He's not Freddy, He's Not Jason... He's Real.

Starring: Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold, Mary Demas, Anne Bartoletti, Elizabeth Kaden, Ted Kaden

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ - good

"You strangle one, stab another, and one you cut up, and one you don't, then the police don't know what to do. They think you're four different people. What makes their job so much easier, is pattern. What they call a modus operandi. That's Latin. Bet you didn't know any Latin, did you?" - Henry

Why watch this? WARNING - this film is tough to watch and disturbing... not for the squeamish.

Plot Summary: Henry, a nomadic ex-con, lives with his former cellmate Otis and embarks on a random killing spree. Otis's sister Becky moves in with the two men, creating an unusual dynamic where Henry seems to develop a connection with her while still engaging in violent acts with his accomplice Otis.

Maljack Productions; Greycat Films

Let the festivities begin

Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Will Poulter, William Jackson Harper, Wilhelm Blomgren, Archie Madekwe, Ellora Torchia, Gunnel Fred

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ - good

"No. No, no. Uh Ruben was - a product of inbreeding. All of our oracles are deliberate products of inbreeding." - Arne

Why watch this? This smart, unsettling descent into Swedish folklore will leave you wondering.

Plot Summary: Dani is a young woman grappling with a personal tragedy and a strained relationship. She joins her boyfriend and his friends on a trip to a remote Swedish village for a legendary midsummer festival that occurs once every 90 years. What begins as an idyllic summer holiday in a land of eternal daylight quickly devolves into a terrifying experience as the group becomes entangled in the community's increasingly bizarre and violent pagan rituals.

Square Peg, B-Reel Films; A24

The Strangest Cast of Half Humans Ever Assembled!

Starring: Wallace Ford, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates, Henry Victor, Harry Earles, Daisy Earles, Rose Dione, Daisy Hilton, Violet Hilton, Schlitze, Josephine Joseph, Johnny Eck, Frances O'Connor, Peter Robinson, Olda Roderick, Koo Koo, Prince Randian

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"You laughed at them, shuddered at them. And, yet, but for the accident of birth, you might be one as they are. They did not ask to be brought into the world. But, into the world they came. Their code is a law unto themselves: offend one and you offend them all." – Carnival Barker

Why watch this? This classic film is both terrifying and extremely compassionate.

Plot Summary: A beautiful trapeze artist named Cleopatra seduces a wealthy little person named Hans in a traveling circus, with the secret intention of murdering him for his inheritance with her lover, the strongman Hercules. After her cruel intentions are revealed at the wedding banquet, the circus performers conspire to stop the injustice. Ultimately, they exact their vengeance upon the two traitors in a climactic and shocking turn of events.

Tod Browning; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

What's Gotten Into You?

Starring: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker, Tania Saulnier, Xantha Radley

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"It tried to get in my mouth. What kinda thing wants you to eat it?" - Jack MacReady

Why watch this? It's crude, gory, slimy, violent, and completely awesome - if you like this kind of horror film.

Plot Summary: In the small town of Wheelsy, South Carolina, a meteorite crashes, unleashing a parasitic alien creature. The creature infects local businessman Grant Grant, transforming him and giving him a hunger for raw meat. As Grant's body becomes a monstrous breeding ground, a swarm of slug-like offspring threatens to infect the rest of the town, turning residents into zombie-like drones.

Brightlight Pictures, Gold Circle Films,
Strike Ent.; Universal Pictures

Just because you're invited, doesn't mean you're welcome.

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root, LaKeith Stanfield, Catherine Keener, Lil Rel Howery, Erika Alexander, Marcus Henderson, Betty Gabriel

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"You know I can't give you the keys, right, babe?" - Rose Armitage

Why watch this? You sorta know where it's going, but it gets to you anyway.

Plot Summary: A young Black photographer travels with his white girlfriend to meet her parents at their secluded estate for a weekend getaway. While initially interpreting their overly accommodating behavior as awkward, well-intentioned nervousness, he soon discovers the family's sinister, deeply disturbing motives for inviting him. Suspicion turns to survival as he attempts to escape.

Blumhouse Prod., QC Ent., Monkeypaw Prod.;
Universal Pictures

Who will survive and what will be left of them?

Starring: Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, Gunnar Hansen, Allen Danziger, William Vail, Teri McMinn

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"They could not have expected nor would they have wished to see as much of the mad and macabre as they were to see that day. For them an idyllic summer afternoon drive became a nightmare." - Narrator

WARNING: THIS FILM IS DISTURBING!

