If you want to see the best haunted house movie made, then make it Burnt Offerings. Karen Black is the show while Oliver Reed is magnificent. The final ten minutes is the very definition of the phrase: "The suspense is killing me." Because of the shocking ending, you'll go, "Damn," and then watch the movie all over again.

If you loved Burnt Offerings, The Changeling should be right up your alley. Only this time it's not a horror but a murder mystery movie. The story is intelligent: the house communicates with the newly moved-in inhabitant to right a wrong. George C. Scott, as usual, is excellent. In short, it's a must-see film.

Sorcerer is a unique motion picture from William Friedkin that's shot on location in the Dominican Republic. This isn't about the plot per se but an adventure of four men who are down on their luck and will do anything to turn their fortunes around even if it means life and death. Among the finest and most unforgettable scenes in cinema history is the bridge crossing, twice at that, which took three months to film.

I've seen Arachnophobia plenty of times going back to when it was theatrically released, and one thing that has not changed: it's a genuinely scary movie. There are moments of terror that are effective, and they never age for the slightest bit. The spiders are real as they're Avondale spiders from Australia and New Zealand which are 100% harmless.

From start to finish, Alan Arkin dominates the film with his combed-down hair style, shaded glasses, black clothes, exotic weapons, and smooth delivery of words. In short, his Mr. Roat is a bad motherfucker. Alan Arkin is responsible for creating one of the most dramatic, terrifying scenes ever in cinematic history. The last ten minutes is the definition of true terror.

"It's just you and me now, sport." Forget The Silence of the Lambs. Manhunter is the original. If you want to understand the word "genius," look no further than the "Moment of the Truth" scene when Will Graham began to figure out the identity of the killer. It's brilliant stuff. In reality, a serial killer can remain elusive for years. Logging hundreds of thousand hours, it only takes one trivial piece of evidence or sheer luck like a routine motor vehicle violation for the detectives to catch him finally.

The definitive picture about female stalkers, Play Misty for Me, not the rip-off that's called Fatal Attraction, is one of the finest thrillers made. A lot of guys can relate to Dave Garver when dealing with an emotionally damaged female after a one-time fling. He's a hip deejay with an even-keeled temperament but is pushed to his limits before he can't take it anymore and is forced to be harsh with Evelyn who's dangerously psychotic.

The most definitive Hitchcock picture made, The 39 Steps is the gold standard that many espionage pictures have failed to match. Robert Donat has never been better, and Lucie Mannheim deserves credit for setting the tone. The formula of Alfred Hitchcock's many films can be readily found in The 39 Steps.

Many films about the supernatural and telepathy tend not to work out, but Don't Look Now is heads and shoulders above them. It's a superb psychic thriller classic with a final chilling climax. The reason why is the terrific chemistry between Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland. The ten-minute sequence of them making love and getting dressed to go out stands as one of the best ever.

Macon County Line is the kind of picture that takes its time with the atmospheric setting and mood, and once the climax hits, the film just explodes in the final twenty minutes that makes it unforgettable. Helped by the characters, the Southern Gothic style comes alive which works to its advantage.

Black Christmas is regarded as one of the earliest slasher films made and was influential in the making of Halloween and Friday the 13th, outshining both of them in the suspense department. The acting is quite good and keeps the tension taut throughout. The last fifteen minutes of the detectives trying to trace the calls is terrifying. Oh, how the weird obscene phone calls that would never stop. They're so bizarre that the feeling of suspense is doubly heightened.

Martin Scorsese's version of Cape Fear is more thrilling and suspenseful than the original. The performances are uniformly excellent. Robert De Niro is at once effective and chilling as Max Cady. Juliette Lewis embodies the look of an innocent teenage girl. A terrific scene is when they are alone in the auditorium.

Chalk up The Train as one of the most exciting WWII pictures. Nothing beats the sight of Burt Lancaster in action. He going down the ladder quickly, jumping off the train while it's in motion, running across the bridge, and getting through the mountain range with a injured leg are some of the film's highest points. Also, it has some great aerial shots, especially when the railyard is bombed.

"They're here." Poltergeist is an open-minded film about ghosts. I love the story, and it makes sense. The acting is also first-rate. Even better are the special effects. Although Tobe Hooper is credited as the director of Poltergeist, Steven Spielberg is the one who did it.

After a slow start, Kiss Me Deadly picks up the pace and gets the ball rolling as soon as Mike Hammer delves deeper into the mystery of the girl's disappearance. It gets more and more interesting as time goes on until the final ending which turns out to be unexpected. Tough characters appear one by one throughout. It's gritty on the noir level because, quite simply, people just die. Furthermore, they're pushed over for selfish aims and thus mercilessly killed.

