Triangle:
Fear Comes in Waves

Unknown Large Release
Sci Fi/Horror
2009

Triangle is a chaotic voyage into a haunting delirium at sea. A regular day quickly and unexpectedly takes a mind-boggling turn for the worse, our characters finding themselves trapped in an infinite loop of madness on the open ocean. As the story unfolds, our main character's mind unravels. She begins to experience a strange deja vu and the bodies begin to stack up. It seems like she might never be able to stop repeating her actions. By trying to save herself, she only digs herself deeper into a paranormal hell-loop.

The writing of the movie is absolutely brilliant, every event being a piece fitting into an elaborate puzzle. This is the kind of movie you watch, and immediately want to start over from the beginning to try and pick up on things you didn't notice before watching the first time. The rising action of the film at first grabs you as something that could really happen, and suddenly you're thrust into a world you never expected, and a world from which you can never escape.

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Unknown Large Release
Classic / Thriller / Sci-Fi
1975

A foray into the unimaginable. In Picnic at Hanging Rock, its not what you see that arouses your sense of terror, but the fear that what exists now may suddenly vanish into the abyss without a trace. Unlike most major films, which offer an antagonist who can be defeated, or an explanation for the struggle of the characters, Picnic offers us nothing to ease our nerves.

This is a film that sticks with you, pulling threads at the core of your mind, as if you're still subconsciously trying to resolve the mystery long after the film has ended. This is the polar opposite of the "monster in the dark" movie stereotype. You won't be afraid of someone trying to break into your house, or of a killer lurking behind the shower curtain; what truly terrifies us is the idea of something we can't explain, that seems to happen for no reason, leaving us feeling completely powerless.

ROGUE:
How Fast Can You Swim?

Unknown Large Release
Horror
2007

Both the title and the box cover may suggest to you that this is another Sci-Fi channel original "masterpiece"; let not you be deceived. We experience some of the familiar terrors of the animal-attack horror genre, but upon nearing the end of the film, you'll be wondering why they ever bothered to make any other 'creature feature' before this. The depiction of the villian itself is truly terrifying; a foreboding, omnipresent threat which values nothing but its own surival. Not quite as realistic as the Tyrannosaurus from Jurassic Park, but cold and reptilian enough to give you chills when its victims are subjected to its cold, inhuman eyes (and teeth).

What makes Rogue a far cry from being another shrieks and giggles monster movie, is the impeccable work of both the writer and the production crew, that really makes us feel that we're trapped on an island with a rising tide, with our greatest fear lurking beneath the murky water. The characters are believable, both in their courage and blatant stupidity. Unexpectedly, the plot takes a pivitol turn toward the end of the film, when our naive movie-goer hopes are dashed, and we cling to our seats hoping that our favorite characters will survive (will they?)

Rogue, like Jaws, succeeds as a film where so many similar ones have failed, in that it makes us believe that the fate of the film's characters could just as easily become our own. Rogue's utterly human characters force us to picture our friends, lovers, children, and even our beloved pets as potential victims of circumstances beyond our control.

We are truly at the mercy of the beast, and for us the beast knows no kindness.