It’s finally here: the week before Halloween, and the studios are pulling no punches when it comes to releases this week! It wouldn’t be Halloween without another entry in the SAW series, not to mention haunted houses, creepy alien slugs, demonic possession, Stephen King and that kooky & spooky family from TV. Could you have asked for a better pre-Halloween release week to get your holiday spirits up? I think not.
SAW III
Rated: R for strong grisly violence and gore, sequences of terror and torture, nudity and language.
Run Time: 107 min.
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
Starring Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith, Dina Meyer, Donnie Wahlberg.
Jigsaw has disappeared; and with his new apprentice Amanda–the puppet-master behind the cruel, intricate games that have terrified a community and baffled police–he has once again eluded capture and vanished. While city detectives scramble to locate him, Dr. Lynn Denlon is unaware that she is about to become the latest pawn on his vicious chessboard. One night, after finishing a shift at her hospital, Lynn is kidnapped and taken to an abandoned warehouse where she meets Jigsaw, bedridden and on the verge of death. She is told that she must keep the madman alive for as long as it takes another one of his victims, Jeff, to complete a game of his own. Racing against the ticking clock of Jigsaw’s own heartbeat, Lynn and Jeff struggle to make it through each of their vicious tests, unaware that he has a much bigger plan for both of them.
MONSTER HOUSE
Rated: PG for scary images and sequences, thematic elements, some crude humor and brief language.
Directed by Gil Kenan
Starring Steve Buscemi, Nick Cannon, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jon Heder.
Run Time: 1 hr. 31 min.
Although no adults will believe them, three children realize a neighbor’s house is really a monster. They must find a way to stop the house and save the neighborhood.
SLITHER
Rated: R for strong horror violence and gore, and language.
Directed by James Gunn
Starring Michael Rooker, Elizabeth Banks, Gregg Henry, Nathan Fillion.
Run Time: 1hr 36min.
The sleepy town of Wheelsy could be any small town in America–somewhat quaint and gentle, peopled with friendly folks who mind their own business. But just beneath the surface charm, something unnamed and evil has arrived and is growing. No one seems to notice as telephone poles become clogged with missing pet flyers, or when one of the town’s richest citizens, Grant Grant, begins to act strangely. But when farmers livestock turn up horribly mutilated and a young woman goes missing, Sheriff Bill Pardy and his team, aided by Grant’s wife Starla, uncover the dark force laying siege to their town and come face-to-face with an older-than-time organism intent on absorbing and devouring all life on Earth.
AN AMERICAN HAUNTING
Rated: UnRated
Directed by: Courtney Solomon
Starring Rachel Hurd-Wood, James D’Arcy, Sissy Spacek, Donald Sutherland.
Run Time: 1 hr. 31 min.
Based on true events that took place in Tennessee during the 1800s, where an unrelenting demon haunts and torments a teenage girl and her wealthy family. It is based on the alleged only documented true case in U.S. history of a spirit causing a person’s death.
This hair-raising miniseries is comprised of 8 mind-bending stories each featuring an all-star cast and cutting-edge special effects. Each episode is adapted from on of King’s short stories.
The Addams Family is not your typical family: they take delight in most of the things that “normal” people would be terrified of. Gomez Adams is an extremely wealthy man, and is able to indulge his wife Morticia’s every desire: be it cultivation of poisonous plants, or a candlelit dinner in a graveyard. People visiting the Addams Family just don’t seem to appreciate the 7 foot tall butler “Lurch” or the helping hand (which is just a disembodied hand named “Thing”).