Subgenre Sampler

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Sisu (2023): Dir. Jalmari Helander
Feat. Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan…; A stylized, tongue–in–cheek actioner set in a Northern Finnish wasteland where a lone prospector has his gold stolen by a group of…
Scream (2022): Dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Feat. Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, Jenna Ortega…; The fifth installment in the SCREAM series of slasher films, acting as a direct sequel to 2011's SCREAM 4, and the first to be made without the late…
Coming Home in the Dark (2021): Dir. James Ashcroft
Feat. Miriama McDowell, Erik Thomson, Daniel Gillies…; Not for the faint of heart, this Kiwi thriller is confrontingly grim yet takes the psycho–killer genre into thematic territory it rarely…
Halloween (2018): Dir. David Gordon Green
Feat. Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak…; Jamie Lee Curtis makes a triumphant return to the Halloween franchise as Laurie Strode, now a badass grandma who has been waiting her whole life to…
Strangers, The: Prey at Night (2018): Dir. Johannes Roberts
Feat. Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison, Martin Henderson; An ironic retro–soundtrack typifies this frivolous sequel to THE STRANGERS (2008) in which a family of innocents are terrorised by a trio of…
Pet (2016): Dir. Carles Torrens
Feat. Dominic Monaghan; Dominic Monaghan plays a man whose obsession with an old crush leads him to hold her captive underneath the animal shelter where he works. A lurid…
Split (2016): Dir. M. Night Shyamalan
Feat. James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley…; Twist–meister M. Night Shyamalan returns (to form) with this innovative thriller starring James McAvoy as a man with 23 different personalities…
Ratter (2015): Dir. Branden Kramer
Feat. Ashley Benson, Matt McGorry, Rebecca Naomi Jones; Slow–burn found–footage cyber–thriller with Ashley Benson in the role of graduate student being watched by a stalker who hacks into…
Guest, The (2014): Dir. Adam Wingard
Feat. Dan Stevens, Sheila Kelley, Maika Monroe; The director of YOU'RE NEXT returns with another entertainingly lurid thriller about a returning soldier ingratiating himself to a family whose son…
Bates Motel (TV Series) (2013): Feat. Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot…; A creepy, character–rich exploration of Norman Bates' formative years and the relationship with his overbearing mother, played deliciously by…
Blitz (2011): Dir. Elliott Lester
Feat. Jason Statham, Paddy Considine, Aidan Gillen…; Subtlety–free actioner with Statham as a brutish cop given free reign to bring in a serial cop–killer. Almost oppressively violent with a…
Scream 4 (2011): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette…; Ghostface is back in this series 'reboot', with Campbell returning to the unfortunate town of Woodsboro and bringing with her more…
Hatchet 2 (2010): Dir. Adam Green
Feat. Danielle Harris, Kane Hodder, Tony Todd; More gory homaging from Adam Green in this even nastier sequel that has our nominal heroine returning to the swamp with a crack team of killers to…
Killer Inside Me, The (2010): Dir. Michael Winterbottom
Feat. Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba…; Casey Affleck disturbs as a psychotic small town sheriff struggling to cover his bloody tracks in this grim, stylish neo–noir. Adroitly…
Cell 211 (Celda 211) (2009): Dir. Daniel Monzon
Feat. Alberto Ammann, Luis Tosar, Vincente Romero…; A substantial hit in its native Spain, this brutal thriller doubles as an intelligent critique of the Spanish penal system, with a young prison guard…
I'm Not Harry Jenson (2009): Dir. James Napier Robertson
Feat. Gareth Reeves, Ian Mune, Marshall Napier…; Tensely conceived, enterprising Kiwi thriller finds a true crime novelist so deeply invested in the violent subject of his latest book, that he…
Last House On The Left (2009): Dir. Dennis Iliadis
Feat. Sara Paxton, Monica Potter, Garret Dillahunt…; Predictable remake to the 70s original sees a group of killers unknowingly take refuge with the vengeful parents of one of their victims.
My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? (2009): Dir. Werner Herzog
Feat. Michael Shannon, Willem Dafoe, Chloe Sevigny…; Dir. Werner Herzog and David Lynch as producer team up for this bizarre tale of an actor driven to murder his mother in sunny, suburban San Diego…
Run Bitch Run! (2009): Dir. Joseph Guzman
Feat. Christina DeRosa, Cheryl Lyone, Peter Tahoe; Cheap and nasty pastiche of old school grindhouse flicks that sees two Catholic schoolgirls seek brutal revenge on their attacker.
