Let’s begin the Halloween Fest where Anna Kendrick stars in her directorial debut in this stranger-than-fiction tale based on the true story of Cheryl Bradshaw and Rodney Alcala. Bradshaw was a bachelorette on the hit ’70s TV matchmaking show The Dating Game and chose handsome and funny bachelor No. 3, Rodney Alcala. But behind Alcala’s charming facade was a deadly secret. He was a psychopathic serial killer. The film switches between time frames, which is a bit annoying, and it slows the pace down, but it’s worth a viewing if you are patient.

In this tense thriller Sigourney Weaver stars as criminal psychologist Helen Hudson who specialised in serial-killers. During a trial, the accused Daryll Lee Cullum kills a police officer and tries to kill her, and she becomes agoraphobic. Now Helen lives a reclusive life. But when a copycat killer emerges, she reluctantly becomes involved when the detectives ask her to prepare a profile that will assist in their investigation. Weaver, and Holly Hunter’s MJ Monahan are superb. Harry Connick Jr. stars as the menacing Cullum, and he is good, but I keep expecting him to break out into a tune. Great retro viewing.

I must say there is a mix of several genres in this rather strange supernatural Action, Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller… I think that’s it. The drawcard for me was the appearance of Michael C. Hall, a solid performer. The story takes place in 1988, where Philadelphia police officer Thomas Lockhart, hungry to become a detective, begins tracking a serial killer who mysteriously resurfaces every nine years. But when the killer’s crimes begin to defy all scientific explanation, Locke’s obsession with finding the truth threatens to destroy his career, his family, and possibly his sanity. It is good viewing, even if it is a bit all over the show at times.

Messages from the other side get a technological update in this adequate unconventional Stephen King supernatural horror drama starring Donald Sutherland as elderly reclusive billionaire, Mr. Harrigan who befriends Craig, a young boy living in the small town, who also does various jobs for him. The two form a bond over books and an iPhone, but when the Mr. Harrigan passes away, the boy discovers that not everything dead is gone. In moments of anger and frustration, Craig texts Mr. Harrigan on the IPhone that he buried with him and finds himself able to communicate with his friend from the grave, which triggers strange, bizarre and deadly occurrences. Mmmm… I must leave instructions not to have my phone buried with me.

There are hints of Edgar Allan Poe, with a Bonny and Clyde sub-plot in this film which is based on the Stephen King novella of the same name. The story centres on simple but proud farmer, Wilfred James, who, with the reluctant help of his teenage son, Henry, murders his wife to gain ownership of her inherited land. And it’s all downhill from there! Strange and supernatural occurrences begin to plague both James and his farm. Henry becomes increasingly unhinged and eventually leaves James to his fate. Thomas Jane is excellent as Wilfred. It’s a slow-paced film, but that doesn’t detract from the intensity. It is gory in parts, and if you are paranoid about rats, you’ll need to shut your eyes. They are everywhere! They’re small ones though, not as big as the NYC rats in the subway.

Supernatural, ghostly gore permeates this horror thriller, which has a talented ensemble cast led by Florence Pugh where siblings Jackson and Angela run a profitable racket swindling the bereaved with fake detection equipment and Angela’s paranormal ‘visions’. Hired to investigate a haunted old foster home, the team uncover its terrifying past and the evil lurking in the shadows. Angela begins to lose her mind, no longer certain of what’s real.

In this tense thriller, Sam Worthington stars as Ray Monroe who is driving cross-country with his wife and daughter when he stops at a highway rest area where his daughter falls and breaks her arm. After a frantic rush to the hospital and a clash with the check-in nurse, Ray is finally able to get her to a doctor. While the wife and daughter go downstairs for an MRI, Ray, exhausted, passes out in a chair in the lobby. Upon waking up, they have no record or knowledge of Ray’s family ever being checked in. Paranoia gradually takes over. This film’s premise is a fresh take on the psychological thriller genre and is worth viewing just for that reason.

A feature debut for Australian twin filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou, this horror drama has its flaws, but it’s passable. When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and opens the door to the spirit world forcing them to choose who to trust: the dead or the living. I think the dead are sometimes the best bet.