WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

The success of Universal’s “Prince of Darkness” at the box office last weekend foreshadows the assault of horror movies usually associated with Halloween. But given the glut of films being released this fall, Halloween weekend could prove an especially critical period for many of the season’s more gruesome releases. Continuing talk about the sexual neuroses supposedly addressed in “Fatal Attraction” has helped the film immeasurably. “Fatal” is being commonly thought of by moviegoers as the acid test for current relationships, a factor not lost on Paramount marketing folks.

* The nation’s film critics positively strained their thesauruses to pan director Michael Cimino’s latest film. Rarely has there been such rancor heaped on a major release. But the decent box office “Sicilian” did over the weekend is testimony to a Hollywood proverb that audiences don’t read critics as much as they read interviews.

Figures courtesy of Exhibitor Relations Co.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

Weekend Screens/ Weeks Movie gross/ Average in (Studio) Total release (millions) 1. Fatal Attraction $8.0 1,350 6 (Paramount) $66.6 $6,005 2. Prince of Darkness $4.7 1,239 1 (Universal) $4.7 $3,759 3. Suspect $4.2 1,029 1 (Tri-Star) $4.2 $4,035 4. The Princess Bride $3.3 788 6 (20th Century Fox) $13.6 $4,143 5. Like Father, Like Son $3.1 1,277 4 (Tri-Star) $23.8 $2,451 * The Sicilian $1.7 370 1 (20th Century Fox) $1.7 $4,650