13 best movies leaving Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Amazon in October 2020 – Polygon

If youve been loading up your Netflix queue with scary movies, waiting for the first of October to begin the spooky season, you might want to rethink that strategy. Several of our favorite horror movies are leaving Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and HBO Max on Sept. 30.

In the current cutthroat streaming landscape, when a movie leaves one streaming service its often just heading to another, but that sometimes leaves weeks or months when a movie is unavailable before moving to a different streaming library. Below, were rounding up our favorite movies leaving their current streaming service at the end of September. Like we said above, that includes lots of horror favorites like Blade, The Exorcist, The Silence of the Lambs, and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, as well as some less spooky offerings like Alita: Battle Angel, Kenneth Branaghs Much Ado About Nothing, and the majority of Christopher Guests filmography.

Robert Rodriguezs live-action adaptation of the manga and anime was notorious for the titular cyborgs giant eyes that come straight out of uncanny valley. But the film itself is actually a lot of fun. From our review:

Absolutely everything about Alita: Battle Angel is unapologetically outsized there is interplanetary war, there is a sport called motorball thats basically jai alai with robots, there are slo-mo shots of objects of varying degrees of deadliness flying out of the screen and its delightful.

Alita: Battle Angel leaves HBO on Sept. 30.

A Christopher Guest quadruple feature is sadly leaving Hulu this month. All four improvisational mockumentaries showcase Guests signature silly, deadpan humor (though for my money, Best in Show, about the cutthroat world of competitive dog shows, is his best work.) Before they swept the 2020 Emmys with Schitts Creek, Eugene Levy and Catherine OHara were frequent Guest collaborators, and appear in all four films. (Levy also co-wrote them.) Parker Posey, Michael McKean, Jennifer Coolidge, Jane Lynch, Ed Begley Jr., and the late, great Fred Willard round out the informal troupe.

Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, Waiting for Gufffman, and For Your Consideration leave Hulu on Sept. 30.

With Blade set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, its worth remembering why Wesley Snipes iconic performance as the half-human vampire hunter is such a high bar to clear. From a Polygon essay on the subject:

In his performances as Blade, Snipes projects a mentality and guarded interior life as only a nuanced actor could. As the Daywalker, a legendary half-human vampire on a crusade to eradicate his fellow bloodsuckers, he creates the contradictory impression of an antisocial weirdo with the comic timing of a funny, charismatic dude. With all that, he brings the attention to physicality of a screen martial artist. Though almost universally beloved in his performances as Blade, Snipes rarely gets enough credit for bringing all of those facets together.

Blade leaves HBO Max on Sept. 30.

William Peter Blattys adaptation of his own supernatural horror novel is, simply put, a classic. Everything from director William Friedkins use of light and shadow to stellar performances from Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, and Ellen Burstyn works together to create a sense of dread thats punctuated by some truly gnarly special effects. Sure, revisiting it in 2020 probably wont cause you to vomit or pass out like audiences notoriously did when it was released (though that was definitely played up as a marketing stunt.) but the slow burn terror is still disorienting and spooky. The Exorcist is a product of its time but it totally holds up.

The Exorcist leaves HBO Max on Sept. 30.

Yep, Jurassic Park is leaving Netflix quicker than a Velociraptor escaping its pen. Just two months after Steven Spielbergs classic creature feature hit Netflix and immediately made the streamers top 10 list, Jurassic Park is headed to another, undisclosed streaming network. It stuck around just long enough to coincide with Netflixs animated kids series set in the Jurassic Cinematic Universe, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.

Jurassic Park leaves Netflix on Sept. 30.

Adapted and directed by known Shakespeare master Kenneth Branagh, Much Ado About Nothing is simple fun in the sun. The film stars Branagh and Emma Thompson as the argumentative and electric Benedick and Beatrice, who must work together in order to clear Heros (Kate Beckinsale) name so she may marry Count Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard). Keanu Reeves stars as Don John, who aims to keep Hero and Claudio apart, with Denzel Washington as Don Pedro, the requisite straight man, and none other than Michael Keaton as Dogberry, the local constable and comic relief. Karen Han

Much Ado About Nothing leaves Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 30.

Marisa Tomei and Joe Pesci turn in two career best performances in My Cousin Vinny, Jonathan Lynns courtroom comedy about two Brooklyn boys put on trial in Alabama for murders they didnt commit. One of them has a cousin, Vinny (Pesci), who recently passed the bar exam (on his sixth attempt), who agrees to take the case. Not only is My Cousin Vinny famously one of the most accurate depictions of courtroom procedure in film history, its also freakin hilarious. The twists are satisfying, Lynn takes equal opportunity to make fun of the southerners and the New Yorkers, and Marisa Tomei wears a lot of leather. Whats not to love?

My Cousin Vinny leaves Hulu on Sept. 30.

Anthony Hopkins won the Oscar for Best Actor with only 16 minutes of screen time. His performance as Hannibal Lecter remains one of the greatest ever committed to film, and is matched beat for beat by Jodie Fosters turn as Clarice Starling, the FBI trainee who comes into his orbit as she pursues the serial killer known as Buffalo Bill. The Silence of the Lambs is also one of the late director Jonathan Demmes best (and most well-known) films, and rightfully so, as he balances the incomprehensibly horrific with startlingly tangible, human emotions. Karen Han

The Silence of the Lambs leaves Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 30.

The Coen brothers remake of the classic western stars Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld as gruff U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn and a teenager, Mattie Ross, who hires him to track down her fathers murderer, outlaw Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). True Grit was Steinfelds feature debut, and her portrayal of the tough young woman earned her both critical acclaim and an Oscar nomination at just 14.

True Grit leaves Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 30.

A send-up of horror movies like The Hills Have Eyes and Evil Dead, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil stars Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine as Tucker and Dale, two hillbillies who become embroiled in trouble when they cross paths with a group of camping college students. A series of misunderstandings leads the students to believe that Tucker and Dale are trying to kill them, while Tucker and Dale come to suspect that the students are enacting a suicide pact. As they dance around each other, Eli Craig pulls out all the slapstick stops. Karen Han

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil leaves Netflix on Sept. 28.

Prices taken at time of publishing.

Disney is offering a bundle combining its three streaming services Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus for $12.99/month.

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13 best movies leaving Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Amazon in October 2020 - Polygon

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero