Directed by Fritz Lang • 1931 • Germany

A simple, haunting musical phrase whistled offscreen tells us that a young girl will be killed. "Who Is the Murderer?" pleads a nearby placard as serial killer Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) closes in on little Elsie Beckmann... In his harrowing masterwork M, ...

Directed by Francesco Rosi • 1962 • Italy

July 5, 1950--Sicilian bandit Salvatore Giuliano's bullet-riddled corpse is found facedown in a courtyard in Castelvetrano, a handgun and rifle by his side. Local and international press descend upon the scene, hoping to crack open the true story behind ...

Directed by Nico Papatakis • 1963 • France
Starring Francine Bergé, Colette Bergé, Pascale de Boysson

Inspired by the notorious case of Christine and Léa Papin—French sisters working as maids who murdered their employer’s wife and daughter in 1933—Nico Papatakis’s debut feature was a succès de s...

Directed by Leonard Kastle • 1969 • United States

Martha Beck (Shirley Stoler) is sullen, overweight, and lonely. Desperate for affection, she joins Aunt Carrie's Friendship Club and strikes up a correspondence with Ray Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco), a charismatic smooth talker who could be the man...

Directed by Nagisa Oshima • 1976 • Japan
Starring Tatsuya Fuji, Eiko Matsuda

IN THE REALM OF THE SENSES (AI NO CORRIDA), by the always provocative Japanese director Nagisa Oshima, remains one of the most controversial films of all time. Based on a true incident, it graphically depicts the all-co...

Directed by Shohei Imamura • 1979 • Japan
Starring Ken Ogata, Mayumi Ogawa, Mitsuko Baisho

A thief, a murderer, and a charming lady-killer, Iwao Enokizu (Ken Ogata) is on the run from the police. Director Shohei Imamura turns this fact-based story—about the seventy-eight-day killing spree of a r...

Directed by Joyce Chopra • 1985 • United States
Starring Laura Dern, Treat Williams, Mary Kay Place

Suspended between carefree youth and the harsh realities of the adult world, a teenage girl experiences an unsettling awakening in this haunting vision of innocence lost. Based on Joyce Carol Oate...

Directed by Edward Yang • 1991 • Taiwan
Starring Chang Chen, Lisa Yang, Chang Kuo-hu

Among the most praised and sought-after titles in all contemporary film, this singular masterpiece of Taiwanese cinema, directed by Edward Yang, finally comes to home video in the United States. Set in the early...

Directed by Claude Chabrol • 1995 • France, Germany
Starring Sandrine Bonnaire, Isabelle Huppert, Jacqueline Bisset

Claude Chabrol’s forty-ninth feature stands as the crowning achievement of his prolific career—a coolly riveting study of class dynamics, the psychology of crime, and the sordid se...

Directed by Arturo Ripstein • 1996 • France, Mexico, Spain

In this alternately macabre and mirthful thriller, based on a true-crime story, renowned Mexican director Arturo Ripstein brings a stylish audacity to the tale of the "Lonely Hearts Killers," a couple who, in the 1940s, posed as brother ...