“Saint Ange,” the first feature film by Pascal Laugier, contains many of the elements that made his 2008 cult-classic “Martyrs” so distinctive. Both films start off in a predictable, genre-specific way — then gradually reveal darker, stranger, subterranean layers that defy our expectations. Of the two films, “Ange” is lighter fare, while “Martyrs” is far bloodier and much more disturbing. In the United States, on some streaming services, “Saint Ange” is listed as “House of Voices.” “Saint Ange” begins as a slow-build Gothic ghost-story, in the vein of 2007’s “The Orphanage” or 2001’s “The Others.” “Ange” works quite well on…

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I saw Taxi Driver for the first time when I was in college. It was far from an ideal presentation. My friend and I had rented the film on VHS, and we watched it on a small grainy TV screen in a dormitory room. I didn’t get much out of the film then, and it might have had as much to do with my lack of experience in the world as with the lousy picture and sound.  Many sources had assured me that it was Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece, and Robert DeNiro’s best role. In the end, I didn’t quite know…

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“The Watchers” is a supernatural thriller which begins with some stylish promise — and then quickly becomes a farce. Directed by Ishana Shyamalan, daughter of one M. Night, it seems this film might be a case of “Like father, like daughter.”

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I find Yorgos Lanthimos to be a fascinating filmmaker, although it’s generally difficult to say that one “loves” his movies. His films are satirical and often bleak, but also frequently funny — in a painful kind of way. He is sharp observer of social customs and human interaction, and he seems to enjoy making the kinds of stories where poor ordinary souls are caught in absurd situations, without realizing how absurd their situations are. In his movies, the absurd is commonplace, and much of the satirical humor comes from the way people accept the strangest of occurrences as simply “the…

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Neither scary, nor campy enough, “The Pope’s Exorcist” plays more like a dumb action-comedy than a horror-film. At least it has its share of unintentionally funny moments. Call it “The Exorcist” by way of “Fast and Furious.”

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