Today’s treble-T is a Halloween freebie, so I’m going to highlight the ten most scariest/most suspenseful movies I’ve watched this year. But first! …the tease…

The most exciting thing in my life at the moment is a five-gallon bucket full of human excrement. I should explain. (Paul Kingsnorth, “Learning What to Make of It”. Confessions of a Recovering Environmentalist)

And so! Disturbing, suspenseful, or scary movies I’ve seen this year:

(1) Syk pike  |  Sick of Myself, 2023.   A disturbing film about a young woman (Signe) who falls into a deep well of narcissism: her need for attention is such that she orders anxiety pills off the black market which she knows will make her break out into a skin rash if she takes too many of them — so naturally, she eats them like skittles. The scenes of her taking photos of her disfigured self to share on social media,  her toxic delight  in any attention is profoundly unsettling, though it becomes darkly comic at times, as when she and her partner are being ‘romantic’, shall we say — his “dirty talk” is telling her how he’s visiting her in the hospital, and if she dies he’ll make sure her dad and her ex-friend Anine can’t come because they didn’t come see her in the hospital, that sort of thing.  

(2) Taxi Driver, 1976.   A mentally disturbed and socially awkward veteran who is getting by driving a taxi becomes infatuated with Cybil Shephard, a political campaigner: after disgusts her taking her to a dirty movie (he’s socially oblivious), he hatches a plan to assassinate the man she’s campaigning for, but then encounters a child prostitute (played by Jodie Foster) who he decides to rescue.   Fascinating and disturbing. 

(3)Bronson, 2008. Tom Hardy is Michael Peterson, aka Charlie Bronson, an absolutely violent but weirdly charistmatic serial offender who has spent 30+ years in solitary. The film is framed as Charlie giving a one-man show about his life. Watching this and The Dark Knight Rises, I’m baffled as to how his Shinzon in Star Trek Nemesis could be such an un-interesting character.

(4)Tremors, 1990. After I mentioned I’d watched Dune, a coworker said “I prefer the sand-worms in Tremors.” Upon learning that I’d never watched it, she gave me a 4-disc set with orders to watch at least the first one. Fun horror-comedy in which rednecks are the heroes. My country favorite Reba McEntire is a supporting character as part of a husband-wife prepper team. I never knew how much I needed to hear Reba talking about rifle and shotgun gauges. “BROKE INTO THE WRONG (GORRAM) REC ROOM, DIDN’TYA?!?!”

(5) Monkey Man, 2024. A REALLY interesting film about an Indian orphan whose mother was brutally killed by a cop, who burns for vengeance. He’s a boxer who starts working for a hotel so he can get close to the cop, but after his first attempt fails catastrophically, The Kid regroups at a temple of people who have been persecuted by the cop. Interesting look at modern Mumbai, good acting, all around good time, and rooted in Indian religious culture..

(6) A Clockwork Orange, 1971. Disturbing film about a teenage psychopath who is treated and made to feel revulsed at the thought of violence or lust, but who after his release is continually assaulted by those he offended which (as the movie ends) appears to lead to the mental conditioning failing. If I had known how much sexual violence there was in this, I might not have bothered. It proved quite interesting, but the beginning was….insane.

(7) Cloverfield. Watched without knowing anything about it, which is probably the best way. A “found footage” film that begins as the innocent documenting of a good-bye party (that includes relationship drama) and ends with witnessing a monstrous attack on Manhattan. Gotta wonder how Manhattan audiences reacted to it, only a few years after 9/11. Effective horror-action film save for some implausibilities like the camera’s battery and film lasting for 10+ hours.

(8) The Sixth Sense, 1999. A kid is psychologically disturbed: Bruce Willis tries to help. Unfortunately, this movie was spoiled for me years ago, and I couldn’t experience it the way a first-time viewer should:  as you may or may not know, it has a twist equivalent to the one in Fight Club.   Solid acting and music, and easily the sweetest horror movie I’ve ever seen. (…not that it has any competition…)  I mentioned to a horror-loving friend that I was watching this, and he replied “I can’t wait for you to review Avengers Endgame in 25 years”

(9) Basketcase, 1982. A horror film that’s…slightly comic at this point, while not losing its disturbing nature. It’s comic because of the practical effects, which I’m sure were most impressive at the time.  What’s in the basket?  You really don’t want to know. 

(10) Late Night with the Devil, 2024. Creepy and interesting film that’s set in Halloween 1977: the host of a late-night show called Night Owls hopes to combat faltering ratings by having on his show — on Halloween Night — a teenager who was the only survivor of a satanic cult’s mass suicide. The panel’s guests include a Uri Gellar standin, a James Randi standin who is impressive in his accuracy (he even has a CSICOP-like organization & the same half-million prize for someone who can prove paranormal activity in controlled conditions), and the aforementioned posessed girl and her guardian/psychologist. The film is presented as the aired episode of the show — with titles, cutaways, and the like — and is even letterboxed, not wide screen. It goes into Exorcist territory, though not all the way, and has some backstory that touches on Bohemian Grove. Interesting but disturbing.  I was amused by the Randi caricature’s details. A mix of live broadcast and found-footage.