Suicide Club (2001)

Imagine if you will people all of a sudden killing themselves?  And for no reason, almost as if it was just something to do? Japanese director Sion Sono creates such a story, with the police trying to figure out why this was happening and how it relates to packages containing rolls of human skin.   The pacing of this film isn’t always consistent but the mystery is so frightening and entrancingly bizarre you’ll be thinking about it for some time.   There are some really shocking moments in this film that really should be seen if you love the horror genre.  Grade: B+

Amanda Knox (2016)

Okay, this is not really a horror documentary.  At the same time, when you think about being sent to prison for a crime you didn’t do, it’s a very scary ordeal.   This film pretty much debunks the idea that Amanda Knox is a killer.  Yet it demonstrates how the media and the Italian officials crafted a narrative that she and her boyfriend (at the time) killed her roommate.  It’s sad that two people in love had to have their lives stalled over faulty evidence and fabricated stories.  There is no doubt that the murder of Meredith Kercher was a horrible tragedy.  To make it ever worse the police poorly investigated the crime and went after the wrong people.   Grade: B+

Honeymoon (2014)

Maybe don’t go on your honeymoon to some remote cabin in the woods.  Yes, I know your new wife used to come there all the time, but instead go on a fun cruise or resort where you’ll be treated like a king.   And if you do go to some remote cabin in the woods and your wife starts to act “weird” maybe that’s when you get out of there.  And I mean, you run if you have to.   Harry Treadaway and Rose Leslie star in this fantastic science fiction horror film in the vein of Invasion of the Body Snatchers by director Leigh Janiak.   It’s an intense experience that leaves a lasting impression.  Grade: A-

Green Room (2016)

A punk band on the road and needing a gig drives out to a club somewhere in the Pacific Northwest (think Portland, Oregan) to find they’re going to be performing for a gathering of Nazi skinheads.  If that isn’t unnerving enough, things get really intense very quickly when they witness a crime that happens in the green room.  Anton Yelchin stars (I so miss the guy) along with Alia Shawat and Patrick Stewart.   Director Jeremy Saulnier has come a long way from his 2007 indie Murder Party but hey, I could tell he had talent then and boy, has he become a very accomplished director.  This film is very impressive.  It’s one of the most suspenseful films I’ve seen in a while and the horror feels very real.   Mr. Stewart is a fantastic and believable villain; he keeps his sinister qualities low-key and that’s what makes it work so well.   A great modern day horror film that will have a long shelf life I’m certain.  Grade: A

Severance (2006)

We start this year’s 31 days of Horror with this comedic horror film by Christopher Smith (co-written by James Moran).   A bunch of co-workers go on a business team-building holiday in a remote area in Eastern Europe.  Events quickly spirally into the absurdly horrific as they become hunted by crazies.  I really enjoyed this one.  It’s funny, it’s suspenseful and full of surprises.   Grade: B+

The Marrying Kind (1952)

Judy Holliday and Aldo Ray star as a married couple who go to court to get a divorce.  Told in flash backs, they tell their story to the judge who obviously wants them to reconsider.   It’s melodrama at its finest directed by George Cukor.  Still it's melodrama.  Grade: B

Ruggles in Red Gap (1935)

This Leo McCarey western is a treasure of comedy.  Charles Laughton stars as an English butler who becomes traded to an American millionaire over a card game.  A fish-out-of-water plot, he has to adjust to the American west and in doing so discovers himself.   The most magical moment of the film is when Ruggles recites the Gettysburg Address, I literally had goose bumps.   What a terrific film!  Films like these need to be celebrated so they don’t disappear and become footnotes in cinema history text books.   I saw this on TCM and I hope they continue to show it for many years to come.  Grade: A