Within the Whirlwind (2009): Dir. Marleen Gorris
Feat. Emily Watson, Ulrich Tukur, Ian Hart…; The memoirs of Eugenia Ginzburg, a Russian academic sentenced to ten years labor in a Siberian Gulag, are brought to life in this harrowing account…
How to Be a Serial Killer (2008): Dir. Luke Ricci
Feat. Dameon Clarke, Matther Gray Gubler, George Wyner…; Droll satire of the motivational speaker circuit with serial killer Clarke leading his proteges through a ten step program on their way to becoming…
Lakeview Terrace (2008): Dir. Neil LaBute
Feat. Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington; Creepy suburban thriller focused on obsessive cop Abel Turner (Jackson) who will stop at nothing to rid his 'perfect' neighbourhood of an interracial…
Mum and Dad (2008): Dir. Steven Sheil
Feat. Perry Benson, Dido Miles, Olga Fedori…; Acidic, low–budget Brit horror centered around a Polish immigrant airport worker who gets trapped in the nightmarish house of a sadistic family…
Prom Night (2008): Dir. Nelson McCormick
Feat. Idris Elba, Jessica Stroup, Johnathon Schaech; Lame duck remake of the 80's teen horror, with a picture perfect cast being chased around by a deranged killer on their…
Shuttle (2008): Dir. Edward Anderson
Feat. Tony Curran, Peyton List, Cameron Goodman…; An airport shuttle ride turn into a nightmare for its nubile passengers in this tightly contained indie adbuction thriller from first–time…
Chapter 27 (2007): Dir. J.P. Schaefer
Feat. Jared Leto, Lindsay Lohan; An uneven historical psycho–drama based on events leading up to the infamous shooting of John Lennon by a deranged loner. While laudable…
Girl Next Door, The (2007): Dir. Gregory Wilson
Feat. Blythe Auffarth, Daniel Manche, Blanche Baker…; Sickly torture porn number details the misfortunes of two adolescent girls sent to live with their psychotic aunt after their parents pass…
Hannibal Rising (2007): Dir. Peter Webber
Feat. Gaspard Ulliel, Rhys Ifans, Gong Li…; SILENCE OF THE LAMBS creator Thomas Harris pens this original back–story to Hannibal Lecter’s murderous reign, in which we’re privy to the…
Hills Have Eyes 2, The (2007): Dir. Martin Weisz
Feat. Michael McMillian, Jessica Stroup; Predictably grisly, largely pointless sequel to Alexandre Aja’s remake of Wes Craven’s cult survivalist film, which pits a group of National…
I Know Who Killed Me (2007): Dir. Chris Siverston
Feat. Lindsay Lohan, Julia Ormond, Neal McDonough; Trash fans rejoice. This Lindsay Lohan career nadir won more Razzie awards than both SHOWGIRLS and BATTLEFIELD EARTH. Lohan plays both a good…
Sugarhouse (2007): Dir. Gary Love
Feat. Andy Serkis, Steven Mackintosh, Ashley Walters; Ordinary Brit crime thriller focused on a middle–class man trying to buy a gun in the back streets of East London, and the deadly 'deal' he…
Vacancy (2007): Dir. Nimrod Antal
Feat. Kate Beckinsale, Luke Wilson, Frank Whaley…; A middle–of–nowhere breakdown leaves Beckinsale and Wilson stranded in a hotel room full of hidden cameras – and as stars in a sicko…
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006): Dir. Jonathan Levine
Feat. Amber Heard, Anson Mount, Whitney Able; Above–average slasher flick following a group of Texan teens who invite the unobtainable 'hot girl' at their school to a remote weekend…
Hatchet (2006): Dir. Adam Green
Feat. Joel David Moore; Definitely not for the squeamish, this gloriously gruesome horror involves imbecilic young tourists getting stalked, lopped and hacked up by a…
Cry Wolf (2005): Dir. Jeff Wadlow
Feat. Jon Bon Jovi; Inventive, if light on truly scary moments, this slasher suspenser is set in a posh American prep school, where bored teenagers concoct a fictional…
Hills Have Eyes, The (2005): Dir. Alexandre Aja
Feat. Ted Levine, Kathleen Quinlan, Aaron Stanford…; Abject and rather kitschy remake of Wes Craven's 1977 B–grade classic which pumps buckets of blood and gore onto the tale of an…
House of Wax (2005): Dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
Feat. Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Paris Hilton; A remake only in name of Vincent Price's 1953 classic, this brutal excursion has a group of young victims have a car breakdown in a 'forgotten' and…
Little Fish (2005): Dir. Rowan Woods
Feat. Cate Blanchett, Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving…; Another bleakly intense and beautiful drama from the dir. of THE BOYS, here depicting the efforts of a heroin addict (Blanchett) to put her life back…
Lost, The (2005): Dir. Chris Siverston
Feat. Alex Frost, Marc Senter; Mass murder erupts in small–town America, courtesy of a dead–beat motel manager whose penchant for black clothing, cowboy boots, and…
Ab-Normal Beauty (Sei mong se jun) (2004): Dir. Oxide Pang
Feat. Race Wong, Rosanne Wong; Dir. Oxide Pang's solo followup to THE EYE is also a voyeuristically themed nerve–shredder, set around a young and rich photography student…
Birth (2004): Dir. Jonathan Glazer
Feat. Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, Danny Huston…; An absorbing psychological drama about a young widow (Kidman) whose New York life is disrupted when a 10 year–old boy claims to be the…
Enduring Love (2004): Dir. Roger Michell
Feat. Samantha Morton, Daniel Craig, Rhys Ifans; A studied and corrosive tale of fate, connection and love, set around victims and rescuers involved in a hot–air–balloon crash and its…
High Tension (Haute tension, Switchblade Romance) (2003): Dir. Alexandre Aja
Feat. Cecile De France, Maïwenn; A grisly yet indeed tense French horror movie directed with stunning virtuosity, about two women whose rural weekend getaway turns horrific when they…
Fear Dot Com (Fear.com) (2002): Dir. William Malone
Feat. Stephen Dorff, Stephen Rea, Natascha McElhone; Incoherent horror flick that goes on–line with the plot of Japanese horror film RING, this will be most compared to the American remake of that…
