Horror

Kiefer Sutherland stars as an NYPD detective-turned-security guard who discovers something sinister lurking in the mirrors of a fire-damaged department store in Haute Tension writer/director Alexandre Aja's menacing study in the origins of evil. It's been just about a year since mercurial police detective Ben Carson (Sutherland) was suspended from the NYPD for the fatal shooting of an undercover officer, and ever since that fateful day he's been locked in a self-destructive spiral of anger and alcoholism. Increasingly isolated from his wife and kids, Ben spends most nights crashed-out at his sister Angela's (Amy Smart) apartment in Queens. But Ben hasn't given up hope just yet, and in order to get his life back together and prove that he's still capable of supporting his family he takes a job as the night watchman at the Mayflower department store. The Mayflower used to be a lavish symbol of inner-city prosperity, that is, until a raging inferno gutted the building while claiming numerous lives in the process. These days, the Mayflower is a scorched reminder of human misery, the ornate mirrors therein reflecting a suffering so profound that it begins to wear on Ben's already-fragile psyche. Not only that, but whatever force dwells behind the shimmering glass seems to have gained the power to alter reality as well.

After Ben gazes into the mirrors and sees a vision of himself being relentlessly tortured, he is horrified to experience violent convulsions, spontaneous bleeding, and frightening asphyxiation. And while his sister is always willing to lend a sympathetic ear, she chalks the anomalies up to an unusually potent mix of stress and anxiety. Unfortunately for Ben, his estranged wife, Amy (Paula Patton), isn't nearly as forgiving. A prosaic NYPD medical examiner who has seen her fair share of tragedy, Amy fears that Ben's erratic behavior could be placing their children in danger. Later, as Ben begins to draw connections between his increasingly gruesome visions and a former Mayflower security guard who vanished without a trace, he begins to suspect that an unimaginable evil is using the mirrors as a gateway into the real world, and that his family is in mortal danger from forces beyond their realm of understanding. Perhaps if he Ben can manage to convince Amy that their children's lives are at risk, he can summon the courage to face the greatest evil he has ever known. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A photographer propelled to explore his dark side begins tracking a subway serial killer whose brutal butchery makes for the most nightmarish images ever captured on camera in director Ryuhei Kitamura's adaptation of a short story by horror heavyweight Clive Barker. Leon Kaufman (Bradley Cooper) is just another struggling photographer in search of the perfect subject. Encouraged to explore the sinister side of humanity by a prominent art gallery proprietor (Brooke Shields) who is set to display his upcoming debut, Leon goes against the wishes of his girlfriend, Maya (Leslie Bibb), and begins stalking notorious serial killer Mahogany (Vinnie Jones) -- whose sadistic murder spree has been making headlines all across the country. As Leon's fascination with Mahogany gradually grows into obsession, his descent into the killer's putrid world of murder begins to corrupt his soul while simultaneously dragging his concerned girlfriend down a perverse path of darkness from which there is no return. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

One of the longest-running horror film series began with this gory shocker from director Sean S. Cunningham, who had previously produced Wes Craven's classic Last House on the Left. Entrepreneur Steve Christie (Peter Brouwer) re-opens Camp Crystal Lake after many years during which it has been cursed by murders and bad luck. The young and nubile counselors all begin to die extremely bloody deaths at the hands of an unseen killer during a rainstorm which isolates the camp. A woman is chopped in the face with an axe, another has her throat sliced in amazingly gruesome fashion, a male counselor (Harry Crosby) is pinned to a door with arrows, and a young Kevin Bacon has an arrow shoved through his throat from below a bed. Victor Miller's script is not particularly impressive, but Cunningham's tense direction, and some remarkable special-effects by acclaimed makeup artist Tom Savini are enough to make it worthwhile. 1950s quiz show regular Betsy Palmer appears as the cook whose son, Jason (Ari Lehman), drowned 25 years earlier while neglected by romancing counselors. Palmer was reportedly cast because she was willing to drive her own car to and from the set. Trivia buffs should note the decapitation scene near the end, in which the female killer exhibits rather hirsute hands clutching at the air. The hands belong to Savini's assistant, Taso N. Stavrakis. Friday the 13th made over 20 million dollars at the box office and spawned numerous sequels. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide