Just to comment on unhappy endings, I really don't mind them as long as they fit into the context of the film.
For instance the ending of the
Dawn of the Dead remake, it satisfied me because the situation in which the survivors found themselves in was a hopeless one, no matter what they did. The world had gone mad around them and their brave struggles were akin to a spider being flushed down a toilet, it struggles valiantly, but is ultimatly doomed.
In the case of
Jeepers Creepers, it took me some time to warm up to the ending because I liked Derry and Trish, but ultimatly came to like the ending a great deal
I love it when horror films make me feel that way because it's, well...horrible.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre didn't really have a happy ending in my mind even though the girl gets away. That poor girl will be fucked up for life after what she went through, not exactly a cheery thought. The Family may have failed to slaughter her, but they succeeded in slaughtering her mind and probably her sanity.
I guess my point with that example is that even though on the surface, the film does "technically" have a happy ending, but if you consider the long term effects the terror has on the charactor, you realize it isn't a happy ending at all.
Same thing with
Halloween, even though Laurie survives her run-in with Michael, she'll never be the same ever again, as shown in
Halloween H2O where she is now a paranoid, traumatized drunk.
BTW, the original ending for
Army of Darkness is still one of the funniest damn things i've ever seen! Poor Ash miscounted the drops...damn shame!
