SPOTLIGHT | Horror lurks with ‘Halloween Ends’, ‘Devil’s Light’ and ‘Nanny’; stream Jeffrey Dahmer doccies; SA youngster's Oscar glory

Spotlight is our entertainment bite-sized snapshot featuring new entertainment releases in SA, exclusive film trailers and much more. New episodes are out every Thursday on Sunday Times Lifestyle, Sowetan Entertainment and on YouTube, plus you can follow Spotlight on Facebook.

In this week’s episode of Spotlight, we get ready for all things Halloween in the countdown to October 31. Most entertainment platforms have plenty of horrors, thrillers and real-life crime series to get you in the Halloween spirit. 

Halloween Ends comes out on October 14. Past traumas are reignited when Michael Myers returns as the masked neighbourhood serial killer in the fourteenth instalment of the popular slasher film franchise.

Next up is a good old-fashioned exorcism movie, Devil’s Light (October 28). A young nun trying to save a girl’s soul is confronted by the same demon that possessed her own mother. It is directed by an experienced hand in horror, Daniel Stamm (The Last Exorcism). And if you’re not scared enough, Sundance hit horror Nanny will be released on cinema screens on November 25. African immigrant Aisha, who works for a wealthy Manhattan family, is tormented by a violent, evil spirit. 

Netflix has a good dose of real-life horror with a large offering of crime documentaries. This includes Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, with Evan Peters doing a remarkable job as serial killer Dahmer, as well as Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes in parallel with The John Wayne Gacy Tapes. 

Showmax is streaming a real-life corporate horror story, with all three chapters of the Steinheist documentary, about the Steinhoff financial scandal, now available. The series has set a record for Showmax as the most first-day views of any documentary series.  

To balance all the darkness, Spotlight also brings a ray of light with 11-year-old Stellenbosch actor Caleb Payne winning the Youth Artist Academy Award for his role in the Netflix film Good Life. He’s the first South African to be nominated and win the title in 43 years.

For full interviews, breaking news, trailers and clips, and any competition details, visit our Spotlight Facebook page. See you at the movies!