Original Coverage & Source Attribution: kfiam640.iheart.com
This week brings a big World War II drama from director Peter Berg, a bizarre Christmas horror-comedy with an impressive cast and plenty of classic and new horror movies available to stream.
‘The Mosquito Bowl’ Takes Football From the Field to the Battlefield
Director Peter Berg is combining two subjects he knows very well: football and war.
The Mosquito Bowl tells the true story of college football stars who put their athletic careers on hold to join the Marines following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The Netflix film is based on the 2022 book by Buzz Bissinger, who also wrote Friday Night Lights. Berg, who directed the 2004 film adaptation of Friday Night Lights, co-wrote The Mosquito Bowl with Mark L. Smith.
The cast includes Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgård, Ray Nicholson and Tony-nominated Sunset Blvd. star Tom Francis.
The title comes from a real football game played on Guadalcanal on Christmas Eve 1944 between Marines from the 4th and 29th regiments of the 6th Marine Division. The game featured a remarkable collection of former college football players who had traded their uniforms and helmets for military service.
But according to Variety, the football game itself plays a surprisingly small role in the movie.
The review praises the movie’s technical execution and intense battle sequences but argues that the spectacle overwhelms the characters. Despite having four fascinating real-life figures at the center of the story, Variety says the film struggles to make them feel like fully developed individuals.
At 127 minutes and rated R, this is also very much a Peter Berg war movie, loud, violent and unapologetically intense.
‘Christmas at the Kringles’ Brings Christmas Horror Before Halloween Is Even Over
Apparently we couldn’t even make it through Halloween before Christmas movies started arriving.
Christmas at the Kringles is an R-rated horror-comedy starring Ron Livingston and Rachel Bilson as Mark and Julie Severson, a married couple who move with their son to a small town hoping for a fresh start.
There they meet the Kringles.
Nick and Carol Kringle, played by Thomas Lennon and Arden Myrin, are enthusiastic neighbors who celebrate Christmas all year long.
And, because this is a horror movie, they’re not quite as wholesome as they initially appear.
The supporting cast is packed with familiar comedy names, including Donald Faison, Rob Riggle, David Wain and Beverly D’Angelo.
The story eventually involves suspicious neighbors, possible disappearances and even a mall Santa played by Riggle who belongs to a network of Santas investigating the Kringles.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Unfortunately, Variety says the impressive comedy lineup isn’t enough to save the movie.
The review argues that Christmas at the Kringles never quite figures out whether it wants to be scary or funny and ultimately doesn’t succeed at either. But with a premise this strange and a cast this good, this may be one of those movies where a terrible review only makes you more curious.
Christmas at the Kringles is rated R and runs 98 minutes.
What to Stream on Halloween
If you’d rather stick with something tried and true, TheWrap put together its list of the best Halloween movies currently streaming — and there are options ranging from cozy to absolutely terrifying.
For classic slasher fans, Michael Myers is waiting.
Movies from the Halloween franchise are available across AMC+, Peacock, Paramount+ and Tubi, while the Friday the 13th franchise can be found across Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock and Tubi.
If you prefer psychological horror, Hereditary is streaming on Hulu, Disney+ and Tubi. TheWrap makes a strong case for Ari Aster’s 2018 nightmare as one of the best modern horror movies ever made — and Toni Collette’s performance alone makes it worth revisiting.
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and Halloween anthology Trick ‘r Treat are both streaming on HBO Max, while Ridley Scott’s Alien is available on Netflix.
There are some newer choices too.
One of 2026’s horror hits, Obsession, is streaming on Peacock. The movie takes the familiar “be careful what you wish for” idea and turns it into a nightmare when a man’s wish for his friend to develop feelings for him works a little too well.
Backrooms, based on filmmaker Kane Parsons’ viral YouTube series, is now streaming on HBO Max. Rather than relying on traditional jump scares, the movie drops viewers into a surreal world outside reality where people and objects become trapped and distorted.
And for anyone who wants Halloween atmosphere without spending the rest of the night checking under the bed, there’s always Hocus Pocus.
The Sanderson sisters are waiting on Disney+.
Sometimes Halloween doesn’t need blood, gore or psychological trauma.
Sometimes you just need Bette Midler flying around Salem on a broomstick.
