Something about Into the Wild drove massive amounts of people to see it this weekend, propelling Sean Penn's drama into the #1 spot on the specialty box office charts. Playing at just four locations, Into the Wild earned an impressive estimate of $50,310 per screen, according to Leonard Klady of Movie City News.

Cinematical's Kim Voynar described it as "one of the most polarizing films playing at Telluride this year ... even as we feel anger at Chris for hurting his family, or frustration at his choices, or fear for what will happen to him, a part of us has to admire his courage in taking a leap that most of us would never be able to take." James Rocchi had strong feelings as well: "As the credits roll at the close of Into the Wild, you don't feel like you've celebrated a life spent on the road less traveled; you feel like you've just witnessed a slow-motion suicide."

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was the other major limited release; it performed quite respectably with a per-screen average of $29,460 at five locations. I thought the film was glacially paced, incredibly gorgeous visually, and richly detailed in period authenticity and character. James Rocchi wrote: "Anyone looking for beauty and transcendence and a meditation on the West starring a terrific ensemble will be more than rewarded." Jeffrey M. Anderson was even more impressed: "Certainly one of the year's best films, and the best Western to come across the range since Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven (1992) and Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man (1996)."

With such fierce, big name competition, other indie films opening this weekend fared less successfully. Larry Fessenden's environmentally-themed thriller The Last Winter played at two theaters for a $4,150 per-screen average, while Ray McKinnon's comedy Randy and the Mob brought in an estimated $3,020 at each of five locations. Ann Hu's drama Beauty Remains snagged just $1,310 per-screen at two screens.

In a spaceship, in an underwater vessel or in an Arctic or Antarctic station, some of the best science fiction takes place in an isolated setting. More precisely, such locations are the convention of the narrower genre of sci-fi horror, in which remote environments combined with tight, claustrophobic spaces are perfect for the unleashing of our worst fears. This is, of course, obvious to any viewer, who recognizes these are places difficult or impossible to escape or be rescued from. But more importantly these settings allow for psychological conflicts that parallel, heighten or even overshadow the genre's typical conflicts with aliens, sentient computers or supernatural beings.

Take Larry Fessenden's latest film, The Last Winter, which is set in an Arctic station and follows all the rules of the sci-fi horror genre, while almost completely leaving out the physical conflict. Yes, it features a supernatural threat, but it doesn't need one, because the film works so brilliantly as simply a psychological mood piece. In most of these kinds of films, the creature or villain is the pay-off for the audience that seeks some sort of spectacle, or at least some material baddie to make for a cinematically appropriate, externally battled climax. In The Last Winter however, the spectacle actually falls flat because it consists of disappointingly horrible special effects.

Listen up, horror fans -- some casting news has been announced for the sequel to Eli Roth's Cabin Fever, which will be directed by Ti West. According to Bloody-disgusting.com, Larry Fessenden, an actor which credits such as Trigger Man, Headspace and The Roost on his resume, will have a small role in the film. Further details are available about his part at Bloody-disgusting, but be prepared to find spoilers if you go there. In other casting news, actress Alexi Wasser has joined the film. Wasser is best known for films such as Art School Confidential and Factory Girl.

For those who still haven't seen the original film and have no idea what the fuss is all about, the first one dealt with a group of college graduates who are stuck in a remote cabin and have to deal with the effects of a flesh-eating virus. Eli Roth has no known involvement in the sequel, but did produce a 2004 documentary called Cabin Fever: Beneath the Skin, in which the cast and crew talked about the making of the film and how the special effects were created. Roth is hard at work on finishing up Hostel: Part II -- to read about all of his other upcoming plans, you can check out Erik's report from this weekend's NYComicCon.

If you're a horror fan who digs deep into Netflix's new release rack, then you've probably seen Ti West's The Roost by now. It's an admirably weird little throwback to the Saturday afternoon monster matinees that features killer bats and tongue-in-cheek goofiness. So if you dug that flick and wanted to know when Mr. West's next offering might hit the scene ... well here it is: Trigger Man.

Apparently based on actual events, Trigger Man seems to be about a group of hunters who travel deep into the forest, only to somehow become the prey! Scary! The official site offers a few interesting clues, plus the IMDb informs us that longtime indie guy Larry Fessenden will be making an appearance, so count me among those who'll be interested when Trigger Man hits DVD some time next year.

[Thanks to BD.com for the tip!]

Welcome to the fourth and final chapter of Scott's Toronto Genre Fest. (I swear I saw some "grown-up" movies while I was in Canada; All the King's Men is a snoozer, Catch a Fire is fine stuff, and Little Children is pretty excellent.) But my main goal was to catch all ten of the Midnight Madness selections, plus a few extra genre nuggets that I had my eyes on. (Unfortunately I did miss one of the MM flicks: Nacho Cerda's The Abandoned.) So to round out the reporting, I bring you: Master del Toro's latest masterpiece, a slow-moving but creepifying arctic chiller, and a Dutch piece of animation that deals with pornography and little girls. Yes, really.

Princess -- From Dutch director Anders Morgenthaler comes this (mostly) animated tale of lost innocence, brutal vengeance ... and a sentient stuffed animal creature. It's about a former priest who comes to collect his niece when the girl's porn-star mother is killed, and it quickly branches off into an action-comedy/social commentary that, let's face it, might not play real well in the States. Despite its prickly subject matter, the animation is quite excellent and there's a few canny twists along the way. Certainly not for all tastes, but I dug it well enough.