The Stranger Beside Me - 1995 ***

Unsettling drama about a newly married woman who begins to suspect her perfect husband is not only a peeping tom but a rapist as well. Once confronted, far from denying it, he flaunts it in her face, threatening her if she doesn't stand by him. Creepy film.

Straw Dogs - 2011 ***

I was in mixed minds about watching this, given how poor I found the original film. I was surprised actually how much more I enjoyed it and how much clearer the story seemed. Amy (Kate Bosworth) brings her new husband David (a geeky James Marsden) home to her old town to live on her deseased father's house, and before long Amy's ex-boyfriend Charlie is becoming overly protective of Amy being back, to the extent of getting his friends to taunt David and terrorise him on a regular basis whilst also being lewd and perverted to Amy. This escalates to a terrifying conclusion. There is an intense psychological build-up in this film which I don't recall happening in the original. I quite liked it. 

Filth - 2013 ***

'Filth' is a bit of a conundrum. James McAvoy is literally acting his heart out (he can even vomit on que) and going for gold here, but even so, it comes across as a bit of a dirty film. Not dirty as in rude (although there is plenty of sex to placate any hardcore fan) but dirty as in unkempt and uncared for.

McAvoy plays a womanizing, chauvinistic, alcoholic Detective in Edinburgh, who spends his days playing 'pranks' on colleagues (including defaming their character on the bathroom wall), drinking, getting high, sleeping with anything that moves, and generally being a manipulative and unpleasant bastard. 

Hoping to move up the corporate scale, he is assigned a murder case, but becoming increasingly detached and hallucinatory as time goes by until he (and we the audience) have no idea what is real and what is fantasy. As the film progresses we learn some disturbing secrets about him, and the lengths he will go to hide them from everyone. 

I can't say I hated the film. It was entertaining, and I commend James on a very difficult and uncomfortable role. But it's certainly not a film to watch unless you specifically want to feel unnerved and awkward.

(HORROR) The Purge - 2013 ****1/2

'The Purge' is a terrifying film. More so because you can imagine this sort of thing happening in America somewhere down the line. To me this was far more disturbing than a slasher or ghost film. It focuses on the problems with our society, and how the wealthy regard the poor.
The Purge happens once a year. On this night, for 12 hours, all criminal activity is legal and emergency services are unavailable. Unemployment and criminal rates are at an all time low because America is in effect 'cleansing' itself of people it does not feel are worthy to be alive and no one is going to bother committing a crime throughout the rest of the year if they know that they can do anything they want on this night and not have to face the consequences of their actions. Already a terrifying thought, but what would happen if you found that a group of people wanted to break into your home and kill you, and there was no one to help? This is exactly what happens to Ethan Hawke and his family on the night of the annual purge, after his son unwittingly opens the door to a homeless man who is seeking refuge. The house is then surrounded by a group of menacing individuals all wearing masks (presumably all from the same high class neighbourhood that he lives in) who tell him that unless he gives them back their 'target', they will enter his house with force and murder him and his family. Hawke is an unpopular character, for, despite working in security and designing top notch security systems he doesn't seem to comprehend that his family or he would need to use one. He has CCTV cameras set up to cover the whole street, automatic metal locks on his doors and windows, and still believes somehow that he is invincible and that no one will try to harm him.
The Purge supposedly is a way for America to release all the tension and angst that has built up until that point in the year. Once they have committed murder on this night, they feel 'refreshed' for the remainder of the year and can go about their business with minimum stress. It is also something of a 'survival of the fittest' situation, as the targets are most likely to be underprivileged, poor people who need to be 'got rid of' to make way for a world of millionaires and high flyers. Anyone think this seems a bit too 'Holocaust-like' for comfort?? If they don't have the right precautions in place to keep themselves safe at home then they don't have a leg to stand on. The only thing to be done is pray that you survive the night.
This is one of those films that stays with you for days afterwards. I cannot stop thinking about it.
See this.

(HORROR) Sisters - 1973 ****

Quite a shocking film for it's time, mostly for the purely psychological tension and panic that it creates for the viewer. One of those situations where the audience knows what's going on and feels like they want to scream at the screen to stop the following events from happening. Margot Kidder gives quite a haunting performance, mainly I think it's because she's obviously not English, and her slightly stilted accent is a bit eerie. I wouldn't say it's quite as terrifying as Hitchcock but it still packs a punch, and the ending is very odd. A woman is accused of murdering her date after he is found dead in her apartment. A reporter and a neighbour witness it happen. The trouble is the woman is one half of Siamese twins and she fears her sister may have something to do with it.
There are some genuinely tense moments here, and for those who have seen 'Dressed to Kill' this is a must-watch.

(HORROR) The Suicide Manual - 2003 ***

Freaky and very disturbing film. I only watched it because someone on IMDB was raving about it after watching the 'Whispering Corridors' films. The story as you can probably imagine centres around a manual found on a suicide chat room that talks about what the best ways are to kill yourself. It's like an even more disturbing version of The Ring. A depressed and solitary cameraman stumbles across the manual after meeting a suicidal girl who swears by it and tries to uncover the whereabouts of the mysterious girl 'Rickie' who presents it.

It's very eerie. Japan does eerie so much better than anywhere else.