Every month Crackle brings you tons of new and old school full-length movies, TV shows and original programming, all for free on their ad-supported streaming platform. Whether you are seeking out a familiar favorite or on the prowl for something fresh and exciting, they have you covered. We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Senior Director of Communications Chris Woolsey to preview some of the the exciting titles they have coming to the service in October. Check out our conversation below to not only learn what is newly available, but why you should be excited! A full list of titles debuting in October is available at the end of this article.
GVN: We are here today to discuss your very exciting October lineup at Crackle. What are some of the big titles you are most excited about?
Chris Woolsey: Oh, man, that’s a tough question. We’ve got a lot of great ones this month, but I think one of the ones that I’m the most excited about is season two of our Crackle original series The Wall. One of the things that sets us apart in the free entertainment streaming world is that like Netflix, like Hulu, like Amazon, we also have original content that you can only watch on Crackle. So every month, we have at least one title that you can only watch on Crackle. And this month, it is season two of a series that we also have season one of called The Wall. And it is spectacular.
It’s a murder mystery thriller series that is set in the far north, the far Canadian north. In season one, you meet this town that is just below the Arctic Circle. And it’s so cold that they actually had to build this gigantic wall around the town to keep the elements from destroying everything. Well, that’s great. It’s protecting them, but it’s also keeping a murderer inside. And so, there’s someone in the town within this wall that is killing people. This detective has to come in and figure out who it is – it’s really good. So you can binge season one before you get to season two. And with season two, it’s a completely different scenario, same detective, but different scenario in terms of the murders. And in season two, they just ratchet up the tension to 11. The the reveal of the first murder in the first episode is one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever seen in my entire life. I think your audience is really going to love it if it doesn’t give them a complete heart attack.
GVN: That sounds very promising. Murder mystery shows have been all the rage in recent years. For your service in particular, just for those who aren’t familiar, do you follow more of a week-to-week model? Or is it something they can binge like if they get addicted right away?
Chris: Most of the things that come onto our platform usually come closer to the front of the month. And they’ll be there with originals, they’ll be there for months and years. With exclusives, sometimes it is a little shorter. We also have what we call spotlight titles, which we license from the studios. Those often are only there for the month. It just sort of depends title by title, but this particular one is an original. It’s going to be there well into the future, but they are gonna want to get in there and binge it as soon as possible because it’s so good. It will be there for a minute. The other interesting thing about this series is that it’s French with English subtitles.
GVN: Some of our best shows, the hidden gems I have found in recent years, have come from abroad. I think especially nowadays people have become so open to reading subtitles, and it opens up a whole world of possibilities out there. I think that’s really exciting just to get something a little bit different, a little different perspective.
Chris: Totally. I think Netflix has come up with a bunch of gems from foreign countries in the last few years. And yeah, this one is in that same vein.
GVN: There’s one title I’m particularly excited about. My wife is a huge Beatles fan. I know you have a documentary series where one of the episodes is focusing on John Lennon. Can you tell me a little bit more about that, and why we should be super stoked about this as Beatles fans?
Chris: Absolutely! This is a phenomenal series. This comes through our relationship with the BBC. I don’t know if you saw the news or not, but we have the series Sherlock exclusively on Crackle. You can currently only watch Sherlock on Crackle anywhere on the internet unless you buy the episodes. As part of that deal, the BBC has been giving us content every month. Every month we have this fresh infusion of BBC series and one of them is A Life In 10 Pictures that you mentioned. Every month, we get a different episode of that. It has 10 pictures, the most iconic pictures of a different celebrity and it tells the whole life arc of that celebrity through those 10 pictures and people who were there when those photos were taken. Celebrities like Muhammad Ali and Liz Taylor, and you mentioned John Lennon.
I am also a huge Beatles fan, and this documentary does not disappoint. The cool thing about it is, a lot of times you think you know all the details of the celebrity’s life, but in this series, there are so many personal relationships that the documentary makers went and chased down. You’re hearing a perspective from someone who maybe you’ve never even heard of before, who was a friend, or a neighbor, or a teacher, or a co worker that was there when this iconic picture was taken. You get to hear this very interesting and very fresh perspective on a celebrity that maybe you’ve never heard before. This is a spectacular series. And again, you can binge all the previous episodes, I think we have 7 or 8 previous episodes. Then we’ve got John Lennon and then one more celebrity that I will not spoil for you coming next month. We’ll have another season of this coming up next year as well.
GVN: Oh, that’s an exciting tease for next month and next year, so I guess people need to stay tuned. That’s not the only music related documentary you have on your slate. Can you tell us about this other Brian Wilson documentary?
Chris: The Brian Wilson documentary [Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road] is phenomenal. It just tells the story of Brian Wilson’s life and kind of where his life and his music intersected. A lot of what happened in his life was kind of revealed in his music. A lot of times you think, ‘oh, his stuff was really light and really fluffy.’ But when you start digging into it, you really see the depth of what he was doing and how that music was really revolutionary, and was different from almost anything else that was going on at the time. There was an army of imitators that came afterwards, but Brian Wilson was a real revolutionary at the time. It’s just a great look behind the curtain into his life and how that informs the music that he created.
