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7. Happy Death Day (October 13th)
This twist on a greeting card stars Jessica Rothe as a college student who presumably saw Zoey Deutch re-live the day of her death over and over in Before I Fall earlier this year, and then announced to herself, "I want that".

Deutch's many deaths in that film arrived courtesy of... complex... sources, but given that it's October, the culprit here is a malicious serial killer in an ironic pig mask who merrily bumps the female lead off, day after day after day, no matter what. She wakes up in the same bed, she goes through a few hours of uneasy anticipation, and then her pursuer finds her no matter what. Among the other cast, Israel Broussard (the lone male member of Sofia Coppola's Bling Ring) is the nice young man who tries to steer the heroine to safety, one day at a time, while providing audience members with at least one plausible guess for the killer's identity.

For a viewer who values the genre (such as myself), this all veers in the direction of fun, and maybe it will be. And even without big stars (yet) or a brand name, this high-concept horror film with an intriguing central mystery stands a decent chance of doing pretty well for itself, especially with teenage horror fans who aren't into the posthumous John Saw and the sainted Mabel Simmons.

Oh, and just think: the possibilities for sequels are endless.

Opening weekend: $14 million / Total gross: $38 million

8. The Mountain Between Us (October 6th)
Based on a 2011 novel and with a title that you must take absolutely literally, The Mountains Between Us tells of a photojournalist and doctor who live through a horrifying plane crash and must thereafter embark on a hard-hitting journey to survival, while fighting against weather, nature's more ravenous wild life, and (wait for it) each other. In The Edge (1997), which was similar on at least a surface level, the survivors were played by Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin, so the film turned to thriller. Here, given that the lucky pair are played by Kate Winslet and Idris Elba, the plot will presumably tend more toward romance than cannibalism (although the pilot evidently perished in the crash, in case any one has a doggy bag).

The Mountains premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and now opens on a weekend where media attention will be focused on the lengthiest and most internet-anticipated film (which is not this one, to be clear). Between Us, on the other hand, should play as a more down-to-earth (literally) drama, and could attract some fans of the actors who seek reasonable (54% on Tomatoes) counterprogramming on a damp day or rainy night.

Opening weekend: $10 million / Total gross: $33 million

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