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
SMOOTH TALK
A seminal ’80s indie that still holds up as a provocative and disturbing psychological horror story
THE SKIN I LIVE IN
A rare attempt at genre filmmaking by Spain’s Pedro Almodovar, who provides a visually ravishing exercise in Cronenbergian horror
SIX DAYS, SIX NIGHTS
It’s time for a trip to the art house. SIX DAYS SIX NIGHTS, imported from France, is an art film with lots of heavy talk about the nature of love. But it’s also a thriller of sorts, one with enough outright macabre touches to categorize it as psychological horror