Ichi The Killer - Anime Version (2002): Dir. Shinji Ishidaira; An animated prequel to the ultra–violent Japanese thriller of the same title, this flashes back to explain how Ichi gained his psychopathic…
May (2002): Dir. Lucky McKee
Feat. Angela Bettis, Jeremy Sisto, James Duval…; A twisted, slow–burn black comedy about a disturbed young veterinary student whose only real 'friend' is her doll. When her search for a…
One Hour Photo (2002): Dir. Mark Romanek
Feat. Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen, Michael Vartan…; In a nifty piece of gimmick casting, Robin Williams shows his darker side as a lonely, middle–aged photolab assistant who develops an unhealthy…
Willard (2002): Dir. Glen Morgan
Feat. Crispin Glover, Jackie Burroughs, R. Lee Ermey…; Stylistic update of the 70s mini–classic of the same name, with cult actor Crispin Glover as the meek office clerk who befriends and trains a…
Hannibal (2001): Dir. Ridley Scott
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Ray Liotta; Anthony Hopkins reprises his iconic role as Hannibal Lechter in this controversially gruesome sequel to the serial killer classic, SILENCE OF THE…
Ichi the Killer (2001): Dir. Takashi Miike
Feat. Tadanobu Asano, Nao Omori, Shinya Tsukamoto; Dir. Takashi Miike earned his notoriety with this wincingly violent revenge thriller in which a bent ex–cop (played by "Tetsuo" director,…
Session 9 (2001): Dir. Brad Anderson
Feat. Peter Mullan, David Caruso, Josh Lucas…; A “haunted house” movie with a difference, this is an intense, thinking person’s spook session involving a team of tradesmen hired to clean up…
Shot in the Heart (2001): Dir. Agnieszka Holland
Feat. Elias Koteas, Giovanni Ribisi, Eric Bogosian; Interesting slant on the Gary Gilmore case – an infamous US murderer and subject of a Norman Mailer book –this sets Gilmore (Koteas) against his…
Valentine (2001): Dir. Jamie Blanks
Feat. Denise Richards, David Boreanz, Jessica Capshaw…; The dir. of URBAN LEGEND brings us a Valentine’s Day slasher–massacre, centred round a cupid–masked serial–killer out to avenge…
Wendigo (2001): Dir. Larry Fessenden
Feat. Patricia Clarkson, Jake Weber, Erik Per Sullivan; Elaborating on a renowned ‘urban legend’ with a refined script and a no–nonsense commitment to storytelling, this is a project fostered in…
When Strangers Appear (Shearer's Breakfast) (2001): Dir. Scott Reynolds
Feat. Radha Mitchell, Barry Watson, Kevin Anderson…; A piquant little thriller set at a lonely country rest–stop – Foxton standing in for Oregon – with dir. Reynold’s (HEAVEN, THE…
Bruiser (2000): Dir. George Romero
Feat. Jason Flemyng, Peter Stormare, Leslie Hope; Jason Flemyng plays a weak–willed and miserable office executive who wakes to find he's literally lost his identity. His 'blank face' becomes…
Cherry Falls (2000): Dir. Geoffrey Wright
Feat. Brittany Murphy, Jay Mohr; A mystery psycho–killer's penchant for slaying virgins presents life–saving opportunities for the geeks and jocks of a small–town…
Cut (2000): Dir. Kimble Rendall
Feat. Molly Ringwald; Solid Australian variation on SCREAM, with an imported Molly Ringwald helping complete a horror film abandoned some years before due to an…
Ed Gein (In the Light of the Moon) (2000): Dir. Chuck Parello
Feat. Steve Railsback, Carrie Snodgrass; Sombre biopic of the 1950s Wisconsin serial–killer, whose macabre exploits were the basis for PSYCHO and many other movies. Steve Railsback…
Harry, He's Here to Help (With a Friend Like Harry,Who Needs Enemies?) (2000): Dir. Dominik Moll
Feat. Sergi Lopez, Laurent Lucas; French festival–hit that invokes the delicious menace of Alfred Hitchcock with its insidious central character, Harry (Sergi Lopez) who invites…
MPD - Psycho (TV Series) (2000): Dir. Takashi Miike
Feat. Naoki Hosaka; Takashi Miike's TV series is an appropriately psychotic riff on a policier, featuring a detective with 32 personalities chasing a serial killer who…
Scream 3 (2000): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette…; Less comic than before but otherwise it's more ironic psycho–trouble on the Woodsboro lot for regulars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David…
Tell Me Something (2000): Dir. Chang Yoon-Hyung
Feat. Han Suk-gyu, Shim Eun-ha; A fine slice of Korean “giallo”, this is detective pulp of the lacquered–black, rain–drenched variety, with perverse/macabre…
Audition (1999): Dir. Takashi Miike
Feat. Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina; An almost–masterpiece of the macabre that sets up and sustains itself brilliantly with a restrained pace and jewel of a premise, then careens…
Criminal Lovers (Amants criminels, Les) (1999): Dir. Francois Ozon
Feat. Natacha Regnier, Miki Manojlovic; Before he made the lighter 8 WOMEN, dir. Ozon established his credentials with this twisted wee horror, which fearlessly ventures into sadistic and…
Supernova (1999): Dir. Thomas Lee
Feat. Troy Larsen, Robert Forster, James Spader…; Aboard the hospital spaceship 'Nightingale', psycho–patient Troy Larsen is on the loose after gaining super–powers from an alien…
Halloween H20 (1998): Dir. Steve Miner
Feat. Jamie Lee Curtis; Or Halloween Twenty Years Later, adjourns from the original classic, undistracted by the whole lamentable trail of sequels (six at last count).…
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1998): Dir. Jim Gillespie
Feat. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Geller; A slick teen horror outing from the writer of SCREAM gives an ironic lift to several old Urban Legends, only this time with a straight…
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998): Dir. Danny Cannon
Feat. Jennifer Love Hewitt; While unpredictable in its specifics, this sequel follows the same straight–faced, moderately scary path as its predecessor. Jennifer Love…
