Lantern to open a ‘spooky’ treat: ‘The Endless’

Just as it ends its run at AMC River Park Square, the movie "Lean on Pete" shifts on Friday to the Magic Lantern. And this is a good thing for fans of independent film.

Another thing for those fans to celebrate? The fact that the Lantern is opening the film "The Endless."

With a 97 percent "fresh" rating on the critics' site Rotten Tomatoes, "The Endless" is benefitting from a fair amount of pre-release hype. Following are a few of the reviews:

Matthew Lickona, San Diego Reader: "The eventual reveal fits with the film's overall intelligence and interest in people and existence over spectacle and action. (Though there's some of that as well.) 'The Endless' is a smart, sweetly creepy good time."

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: "Spooky, funny, touching and very, very well made."

Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times: "Great use of an eerie Southern California landscape and some fine, naturalistic acting emphasizes how the ordinary can sometimes seem threatening - and vice-versa."

Sounds great. At least from a critics' point of view.