Trailers of the week: Nosferatu, The Franchise, and Squid Game 2

Can you hear it? There’s a slight chill in the air, the Sun is about to come out earlier, and the leaves are starting to change (at least in my Midwestern city). We’re entering the time of year when everyone starts posting a vampire Kermit the Frog meme to show how ready they are for Halloween. I’m even starting to look for that Shudder resubscribe button.

October has its own cinema vibe, and this month’s theatrical releases include it Operation Blood Hunt, a film about 1944 special forces fighting werewolves in the Pacific theater, and The Seven Tombsis a film starring Danny Trejo about a boy who hires a witch to resurrect his position to save a woman’s farm. And let us not forget Rumors, which I enjoy very much.

So I’ve got this week’s horror movie trailers for you to check out below, as well as two streaming series. Enjoy!

In 1922 Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror was a Dracula the whole movie except the name. So much so that the heirs of Bram Stoker got a court order that copies of the film be destroyed, however some copies survived. Now, 100 years after its release, Nosferatu is getting a remake starring Bill Skarsgård as the vampire Count Orlok, AKA Nosferatu. Lily Rose-Depp and Willem Dafoe also star.

The newest trailer does a great job of setting up the sense of dread the townspeople feel when they approach Count Orlok, but Focus Features hasn’t shown Orlok himself yet. Nosferatu will hit theaters on December 25.

I don’t know what’s going on with Warner Bros.’ A friend. The trailer of this movie directed by Drew Hancock starts with a fake head, which makes you think it’s a love story. Then it quickly segues into what looks like a thriller about a woman (Sophie Thatcher) being held captive by a man (Jack Quaid).

I think that’s false, too. There’s a weird moment, at the end of the trailer, where Thatcher’s character holds a steady hand over a candle until her arm catches fire. She’s crying, so she’s clearly in pain, but the breakdown of the film – a sci-fi thriller – makes me wonder what’s going on underneath.

Hopefully by texting the number in the description on the YouTube trailer page I’ll get a few clicks. Includes a “Find Your Friend Today” quiz that asks for a selfie. I got this in the end:

That didn’t answer any questions for me, but at least I’ll be getting marketing documents now. However, A friend will hit theaters on January 10 next year.

Three years after the first season of the hit Squid game ended and spawned a reality show, the Netflix show returns with its second season on December 26. A new teaser this week showed Gong Yoo’s Salesman getting ready for work (and maybe some slapping). It ends with him speaking directly to the camera as he asks “Sir, would you like to play a game with me?”

Franchise, HBO’s new series, which follows a fictional comic book-style movie, looks like a fun takedown of the Hollywood superhero franchise. Written by Jon Brown, who also wrote Successionand stars Himesh Patel and Lolly Adefope as Daniel and Dag, two production workers for the film. Daniel Brühl is there too – a fun casting, given his role as Zemo in many Marvel productions. Franchise begins streaming live today at 10PM ET on Max.