Nightwatch (1998): Dir. Ole Bornedal
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Nick Nolte, Patricia Arquette; Ewan MacGregor checks in for morgue attendance in this Anglo remake of the director's own Danish thriller. Must confess, we never watched this…
Party Monster - The Shockumentary (1998): Dir. Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato; Compulsively sordid true story of one Michael Alig, whose success as a New York night club impresario devolved into drug abuse and the brutal murder…
Psycho (1998): Dir. Gus Van Sant
Feat. Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Julianne Moore; Colour remake of Hitchcock's most famous film closely follows the original but never comes close to being anything other than a cheap gimmick. The…
Urban Legend (1998): Dir. Jamie Blanks
Feat. Alicia Witt, Danielle Harris; A serial killer is offing students in the manner of various urban legends (grisly rumours that become so commonly known they're accepted as fact).…
Jack Frost (1997): Dir. Michael Cooney
Feat. Scott MacDonald, Christopher Allport, Stephen Mendel; A modern Ed Wood–style horror comedy about a killer snowman terrorising a small rural community. While uneven, this is mostly better than it…
Scream 2 (1997): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette…; Neve Campbell and friends get revisited by another round of cell–phone threats, masked stalkers and spotty, self–referential…
Uncle Sam (1997): Dir. William Lustig
Feat. Leslie Neale, David "Shark" Fralick, Isaac Hayes…; Solid cast of exploitation 'character actors' lifts this quasi–satirical slasherfest about a Gulf War casualty who rises from his resting place…
Fear (1996): Dir. James Foley
Feat. Mark Wahlberg, Reese Witherspoon, Alyssa Milano…; Thriller from the Hollywood cookie–cutter about a chaste Daddy's girl who gets involved with creep Mark Wahlberg, who just gets creepier by…
Fudoh - The Next Generation (1996): Dir. Takashi Miike
Feat. Shosuke Tanihara, Kenji Takano, Marie Jinno; Possibly the first film that gave the Western world an inkling of dir. Miike's unhinged worldview, investing a tale of yakuza vengeance with surreal,…
Mary Reilly (1996): Dir. Stephen Frears
Feat. John Malkovich, Julia Roberts, Michael Gambon…; John Malkovich and Juila Roberts star in this alternative take on R.L. Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde story – the toil and double trouble is seen…
Scream (1996): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore, Skeet Ulrich…; The horror genre gets a long overdue (if tongue–in–cheek) revamp but you needn't be an aficionado to experience the thrill of this…
Tesis (Thesis) (1996): Dir. Alejandro Amenabar
Feat. Ana Torrent, Fele Martinez, Eduardo Noriega; Intelligent chiller has a film student researching violence drawn into a violent mystery when her Professor dies after watching what may be an…
Seven (Se7en) (1995): Dir. David Fincher
Feat. Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow…; Director David Fincher imbues the hackneyed serial–killer genre with astonishing directorial flair, while bringing an influential 'underground'…
Machine, La (1994): Dir. Francois Dupeyron
Feat. Gerard Depardieu, Nathalie Baye; Gerard Depardieu goes into mad–doctor mode for this high–tech mind–transplant thriller, as a shrink/inventor whose fleeting…
Jack Be Nimble (1993): Dir. Garth Maxwell
Feat. Alexis Arquette; Alexis Arquette gets his American tongue around a Kiwi accent to portray an abused twin who finally reunites with his estranged sister. Though this…
Sliver (1993): Dir. Phillip Noyce
Feat. Sharon Stone, William Baldwin, Tom Berenger; Sharon Stone rents an apartment which has not only hosted a number of in–house murders, but is also under constant surveillance by a perverted…
Vanishing, The (1993): Dir. George Sluzier
Feat. Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis…; The director remakes his classic Dutch thriller for subtitle–phobes. Keifer Sutherland anguishes while Jeff Bridges hams it up as the eccentric…
Guilty As Charged (1992): Dir. Sam Irvin
Feat. Rod Steiger, Isaac Hayes; Resourceful and 'well–executed' black comedy stars Rod Steiger as a religious zealot who fries sinners in his home–made electric chair.…
Hand That Rocks the Cradle, The (1992): Dir. Curtis Hanson
Feat. Rebecca De Mornay, Annabella Sciorra, Julianne Moore…; Scheming psycho–nanny Rebecca De Mornay dismantles the idyllic homelife of Annabella Sciorra, to compensate her own miscarriage. Slick suspense…
Knight Moves (1992): Dir. Carl Schenkel
Feat. Christopher Lambert, Diane Lane, Tom Skerritt…; Chess champion Christopher Lambert finds his psychological profile and alibi make him a prime murder suspect. A battle of intelligent wits ensues…
Raising Cain (1992): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich, Steven Bauer…; De Palma's tongue–in–cheek return to the psycho–thriller contains many flashy set pieces including an elaborate ten–minute…
Single White Female (1992): Dir. Barbet Schroeder
Feat. Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh; Bridget Fonda shares her flat with a lonely neurotic who turns out be her psychotic nemesis. Another triumph for Jennifer Jason Leigh, on her way to…
Trauma (1992): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Christopher Rydell, Asia Argento, Piper Laurie; A young girl becomes convinced she will be the next victim after a seance reveals a murderer in their midst. Argento's first American film will…
Cape Fear (1991): Dir. Martin Scorsese
Feat. Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange…; Excruciating but masterful telling of a convicted rapist (Robert De Niro) who calculates revenge on his former attorney by way of his family. Scores…
Deceived (1991): Dir. Damian Harris
