This October, movie studios will unleash prequels, sequels and Nicolas Cage in an attempt to scare up box office success and keep horror/suspense movie fans on the edge of their seats.

Here are the movies sure to keep you up all night.

NOW PLAYING

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (limited release) – Turning the conventional horror movie formula on its head, the film stars Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk as almost every stereotype from ‘Deliverance.’  While on vacation in the mountains, they run into a group of college kids convinced that the two are trying to kill them. In their panic, one by one they kill themselves in a series of gruesome mishaps. With an over-saturation of horror movies vying to be the most intense and graphic of the group, the humor approach may be enough to help ‘Tucker and Dale’ stand out from the crowd.

Dream House- Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts all appear in this paycheck of a movie. Centered on a family moving into a new home that may not be as ideal as the misleading title suggests, the film looks to include many of the formulas that horror movies today lean so heavily on. The two minute trailer includes; creepy twins doing/saying creepy things, a mysterious woman with an uncanny knowledge of tragedy and hints that the main character possibly being crazy and imagining the events in his head.  If you loved ‘What Lies Beneath,’ this may be your movie of the year.

COMING SOON

October 14

The Thing- the John Carpenter film ‘The Thing’ is considered one of the scariest movies ever made. If you watched it at a slumber party, there’s a good chance that the rest of the night was spent backed up against a wall and planning your exit route for when your friends all became nightmarish monsters. This prequel hopes to capture some of the original films’ claustrophobic tension. It follows a grab bag of potential victim scientists, some Norwegian and some American in remote Antarctica, as they discover and then unknowingly unleash an alien being. Capable of taking the form of anything it comes in contact with, the group begins to realize that no one is safe.

The Woman (limited release)- looking to become this generations’ “I Spit on Your Grave,” “The Woman” follows a man and his family after they find the last of a crazed cannibal tribe and decide to keep her in their garage and attempt to civilize her. The controversial film looks to offer shocking gore as well as blending the lines of hero and villain with every character making seemingly questionable decisions.

One can only assume that the film will become a cult classic in some circles when it’s eventually released on home video and that renting or buying it could potentially land you on a few government watch lists.

Texas Killing Fields- A thriller that focuses on two small town detectives on the hunt for a serial killer who’s been leaving mutilated bodies in an area dubbed ‘The Killing Fields.’ After a young local girl goes missing, (played by Chloe Moretz; ‘Hit-Girl’ from the film ‘Kick Ass’) the detectives crank the proverbial amp to 11 in an attempt to bring the killer to justice before he claims another. With a title like ‘Texas Killing Fields,’ the film looks to deliver high tension and suspense, it may not claim to shock you like other horror films, but with a cast including Sam Worthington and Jeffrey Dean Morgan; it should keep you on the edge of your seat.

Trespass- If you’re one of the dozens of people that saw Harrison Ford’s film “Firewall” and declared it a masterpiece, ‘Trespass’ may look shockingly familiar. Nicolas Cage and Nicole Kidman star as parents who find their family under attack by a group of masked unknowns who seem to know a little too much about them and look to be after something of interest to them. Cage seems to appear in a new movie every month or so, and with his recent selection of films, the film could continue his streak of misses. The presence of Kidman however, suggests a higher quality of script with her last foray into the thriller genre being the surprisingly tolerable ‘The Others.’

October 21

Paranormal Activity 3- The third film in the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise, which has become a stalwart in the ‘found footage’ genre. Taking place well before the events of the first two, the film centers on characters Katie and Kristi as children, where they seemingly evoke the spirit wrath of Bloody Mary. Resorting to Bloody Mary as a plot device in only the third film seems to suggest that the franchise is slowly losing steam, but with the success of the previous films, the third entry is primed to frighten the masses yet again.

Martha Marcy May Marlene (limited release) – Centered on a woman trying to put her life back together after getting involved in a cult, the small budget film looks to send chills through audiences with a more psychological approach then the in-your-face blood and guts of horror films. The film’s biggest shock is that it stars Elizabeth Olsen, sister of the trillionaire Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who’s receiving high praise for her raw performance. It’s highly unlikely that the film will earn even a quarter of some of the other films’ hauls, but the disturbing and realistic nature of it may have audiences haunted well after they’ve left the theater.

Red State (limited release)- Kevin Smith, director of the classic films “Clerks” and “Mallrats” and the not-so-classic “Cop Out” and “Jersey Girl,” unleashes his first attempt at a horror film. After Middle American teens receive an invitation that promises illicit fun, they find themselves in the wrath of a group of fundamentalists that seem to have evil intentions for the young sinners. In a stroke of genius casting, John Goodman appears as a lawman seeking justice and presumably three square meals. Even with a horror film, Smith looks to make a statement on religious zealots and has been on a promotional tour with screenings as the film lacks major studio backing.