Trailer park

• Late winter suffers no shortage of horror and thrillers.

It's not a rich time of year for Oscar material, film buffs will tell you, but do we really care? The next six weeks or so are looking … dare I say it … frightfully fun for fans of bad horror and darkly themed flicks. I'm even anticipating a rare double-movie weekend, with Reno 911: Miami (not horror but essential) and The Number 23 both bowing on Feb. 23.

The Number 23 // Feb. 23 // All you jaded horror fans immediately noticed the clever release date, right? With Jim Carrey in a dark role and blockbuster director Joel Schumacher at the helm, my expectations are high for this paranoia thriller. The movie apparently plays on signs, coincidence and even math to build a mood of impending doom. I am so there.

Zodiac // March 2 // Jake Gyllenhaal's eyebrows star in David Fincher's take on the well-known San Francisco serial killer of the '60s and '70s. Robert Downey Jr. and Anthony Edwards also add heft to the cast. I've been an avid Fincher follower since The Game (1997), but I admittedly couldn't make it through Fight Club.

Dead Silence // March 16 // This weekend brings competing thrillers, this one from James Wan, director of the Saw gore-fest. The plot involves the ghost of a mad ventriloquist and those dolls that can become deadly frightening in the same way that clowns do in a certain context.

Premonition // March 16 // Sandra Bullock dreams her husband is killed in an accident. She wakes up and finds it isn't true … then wakes up the next day and finds it is true. Could be a fun mind-bender, and I love the poster.

The Hills Have Eyes 2 // March 23 // I don't know how many more times we can drink from the well of rural mutant killers, but this sequel attempts to mix it up by making the victims National Guard trainees.

The Reaping // April 6 // Hilary Swank takes on the biblical plagues in a small Texas town.

Further out

1408 // July 13 // A Stephen King short story from the Everything's Eventual collection gets the full Hollywood treatment with no less than John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson leading the cast. Cusack plays a skeptical horror writer who agrees to stay in the ultimate haunted hotel room. Watching the trailer, I get a strong Secret Window vibe — the elements of a good flick will be there, but they won't gel. They almost never do when it's King, do they?

Updates

Hannibal Rising // With universally negative reviews, I think I'm downgrading this one to a rental.

The Invisible // Teased in a previous post, this one was bumped from its late-January date to April 27.