Feat. Goldie Hawn, John Heard; Goldie Hawn in her first dramatic role plays a mother–of–two who learns that Hubby is not who she thought he was. Nothing new here, but…
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991): Dir. Rachel Talalay
Feat. Robert Englund; Apparent conclusion to the long tired 'Elm St.' series has ol' pizza face invading the dreams of adolescents nationwide in 2001. Further installments…
Pacific Heights (1991): Dir. John Schlesinger
Feat. Melanie Griffith, Matthew Modine, Michael Keaton; Part of a mini–wave of couple–in–peril thrillers, this better example has what it takes to tie your tum in knots. Melanie Griffith…
Sleeping with the Enemy (1991): Dir. Joseph Ruben
Feat. Julia Roberts, Patrick Bergin, Kevin Anderson; Julia Roberts tries to escape her sadistic husband by faking her death and assuming a new identity miles from home.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991): Dir. James Cameron
Feat. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong; The ultimate Sci–fi action picture, it shamelessly flaunts its $100 million budget with Big Arnie playing second fiddle to a plethora of…
Unlawful Entry (1991): Dir. Jonathan Kaplan
Feat. Kurt Russell, Ray Liotta, Madeleine Stowe; Ray Liotta makes a perfect cop from hell, abusing his civil privileges to manifest obsessions with the wife of the man he is hired to protect. A…
Leatherface: the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (1990): Dir. Jeff Burr
Feat. William Butler, Miriam Byrd-Nethery; Judging by the title this makes a bid in the horror franchise stakes, but death–by–chainsaw just never quite caught the teenage…
Misery (1990): Dir. Rob Reiner
Feat. James Caan, Kathy Bates; You'll have a far from miserable experience watching novelist James Caan nursed back to health by his psychotic number one fan (Kathy Bates in an…
Shocker (1990): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Michael Murphy, Peter Berg; Horace Pinker, a psychotic TV repair man meets his maker on death row...or has he? A frenetic mix of coal black humour and graphic violence from the…
Apartment Zero (1989): Dir. Martin Donovan
Feat. Colin Firth, Hart Bochner; Weird tale in which a loner (Colin Firth) rents half of his apartment to a man of dubious motives and background (Hart Bochner). Pays homage to many…
Dark Woods, The (1989): Dir. Jacques Deray
Feat. Beatrice Dalle; Beatrice Dalle (BETTY BLUE) marries a stranger on a whim, and lives to regret it when her affections for his brother leads to a brutal crime of…
Intruder (1989): Dir. Scott Spiegel
Feat. Elizabeth Cox, Renee Estevez, Dan Hicks…; Under–seen late entry from the 80's slasher cycle from EVIL DEAD co–writer Scott Spiegel. A claustrophobic thriller set entirely in a…
Stepfather 2, The (1989): Dir. Jeff Burr
Feat. Terry O'Quinn, Meg Foster; Terry O'Quinn returns for more slaying in suburbia in a better–than–average sequel. Highlight is a sequence that gives literal meaning to…
Terror at the Opera (Opera) (1989): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Cristina Marsillach, Ian Charleson, Urbano Barberini…; A sort of DIVA of the horror genre, Argento happily abandons plot mechanics to provide a bravura display of his technical skill. Contains at least…
American Gothic (1988): Dir. John Hough
Feat. Rod Steiger, Yvonne De Carlo, Sarah Torgov; Creepy psychos living on a remote isle make life hell for holiday–making teens. Sound familiar? It is, but done with a certain inventive…
Vanishing, The (1988): Dir. George Sluzier
Feat. Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Berroets, Johanna Ter Steege; A genuinely creepy psychological thriller – a woman vanishes while on holiday in France, later her boyfriend is taunted in a battle of wits…
Anguish (1987): Dir. Bigas Luna
Feat. Zelda Rubinstein, Michael Lerner, Talia Paul…; What starts off as a run–of–the–mill slasher suddenly takes a turn into a highly effective movie–within–a–movie.…
Flowers in the Attic (1987): Dir. Jeffrey Bloom
Feat. Louise Fletcher, Kristy Swanson, Victoria Tennant; Adaptation of the Virginia Andrews book, about attic–bound children.
Honeymoon (1987): Dir. Patrick Jamain
Feat. Nathalie Baye, John Shea, Richard Berry; A French woman marries through an agency in order to stay in America. Soon a man she's never met knocks on her door with the groceries! A real…
Stepfather, The (1987): Dir. Joseph Ruben
Feat. Terry O'Quinn, Shelley Hack; This psycho doesn't waste time with marriage guidance when a few waves of a machete is the quick and easy solution! Superior…
White of the Eye (1987): Dir. Donald Cammell
Feat. David Keith, Cathy Moriaty, Art Evans…; Smartly executed, disturbing thriller set in a small Arizona town where a psychotic balances his marital problems with his penchant for homicide.
Cassandra (1986): Dir. Colin Eggleston
Feat. Tegan Charles, Tessa Humphries, Dylan O'Neill…; Quite watchable Aussie horror is set around a young woman's visions of her brother stabbing somebody to death during her childhood years. Using a…
Stagefright (Deliria) (1986): Dir. Michele Soavi
Feat. David Brandon, Barbara Cupisti; Highly admired by some, this stylish Italian slasher–horror concerns an insane actor who escapes confinement and stumbles into the rehearsals…
Blackout (1985): Dir. Douglas Hickox
Feat. Richard Widmark, Keith Carradine; Above–average stalker whodunit.
Hills Have Eyes 2, The (1985): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Tamara Stafford, Kevin Spirtas, Michael Berryman; Revisiting the same mutant–inhabited desert terrain of the original, this has a band of motorcross enthusiasts raise the appetite of the same…
Mean Season, The (1985): Dir. Phillip Borsos
Feat. Kurt Russell, Mariel Hemingway, Richard Jordan…; Hack reporter Kurt Russell's propensity for a story edges him dangerously close to crazed psycho Richard Jordan.
