Whatever happened to killer kids in horror movies? I remember during the '70s and '80s, horror movies were filled with children who made those little brats in Lord of the Flies look like altar boys. The Swedes have an answer to my opening query, a vampire film called Let The Right One In. It sounds like a cross between Bergman and Hammer Studios. The plot has a lonely 12-year old boy befriending his next-door neighbor, a 12-year-old who turns out to be centuries old, yet trapped in an adolescent's body. Sort of like Dakota Fanning, whom I'm sure will be tapped to play the vampire for the American remake. The critical praise bestowed upon the film got me thinking about some of the old killer kid movies of my past. Note that none of these kids would have remained the way they do if the parents had called my mother to assist them.

It's not hard to find a glamorous vampire, or a kickass vampire. You can find scary ones, creepy ones, ones that make you want to sleep with garlic in your pajama pockets. But the movies are full of sexy, seductive immortals, too. Sure, the bloodsuckers in Interview With a Vampire and those in all the variations of Bram Stoker's Dracula are well-known, but what about those who toil away in box office obscurity? Before the cool teen vampire flick Twilight comes out later this month, here are a few vampires you may not have met before.

In a move that was probably made because his own TV's parental control V-chip didn't work, the new head of HBO recently put the kibosh on its plan to bring '90s comic book series Preacher to late-night. And while HBO may not be ready for such dazzling visuals as an inbred Jesus descendant peeing on people or angel-demon sex-having, Columbia Pictures totally is. Before it was circled and then bailed on by HBO, Preacher was an in-development film project, with Kevin Smith's View Askew producing and James Marsden attached to play the title character. This go-around, if it finally gets off the ground, the film will be directed by Sam Mendes (Road to Perdition, Jarhead), who is currently on the hunt for a lead.

As they do every Halloween-time, TV programmer people are unloading a barrage of scary movies this week, and I for one will not be watching any of them. As you might have gleaned from previous things I've written, I do not like being scared. I don't like the dark. I don't like ghosts or anything paranormal -- unless it is a sexy vampire, but that is pushing it people! Call me staid, boring, namby pamby. But if you insist on making me sit through Saw or Hostel or even the vintage shiz like The Exorcist and, like, Friday the 13th, you will have only yourself to blame when I pee on your couch.

I've culled a few of this week's spooky offerings from my trusty TV schedule and come up with fitting alternatives to the horror pics in an effort to combat the shrieky, jittery feelings I get when confronted with the likes of Jason, Freddy, Chuckie and Satan. If you're like me, you'll appreciate this little round-up. And if you're not, you'll enjoy laughing at my wussy ass. If anyone's looking for me, I'll be hiding under my blanket from now til November 1st with my arsenal of rom-com DVDs.

There are a few things you need to know about tomatoes:
1. They are a fruit, not a vegetable.
2. If they turn murderous on you, you can save yourself by playing really terrible music.
3. A comic book based on the 1978 cult favorite Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is hitting shelves tomorrow.
4. Proving you can't keep a bad tomato down, a remake of the same movie is due out next year.
Ready for another helping? Grab your salt shaker and pull up a seat.

Just in case you're not reading our DVDs Unwrapped blog, we thought we'd clue you in on the latest DVDs we've gotten the chance to review. Sadly, we were turned down for a review copy of Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter, but we'll keep trying.

Journey to the Center of the Earth -- Possibly the greatest 3-D movie made entirely to show off the wonders of 3-D you'll see this year. Of course, it's no The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, but then, what is?

The Strangers -- When Dave Chappelle (dressed as Lil Jon) talked about giving himself "a stranger," I don't think he meant breaking into his own home and terrorizing himself for the better part of a night. But maybe he did. We don't know his life!

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull -- Love it or loathe it, this is an out-of-this-world DVD set. Above and beyond. To the moon, Alice. In other words, it may have been created by aliens.

The Incredible Hulk -- A pretty incredible collection of extras, including an alternate opening where you can see Captain America stuck in a block of ice. Be prepared to "freeze"-frame. Get it?

Sleeping Beauty: 50th Anniversary Edition -- It's the newest edition of the Disney classic, straight outta the vaults and fully restored with bonus songs and some sweet documentaries. Fun for a girl or a boy! (Boys, be prepared to fast-forward.)

Check out more DVD reviews in DVDs Unwrapped!

There has long been talk of producing a big-screen adaptation of Torso, Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko's graphic novel based on the serial murder case that plagued Eliot Ness's post-Untouchables career. Originally a limited series from Image Comics in the late '90s, the book is called Torso because that's all America's first serial killer left of his victims. (Although the first thing I thought of was that Simpsons episode where Todd Flanders proudly exclaims, "I'm a torso!" Is that wrong? Probably, yes.) Image co-founder Todd McFarlane talked to IGN about producing a film almost three years ago, and director David Fincher was attached shortly thereafter. Then last month, Matt Damon was pretty much confirmed for the lead, so it seemed like the project was picking up steam.

Two sequels that couldn't be any more different if they tried battled it out at the box office this weekend, and it turns out the cheesy dancers beat out the crazed, torture-inflicting madman. That's right, High School Musical 3: Senior Year out-muscled Saw V -- and, if you listened closely, you could almost hear the sound of Disney execs crying that they had released the first two HSM movies on TV. Just look at all those buckets of money they could have made if they'd only released in theaters. (Not that the HSM franchise hasn't made Disney more money than most of us can fathom anyway.)

How do you follow up a broad, slapsticky stoner action-comedy like Pineapple Express? Well, if you're director David Gordon Green, and your previous film was the intensely depressing small-town drama Snow Angels, you choose to adapt a somber, suspenseful comic-book tale of mutant freaks fleeing their murderous parents in the midwest. The comic book is Freaks of the Heartland, by 30 Days of Night writer Steve Niles and Conan and Matrix artist Greg Ruth, and you can think of it as a less-cheerful Goonies, although that's as bad a simile as anything, really.

I've heard of a studio greenlighting a movie's sequel after a great opening weekend at the box office, but I can't say as I've ever heard of a sequel getting a green light on merely the expectation of maybe having a great opening weekend at the box office. Despite the fact that the film doesn't open for another month, Summit Entertainment is already readying a sequel to Twilight, the film based on the first book in Stephenie Meyer's vampire novel series. The maybe-great opening weekend they're expecting? Summit has issued an estimated opening weekend take of a whopping $20 million. Yeah, that's it. So they don't expect to make their money back right away (the film's budget was $37 million) but they're firing away on sequel. I guess it helps when you have source material?