here.
The show is now in its fourth season, with episodes devoted to Creature Features, Party, Sports and Witches, in that order. To celebrate Halloween, the network is focusing on the first and last instalments.
Among the films featured in Creature Features are Renny Harlin’s classic Deep Blue Sea (1999), Jennifer Lopez’s Anaconda (1997), Zombeavers (2014) and Kingdom of the Spiders (1977). Together, they represent quite the assortment of creatures gone wild!
As for Witches, Hollywood Suite promises that the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus (1993) will get their share of the spotlight. Also included are Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock’s midnight margaritas in Practical Magic (1998), alongside a few other witchy favourites.
Additional Shocktober channel premieres include Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum (2019), a zombie flick with social awareness. In the film, the dead are coming back to life outside the isolated Mi’kmaq reserve of Red Crow, except for its Indigenous inhabitants, who are strangely immune to the zombie plague. Starring Michael Greyeyes and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, it’s a homegrown thriller to add to your Halloween watchlist on HS2000s.
For the full list of Shocktober selections, please visit hollywoodsuite.ca/shocktober.
As for what we’re most excited to see, here are our top 10 picks!
- Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
- An American Werewolf in London (1981)
- Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
- Creepshow (1982)
- House of Wax (1953)
- Insidious (2010)
- John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998)
- The Mummy (1959)
- Shaun of the Dead (2004)
- They Live (1988)
