CABIN IN THE WOODS - Really enjoyed this odd genre deconstruction, which seemed less like a dry exercise in po-mo pastiche than a Burroughsian media nightmare spinning out into cod mythic territory at the end. The last 20 minutes or so are mental, exactly the kind of monster riot you always wanted to happen in a movie up to and including evisceration by unicorn. I'll take this over self reflexive wimps like 'Scream' any day, and I'm also quite pleased that a film this screwy can be regarded as mainstream enough to warrant a place in the Asda bargain bins of the future (I guess for the time being it's going for a ridiculous twelve quid).
TRICK R TREAT - Definitely a treat rather than the kind of trick we're all used to. It's episodic, but not in a clearly delineated way, so the four tales spill into each other and overlap almost in a kind of 'Altman does EC' kind of way. The atmosphere is pure carnival and surprisingly nasty in places - I've never known a flick this light hearted to take such a casual attitude to child murder! Beyond this it just does a great job of capturing the stylised essence of Halloween. A joyous romp for anyone who ever felt like sneaking a razor blade into a mini snickers bar.
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