Tommy Lee Jones is the master of organization, telling people to get on it and do their jobs and refusing to take no for an answer. That's why he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor although he was in a leading role. Harrison Ford is brilliant as Dr. Richard Kimble while Andreas Katsulas will always be that one-armed guy.

"What did happen on the Cahulawassee River?" And the answer to that question is: a lot of bad shit. It's impossible to separate Deliverance from banjo music, the Appalachian Mountains, whitewater rafting, the sound of a squealing pig, and hillbillies. Why...there's a shirt that says: "Paddle faster! I hear banjo music." Burt Reynolds and Billy Redden are unforgettable.

What makes John Carpenter's films special is the way he sets up the atmosphere and lets the plot unfold as the tension climbs while allowing me to be part of the show by feeling for the characters and what they're experiencing. The story is so good that it might be possible. I love the high level of intelligence that's supplied by the characters who are students of the physics graduate program run by a professor with an interest in the paranormal.

At the hands of master director John Carpenter, Escape from New York is one of the ultimate cult films. It's also a surreal futuristic flick with an all-time badass by the name of Snake Plissken whom Kurt Russell was born to play. All hell breaks loose in New York City when Snake meets unsavory, eerie-looking characters around the city and starts pissing them off which makes it a fun picture to watch.

A metaphor for the mistakes made in the Vietnam War, Southern Comfort is a finely directed Kafka-esque picture by Walter Hill. What a great cast. The performances are terrific with a bunch of memorable characters and an unbelievable ending. Andrew Laszlo's cinematography of the Louisiana Bayou is the clincher to create a Deliverance-like atmosphere.

Kevin Costner is the show and looks great in whites. He has a famous movie moment with Sean Young when they start making love in the back of the limo, but once her character is killed, that's when the movie takes off. From there on, the race is on to see who will be left holding the bag which is fun to watch.

Straw Dogs is an unconventional violent work of art by Sam Peckinpah. Awesome performances are rendered, most especially by Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. The tension is held high throughout the film, allowing it to become a roller-coaster of highs and lows. Then, the violence just explodes like the cork out of a wine bottle.

Unlawful Entry is a believable realistic thriller about a police officer who abuses his position of power. When somebody is as helpless as Michael Carr, there's not much that he can do about his situation. Officer Pete Davis starts being nice, resourceful, and helpful, going out of his way. Then, he has a moment that seems to be both rational and irrational because Carr is literally asking for it. Suddenly, all bets are off.

Seven is a brilliant neo-noir masterpiece. The story is captivating with a shocker of an ending. It's hard to overcome the exquisite cinematography which elevates the film as a whole. Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, and Gwyneth Paltrow will be remembered for this forever.

The king of disaster pictures, Airport is that good. The suspense is exhilarating and exciting. Until the moment disaster strikes, the heavy drama is what makes the movie intriguing, gripping, and not all that different from From Here to Eternity. The performances rendered by the all-star cast are excellent, and the standouts are Dean Martin and Helen Hayes who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

There are several films Julia Roberts is famous for, and among them is Sleeping with the Enemy which came first way, way before Enough with Jennifer Lopez. A huge box-office hit in 1991, the story is absorbing while the editing and cinematography are flawless. Taking place around the stunning-looking house on the beach, the film starts off well, and then things begin to take a turn for worse, exposing flaws in the Burneys' marriage.

Originally titled as Ten Little Niggers for the 1939 paperback version, the 1965 film remake of And Then There Were None, Ten Little Indians is a superb murder mystery thriller. The feel, the suspense, the mystery, the atmosphere, the setting, and the cast are perfect. The ending is fantastic because it's the right kind of how such a movie should go out.

Henri-Georges Clouzot and Alfred Hitchcock were in a race to buy the film rights to a novel called Celle qui n'était plus by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, and the former emerged as the winner. As a result, he directed the award-winning French thriller that became Les diaboliques, aka The Devils, making the Master of Suspense envious, but it did have an enormous influence on Psycho.

Dark, brooding, combative, sexy, and absolutely talented, Oliver Reed, once upon a time, was the rage of British cinema. The most underrated Hammer Horror picture ever made, Paranoiac is a wonderful treat for fans and newcomers alike. Oliver Reed is drop-dead gorgeous in black and white, and it's hard to take eyes off him.

The plot is both simple and amazing. It's basic to the core of human element: men falling head over heels for women and doing everything recklessly in the blind because of sex. Stupid, silly mistakes are made. That's exactly what the lead character did, costing lives in the process.