The Core (Sam Zimmerman) Recommendations
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- DirectorFlorian HabichtStarsClaudia AionoHuia ApiataBarbara ArmstrongA close-knit New Zealand family run the most successful scare park in the Southern Hemisphere; facing their fears so others can face theirs.
- DirectorCheol-soo JangStarsSeo Yeong-hieJi Seong-wonMin-ho HwangA woman subject to mental, physical and sexual abuse on a remote island seeks a way out."This is my final one because it's really like the convergence of Hooper and Romero. It gets at that sort of madness -- that like boiling point that Hooper nailed in Texas Chainsaw, nailed in The Funhouse. And Romero, who had deep, deep beautiful themes: civil rights, consumerism, all the things that bubble up in Romero's films. Here in Bedeviled, you'll see the madness and you'll also see real, rich conversation about abusing women. It's about people who stand by and watch and how complicit they are, it's brutal, it's terrific, it's deep, it kicks ass."
- DirectorJoel PotrykusStarsTy HicksonAmari CheatomFijiSuffering from delusions of fortune, a young hermit hides out in the forest hoping to crack an ancient mystery, but pays a price for his mania."Very cool movie from Joel Pyotrykus. It's a film about isolation, about madness, about dark magic, and this features a really great lead performance by Ty Hickson. And the reason I bring that up is that even these days in horror, we're not seeing a ton of great horror with black leads. Obviously Get Out! was huge this year. Ty Hickson puts on an incredible performance here. It's a great little movie. It's creepy. It's weird. And it's deeply about something." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorJeremy GardnerStarsJeremy GardnerAdam CronheimNiels BolleThe personalities of two former baseball players clash as they traverse the rural back roads of a post-plague New England teeming with the undead."I didn't want to talk a lot about zombie films but I did want to talk about what Jeremy Gardner pulls off in The Battery. Because I think what he does is really comparable to what George did, and the Image 10 did when they made Night of the Living Dead. It's a small movie made for $5k. It's about character. It's about humans. And there's wonderful, wonderful zombie work in it. It's a beautiful independent movie and a great success story." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorGerald KarglStarsErwin LederRobert Hunger-BühlerSilvia RyderA troubled man gets released from prison and starts taking out his sadistic fantasies on an unsuspecting family living in a secluded house."Gerald Kargl's Austrian masterpiece: this is an incredible home invasion film with amazing cinematography. This movie is absolutely unreal and one of the only movies that captures the frenzy that Tobe did in Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The feeling that a movie is about to absolutely break out of control of everyone on that set. It's a special film. It's a violent film. There's really nothing like it. Much like there's nothing like Chainsaw and there's nothing like Night of the Living Dead." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorSophia TakalStarsMackenzie DavisCaitlin FitzGeraldLawrence Michael LevineTwo women with differing degrees of success travel north from Los Angeles to Big Sur for a weekend vacation. Both see the trip as an opportunity to reconnect after years of competition and jealousy have driven a wedge between them."This is an awesome psychedelic-thriller directed by Sophia Takal. It's about two friends who retreat to a cabin for a weekend and find themselves at odds. It, of course, comes in the tradition of Persona and Repulsion. At its heart, it's about female friendship, it's about pressures of your work, and it's about two women who have to confront things they hate in themselves. Things they hate in each other. But it's also a bitchin' psychedelic-thriller." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorAnn TurnerStarsRebecca SmartNicholas EadieVictoria LongleyAn imaginative and somewhat disturbed young girl fantasizes about evil creatures and other oddities to mask her insecurities while growing up in rural Australia."This is a really underrated gem from Australia from the late 80s directed by Ann Turner. It's a really cool film in the vein of Paper House, Pan's Labyrinth, all the dark fairytales. Movies about kids who retreat into themselves because of a tumultuous home life. This one is a bit undiscovered. We're really glad to have it on Shudder. And I hope people really find it: really dig into it. Ann Turner isn't really celebrated but she's a fantastic director and it's revealed in this movie." