Entertainment

As cooler temperatures and falling leaves take over the balmy South, so does the spirit of Halloween. Decoration and costume shops are reanimating dead strip centers. Homes and offices are sporting cobwebs and ghosts — both fixtures normally frowned upon in most places, but openly encouraged as the holiday nears.

Don’t trust my opinion about Techland’s Dead Island, released just weeks ago on Sept. 9. Instead take the advice of a 9-year-old gaming guru who proclaims this video game just ain’t for kids.

Actually, Master M we’ll call him for reference purposes and not to disclose the identity of a minor, said, “Grownups should be the only ones playing Dead Island unless they let their kids see gore and dismemberment.”

A gripping drama that addresses the “what if” of an unidentified flu pandemic with no known vaccine, “Contagion” boasts an impressive cast in a variety of roles that give perspective to every facet of such an event. Written by Scott Z.

An average thriller elevated by casting choices, this is actually a remake of a 2007 Israeli movie “Ha-Hov, meaning “the debt.” Putting the pieces together differently might have made for a more interesting movie, but director John Madden tells a solid story with the same basic elements, although the younger counterparts have the better story than their older selves.