Speaking of staking out in the basement, SIGNS is a complete and total swizz, not remotely scary. No proper FX, even. (The alien menace is represented by dorky men-in-tights.).. There are sickly-sweet vulnerable asthmatic kids in peril, too, AND an uplifting ending. Barf.
I must now prostrate myself and confess that I also rented the special edition version of LOTR, which I liked even more than the original. It didn't seem over-long at all, and I enjoyed every second. I want to be a gurning, dribbling orc extra. That might be even more fun than being in a zombie film. Seriously, though, I wish some fairy godmother would manifest and transform me into an elf. They so purty...