A film by Wes Craven, that was a mega success in the 80s starring Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp and Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger. The power of this movie lies in the fact that this kids get killed while asleep, and sleep cannot be avoided. In so many other horror movies, the victims are nothing more than vapid cattle wandering dumbly up the slaughterhouse chute and calling out: “Is anyone there?” as they go up. They purposefully get themselves into stupid and dangerous situations and therefore we feel no real pity for them when they are eviscerated. However, in “A Nightmare On Elm Street” all the characters have to do to endanger themselves, is to go to sleep.

The teenagers of Springfield, Illinois - On Elm Street- are having nightmares. Tina and her best friend Nancy learn that they’re dreaming about the same creature, a hideously burned man in a dirty red and green sweater who bears an odd weapon; a glove with razor fingers. When Tina is brutally murdered in her bed one night, suspicion falls upon her volatile boyfriend Rod, who was the only other person in the room with Tina when she died. But Rod swears he didn’t do it, and tells Nancy that he too has been suffering from terrible nightmares in which a knife- fingered man is trying to kill him. Nancy begins to suspect that something evil is happening within their dreams, and that perhaps the boogeyman is real. When Rod turns up dead in his jail cell, Nancy is convinced that a ghostly killer is stalking them in their sleep. Nancy must think quickly, as Freddy tries to pick off his victims one by one. 

Trailer:

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1214775321/

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Based on the novel of Dennis Lehane directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon.

Childhood friends Jimmy Markum, Sean Devine and Dave Boyle reunite following the death of Jimmy’s oldest daughter, Katie. Sean’s a police detective on the case, gathering difficult and disturbing evidence; he’s also tasked with handling Jimmy’s rage and need for retribution. A great thriller, you don’t know who the “Murderer” is until the end.The acting is flawless and believable through out the whole film. “We bury our sins, we wash them clean. Here in Mystic River. “

Won 2 Oscars (Penn and Robbins)

Trailer:

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1956118809/

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Some maybe know the book by Lionel Shriver, Lynne Ramsay directed this film with actors like Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly and Ezra Miller. Swinton is just AMAZING in this movie, she plays the mother of a teenage boy and knows her child is not ‘normal’. The young Kevin is played brilliantly by Jasper Newell, he is abusive and manipulative. Swinton thinks it’s her fault, because mothers who do not bond with their children are generally made to feel at fault - and this issue is very well conveyed. Everyone seems to condemn her and she appears at surface level to accept this, except we also see that she doesn’t! I’m sure you won’t be disappointed by this drama/thriller combination, you should check out the trailer!

Trailer:

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi566533657

This movie is so confusing, crazy, weird, it’s basically one long chaotic nightmare. A real head trip where one is constantly questioning the sanity of the main characters. Brain Dead is not easy to follow but if you do, it’s a great thriller, with a fantastic cast!

Plot:

A psychological thriller from the writer of the original “Twilight Zone!” In a showdown of man vs. machine, Martin plunges into a chaotic nightmare trying to save his mind from the megalomaniacal corporation!

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT3bhZiN3mY

A widower is determined to get to the bottom of a potentially explosive secret involving his wife’s murder, big business, and corporate corruption. The cinematography is fantastic. Directed by Fernando Meirelles, who also directed “City of God”, with actors like Ralph Fiennes, Danny Huston and Rachel Weisz, who won an Oscar.

Plot:

In a remote area of Northern Kenya, activist Tessa Quayle is found brutally murdered. Tessa’s companion, a doctor, appears to have fled the scene, and the evidence points to a crime of passion. Members of the British High Commission in Nairobi assume that Tessa’s widower, their mild-mannered and unambitious colleague Justin Quayle, will leave the matter to them. They could not be more wrong. Haunted by remorse and jarred by rumors of his late wife’s infidelities, Quayle surprises everyone by embarking on a personal odyssey that will take him across three continents. Using his privileged access to diplomatic secrets, he will risk his own life, stopping at nothing to uncover and expose the truth - a conspiracy more far-reaching and deadly than Quayle could ever have imagined.

Trailer:

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3035693337/

Finally a Horror film I’m looking forward too. The story sounds good and the actors are great: Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts.

Plot:

Some say that all houses have memories. For one man, his home is the place he would kill to forget. A family unknowingly moves into a home where several grisly murders were committed…only to find themselves the killer’s next target. Successful publisher Will Atenton (Craig) quit a job in New York City to relocate his wife, Libby (Weisz), and two girls to a quaint New England town. But as they settle into their new life, they discover their perfect home was the murder scene of a mother and her children. And the entire city believes it was at the hands of the husband who survived. When Will investigates the tragedy, his only lead comes from Ann Paterson (Watts), a neighbor who was close to the family that died. As Will and Ann piece together the disturbing puzzle, they discover that the story of the last man to leave Will’s dream house will be just as horrifying to the one who came next.

Trailer:

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi64658457/

One of the great thrillers by Roman Polanski with Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry and John Fraser. Disturbing, harrowing tale of one girls (Deneuve) descent into madness.

Plot:

Left alone when her sister goes on vacation, a sexually repressed young beauty goes insane with surreal fantasies of seduction and rape. A Belgian girl, Carol, works as a manicurist at a London beauty salon. While having lunch, a good looking young man, Colin, spots her and makes a date for another evening. She shares a flat with her sister Helen. Her sister’s married lover, Michael, brings out her dislike of men which she cannot explain to Colin. Michael takes Helen abroad for a holiday. Left alone in their flat, Carol’s moments of catalepsy and hallucination increase and deepen into madness.

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO0niGPR5S4

A classic film by Otto Preminger. In a murder trial, the defendant says he suffered temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case? I like the twists in this film, you never know what really happened, until the end. With James Stewart, Lee Remick and Ben Gazzara.

Plot:

Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara), a lieutenant in the army, is arrested for the murder of a bartender, Barney Quill. He claims, in his defense, that the victim had raped and beaten up his wife Laura (Lee Remick). Although Laura supports her husband’s story, the police surgeon can find no evidence that she has been raped. Manion is defended by Paul Biegler (James Stewart), a rather humble small-town lawyer. During the course of interviews, Biegler discovers that Manion is violently possessive and jealous, and also that his wife has a reputation for giving her favors to other men. Biegler realizes that the prosecution will try to make the court believe that Laura was the lover of the bartender and than Manion killed him and beat her up when he discovered them together. Manion pleads “not guilty” and Biegler, who knows that his case is weak, sets his assistants to try to find a witness who will save Manion.

Trailer:

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3736469785/