BY SANCTION OF THE VICTIM
A docu-novel based on the notorious 1965 Sylvia Likens murder, and an object lesson, I believe, in how not to write such a book.
SYBIL
This is the famous, multi-Emmy award winning 1976 TV production starring Sally Field as Sybil, a real woman possessed by 16 different personalities
WOLF CREEK
Hard, mean, no-nonsense horror from Down Under, proving that Aussie-sploitation is alive and well. It’s too bad, though, about that crummy ending!
MURDER ONE
A solid fact-based account of mass murder, thoughtful and naturalistic enough to satisfy true crime buffs while still bloody enough to sate most gore hounds
MOSQUITO
The full title of this 1976 Swiss curio is MOSQUITO DER SCHAENDER (MOSQUITO THE RAPIST), meaning it is NOT to be confused 1995’s big bug bummer MOSQUITO
MEN BEHIND THE SUN
This Hong Kong shocker has attained near-legendary status among extreme movie buffs, and is indeed a shocking, traumatizing film
MAN ON A SWING
A profoundly creepy, arrestingly eccentric but ultimately unsatisfying slice of fact-based horror from the seventies
MACABRE
This gruesome and depraved yet subtle, atmospheric Italian horror fest was the directorial debut of Lamberto Bava, son of the legendary “Father of Italian horror” Mario Bava
SUMMER OF SAM
From Spike Lee, a wildly overbaked yet vital account of the seventies-era “Son of Sam” killings. The film has much to say about the effects of fear and paranoia, none of it comforting
STUCK
Based on a real-life incident in which a man was hit by a woman with her car and ended up stuck in the windshield for the next two days, STUCK is darkly funny, gory and horrific