Highly Recommend #4

don't actually tell me, i know it isn't great. instead, let's watch something!

what a world, what a world. is it feeling super heavy for you, too? that's okay, i've got your back for when you need to take a break fighting the powers that be. this week, it's in the form of a list of super sweet psychological thrillers from the 1990s. what a time to be alive, amirite?

so here they are, a list of my most rewatched and beloved genre "films" that will be sure to entertain you and your friends, or teenagers. these titles are not your typical Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, top-tier 90s thrillers, but they are watchable. trust that i have seen all of them, some multiple times, alone or with friends. i would never tell you to watch something i haven't spent 89 minutes or more of my own life watching. and of course, i highly recommend watching any of these entertaining cinematic enigmas with your favorite alcoholic beverage or legal drug of choice; c'mon, it was the 90s, you're gonna be upset by lots of dialogue and storylines, and being a little lit is gonna help remind you that it was a much different time back then. and yes, some of these titles have been showcased on How Did This Get Made so you know they'll be a real treat! lol

In no particular order - also, not all of these are available on streaming services, sadly, but you can always check your local library or their streaming services:

couldn't help myself

The Good Son (Amazon Prime - 1993): okay, honestly, i recently tried rewatching this and couldn't because watching tiny children the same age as my youngest niece be horrible monsters is apparently something i'm unable to do as a middle-aged woman. but when this came out, i was the same age as the characters/actors (Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood), so my lens was different and my bff at the time and i watched it between laughing and hiding our eyes at the horror lil Mac inflicts on anything and anyone who comes between him and his precious mom (Wendy Crewson). this movie is unhinged because killer kids. (also, read the trivia on imdb for this movie after watching - the climactic cliff scene was shot for real and the director had to bribe Mac to do it.)

Fallen (1998): first off, who doesn't love 1990s Denzel Washington? sociopaths, that's who. this lil diamond in the rough has him chasing a literal demon summoned upon him by a serial killer he put in the electric chair before the guy gets fried (not a spoiler, i don't do those, this happens in the first 10m). one of the things i love most about this movie is the song weaved into it "Time Is on My Side" by The (holy) Rolling Stones. we get to hear it sung by John Goodman and others as the music loving demon pops into any human vessel it inhabits by touch while driving poor Denzel insane. if that doesn't spell excellence, i don't know what does. 

The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992): just rewatched this, and, yep, it's holds up better than this country (zing!). seriously, it's still a solid movie with A++ performances from Rebecca De Mornay, Julianne Moore, Ernie Hudson. in the first act, Annabella Sciorra plays an expectant mother whose doctor just retired so she goes to see Dr. Mott (or Dr. Coldhands, the name i still remember from the M.A.D. magazine parody), who eschews his gloves and reminds me why i refused to see a male gyno without a nurse in the room my entire life. she gets that bad doctor fired and then he goes and shoots himself! unbeknownst to Sciorra's Claire, Dr. Mott's wife was also preggo - and totally crazed with grief and rage. what De Morney does with those emotions is pure psychopathy, which makes for a great night in with popcorn and pals! the lengths this woman goes to in order to destroy Claire is just remarkable, and Ernie Hudson playing Solomon, an intellectually disabled man is...well, i really have no words here, none. i'm not sure why he had to be written that way, but Hudson is so respectful about it, but still, it's one of those choices that makes you wonder... Julianne Moore is the best friend you wish yours was, and you can tell in this movie that she's gonna have a good, long career in Hollyweird. anyway, yeah, it's magical and offensive, just like the 90s themselves!

The Color of Night (1994): talk about an offensive film...here we go! but this one makes me lol a lot, really. it was a HDTGM pick many moons ago, and while listening to that episode i decided to rent it that night. friend, i'm glad i did. who wouldn't wanna watch an erotic thriller with the possibility of seeing of Bruce Willis' wang in a pool?? and if that doesn't get you, what about a whodunnit erotic thriller?? you have a crazy cast of characters, a wildly unhinged suicide in the opening scene, and symbolism upon symbolism, what's not to love? Bruno plays a psychiatrist or psychologist who's experiencing color blindness after the trauma of watching one of his patients throw herself out of his high rise NYC office one day (yeah, reread that again, i'll wait). he can't see the color red, guys. so he takes time to heal by jetting off to L.A. to see his good buddy, Scott Bakula, another psychotherapist. This guy has a group of patients that he sees weekly. at night. i have no idea why, they all have different issues, but they also seem to have someone in common... anyway, Bakula gets murdered one night, and then a sexy young thing almost hits Bruno in his dead buddy's car, which this sets off the events of the rest of the movie that i do not have time or space on the page to go into - you really have to experience this movie at least once in your life, and then come back here and let me know what questions or feelings you have because you will have many, many, many. hahahahaaaaa, love it.

