Among current independent auteurs, James Felix McKenney has built one of the most eclectic filmographies in the genre, drawing from a variety of inspirations. After starting out with the zombie opus CANNIBALLISTIC!, he moved into haunted-place territory with THE OFF SEASON, then homaged ’50s sci-fi cheapies with AUTOMATONS. His latest, SATAN HATES YOU (starting a one-week New York City run today at the reRun Gastropub Theater), is modeled on the Christian scare films of the ’60s and ’70s.

Horror history in the first decade of the 21st century has already been reflected on as a time of torture cinema as a reaction to the war on terror and all it wrought in the U.S. But in the last five years or so, a more interesting and successful (in terms of quality, expression of universal fears and possible reaction to a post-9/11 world) global screen trend has addressed the home invasion. America has most notably contributed THE STRANGERS (and even THE COLLECTOR, worth mentioning for its marriage of this theme with torture/traps), France hit hard with INSIDE and ILS (THEM), the UK offers the upcoming CHERRY TREE LANE from THE COTTAGE’s Paul Andrew Williams and, this year, Spain put forth the must-see KIDNAPPED.

Here at FANGORIA we get buckets of mail, a good deal of which consists of first features from every indie wannabe filmmaker and his talentless brother. Yeah, why lie? Nine out of 10 of these movies are hackwork junk, clear cases of starry-eyed dreamers with camcorders trying to blast out a nickel-and-dime greatest-hits homage to every considerably more costly blockbuster and/or cult fave they’ve thrilled to, none of them heeding their own strengths or limitations, all reaching for the unattainable silver (screen) moon.

Going into RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE (beginning its U.S. theatrical release this Friday, December 3 in New York from Oscilloscope Laboratories; see details below), you shouldn’t expect a typical killer-Santa movie. In fact, this Finnish export is not exactly a horror film, but more a spikily eccentric dark fantasy—one brought off with engaging imagination and impeccable craftsmanship.

Upon first glancing over the press notes for BLACK SWAN (beginning its platform release this Friday, December 3 from Fox Searchlight), I thought I saw a credit for “Battle Choreography.” On second glance, it turned out to be “Ballet Choreography”—but where this film is concerned, the first could be seen as appropriate.

IFC Films has gone horror-happy over the past year, scooping up any number of genre titles for limited theatrical, video-on-demand and DVD release. Many of their selections have been intriguing, quality foreign titles, like today’s NYC release HEARTLESS (see review here). On the other hand, VICTIM, also opening in Manhattan today and available on VOD, suggests that they’re buying some of these movies by the pound.

There’s a bit of an unpleasant portrait being painted of the UK by its own cinema right now. In more straightforward fare like EDEN LAKE, F and HARRY BROWN, youth has run amok, becoming its own movement of chaotic and deadly violence. But in the Scottish feature OUTCAST (see review here) and Philip Ridley’s captivating and mind-boggling HEARTLESS (opening today in New York and LA December 3 from IFC Films), the supernatural is added to a very confrontational urban environment, making the real world come across just a bit more monstrous than it already does, creating a beautiful and exciting little niche of films.