Phenomena (Creepers) (1984): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Jennifer Connelly, Daria Nicolodi; Argento once again forgoes plot to concentrate on his strengths, namely stalk and slash set pieces and kinetic visuals staged like a bad dream. VHS…
Terminator, The (1984): Dir. James Cameron
Feat. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton; Breakthrough film for Schwarzenegger and its director, it's a high–powered action fantasy that set a precedent for the genre. And 'I'll be…
Psycho 2 (1983): Dir. Richard Franklin
Feat. Anthony Perkins; Much better than expected sequel sees Anthony Perkins reprise his role 23 years later as endearing nutcase Norman Bates. Thoughtful and suspenseful.
Sweet Sixteen (1983): Dir. Jim Sotos
Feat. Aleisa Shirley, Bo Hopkins, Susan Strasberg…; Forgotten slasher from the 80's that instead slashes the boys instead of the girls, when a soon–to–be sixteen–year–old girl…
Brimstone and Treacle (1982): Dir. Richard Loncraine
Feat. Sting, Joan Plowright, Denholm Elliott…; Scripted by Dennis Potter, this cult psychodrama is set in the unstable household of Joan Plowright and Denholm Elliot, which is invaded by an…
Halloween 3 - Season of the Witch (Halloween III) (1982): Dir. Tommy Lee Wallace
Feat. Tom Atkins, Stacey Nelkin, Dan O'Herlihy; Interesting, if largely unreleated departure for the HALLOWEEN series temporarily abandons the curse of Michael Myers for a muddy sci–fi plot…
Love Butcher, The (1982): Dir. Mikel Angel, Donald M. Jones
Feat. Eric Stern; Amusing sleaze/cheesefest about a retarded, sexually frustrated gardener (Eric Stern) who harbours a slick, womanizing alter–ego, not to…
Tenebrae (Unsane) (1982): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Anthony Franciosa, Daria Nicolodi; Compelling Argento thriller, with a typically contorted plot design – about a crime writer, whose books stimulate copycat killings – used…
Burning, The (1981): Dir. Tony Maylam
Feat. Brian Matthews, Leah Ayres, Brian Backer…; A proficient slasher in the wake of FRIDAY THE 13TH in which a former summer camp caretaker plots bloody revenge on the teenagers who accidentally…
Halloween 2 (Halloween II) (1981): Dir. Rick Rosenthal
Feat. Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence; Obligatory sequel to John Carpenter's horror landmark sees Michael Myers more invincible than ever, returning to terrorise the surprisingly durable…
Rosemary's Killer (The Prowler; The Graduation) (1981): Dir. Joseph Zito
Feat. Vicki Dawson, Chris Goutman, Farley Granger…; Wholesale but effective slasher terrorizes a high school graduation dance with a military–themed serial killer. Gore by Tom Savini.
Tattoo (1981): Dir. Bob Brooks
Feat. Bruce Dern, Maud Adams, Leonard Frey; An unbalanced tattoo–artist becomes obsessed with a supermodel, believing the temporary tattoos he paints on her should become permanent! Murky…
Boogeyman, The (1980): Dir. Ulli Lommel
Feat. Suzanna Love, John Carradine, Ron James…; Supernatural slasher directed by Fassbinder regular Ulli Lommel, who was part of the New German Cinema movement. An American production starring…
Dressed to Kill (1980): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Angie Dickinson, Michael Caine, Nancy Allen; A slick video nasty involving a murderer, a prostitute, a psychiatrist, a bored housewife and her resourceful son. In reworking PSYCHO, De Palma…
Fade to Black (1980): Dir. Vernon Zimmerman
Feat. Dennis Christopher, Tim Thomerson, Gwynne Gilford; Film buffs should appreciate this inventive black–comedy about a weirdo movie addict who kills people in the style of his various film heroes.
Friday the 13th [Franchise] (1980-1989): Dir. Sean S. Cunningham
Feat. Betsy Palmer, Kevin Bacon; The most successful film to exploit the '80s stalk–and–slash formula, characterised by disposable teenagers being endlessly slaughtered…
Motel Hell (1980): Dir. Kevin Connor
Feat. Rory Calhoun, Paul Linke, Nancy Parsons; Comedy black enough to convert one to vegetarianism about rednecks who use a special kinda meat for 'Farmer Vincent's Fritters'! The duelling…
Prom Night (1980): Dir. Paul Lynch
Feat. Jamie Lee Curtis, Leslie Nielsen; 'Halloween' stalk'n'slash protege with Jamie Lee Curtis returning as one of a group of teens with a guilty secret menaced by the ubiquitous masked…
Terror Train (1980): Dir. Roger Spottiswoode
Feat. Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Johnson, Hart Bochner…; Fresh from HALLOWEEN, Jamie Lee Curtis reprises a 'scream queen' for this teen slasher pic set aboard a chartered locomotive. A gamut of masquerade…
Tourist Trap (1979): Dir. David Schmoeller
Feat. Chuck Connors, Tanya Roberts, Jocelyn Jones; Claustrophobic horror with four friends pursued through a ghostly museum by mannequins under the control of an old man with telekinetic powers.…
Halloween (1978): Dir. John Carpenter
Feat. Jamie Lee Curtis; Landmark horror film is distinguished by direction that gives a constant sense of impending doom, yet provides constant surprises – unlike the…
Shout, The (1978): Dir. Jerzy Skolimowski
Feat. Alan Bates, John Hurt, Susannah York…; An intelligent, enigmatic chiller about an asylum inmate with mystical powers who upsets the lives of an avant garde music composer and his wife in…
Fight For Your Life (1977): Dir. Robert A. Endelson
Feat. William Sanderson, Robert Judd; A racist hillbilly and two sadistic jail–breakers terrorize a black minister and his family, who eventually fight back and take bloody…
Hills Have Eyes, The (1977): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Susan Lanier, Robert Houston, Martin Speer…; Wes Craven takes the townies–breakdown–in–the–desert chestnut to its logical extreme, where it turns out the hills also have…
