Several distributors are launching horror titles in major territories this weekend to coincide with Halloween.

The UK and Ireland will see the Director's Cut reissue of Ridley Scott's Alien go head to head with New Line's remake of Tobe Hooper's 1974 cult favourite The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

The UK is the first major international territory to receive the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is released by Entertainment Film Distributors at 327 sites across the country.

Fox's Alien, Director's Cut went out in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Spain last weekend, grossing $375,178 (Euros 317,401) from 303 screens across the four territories. The horror classic will open on 134 sites around the UK.

It also opens in Norway this weekend, the same weekend it is released in North America. Alien grossed $104m from international territories on its original run.

New Line will also unleash horror title Freddy Vs Jason in Brazil on Oct 31 on 160 and France on Oct 29 at 369 screens. By way of comparison, horror title Thirteen Ghosts grossed $323,967 at the end of its first week in Brazil in March 2002, ranking fifth.

Freddy Vs Jason has grossed $18m from international markets to date, combining with the domestic gross for a worldwide of over $100m.

Fox International opens horror story The Sin Eater in two major territories with Mexico on Oct 31 on 150 and in Australia a day earlier on 20.

However Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (CTFDI) is likely to be the distributor to watch as it releases several different genre titles in major markets.

Serial killer thriller Identity goes out in Korea on Oct 31 on 100, with several smaller bows planned for the Philippines and Singapore. The film's cumulative score is $31.2m.

Family comedy Daddy Day Care will be looking to boost its $52.2m running total when it opens in Italy on Oct 31 on 230 prints and India on the same day on 20.

Both distributor and star Eddie Murphy will be hoping for better returns than those for Dr Dolittle 2, which grossed $471,138 on 129 screens in its first 10 days after opening in August 2001.

Columbia's action-comedy The Medallion, still in very early stages of release, opens in Australia and Mexico on Oct 30 on 78 and 50 screens respectively.

Meanwhile CTFDI executives said the action sequel Bad Boys II has grossed $102.7m at the international box office, passing the milestone on Oct 23 when it finished the three-day weekend on $100.5m. It has no major openings this weekend.

Elsewhere Universal's black comedy Intolerable Cruelty will be seeking to maintain strong early momentum and build on its $22.3m cumulative score when it opens in Korea on Oct 31 on 80 prints. It also opens in South Africa on Oct 31 on 50.

Fox International's adventure The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen is expected to pass $100m before the weekend and is currently on $98.8m with no further openings scheduled.

Legal thriller Runaway Jury goes out in Australia on Oct 30 on 194 prints and New Zealand the same day on 35.

Comedy drama Bend It Like Beckham may well find the back of the net when it opens in football-mad Brazil on Oct 31 on 30. The distributor has rights mostly for Latin America.

Fox's romantic comedy Just Married goes out in Japan on Nov 1 on 10 prints and has grossed $45m at the international box office to date.

Buena Vista International (BVI) releases action sequel Once Upon A Time In Mexico in Brazil on Oct 31. The film has a $20m international running total.