Looking for a bit of a thrill?
From a Hitchcock classic to a modern horror creepshow, here are the best of the genre screening around town this week, based on Rotten Tomatoes' critical ratings.
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Rear Window
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
This classic Hitchcock film screens at the Balboa Theater on Friday, May 18. With a 100 percent positive critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, it's considered one of the filmmaker's greatest masterpieces. Get tickets here.
(If you're a Hitchcock fan, "Rope," "Psycho" and "Vertigo" are also playing at the Balboa this weekend.)
A Quiet Place
In the modern horror thriller A Quiet Place, a family of four must navigate their lives in silence after mysterious creatures that hunt by sound threaten their survival. If they hear you, they hunt you.
With a current critical score of 95 percent, positive feedback for the horror film has been anything but muted.
It's playing at Alamo Drafthouse (2550 Mission St.), AMC Van Ness (1000 Van Ness Ave.), AMC Kabuki (1881 Post St.), Century San Francisco Centre (845 Market St.) and the Metreon (135 4th St.). Get tickets here.
Beast
A troubled woman living in an isolated community finds herself pulled between the control of her oppressive family and the allure of a secretive outsider suspected of a series of brutal murders.
This debut film from writer/director Michael Pearce has a 93 percent critical score, with reviewers calling it a worthy psychological thriller with a breakout performance from actress Jessie Buckley.
"Beast" is playing at AMC Kabuki and Embarcadero Center starting Friday, May 18. Get tickets here.
Ghost Stories
Phillip Goodman (director Andy Nyman) is a professional debunker of the supernatural. But his skepticism is tested by a new file of three chilling, inexplicable cases: a watchman (Paul Whitehouse) haunted by disturbing visions; a hellish car accident involving an edgy young man (Black Mirror‘s Alex Lawther); a former banker (Sherlock‘s Martin Freeman) visited by a poltergeist. Even scarier: each of these macabre stories seems connected to Goodman’s own life. Will they make a believer of him yet?
"Ghost Stories" has an 82 percent positive score from critics; it's playing tonight at the 4 Star Theatre (2200 Clement St.). Get tickets here.
