THE SAVAGE HUNT OF KING STACH
There’s a great deal of macabre gusto in this Soviet chiller about a band of ghostly hunters
THE KINGDOM
One of the decade’s premier cinematic achievements in the horror genre, a wild, crazy, profound and endlessly thought provoking work
ONIBABA
One of the all-time classics of Japanese horror, ONIBABA is a stunningly photographed, deeply stylish film
PULSE (2001)
No, this isn’t the lame Hollywood PULSE from 2006, but the 2001 Japanese original, directed by the skilled Kiyoshi Kurosawa
POLTERGEIST (1982)
The first big budget Hollywood production by THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE’S Tobe Hooper, although POLTERGEIST’S actual director has long been in question
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
This phenomenally successful no-budgeter proves two things: 1). That audiences are always up for a good scare, and 2). Marketing-wise there’s no substitute for old-fashioned hype
THE UNINVITED (2009)
The Hollywood remake of the Korean A TALE OF TWO SISTERS. THE UNINVITED’S makers tried to create something beyond most Hollywood horrors, but what they came up with, in contrast to the complexity of the original film, is a hokey gothic melodrama
THE GHOST OF YOTSUYA
From 1959, a stunningly executed, no-nonsense exercise in old-fashioned ghost story chills
LET’S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH
A unique viewing experience that breaks nearly every genre movie rule yet still succeeds as an unnerving excursion in pure horror
2014: Bedlam in Print
2014 was an above-average year for books in my view. Quite a few terrific titles turned up from both established and debuting authors, with a few, I’m certain, that will go on to become classics