Dark Intruder (Kino Lorber Blu-ray)
The wailing Theremin under the opening credits cries warning: The uncanny is coming. Dark Intruder (1965) is a B-picture whose story, an H.P. Lovecraft pastiche, is delivered by a screenplay that takes nothing seriously. Leslie Nielsen camps it up as an occult expert trying to solve a string of ritual killings in 1890s San Francisco. The best scenes in this black and white picture make use of dark shadows in the night. And getting back to that eerie Theremin, the score was composed by the great (and prolific) film composer Lalo Schifrin. (David Luhrssen)
Fear of Rain (Limited Theatrical Release and Streaming on FandangoNow & AppleTV, February 12)
Rain (Madison Iseman) is a typical teenage girl until a diagnosis of schizophrenia lands her in a treatment facility. Back home, Rain’s ostracized by old friends, and smothered by overprotective parents (Katherine Heigl and Harry Connick Jr.). Befriending new boy Caleb (Israel Broussard) gives her someone to talk to and someone to help her find a child she’s seen held captive in the neighbor’s attic. But circumstances soon cause Rain to wonder whether Caleb is real, and whether her parents are keeping dangerous secrets. This tale frightens by deftly entangling reality with hallucinations. (Lisa Miller)
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things (Streaming on Amazon Prime, February 12)
When high school student Mark (Kyle Allen) finds himself stuck in a one-day time-loop, he uses the repeating day to read through the library. Since he alone knows of the repetition, Mark feels isolated. Enter 17-year-old Margaret (Kathryn Newton) who reveals she too is repeating the same day. Together they roam the town in an effort make the day more perfect with each go-round. A mutual attraction develops, prompting Mark and Margaret to debate whether they should seek to stay in the loop, or to escape it. Their quandary is a classy problem—until complications arise in this sci-fi romance adapted from Lev Grossman's short story. (Lisa Miller)
Silent Running (Arrow Video Blu-ray)
Douglas Trumbull, a tech advisor for 2001: A Space Odyssey, went on in science-fiction to direct Silent Running (1972). The Earth had suffered ecological devastation and its plant life is preserved on orbiting spacecraft. When politicians decide to cut the expensive project—who needs green plants when food is manufactured synthetically?—Freeman (a fervid performance by Bruce Dern) choses to disobey. He is the one of the four crewmen with an imagination and a larger sense of responsibility (a sadly correct percentage of the general population?). Silent Running may have influenced George Lucas with its cute little two-footed robots and the everyday banter of life inside a spacecraft. The newly restored version includes interviews, commentaries and other extras. (David Luhrssen)
So Evil My Love (Kino Lorber Blu-ray)
Mark (Ray Milland) is an artist and a criminal returning home to England from the West Indies with Mrs. Harwood (Ann Todd), a missionary’s widow. He’s a fugitive and a charming rogue who coaxes Mrs. H (a woman of contrary emotions) to admit him to her boarding house. And then an old coconspirator turns up with an idea for a big heist. Set in the 19th century, So Evil My Love (1948) establishes its essentials in swift strokes with sordid implications carefully tailored for the censors. It’s a well-turned example of a subgenre we can call “Victorian noir.” (David Luhrssen)