GVN: There’s been such a boon in really great documentaries focused on these musical legends in recent years. I feel like it’s like a golden age for music lovers to just really dig deep into their musical icons. Brian Wilson, in particular, is such a fascinating figure. I’m just adding stuff to my watch list with every title we talk about. I know you have at least one more big documentary on the slate, and this might not be one that might be on everyone’s radar, but it sounds very fascinating. Can you tell me a little bit more about Kili Big?
Chris: We have a sister streaming service called Chicken Soup for the Soul. This particular documentary was an original on that streaming service. It was so popular that we’ve brought it over to Crackle, as well. It tells the story of a group of plus-size women who decide that they want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. It’s just so inspirational and uplifting, because, I don’t know about you, but I could really relate to it. There are times when I feel like I’m doing things and I’m like, ‘I have no business doing this,’ according to everyone else who’s here. But I want to do it anyway.
That’s what these women did. They love the outdoors. They’ve loved exercise, and they love challenges. This is the story of them entering a world where a lot of people thought bigger women don’t belong here. They just wanted to show the world what they could do and what real strength and courage looks like. You get all the feels in this documentary because everybody has their own storyline. Everybody has their own arc that they’re working through. Just to see the courage and the perseverance of these women who, according to the world, have so much against them, and then see what they’re able to accomplish. It is truly amazing.
GVN: Finally, I know we’re in October. It’s spooky season for Halloween fans – they’re paying attention. Can you tell me about some of your horror offerings, both the original and some of the old school classics that we have at our disposal?
Chris: We have this one called Silent Scream that has an interesting story. It was apparently part of a group of movies that was owned by a group or a family and they kind of forgot about it, so they put it on the shelf. It sort of just languished there until our partner acquisition arm was able to find this and bring it to life. They got three different movies, two are on another sister service of ours called Popcornflix.
Silent Scream is on Crackle. These have not been seen for free ever, to my understanding. I don’t even know that they’ve been available anywhere, besides buying the physical media, since they were in theaters. Silent Scream is just a great, cheesy horror. It’s about a college student, a young woman who is looking for a place to live near the college that she just was admitted to. She finds this old, dilapidated Victorian near the college campus and moves in, and then quickly discovers that the family who is living there is not exactly what they appeared to be.
GVN: Tale as old as time…
Chris: Oh, it’s great. And I hope you’d like protein, because there’s plenty of cheese in this. It’s really fun. And if you like those pulpy 70s and early 80s horror films, then this one is definitely for you.
GVN: Tell our audience a few of your like highlights from your horror offerings for October from your back catalog stuff.
Chris: We’ve got a lot of great things. One of the one of the amazing things that our team at Crackle does is mining the classics. They will go and find these classic movies that have maybe been ignored, even though they were gigantic hits in their time. A great example of that is The Blob from 1958 starring Steve McQueen, which I did not realize until I went and rewatched it a couple of weeks ago. A funny little side story. Apparently, the production company offered Steve McQueen $2,500 to play the role, or 10% of the box office take. He had such little faith in the film that he took the easy $2,500, and the film went on to gross $4 million in 1958. Mr. McQueen passed up a small fortune with that decision
GVN: If he were still with us, I’m sure that would still be stinging today.
GVN: Absolutely, and apparently he disliked the film so much that he refused to talk about it. I think it actually had more to do with the money that he lost. When he passed away, he had had that poster of The Blob put on the bed next to him – it’s very interesting. But man, it is a fun film. In terms of history and stop motion animation, it’s really groundbreaking and a great watch for sure. We also have Magic, which is another old kind of forgotten film that I remember as a kid and terrified me. It’s with Anthony Hopkins, Burgess Meredith and Ann-Margret. Who would think those three people would be in a horror film together? It’s so weird…
GVN: Three legends though!
Chris: Oh my gosh, crazy, yeah! It’s about Anthony Hopkins, who plays this world famous ventriloquist – back when such a thing was possible – and he has a nervous breakdown and moves back to his hometown where he rekindles his young love with Ann-Margret. Unfortunately, he doesn’t realize that his dummy is now coming to life. It is really, really good. Anthony Hopkins – oh man, he’s on fire on this one. Super scary. I don’t know about you, but any movie with a ventriloquist dummy is automatically a horror film. For me, I don’t care if it’s a rom-com or a documentary. It’s a horror film, because those things terrify me.
One of my personal favorites of the last 15 years or so is Train To Busan, the South Korean zombie film, which I know I’m going out on a limb and I’ll probably get hate mail on this, but it’s actually my favorite horror film of all time. I just love the characters. I love the storyline. I love the claustrophobia of the zombies on a train. It’s like snakes on a plane but with zombies on a train. Everything about it is phenomenal. The performances, the production value and the zombies, which are fast zombies, which of course everyone knows are the scariest zombies. If you haven’t seen Train to Busan, you must watch that on Crackle. Really good stuff!
