Michael Dougherty Selects
“Back when I was a kid it wasn’t easy to get your fix of underground cult movies. If you were lucky, you might’ve had one local theater or a drive-in with the balls to screen these gems, or maybe you had a friend whose parents let them rent whatever they wanted from the video store. Now, in an era where corporate streaming services dominate the entertainment landscape, generating safe and sanitized “algorithm-approved” content for the unwashed masses, it seems there are even less options for those of us who love movies that are a little rougher around the edges; movies that might not be as slick and polished as their big multiplex counterparts, but are nonetheless just as important and valuable — if not more so. Because while the studios and networks tend to embrace a decision-by-committee approach where a filmmaker’s vision is often watered down by test screenings and marketing mandates, these movies represent the artist’s vision as it was originally intended. And you can feel it. Watching these films is like being placed in the hands of madmen who could give a fuck what the suits want and would rather go out guns blazing in order to provide an experience that might be horrifying, revolting, and maybe even morally questionable, but they’re raw, unfiltered, and generally awesome.”
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Ringu
1998 • Japan • Directed by Hideo Nakata
In 1998, director Hideo Nakata (Dark Water) unleashed a chilling tale of technological terror on unsuspecting audiences, which redefined the horror genre, launched the J-horror boom in the West and introduced a generation of moviegoers to a creepy, dark-ha...
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One Missed Call
Tapping into the same brand of terror as the Ring and Grudge movies, visionary director Takashi Miike ('Audition', 'Blade of the Immortal') presents a modern, high-tech twist on that mainstay of Japanese folklore, the yurei or vengeful spirit, in the form of its own iconic antihero - the terrifyi...
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Brain Damage
Meet Elmer. He’s your local, friendly parasite with the ability to induce euphoric hallucinations in his hosts. But these LSD-like trips come with a hefty price tag. When young Brian comes under Elmer’s addictive spell, it’s not long before he finds himself scouring the city streets in search of ...
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Basket Case
1982 • United States • Directed by Frank Henenlotter
The feature debut of director Frank Henenlotter (Brain Damage, Frankenhooker), 1982's Basket Case is a riotous and blood-spattered "midnight movie" experience, now presented for the first time ever in 4K.
Duane Bradley seems like a pretty ord...
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Children of the Corn
1984 • United States • Directed by Fritz Kiersch
A young couple travelling cross-country find themselves stranded in the small town of Gatlin, where they meet a mysterious religious cult of children. With no adults in sight the terror brews as the new arrivals find the secrets of the prospering ...
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Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris
As Gyaos monsters begin to attack Japan again, a young girl - whose parents died during a previous monster conflict - discovers a new creature called Iris. After merging with the girl, the trauma-powered Iris seeks revenge on Gamera, who seems to be losing his patience with humankind.
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Eaten Alive
1976 • United States • Directed by Tobe Hooper
Nearly a decade before he donned Freddy Krueger's famous red and green sweater, horror icon Robert Englund delivered a supremely sleazy performance in Eaten Alive another essay in taut Southern terror from Tobe Hooper, director of The Texas Chain Sa...
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Deep Red
From Dario Argento, maestro of the macabre and the man behind some the greatest excursions in Italian horror (Suspiria, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage), comes Deep Red - arguably the ultimate giallo movie. One night, musician Marcus Daly (David Hemmings, Blow Up), looking up from the street be...
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Tetsuo - The Iron Man
A strange man known only as the "metal fetishist", who seems to have an insane compulsion to stick scrap metal into his body, is hit and possibly killed by a Japanese "salaryman", out for a drive with his girlfriend. The salaryman then notices that he is being slowly overtaken by some kind of dis...
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The Cat o' Nine Tails
When a break-in occurs at a secretive genetics institute, blind puzzle-maker Franco Arnò (Karl Malden: Patton, One-Eyed Jacks), who overheard an attempt to blackmail one of the institute's scientists shortly before the robbery, teams up with intrepid reporter Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus: Ben...
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Season of the Witch
1972 • United States • Directed by George A. Romero
Perhaps the most unclassifiable of filmmaker George A. Romero’s works, 1972’s Season of the Witch sees the Night of the Living Dead filmmaker returning to the realm of the supernatural for this bewitching tale of a housewife driven to an intere...
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The Mutilator
1984 · United States · Directed by Buddy Cooper
Although the slasher film was in decline by the mid-1980s, there were still some grisly delights to be had… and they don’t come much grislier than writer-director Buddy Cooper’s sickening stalk-and-slash classic The Mutilator! When Ed receives a me...
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Dark Water
2002 • Japan • Directed by Hideo Nakata
After terrifying audiences worldwide with the blockbuster J-horror classic Ring and its sequel, director Hideo Nakata returned to the genre for Dark Water, another highly atmospheric, and critically acclaimed, tale of the supernatural which took the common...
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The Driller Killer
1979 • United States • Directed by Abel Ferrara
In career that has encompassed such controversial classics as Ms. 45, Bad Lieutenant and Welcome to New York, none of Abel Ferrara’s films have quite managed to match the shock, extremity and downright notorious nature of The Driller Killer. Ferrar...
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Mako: The Jaws of Death
1976 • United States • Directed by William Grefé
A man accidentally learns that he has a mystical connection with sharks, and is given a strange medallion by a shaman. Becoming more and more alienated from normal society, he develops an ability to communicate with sharks telepathically, setting ...