Dream Lover (1994): another erotic thriller, this time with my personal fave, James Spader. usually, he was the jerk in movies, but in this one, he's getting messed with by Madchen Amick, or Shelly from Twin Peaks!! i'll be honest, it's been a hot minute since i've spent time with this movie, but i do remember thinking, "wow, this is f'ed up, i wanna see it again, how does he not know what's happening, why didn't he vet her??" this movie and The Temp made me think a lot about how scripts could just be...done better, but these were still fun to watch. Spader plays a newly divorced architect who just can't believe that this is his life now. then, one day he literally bumps into Amick at a grocery store and their love story begins! OR DOES IT? they're hot, they bang it out, get married, she pops out a baby, all in the blink of an eye, but then things start happening and Spader realizes he doesn't know this random woman he met while completely heart-shattered, but now here we are. i vaguely remember Larry Miller in this movie being a weirdo creep, and i could be wrong, but he did leave an impression, so that's something. i'm frankly mad that this isn't available on streaming right now because i need a refresher, but i still recommend it if you can find it!

Dead Again (1991): i'm putting this one up there with HTRTC but way less offensive and with the added bonus of dear Robin Williams in a cameo. this movie has EVERYTHING, murder, hypnosis, reincarnation, British people with American accents, and scissors! so many scissors!! Sir Kenneth Branagh stars and directs himself as Mike Church, down-and-out private investigator, and then-wife Dame Emma Thompson as Grace, a woman with amnesia who hires him to help find out who she is. what a plot right there. but wait, there's more! she's having nightmares in black and white about being murdered by her husband, who looks an awful lot like Church, only it's decades ago, but they don't know each other and aren't married and it's the 90s. so Ken gets some help from a antiquarian/hypnotist (Sir Derek Jacobi) because that makes all the sense in the world, duh. but once those sessions start...yeehaw, the real fun begins. Robin's only in the movie because he was buddies with Ken and this was a favor for him. i love that. i love little stories like that, it's fun and sweet. i don't want to give anything else away because i remember this one throwing me for a loop in the theatre. yes, my parents took us with them to see this and most movies. except for Basic Instinct, my brother and i got tickets to see a different movie that night, but we did sneak a peak in their theatre door in the middle and w h o a. anyhoo...go find this Film and enjoy it.

Copycat (Netflix - 1995): so, this one is fun for several reasons, but it's mostly just a really excellent thriller. okay, okay, and Harry Conick, Jr. as a madman with horrific teeth is just *shivers* yeeesh. Signourney Weaver plays Helen Hudson, a homebound authority on psychopaths! she's only agorophobic because HCJ's Daryll Lee Cullum tried to strangle her in the bathroom one time, guys, one time. so she does her criminal psychology work at home and through chat rooms, while her helper friend Andy does all the rest. i wish i had an Andy, a handsome gay man who gets my groceries, doesn't try to make me leave the house all the time, and hangs out with me without trying any funny stuff...the dream. anyway, these murders start taking place around town and the cops on the case, Holly Hunter's MJ and Dermot Mulroney's Ruben, need Helen's help solving these copycat murders before the killer strikes again. and of course that killer knows all about Helen - she's basically every serial killer's dream girl because she just really gets them, y'know? my heart does break a bit when i see this movie but i can't tell you why - just know that everyone's performance here is Top Notch and you will not regret a moment wasted getting to know this movie. 

this is not a comprehensive list, but i need to sleep now which means you'll get the rest of my list later this week. or tomorrow. who knows, only time will tell. keep your chin up out there, take care of yourself and your loved ones, and rest easy with one of these fine cinematic features. 

you're welcome ;)