Why watch this? Just seeing the trailer re-traumatized me.

Plot Summary: Five friends on a road trip through rural Texas pick up a disturbed hitchhiker and soon find themselves in a horrifying encounter with a family of cannibals. The group discovers a nearby abandoned house, unknowingly stumbling upon the home of the deranged Leatherface and his equally unsettling relatives. What begins as an innocent excursion quickly devolves into a desperate fight for survival.

Vortex Inc.; Bryanston Distributing Co.

THE PANTHER WOMAN lured men on - only to destroy them body and soul!

Starring: Charles Laughton, Bela Lugosi, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Kathleen Burke, Arthur Hohl, Stanley Fields, Paul Hurst

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"You! You made us in the house of pain! You made us... things! Not men! Not beasts! Part man... part beast! Things!" – Sayer of the Law

Why watch this? When you create unholy life, there's always a chance it will turn on you.

Plot Summary: Shipwrecked traveler Edward Parker is rescued and subsequently stranded on a remote South Pacific island belonging to the reclusive Dr. Moreau. Parker discovers Moreau is conducting grotesque experiments, using vivisection to transform animals into human-like creatures, which he controls with a whip and a strict set of rules known as "The Law". Among Moreau's creations is Lota, a beautiful "Panther Woman" he attempts to mate with Parker.

Paramount Pictures Inc.

The road to greatness can take you to the edge

Starring: Miles Teller, J. K. Simmons, Melisssa Benoist, Paul Reiser, Austin Stowell, Nate Lang, Chris Mulkey, Damon Gupton, Suanne Spoke, Max Kasch

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"I was there to push people beyond what's expected of them. I believe that is... an absolute necessity. Otherwise, we're depriving the world of the next Louis Armstrong. The next Charlie Parker." – Terence Fletcher

Why watch this? How many roads are there to perfection? What is the cost to bring it out?

Plot Summary: College student and drummer Andrew Neiman desires to be the best, like Buddy Rich-best. Shaffer Conservatory in NYC is prestigious and Andrew is recruited into a Studio jazz ensemble. On the path to core drummer, he (an many players) must endure harsh verbal and physical abuse at the hands of the conductor, Terence Fletcher. It quickly becomes a test of wills pitting the boy's determination to be great against a teacher's unreasonable requirements for perfection.

Bold Films, Blumhouse Prod., Right of
Way Films; Sony Pictures Classics

The terror starts the moment he stops.

Starring: Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jeffrey DeMunn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, John M. Jackson, Billy Greenbush, Jack Thibeau

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"I want you to stop me." - John Ryder

Why watch this? It's as dreadfully suspenseful as a movie can get.

Plot Summary: Driving a car across country, young Jim Halsey picks up a hitchhiker who reveals himself to be a dangerous serial killer. After Jim narrowly escapes, the relentless hitchhiker proceeds to stalk him, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake and framing Jim for his crimes. Now pursued by the police and the killer, Jim's only hope for survival and clearing his name lies in the aid of a truck stop waitress named Nash.

HBO Pictures, Silver Screen Prod.;
TriStar Pictures

Seven deadly sins. Seven ways to die.

Starring: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, John C. McGinley, Kevin Spacey, Richard Roundtree, Daniel Zacapa

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"People will barely be able to comprehend it, but they won't be able to deny it." – John Doe

Why watch this? This is one intense, gory, emotional crime film.

Plot Summary: The film follows a retiring detective, William Somerset, and his newly transferred partner, David Mills, as they investigate a series of brutal murders. They discover the killer's motives are rooted in the seven deadly sins, with each victim representing one of the vices. As the detectives delve deeper into the twisted mind of the killer, the investigation takes an increasingly dark and disturbing turn.

Arnold Koopelson Prod.; New Line Cinema

If you come in five minutes after this picture begins, you won't know what it's all about!
When you've seen it all, you'll swear there's never been anything like it!

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, James Gregory, Henry Silva, Leslie Parrish, John McGiver, Khigh Dheigh, James Edwards, Douglas Henderson, Albert Paulsen, Barry Kelley, Lloyd Corrigan, Madame Spivy, Reggie Nalder

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"I told them to build me an assassin. I wanted a killer from a world filled with killers and they chose you because they thought it would bind me closer to them." – Mrs. Iselin

Why watch this? This Frankenheimer thriller was certainly ahead of its time. I genuinely left me disturbed.

