The Cinephile - Monarchy of Madness

That's Not Me

Looks can deceive. What begins as a routine evening soon unravels into a nightmare when something-or someone-invades the place they call home.

Firefly

A pyromaniac wrestles with his abusive upbringing as he becomes consumed by a formative childhood memory of fireflies.

5.9

2021

Yellow Dragon's Village

Ordinary college students dropped by a strange village on the way to their camp. Persuaded by a seemingly friendly villager to stay over, but brutal killings start to occur in the following morning.

7.2

2009

Broken Embraces

Harry Caine, a blind writer, reaches this moment in time when he has to heal his wounds from 14 years back. He was then still known by his real name, Mateo Blanco, and directing his last movie.

1999

8MM

A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, he relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife, family and simple life as a small-town PI.

7.0

Fréwaka

Care worker Shoo, who is haunted by a personal tragedy, is sent to a remote village to care for an agoraphobic woman, who fears both her neighbours and the Na Sídhe – sinister folkloric entities she believes abducted her decades before.

2017

The Girl with the Golden Chain

A wistful PI reflects on the case of Alice Draper, a young starlet whose death he failed to solve.

5.7

2006

Alone With Her

The harrowing story of a disturbed young man's attempts to win the affections of an unsuspecting young woman. When Doug first sees Amy, he instantly falls for her and begins to watch her every move, going so far as to set up spy cameras in her apartment. However, as his fascination grows into obsession he's no longer satisfied with just watching.

4.7

1996

Poison Ivy 2: Lily

A young and naive college art student becomes obsessed with assuming the identity and personality of a departed coed who used to live in her room, and in so doing causes complications that result in two men, a student and her art professor, lusting after her.

5.0

1993

Boxing Helena

A top surgeon is besotted with a beautiful woman who once rebuffed him. Unable to come to terms with life without her, he tries to convince her that they need each other. She has other ideas, but a horrific accident leaves her at his mercy.

3.8

2013

Delight

The film's main theme is obsession. An obsession with love, with art, originality, copying, with success, money and... with oneself. Sooner or later, if we lose our rational upper hand over it and let ourselves be dragged down by it, every obsession leads to destruction. But it is only when being dragged down, in spite of all the cuts and bruises, that we find a unique DELIGHT, if only for a few short moments - and what else is life really about? It is like a drug. What at first seems to be weak and trivial is capable of expanding and growing into a serious problem that can appear to be absolutely incomprehensible and absurd to those who have never experienced anything like it.

4.8

1995

Embrace of the Vampire

An 18-year-old college freshman is seduced by a handsome vampire lover who introduces her to a dark world of carnal desires.

Crystal Eyes

Bela, a woman with the desire to get married, seeks to sell the criature that she has been taking care of for years as a son in order to get money for her wedding; whatever the cost.

6.4

2021

The Novice

A college freshman joins her university's rowing team and undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top varsity boat, no matter the cost.

10.0

The Easter Sunday Massacre

Two film enthusiasts who work for a boutique distribution company called Flicker & Fade meet Vince Miller, the elusive writer/director of 1979's The Easter Sunday Massacre, who, along with his film, hasn't been seen in over 40 years.

AVE MARA. Ignosce mihi et ama.

Mara—the spirit of the night, the weaver of darkened dreams—pressed upon my chest as sleep held me captive. My memory. In the haze of a dream, I saw those I loved, their faces bathed in an otherworldly glow. The nightmare was not the shadows nor the fear they whispered, but the cruel certainty of waking—of losing them to the morning light

10.0

The Church

A short horror film made by spooky productions

8.0

2016

The Indestructible

James, a disturbed high schooler retreats from a culture of prescription drugs, religion, and a near-constant stream of harassment into a comic-book fantasy world he’s created featuring a hero called The Indestructible. Increasing pressure from his mother, fellow students and his teachers eventually push him to the breaking point, and the lines between fantasy and reality, which were already beginning to blur, shatter entirely after a violent encounter with a school bully.

Artificial (Emotional) Intelligence

Julia lives lonely and apathetic in a technological house, sharing her life only with an artificial intelligence assistant named Lukas. However, when an online date doesn't show up, the AI makes a frightening revelation.

Ingest

Whilst clearing through his dead dad's apartment, David discovers an unmarked videotape. Which, upon playing, draws him to a sinister self-reflection.

