Pulse (2001)

One of the most interesting Japanese filmmakers working today, Kiyoshi Kurosawa -- no relation to Akira -- is also one of the worst distributed in this country. His masterpiece Cure, which established Kurosawa as one of the leading horror/thriller craftsmen, was made in 1997 and did not open in U.S. theaters until 2001. read more...

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Under the Shadow (2016)

Written and directed by Babak Anvari, Under the Shadow (2016) is all the more powerful for being steeped in world affairs, and for vividly capturing the emotional sense of what it might be like to be caught in a war. It's the 1980s, during the long Iran-Iraq conflict, and Shideh (Narges Rashidi) is forbidden to re-enter medical school because of her past as a political demonstrator. Her husband has been called off to serve in the war effort, and she must take care of her daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi) alone, with the threat of Iraqi bombs falling on their Tehran home. Worse, a Djinn has become attached to Dorsa, and the girl, sick with fever, refuses to evacuate until her missing doll is found. The film — best viewed in its original Persian with English subtitles — concentrates on realism and on small details of life rather than elaborate visual effects of scares, but the film nonetheless remains a satisfyingly unsettling experience. read more...

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Blood Quantum (2020)

Whenever I start to think the zombie subgenre of horror has completely played itself out, someone actually comes up with another great idea. This time it's Jeff Barnaby's Blood Quantum, a clever, serious effort that seems to draw inspiration from George A. Romero's original films, in that it uses its outbreak to suggest other social issues just under the surface. The basic, brilliant idea here is that indigenous people are immune to the latest zombie infection, though this condition brings the characters very little peace. (The movie premieres April 28, 2020 on Shudder.) read more...

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Veronica (2017)

In the summer of 2018, news outlets began reporting that Paco Plaza's Veronica was so scary that Netflix viewers couldn't even finish watching it. News like that is catnip for horror fans, but the truth is that, though the movie isn't as scary as all that, it's still quite good. It has a fine touch for horror that grows organically out of ordinary situations. Apparently based on a spine-tingling true story, it's set in 1991, in Madrid. (The movie is best viewed in Spanish with English subtitles.) The title character (Sandra Escacena) is a 15 year-old who is in charge of her three younger siblings while her widowed mother works. At school, during a solar eclipse, she sneaks into the basement with two friends to speak to her dead father via a Ouija board. Of course, that goes spectacularly wrong, and all kinds of creepy, hair-raising things start happening around the house. The movie ends with what appear to be photographs from the real-life incident, leaving viewers with genuine chills. read more...

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The Beach House (2020)

Wisely avoiding wordy explanations or long setups, this eerie, timely chiller takes a slow-burn approach, simply observing its characters, and springing its shocks naturally, without announcing them. read more...

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