SUSPIRIA--This is Dario Argento's best film. I would give you a summary of the plot, but that would be futile, since plot is rather unimportant. Dario crafts a psychadelic world of horror in which anything can happen. This film was intended to play like SNOW WHITE in Hell. All the scenes are saturated with beautiful primary colors and seen through imaginative camera angles. The film is quite violent--the opening sequence is GREAT. This is definitely worth a look.

THE OMEN--This is the best film to come from the frenzy of EXORCIST-spawned Devil-flicks. THE OMEN is a chilling little tale about a British ambassador (Gregory Peck) who discovers that his son is the anti-christ. I like the film a lot more than I like the EXORCIST (someone out there is yelling "blasphemy" at this comment). It features David Warner in his best role ever, as he becomes the victim of the most notorious beheading in the history of film. The Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack, which won a well-deserved Oscar, will give you nightmares.

DAWN OF THE DEAD--George Romero likes to tell people that he spent five years trying to resist making a sequel to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and five more years getting the money to make it. In many ways, DAWN OF THE DEAD is superior to its predecessor. It is an ultra-violent film, but is also filled with a fine sense of dark humor and tends to deliver biting social commentary. Dario Argento helped produce this gem, and Goblin provided a groovy soundtrack.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE--Believe it or not, this notorious film has something in common with SUSPIRIA, it is constructed like a faery tale. If SUSPIRIA is SNOW WHITE on crack, then MASSACRE is a redneck-and-power-tools retelling of HANSEL AND GRETEL. All the elements are there, a dark forest, a mysterious house in said forest, and an antagonist that eats his victims (remember, the Witch wanted to eat Hansel and Gretel). This is not a very gorey film, as the title would lead one to believe. But the violence is so brutal that its mere implication is enough to disturb.

THE HORROR OF DRACULA--This is the best horror movie Hammer Films ever made (this is a huge statement coming from a Hammer-phile such as myself). Other than NOSFERATU, this is, perhaps, the best Dracula movie ever made. Bela Lugosi was a charismatic Dracula, but Universal's adaptation of the Horace Liverwright play is way to static to be very entertaining. Christopher Lee appears here as a very dynamic, sexually charged Dracula. No, this is not a true adaptation of Stoker's novel, but it has the same spirit. Peter Cushing is brilliant as Van Helsing, and a perfect foil for Lee's Dracula. If you haven't seen this, you need to. I wouldn't have put it on my list if it was not among the very best.

THE SHINING--There seems to be little middle ground regarding this film. Fans of Stanley Kubrick think that this is a brilliant film. Fans of Stephen King's novel hate it. I am among the Kubrick fans. This is a genuinely creepy movie. Kubrick has a knack for conveying a mood of isolation and solitude. Compare the atmosphere in THE SHINING's Overlook Hotel to the atmosphere inside 2001's Jupiter probe or the room in which Dave eventually become the Star Baby. Kubrick's style is in full effect here and it fits the screenplay quite nicely. I haven't even mentioned Jack Nicholson's EXCELLENT performance! My favorite Nicholson scene is the one in which Nicholson tells his wife (played by Shelly Duvall) not to interrupt him while he's typing. "...so why don't you get the fuck out of here?"

DEAD RINGERS--This is my favorite David Cronenberg film. Cronenberg is Canada's answer to Dario Argento, George Romero, or even Alfred Hitchcock. This is a deliciously intelligent psychological thriller about twin gynechologists with a special bond. Jeremy Irons plays the twins and is absolutely fabulous at it. I don't know why he didn't win something for his role in this. Cronenberg even works his patented "venereal horror" into this one in the form of gynechological instruments for operating on mutant women." There isn't much violence in this, but it doesn't need to be violent to make you feel creepy. A thinking man's horror film.

"I don't have a moral plan. I'm a Canadian." --David Cronenberg

VERTIGO--I am absolutely convinced that this is Alfred hitchcock's finest film. This is even less of a horror film than DEAD RINGERS. However, it is one of the most haunting motion pictures ever made. This film was re-released theatrically after being remastered (much like STAR WARS). Thankfully, it is now getting the recognition it deserves. James Stewart stars in this tragic story of an ex-detective who falls in love with a woman who may be possessed by the spirit of a suicidal woman. VERTIGO has been read as an allegory about Hitchcock's relationships with women. The film also embraces a pool of archetypal concepts which conspire to paint a dark picture of obsession and thwarted love. You haven't seen a Hitchcock film, until you've seen this one!