Mulholland Dr. (2001)
[8] Naomi Watts and Laura Harring star in this dreamy David Lynch film that almost defies summary, but I'll do my best. Watts plays a young actress fresh in Hollywood who meets Harring, a woman who just escaped a car…
The Shortcut (2009)
[5] After his little brother discovers a dead dog and a scary old man on a wooded shortcut, a new-teen-in-town (Drew Seeley) invites his friends to investigate the trail and the legend behind the mysterious old man who patrols it.…
Dr. Renault’s Secret (1942)
[6] An American (John Shepperd) visits his fiancée (Lynne Roberts) and her father in their rural chateau at the same time a series of murders begins. The father's brutish gardener with a criminal past is a prime suspect. And so…
The Nines (2007)
[6] Screenwriter John August (Titan AE, Big Fish) makes his directorial debut in this headtrippy movie about an actor, a TV showrunner, and a video game designer whose lives interconnect in a mysterious way. Ryan Reynolds plays all three characters…
Murder! (1930)
[5] Alfred Hitchcock's first sound film is emblematic of his usual content, if not his his trademark style and suspense. Murder! centers around an actress (Diana Baring) found in a fugue state next to a bloody fire poker and a…
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
[7] Director Tim Burton puts his stamp on Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, casting his Ed Wood and Edward Scissorhands star Johnny Depp in the role of Ichabod Crane. In this retelling, Crane is a 1799 New York…
Forbidden Planet (1956)
[7] Walter Pidgeon and Leslie Nielsen star in this glossy MGM production about a starship crew investigating a planet where a colony of humans has gone mysteriously quiet. Once there, they discover most of the colonists were killed by a…
American Gigolo (1980)
[4] Ten years before he picked up Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, Richard Gere played a ho himself in American Gigolo. As a male 'chauffeur', Gere's plenty pretty to look at, aided by an array of Armani suits and moody…
Young and Innocent (1937)
[7] A young man falsely accused of murder (Derrick De Marney) escapes his hearing and sets out to prove his innocence, dodging the police and falling in love with a blonde young woman (Nova Pilbeam) who helps him against her…
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
[8] In this seminal silent classic, a doctor showcases a fortune-telling sleepwalker to a crowd of spectators. One man asks, "When will I die?" The sleepwalker says, "By dawn tomorrow." And then the doctor sets out to fulfill the premonition…