Shock Waves (1977)
[7] Nazi zombies rise from the sea and prey on a group of youngsters stranded at an abandoned island resort. You either love the sound of that, or you don't. I dig it. Peter Cushing makes a welcome appearance as…
Torture Garden (1967)
[5] Burgess Meredith stars as Dr. Diabolo, a sideshow barker who gives daring patrons a glimpse at their untimely demises in this horror anthology flick from Britain's Amicus Productions (ever the poor man's Hammer Studios). The four featured tales include…
Red Dragon (2002)
[7] While it lacks the pervasive chill that runs through The Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon is a well-made thriller that engages from beginning to end, thanks to a briskly-paced script adaptation by Ted Tally (who won an Oscar…
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
[6] After a car accident, a young woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) finds herself prisoner in an underground survivalist bunker where a creepy John Goodman convinces her that the world has been invaded by either Soviets or aliens, and that if…
Frailty (2001)
[7] Actor Bill Paxton makes his feature directorial debut with Frailty, in which a man recounts to an FBI agent how, as a boy, his religious-freak father forced him and his young brother to help murder alleged 'demons' and bury…
6 Souls (2010)
[4] Julianne Moore stars as a psychiatrist who discovers the multiple personalities of a patient are actually murder victims. Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors) plays the patient, and normally I love these two leading actors. But we've seen Moore do…
Hard Candy (2006)
[8] A 14-year-old goes home with a guy in his 30s. What follows is a nightmarish power struggle. Hard Candy is an intense character-driven thriller that succeeds primarily for the incredible performances of Patrick Wilson (Watchmen) and Ellen Page (Juno).…
The Mist (2007)
[8] Frank Darabont dives back into the Stephen King well and comes out with a winner. The Mist is about a disparate group of people who end up trapped together in the local grocery store when a strange, scary mist…
The Descent (2005)
[8] Neil Marshall follows up his auspicious feature directorial debut, Dog Soldiers, with this all-female plunge into the claustrophobic depths of Appalachian caves. The Descent reminds me of From Dusk Til Dawn in that it's really two completely different movies…
Cloverfield (2008)
[8] This monster movie from the creators of Lost and Felicity combines low-budget ingenuity with high-budget production values for a thrilling movie going experience. The whole film is hand-held 'found footage' documenting a group of friends' attempted escape from Manhattan…