THE DEAD NEXT DOOR
This no-budget eighties zombie epic isn’t much from a technical standpoint but has a real low-rent charm, and enough creative bloodletting to fill a dozen mainstream gorefests
CRASH! (1977)
Not to be confused with the similarly titled David Cronenberg or Paul Haggis films, this is an early effort by the irrepressible Charles Band, who attempted to mix occult horror and car chases (a bit like THE CAR crossed with THE EXORCIST)
COMBAT SHOCK
COMBAT SHOCK isn’t mentioned in many film books, yet it’s one of the seminal independent films of the 1980s
CLEOPATRA’S SECOND HUSBAND
In my view this is the film SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE should have been, an irresistibly demented indie about seduction and obsession among a quartet of thirtysomethings
YOU’RE NOT DEAD UNTIL YOU’RE FORGOTTEN
For horror/exploitation aficionados this is one of the standout publications of 2014
CHAIN SAW CONFIDENTIAL
This lively account of the making of THE CHAINSAW MASSACRE is certainly worth reading, but for TCM fans there probably won’t be a lot of information you haven’t already heard
NO TELLING
This ecologically-minded horror fest is a unique concoction is every sense
NO MERCY, NO FUTURE
From Germany, a bleak and unforgiving portrayal of madness, notable for its uncompromising realism and a stunning lead performance by Elisabeth Stepanek
NADJA
The “masterpiece” of American indie film darling Michael Almereyda, a highly evocative and idiosyncratic (read: pretentious) black and white reverie set in mid-1990s NYC
THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL
The satanic panic of the 1980s is given a memorable airing in this, an exercise in old school minimalism by the talented Ti West