WARNING SHADOWS
There are no textual intertitles in this 1923 silent classic from Germany, which relates its psychologically grounded narrative entirely through shadowy and expressionistic visuals
WARLOCK
Far dumber than average eighties horror. It has some fun elements but has dated extremely poorly, and anyway isn’t at all scary
THE WARD
This may seem like just another trashy potboiler of the type you see dozens of each year, and in many respects that’s just what it is
THE HAUNTING (1963)
A G-rated horror movie? Yes, there is indeed such a thing, and it can actually work, as this 1963 classic from the late Robert Wise proves
HARD
Yes, I, like you, am sick of low budget serial killer movies, but this controversial film stands out from the crowd in a number of ways, most notably its heavily gay subtext
HABITAT
A key film of writer-director Rene Daalder. A quasi-science fictionish account of monstrous vegetation and biological mutation, the film contains many interesting concepts but is crippled by (among other things) a ridiculously low budget
FUNNY GAMES
An American remake of the 1997 Austrian film of the same name, FUNNY GAMES is harsh, disquieting, gripping, self-indulgent and ultimately pointless
WAKE IN FRIGHT
This Australian film, also known as OUTBACK, is at once a uniquely insightful, intelligent character study and probably the darkest, grittiest—and, I’m told, most realistic—depiction of rural Australia ever committed to celluloid
MYSTICS IN BALI
Those wanting craziness will be amply rewarded by this Indonesian import centered on Eastern mysticism, in particular the mythology-based figure of a malevolent flying head with dangling entrails. Yes, it’s that kind of movie!
THE MYSTERY OF RAMPO
A strange and often puzzling fantasy about the late Edogawa Rampo (1894-1965), Japan’s foremost horror/mystery scribe