Q: What happens when you flush an alligator named Ramón down the toilet? A: Ramón will grow impossibly large and ruin a high society wedding. Everyone shows up for this horror thriller, especially Robert Forster who pulls off male pattern baldness like a champ and makes a simple black jacket feel iconic. Constraint and care were taken when showing the alligator itself, creating a believable creature that brings cold malice to a movie that could have been total schlock. Alligator has its fun but works well enough to earn its place in the upper echelon of “serious” animal attack films.

Secrets, guilt, and ghosts. Things start to go downhill when a recently institutionalized woman moves back into the home that she shared with her now-deceased husband. Her son starts acting like a creep, something’s up with the basement, and her new husband thinks she’s having another mental health crisis. Style kept me invested when substance was lacking, or scenes were dragging, or the son was annoying. Great final act and some really effective stuff involving the kid. There's a solid, simple and very memorable jump scare at the end that’ll please any horror fan. Daria Nicolodi goes all out in this one.

During the winter of 1918/’19, two pacifists—one a disillusioned officer during WWI, the other feigning mental illness to avoid service—wrote what would become a gorgeously macabre movie whose influence can still be appreciated today. You can feel the hands that crafted the sets and painted the shadows of this singular, sloping world—it’s a testament to human creativity. With all The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has to offer (murder, intrigue, suspense, inventive visuals), my favorite scene is when Caligari feeds Cesare. There’s just something oddly sweet about getting a glimpse of the unfortunate duo’s mundane, daily tasks.

Freshly-out-of-prison Yakuza boss Gunji (Kôji Tsuruta) seeks to rebuild his organization in Okinawa, where some opportunity for growth still remains. Will the arrival of an old adversarial family complicate an already difficult situation? You know it will. Everyone’s talking about guts in this thing, and our protagonist has ’em to spare. His unflappable demeanor and cold confidence regardless of the circumstances is both exciting and anxiety inducing. The popping jazzy soundtrack and stylish direction by Kinji Fukasaku presents this dangerous criminal underworld in a hip little package. Loved Tomisaburô Wakayama as Yonabaru, the brutish one-armed gangster. Worth a watch for sure.

Comprised of a series of vignettes weaved together like a book of poetry, Killer of Sheep is anchored by both a place (Watts LA area) and a person (Stan, played by Henry G. Sanders). Stan’s crappy job at a slaughterhouse has killed his spirit. He’s kind, but exhausted and filled with a haunting ennui that threatens his marriage. Music permeates this slice-of-life masterpiece in sudden and surprising ways, lending magic to even the simplest moments (but the quiet ones are also soaked with meaning and beauty). Burnett’s first major work is gorgeous, sad, and raw, but not without hope.