Rain Man of wet kitsch. Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of four. "Rain Man" debuted on December 16, 1988, and was the second highest-grossing film at the weekend box office (behind "Twins"), with $7 million. It reached the first spot on the December 30 – January 2 weekend, finishing 1988 with $42 million. The film would end up as the highest-grossing U.S. film of 1988 by earning over $172 million. The film grossed over $354 million worldwide. "Rain Man" won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Dustin Hoffman), Best Director and
The Man Who Went Too Far (The reason given as to why locals, Frank excepted, stay away from the woods at night.) These elements - of Pan as Satanic and neopaganism as a dangerous path - place "The Man Who Went Too Far" in a horror tradition with "The Great God Pan" (1890), a novella by Arthur Machen. Frank's obsession with hearing the music of Pan (who in mythology is depicted as playing a flute) and finally seeing him, which he believes will be a transcendent moment, is similar to the work of the character Dr. Raymond in Machen's novella. Raymond conducts scientific experiments with the