End credit excellence

In response to The Best Part of Lethal Weapon 2:

A lot of those computer-generated kiddie films you mentioned have taken to having a bit of fun during the end credits, which serve as a sort of epilogue to the main film.  “Rise of the Guardians” had some pretty funny aftermath hijinks during the credits, for example.  If I remember correctly, Pixar actually created “out-takes” in the Cannonball Run style for “Monsters, Inc.” and maybe some other films, which is a charming twist on the tradition.  And you really can’t say you’ve seen any of the classic Jackie Chan Hong Kong films until you’ve watched the out-takes.

Call me crazy, but I think one of the most subtly effective end-credit sequences was at the end of the much-reviled Shyamalan film “The Village.”  The credits give you the idea that the true horror story of that isolated village has only just begun.

An end-credits sequence that always stuck with me was from the otherwise forgettable “Darkness Falls,” which is about a homicidal spirit that haunts a small town for generations.  The movie is fairly short, but the end credits roll on forever, packed with photos of the monster’s victims throughout the decades.  I guess they wanted to shore up the idea of the creature having a long history as a terrifying presence, but they really overdid it.

End credit “stingers” are an art form these days, thanks to the comic-book movies.  I find the practice rather annoying myself, although some of the stingers themselves are fun.  What comics nerd didn’t enjoy explaining who Thanos was to their pack of confused friends after the “Avengers” credits rolled?  (And then we got another stinger after that!)