These are links to and brief reviews of some exceptional (and some not so exceptional) horror films which tread in the same sort of psychologically disturbing areas as those touched upon in "Deranged". Most bear little resemblance to the aforementioned film, but are nonetheless still worth noting.

It should be mentioned, however, that the majority of these films (specifically those from the first section) are probably too intense for the average viewer. Repeated viewing may not be such a wise idea, due to the extreme possibility of desensitization towards very delicate and serious subject matters.

Viewer beware...

"To avoid fainting, keep repeating: It's only a movie...only a movie...only a movie..."

Two teenage girls are held captive by three escaped prisoners, subjected to various humiliations, raped, then murdered. The rapists and their cohort have a surprise in store for them when the show up at a near by house, however. Revenge soon becomes the name of the game in this horrifying feature.

Comments: Wes Craven's unlikely blend of brutality, slapstick, and parody is set to the weirdest soundtrack I've ever encountered in a horror film. In this case, however, it merely adds to the esoteric nature of the film. Though it's obvious that he added the elements of humor to the film in a thin attempt to downplay the disgusting nature of what he had written, all it really does is trivialize what's going on and distract from the intensity of what could have been as striking of a movie as "I Spit On Your Grave" would later become. It's still worth watching, if only because it's so damn bizarre. But it is, by no means, a great film.

I Spit on Your Grave

"This woman just chopped, burned, maimed and mutilated four men beyond recognition-and no jury in the world would convict her."

(She never really burns anything but clothes)

Jennifer, a young, attractive writer, leaves her home in Manhattan to finish her novel in the country. She rents out a remote cabin in the woods for the entire summer and everything seems idyllic... until the unthinkable happens. One day, while out on a boat relaxing, four men change her life forever. The four men, each of whom are familiar to her, force her into the woods where she is beaten and raped repeatedly. They leave her for dead, but to their demise, she recuperates slowly and seeks revenge. Revenge by her own hands -- she will make sure they never do this to another woman again!

Comments: Horror films are meant to horrify. Anybody who protests this film needs to remember that. That having been said, this is probably the most extreme and disgusting movie ever filmed, yet you can buy it in the mall. And there's no score, just an eerie, peaceful silence, and long, drawn out scenes that make one feel an odd sense of realism. I could give kudos to Meir Zarchi for those aspects of his film-making, but I seriously think that the long scenes were just there to fill up space, and the lack of a score was based more on budget than concept. Let's call them "happy accidents." At any rate, it's his only film to date and he's currently looking for investors for a sequel. Why? God only knows.

Black Christmas

"If this movie doesn't make your skin crawl... It's On Too Tight!"

This 98-minute film is a stark and stylish horror/thriller that turns everyone's favorite time of the year inside out. Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder star among an ill-fated houseful of sorority sisters celebrating the holiday season. Festivities turn fatal when obscene phone calls break the serenity and it becomes clear that a psychopath is stalking the house.

Comments: The very first true slasher film, dated only by it's creative aspects that have since turned into cliches. Also, unlike it's much more sucsessful rip-offs ...er, descendants, this film's madman isn't some ominous phantom who's untouchable and inhuman--he's a genuinely disturbing, schitzophrenic madman. The only elements that bring this movie down are the fact that the climax of the film takes place off camera, and the ending makes absolutely no sense.


The Ugly

Simon hears voices; the voices of his victims. They tell him what to do, compell him to kill until he has no choice but to give in. Caught in a vicious cycle of murder, guilt, and madness, he retells his tale from a mental hospital where he is being horrendously mistreated. But are "The Ugly" real, or a figment of his warped imagination?

Comments: Why hasn't everyone seen this movie ? It's the perfect blend of psychological drama and horror. Certainly a cut above any major horror film released since the first "Scream" produced all those bastard off-spring that ruined the whole she-bang. Very well made, with excellent cinematography. I would have opted for a different ending, but that's just me.

Sleepaway Camp

"You won't be coming home..."

"The nightmare world of a virgin's dreams becomes the screen's shocking reality!"

Left alone when her sister goes on vacation, a sexually repressed young beauty goes insane with surreal fantasies of seduction and rape.

Comments: I have yet to see this movie. Apparently, it greatly inspired the making of "Deranged", but we'll see whether or not that actually makes it a superior film. (Though it's impossible to doubt Polanski's work too much; "Rosemary's Baby" almost made this list as well. If only it would have turned out that Rosemary was wrong about the Satanists...)


Psycho

"Check right in."

Alfred Hitchcock's masterpeice of the macabre stars Anthony Perkins as the troubled Norman Bates, whose "old dark house" and adjoining motel are not the place to spend a quiet evening. No one knows that better than Janet Leigh, the film's ill-fated heroine who is victimized in the now notorious "shower scene."

Comments: Perhaps the most notable landmark in the genre of horror. If any film didn't need to be remade with Vince Vaughn, Anne Hayche, or an added masturbation scene....well, I don't suppose any films really deserve that sort of treatment, now do they? Certainly not this one.

The Bad Seed

"For little Rhoda, murder is child's play."

Christine Penmark seems to have it all: a lovely home, a loving husband and the most "perfect" daughter in the world. But since childhood, Christine has suffered from the most terrible recurring nightmare. And her "perfect" daughter's accomplishments include lying, theft and possibly much, much worse. Only Christine knows the truth about her daughter and only Christine's father knows the truth about her nightmare.