October is naturally horror season, and The Criterion Collection is leaning into the darkness with a lineup spanning dystopian science fiction, psychic terror, serial murder, gothic tragedy and more. The month includes a new extended cut of Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” Jonathan Demme’s “The Silence of the Lambs” in 4K, Ngozi Onwurah’s “Welcome II the Terrordome,” Jerzy Skolimowski’s “The Shout,” and more.
First up, “Welcome II the Terrordome” arrives on Blu-ray on October 6. Set in a near future where Black citizens have been confined within an impoverished district known as the Terrordome, the 1995 film connects the legacy of slavery with systemic racial violence. It also made Onwurah the first Black woman to direct a theatrically distributed British feature.
The director-approved edition includes a new 2K restoration, commentary with Onwurah, cinematographer Alwin H. Küchler, and Criterion curatorial director Ashley Clark, plus three of Onwurah’s short films.
October 13 brings Skolimowski’s “The Shout,” his 1978 adaptation of Robert Graves’s short story. John Hurt and Susannah York play a couple whose isolated life is disrupted by a mysterious visitor, Alan Bates, who claims he can kill someone with a supernatural scream.
The Blu-ray features a 2K restoration approved by Skolimowski and cinematographer Mike Molloy, new interviews, archival festival footage, and a 1977 television program filmed during production.
Also arriving October 13 is “Eclipse Series 5: The First Films of Samuel Fuller,” a two-disc Blu-ray collection tracing the beginning of Samuel Fuller’s directing career. The set includes “I Shot Jesse James,” “The Baron of Arizona,” and “The Steel Helmet,” three independent productions that established Fuller’s confrontational approach to American history, violence, and mythmaking.
October 20 is Criterion’s busiest date of the month, beginning with Uli Edel’s “Christiane F.” in both 4K UHD and Blu-ray editions. Based on the life of Christiane Felscherinow, the 1981 German film stars Natja Brunckhorst as an alienated 13-year-old whose immersion in West Berlin’s club scene leads to heroin addiction and life on the city’s margins, set against an electrifying soundtrack by David Bowie, who also appears in the film. The director-approved release includes a new 4K restoration, a new Edel interview, an appreciation by Sean Baker, a 2022 interview with Brunckhorst, screen tests, and a new English subtitle translation.
That same day, “The Silence of the Lambs” receives a three-disc 4K UHD and Blu-ray edition. The 1991 thriller stars Jodie Foster as FBI trainee Clarice Starling, who seeks help from an imprisoned murderer, played by Anthony Hopkins, while investigating another serial killer. The film won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actress, and Actor.
The new edition features a 4K restoration supervised by cinematographer Tak Fujimoto, Dolby Vision HDR, the 1994 commentary with Demme, Foster, Hopkins, screenwriter Ted Tally, and former FBI agent John Douglas, plus deleted scenes, documentaries, interviews, and storyboards.
Criterion’s previously announced “The Complete Kubrick” also arrives October 20. The $599.95 collector’s set assembles Stanley Kubrick’s entire directorial output across 30 4K UHD and Blu-ray discs, including all 13 features and three shorts restored in 4K.
The set also includes Kubrick’s international version of “The Shining,” a new restoration of Vivian Kubrick’s “Making ‘The Shining’,” new commentaries, unseen screen tests and production footage, archival interviews, documentaries, and more than 25 hours of supplemental material.
Finally, Criterion closes October on October 27 with del Toro’s “Frankenstein.” Alongside the 150-minute theatrical version, the release introduces “Frankenstein: The Reborn Cut,” a new 158-minute extended director’s cut. The film stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein, Jacob Elordi as his abandoned creation, and Mia Goth as Elizabeth.
The four-disc 4K UHD and Blu-ray edition presents both versions in Dolby Vision HDR with Dolby Atmos soundtracks. Supplements include a new del Toro commentary, a making-of documentary, craft conversations with the cast and production team, Q&As moderated by Martin Scorsese and Patti Smith, and an interview with composer Alexandre Desplat. Blu-ray and DVD editions will also be available.
Criterion’s October lineup begins with “Welcome II the Terrordome” on October 6 and concludes with “Frankenstein” on October 27.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2007. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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