American Psycho

Carson Wells, Shot By Cattle Gun. American Psycho is a 2000 film by Mary Harron, a film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel of the same name. The film stars Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, with Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Justin Theroux, Bill Sage, Chloë Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Willem Dafoe, and Samantha Mathis. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on April 14, 2000.

Dirty Harry

Dirty Harry (1971), directed by Don Siegel. In this film Harry is tracking Scorpio, a serial killer. Eastwood’s iconic portrayal of the blunt-speaking, unorthodox detective set the style for a number of his subsequent roles, and the box-office success of the film led to the production of four equally successful sequels. The “alienated cop” motif was one subsequently imitated by a number of other films. This film features Eastwood intoning “You’ve got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?” (The line is often misquoted as “Do you feel lucky, punk?”)

This movie became iconic, mirrored by other movies, especially the rest of the Dirty Harry films, because it was a portrayal of social protests, pointing out that it was easier for the justice system to protect potential suspects ahead of enforcing the rights of victims while ignoring citizens who were in danger or who had been murdered. It was the sixth-highest grossing film of 1971 after Fiddler on the Roof, Billy Jack, French Connection, Summer of ’42, and Diamonds Are Forever.

Psycho

American Psycho is a 2000 film by Mary Harron, a film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel of the same name. The film stars Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, with Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Justin Theroux, Bill Sage, Chloë Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Willem Dafoe, and Samantha Mathis. It debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on April 14, 2000.

Saw

Saw is a 2004 horror film directed by James Wan and starring Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, and Danny Glover. The screenplay, written by Leigh Whannel and James Wan, is based on the short film of the same name. It is the first installment of the Saw film series. The film’s story revolves around two men who awaken kidnapped and chained in a dilapidated industrial bathroom. They are given instructions via a microcassette recorder on how to escape by following the “rules” of their “game”. Meanwhile, police detectives investigate and attempt to apprehend the criminal responsible — “Jigsaw”.

The film was first shown in 2004 at the Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews and saw international release later that year on October 29. The film was originally rated NC-17 for strong, graphic violence, however the film was slightly edited to achieve a R rating.

Critical responses varied. Some critics denounced the whole movie as nothing more than a “sadist gore fest” and a “low quality” and “cheap snuff film”, while others commended its stylish visual tricks designed to camouflage cheap effects and called it a true “chilling” and “terrifying” horror film. Despite mixed reviews, Saw was a financial success at the box office.

Seven

Seven (stylized as Se7en) is a 1995 American crime film directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. The story follows a retiring detective (Morgan Freeman) and his replacement (Brad Pitt), jointly investigating a series of ritualistic murders inspired by the seven deadly sins.

The Boston strangler

The Boston Strangler is a 1968 film based on the true story of the Boston Strangler. It was directed by Richard Fleischer, and stars Tony Curtis as Albert DeSalvo, the strangler, and Henry Fonda as John S. Bottomly, the chief detective now famed for obtaining DeSalvo’s confession.

The silence of lambs

The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 psychological crime/horror thriller directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald and Brooke Smith. It is based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Harris, his second to feature Dr. Hannibal Lecter, brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer. In the film, Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, seeks the advice of the imprisoned Lecter on catching a serial killer known only as “Buffalo Bill”. The film won the top five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Screenplay. To date, it is the third and most recent winner of this achievement

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a 1974 American independent horror film directed by Tobe Hooper, and written collaboratively by Hooper and Kim Henkel. The film stars Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen, Teri McMinn, William Vail, Edwin Neal and Paul A. Partain. While presented as a true story involving the ambush and murder of a group of friends on a road trip in rural Texas by a family of cannibals, the film is completely fictional. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre started the six films of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film franchise revolving around the character of Leatherface, portrayed by Hansen in this film.

In drafting his story, Hooper took into account the history of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein, as well as perceived lies of the American government. Producing on a budget estimated around $140,000, Hooper cast relatively unknown actors for his film, drawing people mainly from the areas surrounding the Texas filming locations. Principal photography of the film took place between July 15 and August 14, 1973. When the film was completed, Hooper struggled to find a distributor for the film because of the graphic depiction of violence; when he did secure a distributor the MPAA gave the film an R-rating, instead of the PG-rating Hooper had intended.

Bryanston Distributing Company released The Texas Chain Saw Massacre theatrically on October 1, 1974. Because of the content, several foreign jurisdictions banned the film. Initial critical reception of the film was mixed, receiving both praise and criticism regarding the atmosphere, story, characters, and graphic content, but it became a strong commercial success, grossing $30.8 million at the United States box office. Despite the mixed critical reception, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has gained a reputation as one of the greatest and most influential horror films of all time, originating several topoi common in the slasher film genre, including the characterization of the killer as a large, hulking and faceless figure and the use of power tools as murder weapons.

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