Last House on Dead End Street (1977): Dir. Roger Michael Watkins
Feat. Roger Michael Watkins; Both notorious and obscure, this 1970s shocker concerns a drug–dealer who upon being released from jail enters the shady world of porno…
Deep Red (1976): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi; David Hemmings plays a touring pianist in Rome who witnesses the slaying of a psychiatrist. Cat–and–mouse murder mystery is one of the…
Massacre at Central High (1976): Dir. Renee Daalder
Feat. Andrew Stevens, Robert Carradine; An estranged new student uses his homicidal tendencies for the public good, by eliminating trouble–makers in imaginative ways. The superior…
Tenant, The (1976): Dir. Roman Polanski
Feat. Roman Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Shelley Winters; Polanski himself plays an introverted office clerk who undergos a psycho–sexual mutation while residing in a seedy high–rise apartment.…
Blue Sunshine (1975): Dir. Jeff Lieberman
Feat. Zalman King; Clinical, worthy Cronenberg–style horror about people who took an experimental strain of LSD in the 60's to emerge 10 years later as balding,…
Black Christmas (1974): Dir. Bob Clark
Feat. Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder…; A superior precursor to psychological 'slasher' films like HALLOWEEN, this is set around a group of women in a sorority house, about to return home…
Phantom of the Paradise (1974): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Paul Williams, William Finley, Jessica Harper…; A genuine oddity, this musical/horror spans both dir. De Palma’s satirical and horror periods, with the story of the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA updated…
Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The (1974): Dir. Tobe Hooper
Feat. Marilyn Burns, Allen Danziger, Paul A. Partain; Unbearable tension builds when a group of teens are preyed upon by a notoriously psychotic family in the squalid atmosphere of the Deep South. The…
Candy Snatchers, The (1973): Dir. Guerdon Trueblood
Feat. Tiffany Bolling, Ben Piazza; An unheralded gem of the 70's exploitation 'golden age', this subversive yet taut and surprisingly controlled abduction thriller concerns the brutal…
Deranged (1973): Dir. Alan Ormsby
Feat. Roberts Blossom, Cosette Lee, Leslie Carlson; Closely modelled on the exploits of Ed Gein (whose notoriety also inspired PSYCHO and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE), Roberts Blossom is…
Sisters (1973): Dir. Brian De Palma
Feat. Margot Kidder; This early De Palma film is a gripping account of a woman (Margot Kidder) who discovers her twin sister is a homicidal maniac. Features an…
Theatre of Blood (1973): Dir. Douglas Hickox
Feat. Vincent Price, Diana Rigg, Ian Hendry; Vincent Price plays a hammy stage actor who avenges the critics that have vilified him, staging their deaths like scenes from Shakespearian plays. No…
Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972): Dir. Robert Fuest
Feat. Vincent Price, Robert Quarry, Peter Cushing…; Vincent Price reprises the Phibes, and this time gets to go to Egypt.
Flesh and Blood Show, The (1972): Dir. Pete Walker
Feat. Ray Brooks, Patrick Barr, Jenny Hanley…; Horror following the fates of two British thespians who audition for a play being rehearsed at an abandoned theatre by the sea, but the entire…
Frenzy (1972): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Jon Finch, Alec McCowen, Barry Foster…; Hitchcock's last really great thriller, concerning a Cockney strangler plaguing the streets of London and setting up Jon Finch as the wrong man.…
Gore, Gore Girls, The (1972): Dir. Herschell Gordon Lewis
Feat. Frank Kress, Amy Farrell, Hedda Lubin; Trash–king Hershell Gordon Lewis hung up his film–making hat after this effort about the serial murders of Go–Go dancing strippers,…
Last House on the Left, The (1972): Dir. Wes Craven
Feat. Sandra Cassel, Lucy Grantham, David Hess; Formerly banned in NZ and in many countries around the world, this disturbing film lives up to its notoriety with its documentary–like realism…
Hustler Squad / Wild Riders (1971-1976): Dir. Cesar Gallardo, Richard Kanter
Feat. Alex Rocco, Elizabeth Knowles, Sherry Bain…; A double feature of 70s drive–in "classics". WILD RIDERS (1971) has Alex Rocco playing a misogynistic biker who goes on a sleazy killing…
Play Misty for Me (1971): Dir. Clint Eastwood
Feat. Clint Eastwood, Jessica Walter, Donna Mills…; The film that inspired FATAL ATTRACTION stars Clint Eastwood as a late night radio talkhost whose female fan goes way over the line.
And Soon the Darkness (1970): Dir. Robert Fuest
Feat. Pamela Franklin, Michele Dotrice; Minor slasher thriller concerns a pair of holidaying Brits who run into nasty perils on the backroads of rural France. Not as interesting as dir.…
Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The (1970): Dir. Dario Argento
Feat. Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall; The milestone debut from the supreme Italian horror–meister Dario Argento, this set the pattern for his many many subsequent forays into…
I Drink Your Blood (1970): Dir. David Durston
Feat. Bhaskar , Rhonda Fultz, Lyn Lowry; A Manson–style hippie–cult make trouble in a small village but taste the wrath of a young boy who infects their meat pies with rabies –…
Boston Strangler, The (1968): Dir. Richard Fleischer
Feat. Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda, George Kennedy; Undeniably fascinating but somewhat static docudrama about placid 1960s serial–killer Albert De Salvo (Tony Curtis), who underwent…
Pretty Poison (1968): Dir. Noel Black
Feat. Anthony Perkins, Tuesday Weld; A fan of PSYCHO? Then check out Anthony Perkins in this chilling tale of a couple of psychos in love. Tuesday Weld glitters as a teenage bad seed.
