Trick ‘r Treat (2008)
The usually boisterous traditions of Halloween turn baleful, and everyone in a small town tries to survive one night in pure hell in writer-director Michael Dougherty’s fright fest. Several stories weave together, such as a loner fending off a demented trick-or-treater’s attacks, kids uncovering a freaky secret, a school principal — who moonlights as a serial killer — poisoning his candy, and more. Dylan Baker, Anna Paquin and Brian Cox star.

Offspring (2009)
Dead River, Maine, sets the scene for a gruesome dinner party when a pack of feral, flesh-eating kids and a demented, bloodthirsty woman threaten to devour a local couple and their horrified houseguests. While hostess Amy (Amy Hargreaves) fights to stay alive and save her children, a retired sheriff (Art Hindle) mounts his own rescue in this finger-licking-good cannibal tale based on the novel by Jack Ketchum.

Seventh Moon (2008)
Blair Witch co-creator Eduardo Sanchez continues to strip away his characters’ sense of ease and confidence in his third film, which captures the horrors that befall a pair of newlyweds honeymooning in China. Melissa (Amy Smart) and Yul (Tim Chiou) are enjoying the Hungry Ghost Festival immensely, but their hosts think they’re enjoying it too much. Soon, the couple is abandoned in the middle of nowhere — but they’re far from being alone.

The Children (2008)
It’s a classic English Christmas in the countryside — snow on the ground, turkey in the oven, the laughter of frolicking children — until the fun and games take a dark and deadly turn. Is something in the woods spurring the kids to murder? And why are grown-ups always the last to notice when things go horribly awry? There are no easy answers in this nasty little horror flick, but you’ll never see Christmas the same way again.

The Thaw (2009)
When a team of ecology students assisting an environmentalist (Val Kilmer) in the Arctic uncovers the frozen body of a woolly mammoth, they unwittingly release a parasite in need of a new host — and, in the process, unleash a prehistoric terror. The ante is significantly upped when the parasite takes refuge inside the students’ warm-blooded bodies and leads the group to a heart-wrenching decision.

The Gate (Special Edition) (1987)
During a boring, routine weekend, young Glen (Stephen Dorff) and his best buddy Terry (Louis Tripp) decide to explore Glen’s backyard. Before long, the boys come across a strange hole in the ground which yields all manner of sinister prizes. Consulting one of his heavy-metal record albums, Glen comes to the correct conclusion that the hole is actually the Gate to Hell. Offering a sacrifice in the form of a dead dog, Glen further opens the portals of Hades, through which pass some of the most hideous demons imaginable.

Children of the Corn (2009)
In an effort to bring their marriage back from the dead, Burt (David Anders) and Vicki (Kandyse McClure) take a second honeymoon, but their road trip takes an unexpected detour when they get stuck in an empty farm town, where the tall rows of corn hide a horrifying secret. The Sci Fi Channel’s remake of Stephen King’s scary tale also stars Preston Bailey as child preacher Isaac and Daniel Newman as his brash sidekick, Malachai.

Deadly Little Christmas (2008)
Based on a true story, writer-director Novin Shakiba’s slasher flick introduces us to the charming 8-year-old Devin Merriman, who, after celebrating a homey Christmas with his family, brutally murders his dad along with the housekeeper. It’s an escaped lunatic free-for-all as, after a 15-year hiatus, the now-institutionalized Devin (Samuel Nathan Hoffmire) busts out of lockup to satisfy his bloody holiday cravings.

100 Feet (2008)
After killing her abusive cop husband, Mike (Michael Paré), Marnie (Famke Janssen) returns to New York to serve the remainder of her manslaughter sentence under house arrest. But Mike’s vengeful ghost isn’t done taunting her in this gripping supernatural thriller. Meanwhile, Mike’s ex-partner (Bobby Cannavale) keeps close tabs on Marnie, who must wear an ankle bracelet that doesn’t allow her to escape — let alone move past a 100-foot radius.

Feeding Grounds (2006)
Their collective sights are set on a fabulous weekend away in a remote desert cabin. But when eight friends take a detour en route to their destination, they unwittingly invite an otherworldly danger into their midst. Whatever it is, it’s hungry. And they’re unfortunate enough to look pretty delicious. Alex Ballar, Jamie Gannon and Kiralee Hayashi star in this independent horror-thriller with a sci-fi twist from director Junior Bonner.

