With awards season officially out of the way, and serious films like Capote and Brokeback Mountain quietly tapering out of theaters, spring’s movie landscape is wide open. And, as it usually happens year after year, it’s peppered with a wide variety of horror movies.

2006 has already seen the release of Final Destination 3, When a Stranger Calls and The Hills Have Eyes – the latter of which is a gory remake about a cannibalistic family that survives government nuclear testing in the desert and goes on to terrorize some unforeseen visitors – and will soon play host to a handful of other films; some of which are listed in our horror movie preview below.

So, take a look-if you’re not too scared – and begin planning your horror fest now.



STAY ALIVE

(Buena Vista, March 24)

In this teen-based horror flick, which looks and feels a little bit like Final Destination with high-end electronics, a group of friends engage in what turns out to be an extremely deadly video game. The plot revolves around the aforementioned handful of friends that includes "Malcolm in the Middle" star Frankie Muniz and "The O.C." regular Samaire Armstrong.

The group engages in an online horror video game based on an ancient noblewoman named "The Blood Countess." Problem is, when their respective video game characters begin to die, so do they; one by one.



BASIC INSTINCT 2: RISK ADDICTION

(Sony, March 31)

Sure, Basic Instinct 2 may not fall into the "horror" category, but it will most surely qualify as one of the most "horrific" projects of the season. The film – which comes to theaters a whopping 14 years after the original – again sets its sights on ice pick-wielding novelist Catherine Tramell (the beautiful Sharon Stone, who sports some rather unflattering bangs in this version).

In the sequel, directed by Michael Caton-Jones (City by the Sea), Tramell, now living in London, finds herself in trouble with the law. When Scotland Yard appoints a psychiatrist (David Morrissey) to evaluate her, he gets lured into her illustrious web of sex, violence and deceit.



SCARY MOVIE 4

(The Weinstein Company, April 14)

Anna Faris and Regina Hall re-team once again for the fourth film in the ultra-successful Scary Movie franchise. In the latest add-on to the horror comedy series, Faris and her fellow co-stars – including Simon Rex, Leslie Nielsen and Craig Bierko – spoof recent horror films including The Grudge, The Village and War of the Worlds.

There’s also a pretty big homage to Saw, which features hilarious cameos by talk show host Dr. Phil (who apparently saws off his foot!) and basketball star Shaquille O’Neal.



SILENT HILL

(TriStar, April 21)

In this dark and eerie film, Radha Mitchell (Melinda and Melinda) stars as Rose, a young mom who can’t believe the news that her daughter, Sharon, is dying of a fatal disease. Ignoring the advice of her husband, Rose takes Sharon on a journey to see a faith healer.

Along the way, though the mother-daughter duo somehow pass through an other-worldly portal into the small titular town of Silent Hill. Once there, Sharon disappears and Rose realizes she’s trapped in a place unlike anything she’s ever seen – and, in order to get her daughter back, must make a deadly deal with a creepy demon.



AN AMERICAN HAUNTING

(Freestyle Releasing, May 5)

Haunting, which stars Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek and James D’Arcy, is based on a true story of a disenchanted spirit which continues to haunt a local family and, in the end, kills one of its members. The events in the film are drawn from a haunting phenomenon that took place between 1818 and 1820, where the Bell family of Red River, Tennessee was tormented – physically and psychologically – by a violent spirit.

The Bell family couldn’t find a way to get rid of this spirit, which did everything from scream incessantly to violently beat and drag-around the Bell’s youngest daughter. With two all-star leads and proven events as part of its back-story, Haunting is a seriously scary film.



SEE NO EVIL

(Lions Gate, May 19)

Another teen horror flick comes down the Hollywood pipe with See No Evil, a gory tale about a group of friends who must fulfill its community service by cleaning a hotel. Once there, however, they realize that there’s also a maniac in the hotel who’s out to get them.

And how does he go about this? Well, as any maniac would do, he locks them in the hotel and begins a vicious game of cat-and-mouse; hunting them down, one by one.