3 new Paramount+ thrillers to watch this weekend (October 2-4)

Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek Published Oct 3, 2026, 11:00 AM EDT Derek Malcolm has been covering the worlds of tech and entertainment for more than two decades. Before coming to How-To Geek in 2025, Derek was a contributing editor and writer for the A/V and Home Theater section at Digital Trends, where he wrangled and wrote everything from what to watch on Netflix to reviews, explainers, and guides on the latest Bluetooth speakers, turntables, projectors, and other A/V gear. Based in Toronto, Derek graduated from Humber College's Journalism program in 1999, after which he started covering the worlds of music, movies, TV, and celebrity for publications such as TV Guide, Hello! magazine, and Inside Entertainment. He then got the bug for covering tech and gadgets in 2006, when he served as editor-in-chief of Canadian tech magazine Connected for more than a decade. An avid skier, when all the snow's gone Derek can be found at home spinning vinyl with his daughter or cheering on his favorite F1 team, McLaren. Sign in to your How-To Geek account October has barely started, and Paramount+ has already stuffed more than 100 new movies into its library for U.S. viewers. With Halloween creeping up, it's good to know that plenty of those titles are thrillers, perfect for those looking to add a little edge to their movie nights. This weekend's thriller movie picks make for a gloriously mismatched bunch. There's a macabre musical where the barber's chair is the last place you want to sit, and an erotic murder mystery stacked with '90s icons. My top pick, however, is an underrated sequel to one of the greatest thrillers ever made, which bravely checks back in at a certain famous haunted hotel. 3 Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street You could say the secret ingredient is ... murder Leave it to Tim Burton to take Stephen Sondheim's revelatory, Tony-winning stage musical and turn it up to 11 with all the fun, bloody gore and dark comedy that only Burton can conjure. And with his two best recurring players—Johnny Depp and then-partner Helena Bonham Carter—in the lead roles, it's no wonder it was a hit, and it still holds an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. OK, I've buried the lede here. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is Burton's brilliant adaptation of the musical that tells the twisted story of Benjamin Barker (Depp), a London barber who's sent to a penal colony by a corrupt judge (Alan Rickman) with designs on Barker's wife. Fifteen long years pass, and Barker's revenge plot is set. He returns to London, reinvented as the nihilistic, Mallen-streaked Sweeney Todd, and opens up a new barbershop above the struggling pie shop of Mrs. Lovett (Bonham Carter). Todd's revenge is bloody, as his blade starts slicing whoever sits in his chair. But things get gruesomely delicious when Mrs. Lovett finds a use for the leftovers, and her pies become the toast of Fleet Street. Cast Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Jamie Campbell Bower, Ed Sanders, Jayne Wisener Runtime 116 Minutes Director Tim Burton Writers John Logan, Stephen Sondheim, Hugh Wheeler Main Genre Horror Budget $50 Million Studio(s) DreamWorks Distribution, Paramount Pictures Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures 2 Wild Things A steamy '90s noir with Neve Campbell and Denise Richards First, a disclaimer: I'm not saying that John McNaughton's 1998 noir thriller Wild Things is a great movie; it's not high art, and its 65% RT score supports that. But what I will say is that at a certain time and place, this movie checked off so many boxes for a fun night at the theater (or night in with a VHS tape) that it drew in audiences like a lurking gator. The first box is a white-hot cast of '90s icons—you've got Neve Campbell, Denise Richards, Matt Dillon, and Kevin Bacon—and that's not even counting Bill Murray as a cheesy lawyer named Ken. Next, you've got the tawdry, saturated haziness of Blue Bay, a fictional Florida playground for the rich, as a backdrop. Finally, Wild Things has a seedy story full of twists and conspiracies that go right to the credits. Dillon stars as Sam, a high school guidance counselor whose life implodes when rich student Kelly (Richards) accuses him of rape. Soon after, another student, Suzie (Campbell), steps forward with the same claim. Sam hires Ken to represent him, and police sergeant Ray (Bacon) starts investigating. Without spoiling the whole sordid movie, let's just say that it's a tangled web of lies, misdirection, and murder. Intrigued? Wild Things Release Date March 20, 1998 Cast Kevin Bacon, Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell, Denise Richards, Theresa Russell, Bill Murray, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Robert Wagner, Carrie Snodgress, Jeff Perry, Eduardo Yáñez, Jennifer Taylor, Cory Pendergast, Marc Macaulay, Toi Svane Stepp, Dennis Neal, Diane Adams, Paulo Benedeti, Ted Bartsch, Leonor Anthony, Antoni Corone, Robert Deacon, Anthony Giaimo, Manny Suárez, Janet Bushor Runtime 108 minutes Director John McNaughton Writers Stephen Peters Producers Rodney Liber, Steven A. Jones Main Genre Thriller Budget $20 Million Studio(s) Mandalay Entertainment Distributor(s) Columbia Pictures Executive Producer(s) Kevin Bacon 1 Doctor Sleep An underrated return to the Overlook Hotel Mike Flanagan pulled off the impossible when adapting Stephen King's 2013 novel Doctor Sleep, which is a direct sequel to King's earlier masterpiece, The Shining. First, his screenplay earned King's creative blessing, something that even the great Stanley Kubrick didn't have—the author famously disliked Kubrick's film. Second, Flanagan's sequel managed to stay true to King's novel while also honoring Kubrick's ending, allowing for a return to the famous Overlook Hotel (it burns to the ground in The Shining novel, but Kubrick kept it standing). The other major difference in Doctor Sleep is that it focuses on the more supernatural subject, that is the psychic "shining" powers of its protagonist, a grown-up Danny "Redrum" Torrance, played by Ewan McGregor. Dan has taken to numbing his shine with booze, but gets sober and uses his gift to give relief to dying hospice patients. But when Dan has a psychic connection to a young telepath named Abra Stone (Kyliegh Curran), he learns of a sinister cult of psychic vampires—led by Rebecca Ferguson's glowing-eyed Rose the Hat—who hunt Dan and Abra's kind to feast on their life force. To combat the gang, Dan takes Abra back to the abandoned Overlook, where Rose's power is no match for its dark psychic energy. MacGregor and Ferguson are fantastic rivals here, and the film features some fun throwbacks to The Shining, including the creepy twins and the elevator full of blood. Doctor Sleep Release Date November 8, 2019 Cast Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis, Zahn McClarnon, Emily Alyn Lind, Selena Anduze, Robert Longstreet, Carel Struycken, Katie Parker, Jamie Flanagan, Met Clark, Zackary Momoh, Jocelin Donahue, Dakota Hickman, Carl Lumbly, Henry Thomas, Bruce Greenwood, Sallye Hooks, Alex Essoe, Roger Dale Floyd, George Mengert, Jacob Tremblay, Chelsea Talmadge, Violet McGraw Runtime 152 minutes Director Mike Flanagan Writers Mike Flanagan Producers Trevor Macy Prequel(s) The Shining Main Genre Horror Story By Stephen King Budget $45 million Studio(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Distributor(s) Warner Bros. Pictures Executive Producer(s) Akiva Goldsman, D. Scott Lumpkin, Kevin McCormick, Roy Lee, Stephen King Start with some thrillers before graduating to full Spooky Season A close shave, a steamy '90s conspiracy, and more redrum at the Overlook Hotel make for some excellent thrillers to save to your watch list on Paramount+. Oh, and for a little housekeeping, if you're curious about how things are going to change with your Paramount+ service because of the merger with Warner, we've got all the details for you. Subscription with ads Yes, $8/month Simultaneous streams 3 Live TV Select live sports (NFL on CBS & UEFA Champions League) Price Starting at $8/month or $60/year