GVN: Yeah, I really love Train To Busan. I first saw it a couple of years ago, and it just blew me away. I knew it was highly acclaimed, but it really just lived up to all the hype. I want to just personally throw in a recommendation from one that I jumped out for me on the list. I’m a big fan of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. It’s a really gnarly send-up of slasher films. It is just these inept doofuses in the woods who are thought to be killers, but people just keep mostly just causing their own deaths around them. They get into insanity, and it’s a lot of fun.
Chris: It’s got a very Sam Raimi vibe to it. Yeah, I thought it was really fun and kind of a little bit of a sleeper gem. Sometimes it’s nice to not have to be freaked out the entire time. There’s so much comedy in there that it kind of relieves the pressure.
GVN: Absolutely! For anyone who is reading this, they can see that you have a wide range of horror offerings and there are many gems waiting to be discovered this month. They need to just dig right in.
Chris: Absolutely, and the cool thing about Crackle: it’s all free. So binge all you want because it won’t cost you a dime.
Additional New Movies in October
Premiering October 1st
The Blob (1958)
Boogeyman 2
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road
Deadly Shooter
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (2008)
Frankenstein (2004)
In the Spider’s Web
Kili Big
Lake Placid 2
Led Zeppelin: Whole Lotta Rock
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Magic (1978)
Queen: How They Broke Free
Rock Around the Clock
Rock ‘N’ Roll High School
Silent Scream
Sue Thomas F.B.Eye
The Toxic Avenger
Train to Busan
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
V/H/S
When Love Kills: The Falicia Blakely Story
Premiering October 3rd
Never Goin’ Back
Premiering October 6th
A Prayer Before Dawn
Betsy: They Say I’m Different
Apache Rifles (1964)
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Gone With the Wind
Count Dracula (1960)
Zulu Dawn (1970)
Humble Pie: Life and Times of Steve Marriott
The Ratings Game
Rockers
Song of the South: Duane Allman and the Rise of the Allman Brothers
Soaked in Bleach
US Festival 1983:Days 1-3
Savannah Smiles (Remastered)
Woodstock: 3 Days That Changed Everything
Premiering October 13th
The Last Train
Everything’s Jake
House of War
Adam Sandler: Funny Guy
Tyler Perry: Man of Many Faces
Eddie Murphy: Laugh ‘Till It Hurts
Sounder
Everybody Loves Chris Rock
A Hero Ain’t Nothing But A Sandwich
Vice President Kamala Harris: Chase the Dream
Coffee Shop
A Chance in the World
Will Smith: The Prince of Hollywood
Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
Schoolgirls in Chains
Little Notes to Heaven
Incredible Creatures That Define Design
Redemption of the Commons
Unbreakable: The Steve Zakuani Story
A Witness to Aloha
The Gentle Bear Man of Emo
Celtic Pilgrimage
Hearing Everett
Vengeance Racing
First Love: A Historic Gathering of Jesus Music Pioneers Part 1
First Love: A Historic Gathering of Jesus Music Pioneers Part 2
Portraits of Colorado: The Making of a Modern American Symphony
The Search for the Real Mt. Sinai
The Furnace
The Master Designer – The Song
Eternity
Premiering October 20th
President Joe Biden: Not Your Average Joe
Premiering October 27th
The Paedophile Next Door
Christmas in Carolina
Satna’s Boot Camp
The Other Side of Hell
Vanished
How to Catch a Serial Killer
Jennifer Aniston: More Than Friends
Chicago at the Crossroad
Additional New T.V. Shows in October
Premiering October 1st
Archie Bunker’s Place – Seasons 1-2
The Bible’s Buried Secrets
Born and Bred – Seasons 1-4
The Manns – Season 1
The Real Ghostbusters – Season 1
The Rebels – Seasons 1-2
Premiering October 6th
Car 54, Where Are You? Season 2
Crime Stoppers: Case Files – Season 1
Crime Stoppers: Case Files – Season 2
Detectives: My Killer Case – Season 1
Flatland – Season 1
Interview With a Murderer – Season 1
Monster Rancher (English Dub) – Season 1
Murder at my Door – Season 1
Premiering October 13th
Sue Thomas F.B.Eye – Season 3
Premiering October 20th
Crime Stoppers Case Files – Season 3
Crime Stoppers Case Files – Season 4
Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar – Season 1
Rock & Roll Road Trip with Sammy Hagar – Season 1
The Big Interview With Dan Rather – Season 6
The Big Interview With Dan Rather – Season 7
Let us know what you are most excited to check out on Crackle this month over on Twitter!
Crackle Plus is currently distributed through over 140 touch points in the U.S. on platforms including Amazon FireTV, RokuTV, Apple TV, Smart TVs (Samsung, LG, Vizio), gaming consoles (PS4 and Xbox One), Plex, iOS and Android mobile devices and on desktops at Crackle.com with plans to expand to over 160 touch points this year.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.