Plot Summary: The film opens in the Korean War with the capture of U.S. soldiers by Soviet/Chinese forces. Three days later the men return and are eventually sent back home. For their service, Sergeant Raymond Shaw receives the Medal of Honor, thanks to Captain Ben Marco's recommendation. Marco, and many of the men involved, however, are having horrible nightmares. In Marco's fever dreams he witnesses Shaw murder two fellow soldiers in front of communist military leaders. He convinces his superior office that something happened in Korea akin to brainwashing, and he feels that Shaw may be compromised.

M. C. Productions; United Artists

One of the most important and powerful films of all time!

Starring: Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken, George Dzundza, Chuck Aspergren

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"You gotta listen to me... You wanna stay down here and die? Go on. It's up to you. Now it's up to you." - Michael

Why watch this? The Vietnam war damaged its survivors. Here, we see the depth of that devastation.

Plot Summary: This epic war drama explores the devastating impact of the Vietnam War on a close-knit group of friends from a small, working-class Pennsylvania mining town. It follows three steelworker buddies who volunteer for military service and face harrowing experiences, forever altering their lives and testing the bonds of friendship.

EMI; Universal Pictures

From a dimension beyond the living, a terror to scare you to death.

Starring: JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Beatrice Straight, Dominique Dunne, Heather O’Rourke, Zelda Rubinstein

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"It lies to her, it tells her things only a child could understand. It has been using her to restrain the others. To her, it simply is another child. To us, it is the Beast." - Tangina

Why watch this? Nightmares come to life in this disturbing, apparition-filled experience.

Plot Summary: The Freeling family's seemingly normal suburban home becomes the site of increasingly strange and frightening supernatural occurrences. These manifestations initially seem playful, but they quickly turn menacing, eventually leading to the disappearance of the youngest daughter, Carol Anne. Desperate to rescue her, the family enlists the help of paranormal investigators and a spiritual medium to confront the malevolent forces that have invaded their home.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, SLM Prod. Gp.,
Mist Ent., Amblin Ent.; MGM/UA Ent. Co.

The Ultimate in alien terror.

Starring: Kurt Russell, Keith David, Richard Masur, Wilford Brimley, T. K. Carter, Richard Dysart, David Clennon, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Donald Moffat

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

DML Top 50 #44 - Dad's Full (Spoiler) Review and Deep Dive of The Thing

"You see, what we're talkin' about here is an organism that imitates other life-forms, and it imitates 'em perfectly." - Doc Blair

Why watch this? ... the blood test scene is worth the prices of admission alone.

Plot Summary: A team of American researchers stationed in isolated Antarctica encounter a hostile alien life form that can perfectly imitate other organisms. The creature's ability to seamlessly impersonate their victims creates an environment of intense paranoia and distrust among the nervous crew. As the researchers struggle to identify and destroy the shape-shifting alien, they face a harrowing battle for survival.

The Turman-Foster Co.; Universal Pictures

Four men ride a wild river. A weekend turns into a nightmare.

Starring: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox, Bill McKinney, James Dickey, Billy Redden

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"Did you ever look out over a lake, think about something buried underneath it? Man, that's about as buried as you can get." – Lewis Medlock

Why watch this? It's a nail-biting journey down a dark river.

Plot Summary: Four Atlanta businessmen embark on a canoeing trip down a remote river in the Georgia wilderness before it's dammed and turned into a lake. Their adventure quickly turns into a struggle for survival when they encounter hostile locals intent on killing them. As they navigate the perilous river, the men are forced to do horrible things to survive.

Elmer Enterprises; Warner Bros.

Watch out! They get you while you're sleeping!

Starring: Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"I keep seeing these people, all recognizing each other. Something is passing between them all, some secret. It's a conspiracy, I know it." – Elizabeth Driscoll

Why watch this? The original 1956 film was creepy. This remake is downright terrifying.

Plot Summary: A San Francisco health inspector, Matthew Bennell, and his colleague Elizabeth Driscoll discover that residents are slowly being replaced by alien duplicates. These duplicates appear identical to the humans they replace but are devoid of emotion and empathy. As the alien takeover spreads throughout the city, Bennell and Driscoll, along with two friends, must attempt to survive and warn others of the impending global invasion.

Solofilm; United Artists

To enter the mind of a killer she must challenge the mind of a madman.

Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Diane Baker, Kasi Lemmons, Charles Napier

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

DML Top 50 #13 - Dad's Full (Spoiler) Review and Deep Dive of The Silence of the Lambs

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. You fly back to school now, little Starling." – Dr. Hannibal Lecter

Why watch this? ... it's a lethal combination of everything important to great filmmaking.

