Tricks and Treats: 13 New Horror Movies to Feast On Before Halloween

In recent years, there have been some Halloweens with serious shortages in the horror department. This is not one of those Octobers. There are 13 new fright fests in theaters or on video-on-demand this month, and they’re eclectic as can be, with everything from a demon doll to zombie Nazis. Here’s the lowdown on each. And happy screaming.

ABCs of Death 2
What It’s About: 26 extremely original — and extremely gory — ways to die. (Sample death: getting eaten by a giant hamburger.)
Anyone You Know In It? Probably not in front of the camera, but genre fans will recognize some of the 26 directors brought on for this anthology of shorts, including Vincenzo Natali and E.L. Katz. One of them was even directed by famous cartoonist Bill Plympton.
Is It Scary? Scary, maybe; shocking, definitely.
Where/How Can You See It? Available now on VOD, and in select theaters on Oct. 31.

Annabelle
What It’s About: The nastiest doll since Chucky.
Anyone You Know In It? Alfre Woodard and the same haunted doll from The Conjuring.
Is It Scary? Critics haven’t been impressed (audiences only slightly moreso). In fact, Wesley Morris of Grantland asked: “What about this movie is supposed to scare us?”
Where/How You Can See It? It’s now playing in theaters everywhere.

The Canal
What It’s About: A man’s unfaithful wife is murdered…by the same man he sees in a newsreel from 1902!
Anyone You Know In It? Rupert Evans, best known for playing John Myers in Hellboy.
Is It Scary? The early word has been positive. It’s been called “truly spooky” and “effectively creepy.”
Where/How Can You See It? In select theaters now, or on Amazon Instant.
Watch the trailer

Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead
What It’s About: It’s the sequel to the 2009 Norwegian import Dead Snow, arguably the greatest Nazi zombie movie of all time.
Anyone You Know In It? Martin Starr is in it, which is unexpected but awesome. Also Derek Mears, who played Jason in the Friday the 13^th reboot.
Is It Scary? It’s more about the blood splattering than the blood curdling. That said, it’s being hailed by critics and audiences alike.
Where/How Can You See It? It’s currently in limited theaters, and on VOD via Google and iTunes.

The Devil’s Hand
What It’s About: Six teenage girls in a small town, one of who is destined to become Satan’s little helper.
Anyone You Know In It? Jennifer Carpenter and Rufus Sewell star.
Is It Scary? Few have screened it, but a critic from the San Francisco Examiner was not frightened.
Where/How Can You See It? It’s currently in limited theaters, as well as on Amazon Instant.
Watch the trailer

Exists
What It’s About: Bigfoot!
Anyone You Know In It? Bigfoot!!
Is It Scary? The buzz is solid on this found footage flick which is from one of the co-directors of Blair Witch and which debuted at South By Southwest.
Where/How Can You See It? It will be in select theaters and on VOD on Oct. 24.

Housebound
What It’s About: A young New Zealander is sentenced to house arrest in her mother’s very haunted house. Double downer.
Anyone You Know In It? No, but Peter Jackson called it “Bloody brilliant!”
Is It Scary? See above. It’s gotten similarly excellent reviews from critics, who’ve found it as funny as it is horrifying.
Where/How Can You See It? It hits select theaters, VOD and iTunes on Oct. 17.
Watch the trailer

The Houses October Built
What It’s About: While it sounds like a documentary about baseball stadiums, it’s actually a found-footage film about five friends who set out on a road trip to explore haunted jaunts and, yeah, this never ends well.
Anyone You Know In It? Don’t think so.
Is It Scary? Critics are divided, but as per usual with horror movies, audience ratings are much higher.
Where/How Can You See It? It’s now in select theaters and on VOD and iTunes.
Watch the trailer

Ouija
What It’s About: That board your mother told you never to play with, yet keeps in the house anyway? Yeah, it kills people.
Anyone You Know In It? Olivia Cooke from Bates Motel.
Is It Scary? No one’s seen it yet, but it’s got to be better than that time they turned Battleship into a movie, right?
Where/How Can You See It? In theaters everywhere Oct. 24.

The Pact 2
What It’s About: A woman haunted by nightmares involving a serial killer. So it’s kind of like The Cell. It’s also a sequel to 2012’s The Pact, which you probably guessed.
Anyone You Know In It? Original Pacter Caity Lotz returns.
Is It Scary? It’s getting far less love than the generally well-liked 2012 original.
Where/How Can You See It? It’s currently in limited theaters, and also available to stream on Amazon and iTunes.
Watch the trailer

Saw (Re-release)
What It’s About: A man who goes by the name Jigsaw, and who takes a special joy in torturing the living hell out of people.
Anyone You Know In It? Cary Elwes and Danny Glover, for starters.
Is It Scary? The 2004 movie helped spawn the controversially termed “torture porn” phenomenon, as well as six sequels, so most fans would say, “Hell, yes.”
Where/How Can You See It? It’ll be back in theaters everywhere Oct. 31 (with late shows on Oct. 30).

The Town That Dreaded Sundown
What It’s About: The Phantom Killer, who returns to haunt the same small Texas town 66 years after his first killing spree.
Anyone You Know In It? Gary Cole, Edward Herrmann, and the late character Ed Lauter in one of his last roles.
Is It Scary? Though it looks pretty contrived (the first kill comes when a young couple is “parked”), early reactions have been favorable.
Where/How Can You See It? The film will be in select theaters Oct. 16, then on VOD shortly after.
Watch the trailer

V/H/S: Viral
What It’s About: It’s the third in the anthology series of otherworldly found-footage shorts, following the highly inspired V/H/S and the less-inspired V/H/S 2.
Anyone You Know In It? These movies are not about star power.
Is It Scary? Buzz out of Fantastic Fest was strong, with Matt Donato from We Got This Covered channeling Ebert in his review and hailing it a “seriously f—-ed up ride from start to finish.”
Where/How Can You See It? You can find it on VOD Oct. 23 (but not in theaters until Nov. 21).

Photo: Universal