Category: Mystery

Vertigo

Vertigo VHS cover art. Movie starring James Stewart, Kim Novak. With Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. 1958.

Vertigo on VHS. Starring James Stewart, Kim Novak. With Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. 1958.

From the box:

The Alfred Hitchcock Collection

Critics have hailed Vertigo as legendary film director Alfred Hitchcock’s ultimate masterpiece. This haunting tale of obsession, fear and murder stars favorite Hitchcock leading man Jimmy Stewart as a troubled detective pathologically afraid of heights and obsessed with a lost love and her look-alike. Kim Novak gives the performance of her career as the bizarre heroine in what is felt to be “The Master’s” most humane yet frightening feature because it works on a psychological rather than emotional level.

DVD Upgrade: Vertigo

Chinatown

Chinatown VHS cover art. Movie starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston. Directed by Roman Polanski. 1974.

Chinatown on VHS. Starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston. Directed by Roman Polanski. 1974.

From the box:

Jack Nicholson is private-eye Jake Gittes, living off the murky moral climate of sunbaked, pre-war Southern California. Hired by a beautiful socialite (Faye Dunaway), to investigate her husband’s extramarital affair, Gittes is swept into a maelstrom of double dealings and deadly deceits, uncovering a web of personal and political scandals that come crashing together for one, unforgettable night in Chinatown.

DVD Upgrade: Chinatown (Centennial Collection)

Dark City

Dark City VHS cover art. Movie starring Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly. With William Hurt, Richard O'Brien. Directed by Alex Proyas. 1998.

Dark City on VHS. Starring Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly. With William Hurt, Richard O’Brien. Directed by Alex Proyas. 1998.

From the box:

They built the city to see what makes us tick. Last night one of us went off.

When John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell, Dangerous Beauty) awakens in a strange hotel room, he finds that he is wanted for a series of brutal murders. The problem is he can’t remember a thing. Pursued by the police and haunted by the Strangers, mysterious beings who possess the ability to stop time and alter reality, he seeks to unravel the twisted riddle of his identity. But in a city where reality is the ultimate illusion, discovering the truth could be fatal.

DVD Upgrade: Dark City (Director’s Cut)

Rosemary’s Baby

Rosemary's Baby VHS cover art. Movie starring Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon. Directed by Roman Polanski. 1968.

Rosemary’s Baby on VHS. Starring Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon. Directed by Roman Polanski. 1968.

From the box:

Possibly the best horror film ever made, this brilliant adaptation of Ira Levin’s best-selling novel is the story of a loving young New York City couple who are expecting their first child. Like most first-time mothers, Rosemary (Mia Farrow) experiences confusion and fear. Her husband (John Cassavetes), an ambitious but unsuccessful actor, makes a pact with the devil that promises to send his career skyward.

DVD Upgrade: Rosemary’s Baby

Read The Book: Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin

Listen To The Soundtrack: Rosemary’s Baby Krzysztof Komeda

Urban Legend

Urban Legend VHS cover art. Movie starring Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart. With Tara Reid, Michael Rosenbaum, Joshua Jackson, Loretta Devine, John Neville, Robert Englund. Directed by Jamie Blanks. 1998.

Urban Legend on VHS. Starring Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart. With Tara Reid, Michael Rosenbaum, Joshua Jackson, Loretta Devine, John Neville, Robert Englund. Directed by Jamie Blanks. 1998.

From the box:

It happened to someone who knows someone you know… You’re next.

What you don’t believe can kill you.

When New England college student Natalie finds herself at the center of a series of sadistic murders seemingly inspired by urban legends, she resolves to find the truth about Pendleton’s own legend–a twenty-five-year-old story of a student massacre at the hands of an abnormal Psych professor. As the fraternities prepare to celebrate the macabre anniversary, Natalie discovers that she is the focus of the crazed killer’s intentions in the ultimate urban legend–the story of her own horrific murder.

DVD Upgrade: Urban Legend/Urban Legends: Final Cut/Urban Legends: Bloody Mary

Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow VHS cover art. Movie starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci. With Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Casper Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones, Christopher Walken, Christopher Lee. Directed by Tim Burton. 1999.

Sleepy Hollow on VHS. Starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci. With Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Casper Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones, Christopher Walken, Christopher Lee. Directed by Tim Burton. 1999.

