This month’s Friday Fright Night comes from the creators of some of the genre’s most popular characters. Co-written by Joss Whedon (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the upcoming Avengers) and Drew Goddard (Cloverfield, Lost), the film is finally being released more than two years after first scheduled, delayed by financial difficulties at its original home, MGM.

The initial set-up seems almost the stuff of cliché: “Five friends go to a remote cabin in the woods. Bad things happen.” is the film’s official synopsis. Footage released so far shows these five attractive friends encountering Deliverance-style characters on their way to the cabin, before suddenly suggesting that the hillbilly appearance is a front for a high-tech organisation intent on hunting the gang down. However, given Whedon and Goddard’s history of cleverly wrongfooting viewers, there is no doubt much, much more to the film, and the tagline, “You think you know the story”, sounds more of a challenge to the viewer than a hint as to the plot. Fans of Whedon’s previous work will recognise many of the cast, which also includes Chris Hemsworth (Thor). (Notes by Kevin Coyne.)