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorJames Ward ByrkitStarsEmily BaldoniMaury SterlingNicholas BrendonStrange things begin to happen when a group of friends gather for a dinner party on an evening when a comet is passing overhead."It's one of my favorite films of the last couple years. It's a stunning independent sci-fi film about a bunch of friends who are having a dinner party. A comet goes over their heads and all the power goes out. When they walk across the street to the house that does have power, they see themselves inside. It's a really fantastic film: mind-bending, doppelgänger-based. But, what it's really about is yourself. Who are you? Who are you meant to be? Who did you want to be? This is a bunch of people confronting themselves. It's a really fantastic drama, and a really fantastic independent sci-fi film. It's awesome." -Sam Zimmerman
- CreatorHervé HadmarMarc HerpouxStarsVeerle BaetensFrançois DeblockGeraldine ChaplinLisa inherits an abandoned house from an unknown benefactor. On her first night in the house, after hearing noises, she knocks a hole in the wall and crawls through to discover an inescapable, infinite, labyrinthine "house.""You wanna cry? Beyond the Walls -- this is a Shudder exclusive, three-episode, French mini-series about a young woman who inherits a townhouse. Inside of that townhouse is a man who's been dead for 30 years. She moves in and she finds a metaphysical plane beyond the walls. This is really eerie and really captivating. But, what it becomes is a story about grief, a story about romance, and a story that a lot of our Shudder members have been very proud to admit made them cry." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorAlice LoweStarsAlice LoweDan Renton SkinnerJo HartleyWidow Ruth is seven months pregnant when, believing herself to be guided by her unborn baby, she embarks on a homicidal rampage, dispatching anyone who stands in her way."Alice Lowe of Sightseers. A wonderful performer. A wonderful writer. And now, a wonderful director. Her feature debut, Prevenge, is about a woman who is pregnant, and is hearing her child instruct her to kill -- to take some sort of revenge. Now, this is already a great hook, but take away that and what you have is a really excellent look at impending motherhood. All the fears. The anxieties. It's a really funny film. It's a really dark film. And it's really fantastic." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorJoshua ZemanStarsRachel MillsJoshua ZemanStephen WinickDelving into our collective nightmares, this horror-documentary investigates the origins of our most terrifying urban legends and the true stories that may have inspired them.Zimmerman rolled the summary for both Cropsey and Killer Legends together. (see above)
- DirectorBarbara BrancaccioJoshua ZemanStarsJoshua ZemanBarbara BrancaccioBill EllisRealizing that the urban legend of their youth has actually come true, two filmmakers delve into the mystery surrounding five missing children and the real-life boogeyman linked to their disappearances."Let's talk about Cropsey and Killer Legends. These are two movies from Joshua Zeman. He co-directed Cropsey with Barbara Brancaccio and Killer Legends with Rachel Mills. Both films look at urban legends and kinda what frightened us as kids, the stories we heard, and it follows them to their factual roots. Where did these myths come from? What did these myths attach themselves to? In the case of Cropsey, the legend of Cropsey attached itself to a bunch of child abductions on Staten Island. So they do a really great job at looking at what scared people in their youth and extrapolating that into true adult fears like loss, child child abduction, like grief. They're awesome. They will stick with you, I promise." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorKôji ShiraishiStarsJin MurakiRio KannoTomono KugaA documentary filmmaker explores seemingly unrelated paranormal incidents connected by the legend of an ancient demon called the "kagutaba.""Noroi is a Japanese film from the director of Sadako vs. Kayako. It's actually from 2005, never released in the US, but it's a Shudder exclusive, we finally brought it to the states. It's really special. It takes that DVD aesthetic and freaks you out as this guy who investigates paranormal instances follows a curse through generations, all the way to its really demonic roots. This is one of the scariest movies of the 21st century and it's totally essential." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorJoyce A. NashawatiStarsZiad BakriMimi DenissiLouis-Do de LencquesaingGreece. A seaside resort plagued by a heavy heatwave. Water is rare and violence is ready to explode. Ashraf, a solitary immigrant, guards a French family's villa while they are away. In this dry land, crushed by the sun, he is stopped by a policeman for an I.D check..."On the other side of the spectrum is Blind Sun. This is similarly like new-school paranoia, but out, sunburned, sun scorched, on the beach, it's in Greece, there's a guy, he's housesitting, and the people around him are constantly questioning him. They're constantly asking about his immigration status, who he is, and it takes on sort-of some rich themes with regard to immigration and our own biases." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorPerry BlackshearStarsMacLeod AndrewsEvan DumouchelMargaret Ying DrakeSuspecting that people around him are turning into evil creatures, a troubled man questions whether to protect his only friend from an impending war, or from himself."This film is a really vivid look at mental illness and your perception of reality. It has these insane dream sequences with a pitch black background. It gets under your skin. It's ultra-low-budget but what they pull off is genuinely creepy. I think you're gonna dig this. I think it's gonna f*ck you up a little bit." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorEugenio MiraStarsElijah WoodJohn CusackKerry BishéA pianist with stage fright endures a performance under the eyes of a mysterious sniper, who will shoot and kill him if a wrong note is played."Now, Grand Piano. It's so much fun. It's so cheeky and it's beautiful. Elija Woods plays a concert pianist. He has to play every note correctly or he will die. It rules! And again, someone's caught up in something bigger -- there's something else at play, here. And the movie just plays. It has so much fin with itself, with it's actors (you've got Alex Winter from Bill & Ted and The Lost Boys), I think you're gonna have so much fun with this." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorJuanfer AndrésEsteban RoelStarsMacarena GómezNadia de SantiagoHugo Silva1950s Madrid: The agoraphobic Montse raised her now 18 y.o. kid sister. The upstairs neighbor falls down the stairs and breaks a leg. The crazy Montse takes him in."Now we're gonna go to Spain, for one of my favorite movies of the last couple years, Shrew's Nest. This is a great thriller, actually produced by Alex de la Iglesia of "Day of the Beast" and "Witching and Bitching" fame. So this is this really stunning period thriller about a woman who is agoraphobic and overbearing. She takes care of her younger sister and their neighbor falls down the stairs. She takes him inside and there's little shades of Misery when she brings him in. Is she half taking care of him, half keeping him hostage? So what you have is this tense, amazing movie where three people are stuck in this apartment and they all have to maneuver around each other. There's like Rope in there, there's Rear Window in there, and it spills over into such a bloody, (unintelligible), operatic piece of work. I love it so much; I think you will, too." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsJames FranciscusKarl MaldenCatherine SpaakTwo journalists try to solve a series of murders connected to a pharmaceutical company's secret experiments, becoming targets of the killer themselves."The best. This is similar because we've got someone caught up in something bigger than themselves: one of those great Hitchcock motifs. This is a bit more of a conspiracy thriller, but it's fun and it teases you out the whole way and again, you're starting to see the flair and the flourish of someone like Argento inject into what is otherwise a classical thriller. It's awesome." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorMario BavaStarsJohn SaxonLetícia RománValentina CorteseA mystery novel-loving American tourist witnesses a murder in Rome, and soon finds herself and her suitor caught up in a series of killings."The Godfather of Italian horror, and really the progenitor of the Giallo. Evil Eye is the first Giallo. It's alternate title is The Girl Who Knew Too Much, a direct riff on Hitchcock. And it's just this fun, black and white, elegant thriller about a girl who loves crime books, she loves pulp, and she gets caught up in a murder mystery herself. There's great foot-chases. There's great twists. There's everything you want in that sort of world as the Italian style starts to establish itself." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorTim ShechmeisterStarsAna CotoNoah CentineoIvanna SakhnoFollowing a group of students who leave hateful comments on the page of a fellow pupil who recently committed suicide."We have a movie on Shudder called Can't Take It Back. It's a Shudder exclusive and it's a real teen scream. So, it's sorta about these social media anxieties, right? It's about these girls who are terrible to each other on Facebook and terrible to a dead girl on Facebook and they regret this decision; they can't take it back. So, here's this girl, she's in class, she's taking a test. It's like that white sheet of paper -- black aerial font -- super mundane. So you're reading the questions, and then one of them says, "Why are you such a whore?" And it's like, because it's so mundane, it freaks you out, it freaks *her* out, but also, it kinda gets to that fear of being in high school and embarrassed and ostracized and having everyone turn against you. It's a really cool scene. It's a really fun movie, and I think it's gonna freak you out." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorJee-woon KimStarsLim Soo-jungYum Jung-ahKim Kap-suAfter being institutionalized in a mental hospital, Su-mi reunites with her sister, Su-yeon, and they return to live at their country home. But strange events plague the house, leading to surprising revelations and a shocking conclusion."It's Kim Jee-woon; he did I Saw the Devil. But this is so much more fairytale-like. Right? I Saw the Devil is like this charge/revenge/badass movie. A Tale of Two Sisters has the wicked stepmother, it has color everywhere in the house, and it has really one of the most masterful scares, really I think in modern horror." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorA.D. CalvoStarsQuinn ShephardSusan KellermannJonathan HoltzmanSoon after moving in with her aging aunt Dora, Adele meets Beth, seductive and mysterious, who tests the limits of Adele's moral ground and sends her spiraling down a psychologically unstable and phantasmagoric path."Another beautiful type of jump-scare I want to talk about is the slow-burn. And you think about films with *one* great scare, a film that builds and it builds and it builds and you can't take it anymore and then it explodes, and I love that. I think it takes a lot of talent, especially to keep you engaged while the film is building. So, I want to talk about Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl. This is a movie we have on Shudder; it's a Shudder exclusive. I love this film. It's a very beautiful 70s period piece set in New England so it has the perfect autumn atmosphere. It's about a young girl -- she's taking care of her sick aunt and it preys on your fear of family. Who are your family? Especially if you don't know them that well. So there's a scene where Adelle has a mirror and she's looking in at her sick aunt under the door and when it hits... it's one of the only recent times I remember someone scream bloody murder in a movie theater. I have a feeling a lot of people were doing that at home when they watched this." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorJaume BalagueróPaco PlazaStarsManuela VelascoFerran TerrazaJorge-Yamam SerranoA television reporter and cameraman follow emergency workers into a dark apartment building and are quickly locked inside with something terrifying."One of the scariest movies of maybe, ever. It's perfect. It's wonderful. It's found footage. It's from Spain. It's by Jaume Balaguerô and Paco Plaza. What [rec] does so well is something I think about as like a "fun house scare." It really preys on being scared of the dark: I'm in a room. Is something in here with me? Something *is* in here with me. That's the whole movie; it's relentless." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorClive BarkerStarsAndrew RobinsonClare HigginsAshley LaurenceA woman discovers the newly resurrected, partially formed, body of her brother-in-law and lover. She starts killing for him to revitalize his body and escape the demonic beings that are pursuing him after he escaped their underworld."Next up, and finally, an achievement of makeup effects with Bob Keen in Hellraiser. So, based on Clive Barker's novella, the best horror films not only of the 80s but probably of all time, the introduction of an icon in Pinhead, who's really only in the movie for like 6 minutes but has such a striking look. Designed by Clive Barker and Bob Keen and applied by Bob Keen onto Doug Bradley. It's unmissable. It's still nightmarish. It's one of the greatest bits of movie mustard you'll ever see." