New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

The final 40 minutes of Se7en move past the trappings of a typical cop film, as John Doe (played by — spoiler alert, if you've never seen the film — Kevin Spacey) admits to being the mastermind and brings Pitt and Freeman's cops along to his final victim. Of course, who that final victim turns out to be is part of the most memorable and freakiest scene of the movie: it involves Pitt's wife (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) and the box. Take a wild guess if you're unfamiliar. Pitt's a bit over-the-top in the last scene, but the overall tension, camerawork, Freeman's calm fighting a battle with his worries, and last twist are all worth the wait. Fincher's best film wouldn't come for more than a decade (Zodiac, not Benjamin Button), but Se7en is arguably one of his best films.

The Sixth Sense

It's funny; ten years ago last August, two surprise hits were taking Hollywood by storm; one of them was The Blair Witch Project, a faux-documentary about three 20-somethings who go searching for a mysterious witch. The other was The Sixth Sense, written, produced, and directed by a relative unknown, M. Night Shyamalan. Now, we're looking at another faux-real movie about the supernatural in Paranormal Activity, and Shyamalan is considered something of a fluke, having directed three good/great movies before churning out clunker after clunker. That said, The Sixth Sense remains his best film. Who knows if, with the prevalence of spoilers on the Internet now, it would have been as huge of a hit in 2009, though.

When I first saw The Sixth Sense, I expected a potentially entertaining ghost story with Bruce Willis. What I got was an often unsettling, slickly made story with a strong relationship at its core, between Willis' child psychologist and his patient, played by Haley Joel Osment, who received an Oscar nod for Best Supporting Actor. Of course, we all know (or, I presume we all know) the big surprises here: Osment's character sees dead people, sees them everywhere. And, as we find out in the huge twist ending, one of those dead people is...Bruce Willis, who's been dead ever since the prologue. Nowadays, the movie still stands up despite not being a jaw-dropper of a surprise. When it came out, though, it not only surprised but scared us; the scene where Osment obliviously goes to the bathroom as a dead woman walks by the open door is a great scare. If you haven't seen The Sixth Sense in a while, this is the perfect time to do so.

Mulholland Dr.

Here's a movie that...okay, let's be honest, I'm not going to do a great job of explaining the plot of this movie. For those of you who are looking to have a bit of salaciousness in your scary movies, something more than just some dumb blonde getting it on with a frat boy before being stabbed by Jason, how about this: Naomi Watts getting into a lesbian relationship with an exotic, raven-haired beauty. Good, go get it on Netflix. Now, for those of you are otherwise intrigued in this haunting 2001 film from David Lynch, the plot (or what I can tell you) is this: Watts plays Betty, a young ingénue who goes to Los Angeles to become a movie star. One night, in her new apartment, she stumbles upon a dark-haired woman who chooses the name of Rita, because the bump on her head means she's lost her memory. The two women attempt to figure out what happened to Rita, while becoming friends and then some. Elsewhere, we follow a hip, young director's struggle to make a movie, and the cowboy who's forcing him to do otherwise.

Did I mention the movie is by David Lynch? Yeah, this thing is very weird, and truly unsettling. What about the scene where two guys are in a café, one talking about a recent nightmare; afterwards, we follow them outside, where the figure from the guy's nightmare attacks him? What about the two old people who start out wishing Betty well and end up as miniature people outside that same café? Do I need to repeat that the cowboy tells the movie director what to do? Of course, the most frightening element is the cameo (yes, this is real) by Billy Ray Cyrus as a pool man sleeping with another man's wife. Weird, unique, creepy, and captivating, Mulholland Dr. is David Lynch's best movie.

Continued:       1       2       3