Director Michael Dougherty brings his time-shifting horror anthology Trick 'r Treat (2009) back to the New Beverly for two nights on October 29 and 30. The movie is a clever confluence of tales all spinning and interweaving on a fateful Halloween night in a glowing-orange neighborhood where the unexpected is always right around the corner, or just beneath a deceptively simple scary costume. The gasps come mixed with laughs courtesy of fine actors like Dylan Baker, Brian Cox, Anna Paquin and Leslie Bibb, and the crackling pleasure with which Dougherty unfolds his horrific yarns makes for a movie that is a shivery hoot to get lost in. Dougherty will answer questions and host a costume contest during Friday night's screening.

Strange things keep happening to the members of the family who have adopted little Esther, and she has some strange ways of going about making her new life just the way she wants it. Dismissed as sadistic trash by the majority of critics, Orphan (2009) is actually one of the best pure horror films of the past 10 years. Directed with maximum efficiency and finesse by Jaume Collett-Serra, the movie stakes its claim to a long tradition of stories about fearsome, murderous movie children. As Esther, Isabelle Fuhrmann is indeed the true and rightful heir to nasty little Patty McCormack's Rhoda Penmark. If Ms. McCormack was The Bad Seed, there is, as the movie progresses, increasingly little doubt that Esther is the worst. Screenwriter David Johnson will participate in a Q&A after the screening on Wednesday, Oct. 20. Co-presented by Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule.