For thirty years, powerful telescopes have been scanning the space searching from signal of alien civilization. In 1974, the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) team sends a message to the space with the human DNA, map of our solar system and other information. In return, they receive two messages: the first one, with a catalyst for methane; the second, a detailed alien DNA together with instructions to join it with human DNA. The result of the experiment is the deadly creature Sil. When Dr. Xavier Fitch, who is leading the research, decides to terminate the experiment, the girl Sil escapes to Los Angeles. Dr. Fitch joins the mercenary Preston Lennox; the anthropologist Dr. Stephen Arden; the scientist Dr. Laura Baker; and the empathic Dan Smithson to chase Sil. Sooner they discover that the predator Sil has grown-up and became a beautiful woman, trying to copulate to generate an offspring. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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Five tales of terror are presented in the gothic style of the old EC comics such as Tales From The Crypt and The Haunt of Fear. The first deals with a demented old man returning from the grave to get the Father’s Day cake his murdering daughter never gave him. The second is about a not-too-bright farmer discovering a meteor that turns everything into plant-life. The third is about a vengeful husband burying his wife and her lover up to their necks on the beach. The fourth is about a creature that resides in a crate under the steps of a college. The final story is about an ultra-rich businessman who gets his comeuppance from cockroaches. Written by Todd A. Bobenrieth {TAB146@PSUVM.EDU}

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The bitter, cynical and lonely Barbara Covett is a tough and conservative teacher near to retirement that is loathed by her colleagues and students. In the loneliness of her apartment, she spends her spare time writing her journal, taking care of her old cat Portia and missing her special friend Jennifer Dodd. When Sheba Hart joins the high-school as the new art teacher, Barbara dedicates her attention to the newcomer, writing sharp and unpleasant comments about her behavior and clothes. When Barbara helps Sheba in a difficult situation with two students, the grateful Sheba invites her to have lunch with her family. Sheba introduces her husband and former professor Richard Hart, who is about twenty years older than she; her rebellious teenager daughter Polly; and her son Ben that has Dawn Syndrome. Barbara becomes close to Sheba, but when she accidentally discovers that Sheba is having an affair with the fifteen year-old student Steven Connolly, Barbara sees the chance to manipulate and get closer to Sheba, hiding the secret from the school headmaster. When Portia dies and Sheba does not stay with Barbara in the veterinary office to see Ben in a theater play, Barbara plots a Machiavellian revenge against Sheba, creating a scandal and consequent turmoil in their lives. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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In rural Mississippi, Lazarus, a former blues musician who survives by truck farming, finds a young girl nearly beaten to death near his home. She’s the white-trash town tramp, molded by a life of sexual abuse at the hands of her father and verbal abuse from her mother, who seems to delight in reminding Rae of her mistake in not aborting her. Lazarus, who is also facing personal crisis at the dissolution of his marriage, nurses Rae back to health, providing her with gentle, fatherly advice as well as an education in blues music. Rae’s boyfriend, Ronnie, goaded by the man who nearly beat Rae to death, misunderstands the relationship between Lazarus and Rae, and vows to kill him. Lazarus, exhibiting a street-smart understanding of violence and its motives, calls Ronnie’s bluff, senses that he is as troubled as Rae, and becomes a guiding force in the young couple’s resurrection. Written by Joe Jurca

Even the biggest fans of Halle Berry and her beautiful body are going to be hard-pressed to find much to enjoy about Perfect Stranger, a perfectly bland thriller co-starring Bruce Willis and the go-to guy for funky/creepy characters - Giovanni Ribisi. Loaded with close-ups of Berry’s lovely face caught in a deer in the headlights stare, an overabundance of boring shots of computer screens filled with sexually teasing text, and a batch of potential murder suspects we couldn’t care less about, Perfect Stranger is a pushy film that tries to accomplish way too much and doesn’t achieve anything.

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Set in Chicago, ‘Boogeyman‘ tells the haunting tale of a young man traumatized by memories of terrible events he experienced in his childhood bedroom and who, years later, reluctantly returns home to face his fears of a monstrous entity that could be real or merely a figment of his imagination. Written by bondish

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“Houses don’t kill people. People kill people.” That’s as deep as this 2005 version of “The Amityville Horror” gets. But then again, I don’t know a single person who goes to an American horror movie and expects deep, philosophical entertainment. Studios understand that and anything that’s even slightly intellectual is yanked out of the horror genre and labeled a thriller. And this isn’t a thriller by any stretch of the imagination. This new, reworked, revamped “Amityville Horror” is a full-on horror flick with character development taking a back seat to ghosts and other things that go bump in the night (at 3:15am to be exact).

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Lula’s psychopathic mother goes crazy at the thought of Lula being with Sailor, who just got free from jail. Ignoring Sailor’s probation, they set out for California. However their mother hires a killer to hunt down Sailor. Unaware of this, the two enjoy their journey and themselves being together… until they witness a young woman dying after a car accident - a bad omen. Written by Tom Zoerner {Tom.Zoerner@informatik.uni-erlangen.de}

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