From the box:

A Tim Burton Film

Master storyteller Tim Burton weaves an eerie, enchanting version of this classic tale of horror. Johnny Depp is Ichabod Crane, an eccentric investigator determined to stop the murderous Headless Horseman. Christina Ricci is Katrina Van Tassel, the beautiful and mysterious girl with secret ties to the supernatural terror.

DVD Upgrade: Sleepy Hollow

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead VHS cover art. Movie starring Clive Owen, Charlotte Rampling, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Malcolm McDowell, Jamie Foreman. Directed by Mike Hodges. 2003.

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead on VHS. Starring Clive Owen, Charlotte Rampling, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Malcolm McDowell, Jamie Foreman. Directed by Mike Hodges. 2003.

From the box:

The hypnotic thriller from the director of Croupier and the classic Get Carter

“One of the best crime movies of the year” — Roger Ebert, Ebert & Roeper

Ex-gangster Will Graham (Clive Owen) thought he had gained back his soul by leaving the hard-boiled life of the criminal underworld behind him and taking on the life of a drifter. When he learns that his younger brother is found dead of a gruesome suicide, Will comes back to town and discovers that his death was motivated by a shocking event involving a local car dealer with a violent habit.

To get vengeance against the man responsible, Will must deal with the unfinished business of his old life which includes a feud with the local crime boss and lingering feelings for an old flame.

DVD Upgrade: I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead

Instant Rental: I’Ll Sleep When I’M Dead

The Abyss

The Abyss VHS cover art. Movie starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn. With Leo Burmester, Todd Graff. Written and directed by James Cameron. 1989.

The Abyss on VHS. Starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Michael Biehn. With Leo Burmester, Todd Graff. Written and directed by James Cameron. 1989.

From the box:

When divers from a deep-sea oil rig are called in to help with the rescue of a nuclear submarine, their perilous mission becomes a wondrous odyssey into the unknown after they make contact with a mysterious force living on the ocean floor.

DVD Upgrade: The Abyss (Special Lenticular Cover Edition)

Foul Play

Foul Play VHS cover art. Movie starring Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Burgess Meredith. With Rachel Roberts, Eugene Roche, Dudley Moore. Written and directed by Colin Higgins. 1978.

Foul Play on VHS. Starring Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Burgess Meredith. With Rachel Roberts, Eugene Roche, Dudley Moore. Written and directed by Colin Higgins. 1978.

From the box:

“Beware of the Dwarf”, whispers the hitchhiker to the beautiful librarian (Goldie Hawn) as he dies midway through a screening of This Gun Is Mine. Suddenly Hawn is propelled into a world of wild chases, bizarre attempts on her life, and deadly encounters with an assortment of weird underworld characters. Academy Award winner Hawn teams with Chevy Chase (in his first starring motion picture assignment) — and with hilarious results. Chase plays the handsome San Francisco detective who becomes personally and professionally involved with all the odd things happening to Hawn. Costarring a pre-Arthur Dudley Moore in one of his most delightful comic turns.

DVD Upgrade: Foul Play

The Groundstar Conspiracy

The Groundstar Conspiracy VHS cover art. Movie starring George Peppard, Michael Sarrazin, Christine Belford. With Cliff Potts, James Olson. Directed by Lamont Johnson. 1972.

The Groundstar Conspiracy on VHS. Starring George Peppard, Michael Sarrazin, Christine Belford. With Cliff Potts, James Olson. Directed by Lamont Johnson. 1972.

From the box:

George Peppard and Michael Sarrazin engage in a monumental battle of wills in this critically-acclaimed espionage thriller from the early 1970’s. The riveting suspense yarn begins when an explosion smashed Groundstar, a top secret government space installation. Only one scientist, a spy placed withing the organization to steal the plant’s secrets, survives. But the blast has left him seriously burned and unable to recall anything that happened. It’s then up to Peppard, an overbearing government security head, to do whatever is necessary to get the spy’s memory back. Failing that, the investigator plans to use the impaired scientist as human bait to bring those behind The Groundstar Conspiracy to the surface. The terrifying drama, fashioned in the Hitchcock tradition, makes spectacular use of the breathtaking scenery shot on location at Vancouver Island.

DVD Upgrade: The Groundstar Conspiracy

Replace: Groundstar Conspiracy [VHS]