Recommended Movies

6.7

1993

The Crush

A precocious and obsessive teenager develops a crush on a naive writer with harrowing consequences.

6.0

2013

The Truth About Emanuel

A troubled young woman becomes obsessed with her mysterious new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to the girl's dead mother.

6.4

2010

The Experiment

20 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.

6.2

Heatwave

A woman's life takes an unexpected turn when she falls for her boss's wife. She must soon defend herself as she becomes entangled in a web of malice.

2014

Starving in Suburbia

When seventeen-year-old Hannah stumbles upon a website about Thinspiration--an online community devoted to anorexia as a life choice--she becomes an obsessive follower of the site founder, ButterflyAna. By the time Hannah's family realizes what is happening and get Hannah the help she needs, the disease has fully taken hold and Hannah is refusing to eat. Will this family be able to exorcise the demon of anorexia from their lives?

6.3

Rogue Agent

Conman Robert Freegard poses as an undercover MI5 agent and kidnaps countless victims amidst a high-stakes manhunt, until the woman who fell for him brings him to justice.

6.6

1973

Coffy

After her younger sister gets involved in drugs and is severely injured by contaminated heroin, a nurse sets out on a mission of vengeance and vigilante justice, killing drug dealers, pimps, and mobsters who cross her path.

6.3

1955

Killer's Kiss

Davey Gordon, a New York City boxer at the end of his career, falls for dancer Gloria Price. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo, who has eyes for Gloria. The two decide to skip town, but before they can, Vincent and his thugs abduct Gloria, and Davey is forced to search for her among the most squalid corners of the city, with his enemy hiding in the shadows.

6.6

The Good Neighbor

A nightmarish evening unfolds for neighbors David and Robert when they accidentally hit a woman on her bike and flee the scene. While David is increasingly plagued by feelings of guilt, Robert shows no remorse and becomes overbearing and possessive.

6.3

1974

Foxy Brown

A voluptuous black woman takes a job as a high-class prostitute in order to get revenge on the mobsters who murdered her boyfriend.

Not Without Hope

A group of friends' fishing boat capsizes off the coast of Mexico and they're left alone stranded at sea and struggling for survival.

6.7

2020

Embattled

The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.

7.1

The Enforcer

A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.

1991

Guilty by Suspicion

Owing to his alleged involvement with communist parties, film director David Merrill is forbidden from working in Hollywood. He decides to fight for his rights and faces numerous challenges.

6.7

2073

Inspired by Chris Marker's iconic 1962 featurette La Jetée; the year is 2073—a not-so-distant dystopian future—and the setting is New San Francisco, the scorched-earth tech-dominant police state where democracy and personal freedom have been well and truly obliterated.

7.7

2026

Mexicali

A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.

6.0

1990

Bad Influence

Wimpy young executive Michael is about to get pulverized by a jealous boyfriend in a bar when a handsome, mysterious stranger steps in—and then disappears. Later that night, Michael runs into a stranger on a pier, who wheedles his way into Michael's life and turns it upside down.

5.9

2017

From Straight A's to XXX

When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam lies to her family and her friends at school, keeping her double life a secret. But soon rumours spread and Miriam becomes the subject of vicious online attacks and unwanted attention. Miriam fights back: she talks to the media, saying her new line of work empowers her as a feminist. But her confident stand has unintended consequences. Miriam is shunned by her conservative family and her colleagues in the adult film world. One impulsive decision has quickly spiralled out of control - and Miriam's problems are just beginning.

6.2

The Infernal Machine

Reclusive and controversial author Bruce Cogburn is drawn out of hiding by an obsessive fan, forcing the novelist to confront a past that he thought he could escape, and to account for events set in motion by his bestseller decades earlier. Cogburn's search for who is behind the manipulation and mental torment he encounters leads to an emotional roller-coaster ride full of fear and danger, where things are not always as clear as they seem to be, and where past deeds can have dire consequences.

5.8

2014

Road to Paloma

While Native American Wolf is being pursued by the FBI for having taken the law into his own hands, when his mother was raped and killed on their reservation he crosses paths with Cash, a down and out musician who is coping with the end of his marriage. An unlikely friendship develops, as they ride together towards the Teton mountain range, where Wolf will spread his mothers ashes.