THE STEPFATHER (1987)
An intelligent, disturbing and altogether impressive eighties thriller, one of those rare films that’s well worth going out of your way to see
SPIKE OF LOVE
A cult movie in search of a cult, this Canadian made outrage plays like MARAT/SADE reconfigured as a nineties black comedy, being an unrestrained blast of insanity with nearly every imaginable perversion
THE SILENT HOUSE (2010)
This 2010 Latin American no-budgeter was shot entirely in real time and a single continuous take. Interesting approach, but the film just isn’t very good
THE SIGNAL
Hardly the “groundbreaking indie masterpiece” it’s been made out to be, THE SIGNAL (2007) is a semi-experimental anthology film that’s scary, funny and suspenseful—but still not all it could be
SHALLOW GRAVE
The timeworn concept of normal folks finding a suitcase full of money is given a wicked dose of mid-nineties cynicism in this memorably twisted British import, the directorial debut of Danny Boyle
SECRETS OF A SOUL
From the silent era, a striking German-made depiction of psychoanalysis, notable for its unforgettably surreal dream/hallucination scenes
THE KILLING OF SATAN
From the Philippines comes THE KILLING OF SATAN, a truly insane horror/action/fantasy hybrid
ARREBATO
The absolute last word on visual addiction, ARREBATO is a fascinating Spanish cult film
APARTMENT ZERO
I wasn’t terribly impressed with this Buenos Aires-set psychological thriller when it first played back in 1990, and it hasn’t improved a whole lot in the succeeding years
ANTICHRIST
Head bashing, perverted sex, stabbing, strangulation, testicle smashing, entrail eating, ankle skewering and vaginal mutilation are among the delicacies of this lacerating film, one of the most provocative and unrelenting cinematic offerings of recent years