SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE

This isn’t a revenge movie per se, but a dark, brutal exploration of fate and consequence from one of the world’s most interesting filmmakers.  That filmmaker is Korea’s Chanwook Park, who’s created a deeply odd, and deeply personal, cinematic universe unique unto itself

SWIMMING POOL

One of the signature films of France’s Francois Ozon, who’s turned in a sexy and absorbing psychological chiller

SUTURE

An interesting but overly affected psycho thriller from the nineties.  SUTURE has a definite charm, though it’s all-but buried under a veritable avalanche of arty pretension

SURVEILLANCE

A seriously twisted film, the second by Jennifer Lynch, who’s turned in a fine, stylish work that may finally dissipate the stench of her first, the vomitous BOXING HELENA

THE SUBSTITUTE (1993)

Some impressive names are associated with this 1993 TV movie, including Amanda Donohoe and Mark Wahlberg. THE SUBSTITUTE, however, is not a high point in either resume!

STRANGLER VERSUS STRANGLER

There’s no other movie quite like this loony comedy-chiller from Serbia, which never takes an expected turn and has a cheesy yet curiously elegant style that’s very much its own

STRAIGHTHEADS

A strong English-centric revenge thriller with a terrific performance by Gillian Anderson

STOKER

This, the first-ever English language film by South Korea’s Chanwook Park (of SYMPATHY FOR MR. VENGEANCE and OLDBOY fame), is an outrageously stylish and fascinating work

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

SPECIAL EFFECTS

This 1984 cheapie appears to be writer-director Larry Cohen’s answer to PEEPING TOM, a unique and intelligent account of voyeurism and exploitation in the movie business that, as usual with Cohen, is all-but done in by its low budget and uninspired direction