THE DANMAN CAN

I'm very much in the minority, but I don't get the love for Michael Dougherty 's Trick 'r Treat (2007). As a film, it's fine. As a horror anthology, it's okay. It's well made but unremarkable. There's no meat to the (cardboard cutout) characters or the story and when the film does attempt to subvert expectations it feels too pleased with itself in the process. I've also never been enamored with the Sam character the way that people seem to be.  The movie features the type of mid-to-late 2000s cinematography that was very popular at the time and does nothing for me. The picture plays like a decent horror TV show episode at best. Any time it references better films ( Halloween  (1978) ( review ),  The Howling   (1981) ( review ),   The Thing  (1982) ( review )) I just wish I was watching those instead. I liked it less on a rewatch and I don't feel the need to watch it again (I felt the same way about the director's 2015  Krampus ).

A mythical, magical, surreal delight, Masahiro Shinoda 's Demon Pond (1979) is a romantic Kabuki folk fantasy filled with charming performances, bewitching imagery, beautifully handmade special effects, and a mysterious and oneiric  Moog score by Isao Tomita .

Todd Solondz 's sad sack opus,  Happiness (1998), is just as subversive, poignant, and laugh out loud hilarious as it was 25+ years ago. Filled with amazingly earnest performances, darkly cutting dialogue, and superbly indelible moments, no one humanizes fucked up characters and empathizes with losers the way Solondz does.    Todd Solondz Feature Films Ranked

"What proof can you bring that good is superior to evil?" Mark Robson Feature Films Ranked Val Lewton RKO Feature Films Ranked

"There's no beauty here, only death and decay." Jacques Tourneur Feature Films Ranked Val Lewton RKO Feature Films Ranked