Hemispheres Magazine

WATCH AND SQUIRM
Among the inevitable onslaught of Halloweeny titles like Mansion of Blood (with Gary Busey!), these three October releases have us feeling, for various reasons, particularly uneasy …

CREEPY: Frankenweenie
In the mid-1980s, director Tim Burton was fired by Disney after making the original short version of this monster-dog film, which was deemed more Pet Sematary than Benji. Nearly three decades later, Burton gets his revenge by filming a full-length remake (for Disney) in black and white, using stop-motion animation, without even a hint of Johnny Depp. OCT. 5

CREEPIER: Paranormal Activity 4
Having learned from the mistakes of other found-footage horror sequels (we’re looking at you, Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2), directors Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman stick with what worked last time for the latest installment of the home-movie-chiller franchise. Lights on! Lights off! Repeat! It’s terrifying. OCT. 19

CREEPIEST: Alex Cross
The scariest element in this thriller isn’t the sadist—it’s the casting. Tyler Perry, in a surreal departure from his cross-dressing comedic roles, plays a detective who utters lines like “He’s trying to make somebody hurt. Wants somebody to pay, wants the world to suffer.” OCT. 19

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QUOTED
“One reason the average American reads no more than four books a year may be the emotional trauma suffered while trying to hack his way through Wuthering Heights at age 14.”

—From One for the Books, by wisecracking bibliophile Joe Queenan. OCT. 25

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