Author:   Scott Douglas

The Story: Two mermaids come ashore in Poland looking for men to love and/or eat, only to wind up fronting a family band in an underground strip club. The Lowdown: A staggeringly strange blend of horror movie and musical that falls disappointingly short of delivering on the feminist potential of its premise.

In Brief: Robert Wiene never quite outgrew the shadow of his German Expressionist masterpiece The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), but in the case of 1924's The Hands of Orlac, he did manage to come close to recapturing the magic of his earlier film. Reteaming with Caligari star Conrad Veidt, Wiene adapted a celebrated French novel about a concert pianist…

In Brief: Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov (I Am Cuba), The Cranes Are Flying (1957) is the only Russian film ever to win the coveted Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival — and not without good reason. This postwar melodrama eschews the traditional rigidity of Russian formalist montage techniques in favor of a more free-flowing camera, which perfectly…

The Story: An explorer finds the remains of an ancient civilization while mapping an uncharted river in South America and dedicates the rest of his life to finding the lost city he believes to be hidden in the jungle. The Lowdown: Writer/director James Gray relies on classical cinematic forms in his compelling adaptation of author David Grann's nonfiction best-seller…

The Story: A mysterious young Frenchman befriends the family of a fallen German soldier following World War I. The Lowdown: Timely social commentary in a weepy melodrama's clothing, François Ozon makes a rare misstep by overreaching in both style and narrative.

The Story: A man raising his niece, a promising young math prodigy, is drawn into a contentious legal battle when his mother challenges him for custody of the girl. The Lowdown: A predominantly unobjectionable film, but one whose only gift is a talent for emotional manipulation.

The Story: Paul Cezanne and Emile Zola share a turbulent friendship that spans decades and involves some of the most famous artists of late 19th-century France. The Lowdown: Watching paint dry may well be more fun, depending on the painter.

In Brief: Quite possibly the best thing legendary schlockmeister William Castle ever turned out prior to producing Rosemary's Baby — and certainly the best remembered of his films due to its incredible theatrical gimmick (Percepto), The Tingler is an absolute must see for fans of Castle's unique brand of low-budget exploitation horror. Castle's films are generally less notable for their…

In Brief: One of my favorite films of all time is in a delicate position, and only you — the Asheville moviegoing community — can help me save it. Many of you have no doubt seen, or are at least aware, of 1984's This is Spinal Tap, the film that not only launched the cinematic careers…

The Story: A crew of formerly drug-addled miscreants reunites after two decades of bad blood to take stock of their misspent lives. The Lowdown: A fitting follow-up to an unquestionable classic that may not please the most ardent purists but makes a moving statement on the struggles of maturity and the pitfalls of nostalgia.

The Story:  A small-town cop stumbles into a world of cosmic monstrosity when he encounters a blood-spattered junkie on the run from a mysterious cult. The Lowdown: A love letter to gore fanatics and one of the best films yet to come out of the current throwback-horror renaissance.

The Story: The all-male Smurfs discover a village populated entirely by female Smurfs. The Lowdown: An entirely unnecessary and largely forgettable film that seeks to address the gender imbalance in the Smurfs universe but doesn't get much further than acknowledging that the franchise had a parity problem in the first place.

In Brief: Director Abel Ferrara (King of New York, Bad Lieutenant) made his feature directorial debut — at least if we're not counting his "adult" work — with this gory 1979 slasher flick. Ferrara also stars as the titular killer, a painter driven to madness by loud neighbors and mounting debts, but as is typically the case with…

The Story: Two high school students find themselves transposed into each other's bodies, leading to an unexpected romance — and an even more surprising plot twist. The Lowdown: A work of staggering beauty, both aesthetically and emotionally. Even those with qualms about animation or subtitles should see this film.

The Story: A tough sergeant leads a group of young Nazi POWs in an attempt to remove landmines from a stretch of beach on post-World War II Denmark. The Lowdown: A proficient attempt to humanize "The Other" that's more distinguished by its subject matter than its execution.

The Story: A spiritual medium who seeks to contact her recently deceased brother becomes haunted by a malevolent presence that may not be what she was looking for. The Lowdown: This rare misfire for esteemed director Olivier Assayas plays to Kristen Stewart's weaknesses, failing to deliver the chills its premise promises.

The Story: A cybernetic counterterrorism operative in a dystopian future searches for the truth when she finds herself embroiled in a corporate conspiracy that has stripped her of her memories. The Lowdown: A pale simulacrum of the classic manga and anime franchise that lacks the convictions of its inspiration.

In Brief: I was a young film studies major in 2004 when Jean-Luc Godard's Notre Musique premiered in New York, and I had a membership to the Film Forum that guaranteed me discounted tickets — which was convenient, because I wouldn't have been able to afford them otherwise. Andrew Sarris, one of my professors at the time, intensely…

In Brief: A classic Noir from one of the masters of the form, Robert Siodmak's The Spiral Staircase (1946) is heavily indebted to the director's early work in Germany and France. The film's use of chiaroscuro lighting and dutch angles evoke the German Expressionists, touches also evident in Siodmak's adaptation of Hemmingway's The Killers (also 1946). Dorothy McGuire delivers a…

In Brief: The second of two back-to-back Archie Mayo films screened by the AFS (following our THPS presentation of Svengali), Angel on my Shoulder (1946) was probably the most effective of Mayo's forays into comedy. Written by Harry Segall, who also wrote Here Comes Mister Jordan, Angel shares a number of thematic similarities with Jordan — including Claude Rains as a smart-alecky supernatural…

The Story: An anti-social middle-age outcast struggles to connect with his estranged family and others around him in spite of his prickly demeanor. The Lowdown: A film with all the makings of an exceptional black comedy that doesn't fully deliver the goods.