The House of the Devil is a wonderfully witty and creepy throwback horror movie. Writer-director-editor Ti West sets just the right tone, with the movie’s fashions, soundtrack, and freeze-frame-and-zoom-laden style generating an amusing frisson of recognition.

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The very existence of The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day is something of a cinematic miracle, and the fact that it received a theatrical release was yet more improbable. For those unacquainted with the history of this franchise, the making of The Boondock Saints was such a colossal disaster that it opened in only five theaters. In fact, the gargantuan ego of writer-director Troy Duffy, a supposed wunderkind who got a big deal from Harvey Weinstein, prompted Duffy’s former friends to make a lacerating documentary (Overnight) about how his attitude poisoned the whole production — not to mention any and all future career prospects. Or so it seemed at the time. But when The Boondock Saints gained a cult following on DVD — perhaps due to a morbid curiosity fueled by Overnight — a sequel was greenlit. And the second time out, Duffy’s war wounds seem to have granted him the wisdom to make the film he probably intended to make in the first place.

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Sandra Laing, the real-life figure at the center of Anthony Fabian’s social issue drama Skin, made international headlines with an unusual and achingly sad personal story, which Fabian uses as a testament to the emotional, psychological, and sociological fallout of apartheid. The child of white Afrikaner parents, Sandra (portrayed as an adult by Sophie Okonedo) was nevertheless born with brown skin, attributable to some unusual genetic quirk, and thus fell uneasily between the white and black communities of racially segregated South Africa. For Sandra, life became a tumultuous struggle over personal identity and a decades-long quest for belonging. And much of the conflict initially surfaced when Sandra’s parents (played here by Alice Krige and Sam Neill) attempted to buck the color bar by sending their daughter to an all-Afrikaner primary school –- to the horror of racist instructors and administrators.

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Ben Gazzara remains one of the most amiable actors in American movies (to say nothing of his formidable dramatic chops), and he spends the better part of Andrzej Krakowski’s seriocomedy Looking for Palladin proving it. Despite well-publicized health issues (including severe throat cancer) that have robbed the 79-year-old actor of over 40 pounds and severely ravaged his voice, he continues to command the screen with his presence as few of his contemporaries could. His Jack Palladin is a genial and witty ex-Hollywood A-list actor self-exiled to a Guatemalan backwater, and an individual in laid-back command of his own little corner of the world (vaguely recalling one of Gazzara’s prior characterizations, pimp Jack Flowers in Peter Bogdanovich’s Saint Jack).

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It’s been more than a decade since the King of Pop — who fell out of favor with the media and many fans due to scandal, controversy, and his eccentricities — toured, and when he announced in March 2009 that he was launching his final concert series, there was speculation that he would be too weak to perform. So while the idea of a frail, drugged, aging performer onscreen rehearsing seems daunting, even macabre, this concert film provides a look at Michael Jackson the performer, free from the tragedy surrounding his life and death. With This Is It, director Kenny Ortega (High School Musical 2 and 3) gives the audience a rare behind-the-scenes look at rehearsals for Jackson’s concert that would have kicked off this summer at London’s O2 arena. The moment you see Michael Jackson on-stage, you relax into the idea that you’re watching a performer who never lost his energy, drive, or talent. All of the ugliness fades away, and what you’re left with is a journey through the Michael Jackson music catalog, soaring past his days with the Jackson 5, cascading down through the hits that span several decades, and settling into a musical adventure.

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Topical horror doesn’t come around that often — so it’s a surprise when Saw VI targets some real-life, cut-from-the-headlines villainy and goes for the jugular of crooked insurance companies and corrupt loan officers. Even more surprising is how this series somehow found its footing with this entry after waffling in complicated plot-land for far too long. This isn’t to say that Pt. 6 is a fine example of the horror genre — it still utilizes the same polarizing aesthetics that clearly separate its fervent supporters and die-hard detractors (i.e., grimy torture-filled deaths cut with an in-your-face flashy style). Yet sometimes in this all too self-serious franchise, an aura of morbid fun shines through, sometimes unintentionally (these films are not art), and sometimes planned to a perfect T. Thankfully with this one, the production team struck a good balance across the board, delivering a ridiculous concoction that manages to not be as torturous as its predecessors while providing a refreshing time at the gore store.

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A stylish and darkly playful franchise starter that successfully balances supernatural thrills with tongue-in-cheek humor, Cirque Du
Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant manages to avoid coming off as just another Harry Potter clone thanks to a smartly written and fast-moving screenplay, some inspired set pieces, and colorful characters portrayed by a talented cast. It’s an interesting feat for a director known primarily for comedy dramas rooted firmly in reality, and while only time will tell whether the film’s box office will warrant the sequel that’s almost certainly revving its engine in anticipation of the green light, this one is worth a look for fantasy fans with a taste for the unusual.

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Hilary Swank’s performance as the extremely independent, extremely adorable aviatrix Amelia Earhart is pretty much as good as it gets. Straddling the line between full-body character acting and old-school stylization, Swank has a tough job, but she makes her portrayal look easy — even with a script that’s not necessarily the best.

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