Plot Summary: A young FBI trainee, Clarice Starling, must interview an incarcerated, manipulative cannibalistic serial killer, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, to gain insight into capturing another active serial killer known as "Buffalo Bill". With the help of Lecter's psychological profiles and cryptic clues, Starling works against time to uncover the identity of the killer and save his latest victim. As she delves deeper into the case and the mind of Lecter, she also confronts the psychological challenges of a male-dominated field and her own personal past traumas.

Strong Heart Productions; Orion Pictures

The Night HE Came Home!

Starring: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Nick Castle, P. J. Soles, Nancy Loomis, Tony Moran, Nancy Keyes, Brian Andrews, Charles Cyphers, Kyle Richards

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up for I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil." – Dr. Sam Loomis

Why watch this? It's the scariest film I have ever seen. 

Plot Summary: Welcome to Haddonfield, Illinois. A few years back a young boy, Michael, killed his teenage sister on Halloween night. He was sent away. Fifteen years later, Michael escapes and returns to his hometown. Hot on his trail is Dr. Samuel Loomis, a psychiatrist who has studied Michael Myers all his life. The doctor knows that Michael is mentally beyond reach, and he will leave a lot of bodies in his wake.
 

Dad's Preview: In 1979, I was always looking for a way to get a date to dig her hands into my arm. Horror movies were ideal for that purpose. This film, holy crap, it made previous "scary" movies seem like a Disney flick. This journey into terror, may be the scariest film ever made. After Halloween, the term "slasher film" became a thing, even its own horror genre. For all the jumps and murders, there is very little blood on screen. When we see Michael Myers, in that freakin' white mask, it still sends chills up our spines! Luckily, Jamie Lee Curtis was there to survive, and go on to star in several of the many sequels to follow.

Compass Int'l Pictures, Falcon Int'l Prod.;
Aquarius Releasing

The list is life. The man was real. The story is true.

Starring: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall, Jonathan Sagallie, Embeth Davidtz, Mark Ivanir, Beatrice Macola

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

DML Top 50 #25 - Dad's Full (Spoiler) Review and Deep Dive of Schindler's List

"They came with nothing. Nothing. And they flourished. For six centuries there has been a Jewish Krakow. Think about that. By this evening those six centuries are a rumor. They never happened. Today is history." – SS 2nd LT Amon Göth

Why watch this? ... to remember, and not let it happen again - EVER on this Earth.

Plot Summary: During World War II in German-occupied Poland, a German industrialist named Oskar Schindler arrives in Kraków seeking to make his fortune amidst the war's chaos. Initially driven by profit, he establishes a factory employing Jewish workers, seeing them as a source of cheap labor. As the Nazi regime intensifies its persecution of Jews, Schindler is confronted with the atrocities of the Holocaust and undergoes a profound moral transformation.

Amblin Entertainment; Universal Pictures

"I am not an animal! I am a human being! I...am...a man!"

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Freddie Jones, Michael Elphick, Hannah Gordon

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"If only I could find her, so she could see me with such lovely friends here now; perhaps she could love me as I am. I've tried so hard to be good." John Merrick, speaking of his mother

Why watch this? ... to see that certain humans can be as good as others are cruel.

Plot Summary: This drama follows a severely deformed man, John Merrick, who lives as a sideshow attraction in Victorian London. A compassionate surgeon, Dr. Frederick Treves, takes Merrick under his care at a London Hospital. There, John slowly reveals his intelligence, sensitivity, and desire for acceptance as a human being. The film explores themes of dignity and societal attitudes towards disability through Merrick's journey to find a place in society beyond being a curiosity.

Brooksfilms; Paramount Pictures

Something beyond comprehension is happening to a girl on this street, in this house . . .
a man has been sent for as a last resort. That man is The Exorcist.

Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller, Linda Blair, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, Father William O'Malley

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us. But he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us. The attack is psychological, Damien, and powerful. So don't listen to him. Remember that - do not listen." – Father Merrin

Why watch this? The actual exorcism scenes are terrifying.

Plot Summary: When a young girl begins to exhibit disturbing and violent behavior, her mother seeks both medical and psychiatric help without success. As the girl's condition worsens, manifesting in bizarre and terrifying ways, the desperate mother turns to the Catholic Church. Ultimately, two priests, one older and experienced and the other facing a crisis of faith, are called upon to confront the mysterious entity possessing the child.

Hoya Productions; Warner Bros.