It’s Alive (2008)
After participating in a series of seemingly safe drug testing experiments, grad student Lenore (Bijou Phillips) endures some horrifying side effects when her new baby turns out to be a natural born killer, leaving a trail of dead in its tiny wake. As the death toll mounts, the doting mom can stay in denial for only so long in this chilling remake of Larry Cohen’s 1974 cult horror hit, also starring James Murray as the proud papa.

It’s My Party and I’ll Die if I Want To (2007)
Some 70 years after Jacob Burkitt snapped and killed his entire family, thrill-seeking teens crash the allegedly haunted Burkitt Manor to give their friend Sara (Adrienne Fischer) a spooky surprise for her 18th birthday. But as the night drags on — and her friends start dying off, one by one — Sara begins to realize that an unspeakable evil is throwing her a killer party. Alicia Kenney and Oliver Lucach co-star.

Senseless (2008)
Ambitious young businessman Elliott Gast (Jason Behr) is violently knocked off the corporate ladder when he’s kidnapped by political terrorists, who torture him for crimes he unknowingly committed. What’s worse, his torment is being streamed live online. An unwilling contestant in a sadistic reality show, Elliott fights for survival, hoping that someone in the home audience will come to his aid in this tense, probing thriller.

Skull Heads (2009)
The eccentric Arkoff family shuns society to preserve the secrets of their castle home in Italy. Along with great treasures, they guard the “skull heads,” mysterious beings that have power over life and death. When the castle is raided by art thieves, violence erupts, endangering the Arkoffs as well as the criminals. Noted horror director Charles Band presents this creepy thriller, which features eerie marionettes along with a live cast.

Splatter Movie: The Director’s Cut (2008)
Armed with a killer script, an up-and-coming cast and a gung-ho crew, low-budget filmmaker Amy Lee Parker (Amy Lynn Best, who also directs) storms into Pittsburgh’s allegedly haunted Hundred Acres Manor ready to make horror movie magic. Unfortunately for Amy and company, the line between reality and fiction becomes terrifyingly blurred when a real killer starts taking out members of the production one by one.

Staunton Hill (2009)
When a group of hikers heads into the mountains of Virginia for some weekend R & R, their pleasant trek goes off the rails when they run into the Stauntons, a deranged family who will do anything to get the interlopers off their land. Now the friends are in a desperate fight for their lives in the isolated backcountry. Cameron Romero directs this horror film that stars Kathy Lamkin, David Rountree, Kiko Ellsworth and Cooper Huckabee.

The Seamstress (2008)
After vigilantes torture and kill a seamstress, she becomes a horrific spirit, hungry for vengeance — and when a group of young friends are trapped on the island where she died, she comes after them with her razor-sharp needles. But as one of the friends, Allie (Kailin See), searches for her missing father, she learns a terrible truth about him while her friends begin dying one by one. Lance Henriksen co-stars in this gory spine-chiller.

Dark Country (2009)
“Hung” star Thomas Jane directs and stars in this thriller that follows the hellish adventures of a newlywed couple who rescue a wounded stranger on the side of the road on their way back from their Las Vegas nuptials. When the almost-dead man goes berserk on them, the couple’s nightmare is just beginning. Ron Perlman (Hell Boy) and Lauren German also star in this chiller penned by Guerillas in the Mist writer Tab Murphy.

Audition (Collector’s Edition) (1999)
Controversial Japanese director Takashi Miike creates this unnerving horror film about a widowed TV producer auditioning prospective wives. In his search, one candidate particularly stands out, a lovely ex-ballerina dressed in white. The widower cannot believe his good fortune, until he starts looking more closely at his potential bride-to-be: her autobiographical details don’t quite check out, she has a number of ugly scars on her legs, and he learns that people in her life have a habit of disappearing. When he discovers a man trussed up in her living room with his tongue and feet lopped off, he concludes that she is perhaps not the woman of his dreams.

Possession (2007)
An adaptation of the 2002 Korean film Addicted, this thriller stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as a young woman whose husband and brother-in-law each fall into comas. When the brother-in-law comes back to consciousness first, he acts as if he is her husband, making her more and more uncomfortable. Soon she begins to suspect that unnatural forces are working against her.