This week brings a mix of new titles, old titles, repackaged titles, and television titles. Which title is right for you, only you can say, but hopefully I can help you down the treacherous path which leads to the rack of new releases at your local chain store or rental locale. This week offers up a nice list of titles to choose from, a list so nice that actually picking this week's top choice was difficult. The choice came down to two titles that could not be more different, yet they are both movies that are so good that it was almost like choosing between your children. Ultimately, I decided to go with the film that was going to need more publicity to help get the word out, not to take anything away from the runner up.

If you read the title you already know that the winner is called The Abandoned, but I guess you may also be interested in the runner up. So, before continuing, the runner up for Pick of the Week was Bridge to Terabithia. Yes, you read that right, the final competition came down to a horror film and a family film. The Disney produced film was one of the big surprises to come out of the cineplex this year, a lovingly made, emotionally driven family movie that is a must see.

I am sure that many of you are wondering just what The Abandoned is. The movie had a little taste of the big time earlier this year, but disappeared rather quickly. It began its big screen life as a weekender last October, part of After Dark Pictures 8 Films to Die For promotion. I have not seen any of those other films, but this one came out of left field and floored me by how good it was.

The Abandoned is a haunted house story at its heart, and it wastes no time getting down to telling its tale of a lifelong fate that is about to be set right. This is one creepy movie. The rundown house, where much of the action takes place, is a living, breathing entity, intent on playing its role in keeping our heroes there. It may be an empty structure, but it has not been alone all these years, as the grounds are being roamed by ghostly entities, one bearing a striking resemblance to Marie (one of the central characters), and you know what they say — when you see yourself, death is right around the corner. Will Marie be able to fend off what may be coming?

I went into The Abandoned with zero expectations. It arrived in theaters with little fanfare, very little advertising, and ended up delivering the goods in impressive fashion. It has its share of jumps, but doesn't lean too heavily on them; it is devoid of the pretty teenagers which always seem to litter these movies; and it creates an atmosphere of fear that slowly reveals its tale of fate. This is a movie that caught me off guard and impressed me much more than I thought it would.