There's not much to this evil plot

None of the segments are really interested in jump/scare/slasher horror, but rather the slow, creeping terror of feeling something is wrong and something worse is coming, making the film a most frightful Halloween aperitif.

-- Mark Olsen

"Fear(s) of the Dark." MPAA rating: Unrated. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes. In French with English subtitles. Exclusively at the Nuart, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, (310) 281-8223.

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'Just Buried' puts 'fun' in funeral

The shrewdly titled Canadian comedy "Just Buried" has more mainstream appeal than its single-screen, midnight-only booking might suggest. Cleverly written and competently directed by Chaz Thorne, this distant cousin to TV's "Six Feet Under" takes its viable, high-concept premise in some twisty directions, offering a host of darkly amusing moments along the way.

Jay Baruchel stars as a rudderless, nosebleed-prone geek named Oliver who inherits a funeral home from his estranged father only to discover that it's nearly bankrupt. Abetted by the mortuary's pretty embalmer Roberta (Rose Byrne), the reluctant Oliver accidentally, then not-so-accidentally, ends up knocking off a string of troublesome townsfolk, drumming up much-needed new business as the bodies mount.

The fact that Roberta is also the county coroner as well as the daughter of the local police chief (this is a very small town) is a convenient bonus that protects the increasingly game and sexually busy Oliver -- until it doesn't.

Along with Baruchel's enjoyably unnerved performance, the movie features a host of fun supporting turns, especially from "Dances With Wolves' " Graham Greene as the funeral parlor's droll caretaker.

-- Gary Goldstein

"Just Buried." MPAA rating: Unrated. Running time: 1 hour, 34 minutes. Exclusively at Laemmle's Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 848-3500.

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Sideshow isn't worth the money

Although the lyrics to Smokey Robinson's "The Tears of a Clown" might course through your brain if you're unfortunate enough to stumble into the tediously oddball "Little Big Top," by the film's end you'll likely segue into Peggy Lee's "Is That All There Is?" That's because writer-director Ward Roberts, who never finds a satisfying way to put us in the head -- or the heart -- of cranky, alcoholic ex-circus clown Seymour Smiles (cult film favorite Sid Haig), crashes through this brief movie's third act and fades out with almost punishing abruptness.