Twisted Nerve (1968): Dir. Roy Boulting
Feat. Hywel Bennett, Hayley Mills; Hywel Bennett is suitably creepy as a homicidal youth who befriends a nubile Hayley Mills. Unnerving gothic melodrama is well served by Bernard…
Gruesome Twosome (1967): Dir. Herschell Gordon Lewis
Feat. Elizabeth Davis, Gretchen Wells, Chris Martell; Typical H.G. Lewis fare that is both disgusting and amusing. The plot revolves around a wig shop that makes its products by scalping people with an…
In Cold Blood (1967): Dir. Richard Brooks
Feat. Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe…; A masterpiece of crime fiction adapted from Truman Capote’s novel about events surrounding the senseless murder of an innocent family by two…
Wait Until Dark (1967): Dir. Terence Young
Feat. Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna; A blind Audrey Hepburn is trapped in her apartment by psycho–beatnik Alan Arkin, who's looking for hidden heroin. Based on a stageplay, this…
Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1965): Dir. Robert Aldrich
Feat. Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten; Macabre shocks and bitter twists spike this outrageous gothic melodrama about an ageing, lonely Bette Davis disturbed by pressure from council…
Repulsion (1965): Dir. Roman Polanski
Feat. Catherine Deneuve; Polanski's tour–de–force of urban sexual paranoia. Catherine Deneuve has an obsessive fear of men which slowly descends her into madness.…
Spider Baby (1964): Dir. Jack Hill
Feat. Lon Jr. Chaney; More of a twisted black comedy than a traditional horror flick – a threesome of child monsters and their ‘uncle’ rabidly protect their rural…
Strait-Jacket (1964): Dir. William Castle
Feat. Joan Crawford; Joan Crawford fans won’t want to miss her slumming it as an axe–murderess, ‘reformed’ after twenty years in an asylum, but whose attempts…
Dementia 13 (1963): Dir. Francis Ford Coppola
Feat. William Campbell, Luana Anders, Bart Patton; An early shocker from Francis Coppola proving that even the best start at the bottom. Quite a blurry print.
Sadist, The (1963): Dir. James Landis
Feat. Arch Hall Jr.; Like BADLANDS, this little–known drive–in flick is based on the infamous Starkweather murder spree of the late 50s, and is never less…
Knife in the Water (1962): Dir. Roman Polanski
Feat. Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, Zygmunt Malanowicz; The old adage 'three is a crowd' is chillingly played out in Polanski's directing debut about a couple's troubled yachting weekend with a…
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962): Dir. Robert Aldrich
Feat. Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono…; Joan Crawford and Bette Davis scheme and brood in this memorable gothic melodrama about an aged child star and her embittered and jealous sister who…
Homicidal (1961): Dir. William Castle
Feat. Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin; Twisted, camp and expensively photographed B–movie follows the antics of a dispicable platinum blond, whose bouts of psychotic murder serve an…
Circus of Horrors (1960): Dir. Sidney Hayers
Feat. Anton Diffring, Donald Pleasence, Jane Hylton…; After horribly botching a face–job, plastic surgeon Anton Diffring hides out in a travelling circus with some of his 'beauties', who begin to…
Peeping Tom (1960): Dir. Michael Powell
Feat. Karlheinz Bohm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey; While Hitchcock's PSYCHO received raves reviews and general acceptance, Michael Powell's equally contentious but brilliant film was condemned as…
Psycho (1960): Dir. Alfred Hitchcock
Feat. Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles…; Only Mr. Hitchcock could plunder B–movie conventions and turn in the biggest box–office success of his career. A plethora of…
Psycho Collection, The (Psycho, Psycho 2, Psycho 3, Bates Motel TV-Movie, Psycho 4, Psycho Remake) (1960-1998): Feat. Anthony Perkins
Bucket of Blood, A (1959): Dir. Roger Corman
Feat. Dick Miller, Ed Nelson; This has the twin distinction of being both a hilarious send–up of 'beat' culture and a ripping black comedy. Dick Miller is Walter Paisley, a…
She-Creature, The (1957): Dir. Edward L. Cahn
Feat. Marla English, Tom Conway, Chester Morris…; A sideshow hypnotist attains fame by predicting murders that are actually carried out by his lovely assistant, under his hypnotic spell. Slow yet…
Kiss Before Dying, A (1956): Dir. Gerd Oswald
Feat. Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Joanne Woodward…; The first and best version of Ira Levin's (ROSEMARY'S BABY) early novel, in which status–anxious student Wagner plots the murder of his…
Night of the Hunter, The (1955): Dir. Charles Laughton
Feat. Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish; A disturbing yet poetic masterpiece in which Robert Mitchum is mighty mean as a psychopathic preacher pursuing two runaways across the American…
House of Wax (1953): Dir. Andre De Toth
Feat. Vincent Price; Vincent Price portrays a vengeful sculptor who restores his showroom with the corpses of his human victims. The most famous of films originally shown…
Beast with Five Fingers (1946): Dir. Robert Florey
Feat. Robert Alda, Andrea King, Peter Lorre; Psychological horror with Peter Lorre hamming it up as only he can when spooked and stalked by the severed hand of a maddened pianist.
Most Dangerous Game, The (1932): Dir. Ernest B Shoedsack, Irving Pichel
Feat. Joel McCrea, Fay Wray, Leslie Banks; This mother of all chase–movies was adapted from Richard Connell's book by the makers of KING KONG. A fresh–faced Joel McCrea is…

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