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorJason HowdenStarsMilo CawthorneJames Joshua BlakeKimberley CrossmanTwo teenage boys unwittingly summon an ancient evil entity known as The Blind One by delving into black magic while trying to escape their mundane lives."A lot of people are always saying where have all the makeup effects gone, right? Deathgasm. A film out of New Zealand, this is heavy metal horror and its director, Jason Lei Howden, comes from Weta Workshop, which a lot of people know mainly through Peter Jackson's films. So, they think of Lord of the Rings; they think of heavy visual effects. Weta was founded when Peter Jackson was working on films like Dead Alive, Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles. All those guys, they don't get to do a lot of bloody stuff anymore, right? Deathgasm beings those dudes into the fold, because Jason Lei Howden comes from that family, and it's old-school, it's Sam Raimi-styled, and it's cool as hell." -Sam Zimmerman
- CreatorHenrik BjörnStarsMoa GammelGöran RagnerstamRichard ForsgrenA detective returns to her hometown seven years after her daughter's disappearance, trying to find a connection to a current case."This is a series from Sweden. It starts as a mystery about a missing child and goes to a place of really dark fairytale worlds. And there's some really great, wonderful makeup effects where branches and plants are kind-of seeping out of people's skin." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorBrian YuznaStarsBilly WarlockConcetta D'AgneseBen SlackAn ordinary teenage boy discovers his family is part of a gruesome orgy cult for the social elite."Directed by Brian Yuzna, who is best known for producing a lot of Stewart Gordon's films, this is a holy grails of special makeup effects. With one of my favorite on-screen credits for it, "Surrealistic Special Makeup effects by Screaming-Mad George." This movie climaxes in one of the most insane, one of the gnarliest scenes of makeup effects and shunting you'll ever see." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorTaneli MustonenStarsNelly Hirst-GeeMimosa WillamoMikael GabrielEvery camper's worst nightmare came true at Lake Bodom in 1960 when four teenagers were stabbed to death while sleeping in their tent."One of our favorite contemporary slashers, Lake Bodom. At one point, two of the characters realize that the key they need to a car is in the pocket of a dead body at the bottom of said lake. Is she gonna make it back up? You're gonna have to watch to find out." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorJesse HollandAndy MittonStarsAnnette O'TooleClark FreemanJohn GloverMiles Grissom offers $30,000 to the first person who can prove to him that we go on after death."This is one of my favorite modern haunters. A man terrified of death and dying to know whether there's an afterlife. When he finds out ghosts are real, it'll upend your whole night." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorJeff NicholsStarsMichael ShannonJessica ChastainShea WhighamPlagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself."We've got Take Shelter from Jeff Nichols starring Michael Shannon. He's getting premonitions of the end of the world, right? But the whole time he's paranoid, you're wondering if he's going insane. But when he has to tell his entire community it's one of the most uncomfortable sequences on Shudder." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorAndrew TrauckiStarsDamian Walshe-HowlingGyton GrantleyAdrienne PickeringA great white shark hunts the crew of a capsized sailboat along the Great Barrier Reef."Not dissimilar, except you're not stuck in a tent you're out in the open sea with a coupe of people and sharks all around them." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorBobcat GoldthwaitStarsAlexie GilmoreBryce JohnsonLaura MontagnaA man and his girlfriend camp in the woods to capture firsthand evidence of Bigfoot."Want your spine tingled? First up, we got Willow Creek from director Bobcat Goldthwait. He makes a movie about bigfoot and at one point, two characters in one tent and nowhere to look but into their terrified eyes wondering what's outside." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorRuggero DeodatoStarsRobert KermanFrancesca CiardiPerry PirkanenDuring a rescue mission into the Amazon rainforest, a professor stumbles across lost film shot by a missing documentary crew."How hardcore do you go? This is a classic of shock cinema: Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust. A documentary crew goes down to the Amazon to document the lives of untouched tribes. Some get eaten. After they wrapped production in the Amazon, director Deodato asked his actors to hide out for a year. He had to pull them out and show them to the Supreme Court to show them they were very much still alive. It's not only controversial, it's pioneering. It's tough, but it's essential. It's a must see. And it's a long line that leads from here, right up to Kuso." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorTi WestStarsSara PaxtonPat HealyKelly McGillisDuring the final days at the Yankee Pedlar Inn, two employees determined to reveal the hotel's haunted past begin to experience disturbing events as old guests check in for a stay."Ti West, one of our modern masters of horror, working with Graham Reznick, one of our modern masters of sound design. What they do here is they make this really haunting, stunning atmosphere. There's this really great horror comedy, a great ghost story, it's a little bit more traditional but it's a great palate cleanser and it's creepy as hell." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorYeon Sang-hoStarsRyu Seung-ryongShim Eun-kyungLee JoonSeveral groups of people try to survive a zombie pandemic that unleashes itself in downtown Seoul."This is a new Shudder exclusive from Yeon Sang-ho, who directed Train To Busan. So that was like a huge Korean zombie hit, right? This is the prequel. It's like savage and charged and it brings like a whole new, fresh perspective to zombies." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsTomorô TaguchiKei FujiwaraNobu KanaokaA businessman accidentally kills The Metal Fetishist, who gets his revenge by slowly turning the man into a grotesque hybrid of flesh and rusty metal."Did you like Kuso? Huge influence on Kuso. A 16mm biomechanical nightmare. This is incredible, frightening cinema about the convergence of man and machine." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorJeremy SaulnierStarsChris SharpKate PorterfieldTess Porterfield LovellA random invitation to a Halloween party leads a man into the hands of a rogue collective intent on murdering him for the sake of their art, sparking a bloodbath of mishap, mayhem and hilarity."It's a mean little horror comedy set on Halloween night, and it's perfect if you've got a few hipsters in your life." -Sam Zimmerman
- StarsPaul SparerCatherine BattistoneJohn Marzilli"Tales from the Darkside" was a horror anthology series where the viewer is taken through ghost stories, science fiction adventures, and creepy, unexplained events."This is everyone's favorite anthology series, created by and executive produced by George A. Romero. You can watch every episode on Shudder, but two great Halloween ones including "Halloween Candy" and "Trick or Treat" were written by Mr. Romero, himself." -Sam Zimmerman
"Halloween Candy": season 2, episode 5 (aired October 27, 1985)
"Trick or Treat": pilot (aired October 29, 1983) - DirectorLesley ManningStarsMichael ParkinsonSarah GreeneMike SmithIn a "live" broadcast on Halloween night, a BBC team investigate a reported poltergeist in an ordinary London home."This is a legend. It aired on Halloween night, 1992 on the BBC and it never aired again. They aired it as a real news broadcast; as a live investigation of a haunted house. It freaked the entire country out. If you watch it today, it's a hell of a lot of fun, it's a hell of a lot of creepy, and you just gotta see it." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorSteven DeGennaroStarsCarter RoyAlena von StroheimChris O'BrienA group of filmmakers set out to make the first 3D found footage horror movie, but find themselves in a found footage horror movie when the evil entity from their film escapes into their behind-the-scenes footage."Found Footage 3D: clever, meta, it's a bit like Scream but for found footage movies. It's about a crew making a found footage movie in 3D, it all goes wrong because there's a demon about. It's super funny. It's super cool. It's the perfect, perfect October movie." -Sam Zimmerman
- DirectorDon CoscarelliStarsA. Michael BaldwinBill ThornburyReggie BannisterA teenage boy and his friends face off against a mysterious grave robber, known only as the Tall Man, who employs a lethal arsenal of unearthly weapons."Let's talk a bit more about classics. One of the greatest American independent horror films of all time, is Don Coscarelli's Phantasm. Nightmarish and totally nuts, this film introduced the Tall Man but also The Sphere. When you see The Sphere go into someone, the fountain of blood is gonna blow your mind." -Sam Zimmerman