BLACK SWAN

GENRE:  Drama/ Mystery/ Psychological Thriller
MADE:  2010
CAST:  Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel
DIRECTOR:  Darren Aronofsky
WRITER:  Mark Heyman, Andres Heinz, John J. McLaughlin

PLOT:  Nina Sayers has just gotten the lead role in the Swan Lake Ballet, the swan princess, her one obstacle is to achieve dance of the Black Swan.  As Nina is pressured to be perfect for both the white and black swan and becomes more and more like the black swan she begins to lose her mind.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  American Pyscho, The Fountain, Pi

SCORE:

TAKING LIVES

GENRE:  Mystery/ Thriller
MADE:  2004
CAST:  Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kiefer Sutherland
DIRECTOR:  D.J. Caruso
WRITER:  Michael Pye, Jon Bokenkamp,

PLOT:  Illeana, an FBI profiler is called on to catch a serial killer.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Se7en, Silence Of The Lambs, Copycat, Memento

SCORE:

COPYCAT

GENRE:  Crime/ Mystery/ Thriller
MADE:  1995
CAST:  Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter, Dermot Mulroney
DIRECTOR:  Jon Amiel
WRITER:  Ann Biderman, David Madsen

PLOT:  Ever since psychologist Helen Hudson was almost murdered by testifying against a serial killer she has been holed up in her swanky apartment home with agoraphobia.  A copycat serial killer now stalks her with the goal to finish her off and she must pair up with a couple of detectives in order to catch the suspect.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Silence Of The Lambs, The Red Dragon, Seven

SCORE:

THE MACHINIST

GENRE:  Drama/ Mystery/ Psychological thriller
MADE:  2004
CAST:  Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sachez-Gljon
DIRECTOR:  Brad Anderson
WRITER:  Scott Kosar

PLOT:  An industrial worker suffering from insomnia can't sleep for a year and begins to question his own sanity.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Memento, The Game, Shutter Island

SCORE:

IDENTITY

GENRE:  Drama/ Mystery/ Psychological Thriller
MADE:  2003
CAST:  John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet
DIRECTOR:  James Mangold
WRITER:  Michael Cooney

PLOT:  During a rain storm one evening ten strangers become stranded at a Nevada Motel when the way out of town becomes flooded.  The night becomes a fight for their lives when they realize they are being killed one by one by someone amongst them.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Shutter Island, The Others, The Machinist

SCORE:

FIGHT CLUB

GENRE:  Drama/ Mystery/ Thriller
MADE:  1999
CAST:  Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter
DIRECTOR:  David Fincher
WRITER:  Chuck Palahnuik, Jim Uhls

PLOT:  When an insurance agent's apartment gets blown up he calls one person, a man he just met on a plane, a traveling soap salesman.  The two build a friendship and begin an organization called the Fight Club where men gather to vent.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:   Memento, Inglourious Basterds, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Primal Fear

SCORE:

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?

GENRE:  Drama/ Horror/ Thriller
MADE:  1962
CAST:  Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono
DIRECTOR:  Robert Aldrich
WRITER:  Henry Farrell, Lukas Heller

PLOT:  Two sisters, both former stars of Hollywood lived a secluded life in an old Hollywood mansion holding on to the past.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Psycho, Rosemary's Baby, Diabolique, The Shining

SCORE:

NOTE:  I watched this film when I was about ten years old on television and even though it was black and white and clearly from a time before I was even born I took a liking to it right away.  Now, much older I still have yet to find a creepy old Hollywood film that can compete with this one, or maybe I'm not looking hard enough, still it remains as one my favorite black and white creepy films.

SHUTTER ISLAND

GENRE:  Mystery/ Psychological Thriller
MADE:  2010
CAST:  Leonardo Dicaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley
DIRECTOR:  Martin Scorsese
WRITER:  Laeta Kalogridis, Dennis Lehane

PLOT:  An ex-miliatry U.S. Marshall is hired to find a missing patient in a mental institute on Shutter Island.

PARALLEL UNIVERSE:  Identity, The Others, The Machinist

SCORE: