For a critic like me who is not only a serious lover of horror but of films in general, watching THE REVENANT is a genuine pleasure. Written and directed by PHANTASM sequel FX wizard D. Kerry Prior, the film has been enjoying much international fest love over the past year or so, winning awards and picking up a cult of fans. And rightfully so: This is a brilliant, sophisticated horror/comedy that manages to play within a familiar framework while deftly defying clichés at every turn.

It’s not strictly a horror film, but it’s unlikely that any movie will come along this year to match the gut-wrenching intensity of the Australian indie THE HORSEMAN (hitting special-edition DVD and Blu-ray June 15 from Screen Media, and not to be confused for a second with last year’s Dennis Quaid-starrer HORSEMEN). It’s by now a cliché to describe a movie as reminiscent of ’70s cinema, but this stripped-down parental-revenge thriller truly warrants the description, and it also shows up the slick, absurd contrivances of an expensive modern schlocker like TAKEN.

If you’re a fan of actor Bill Moseley—and judging by his recently maxed-out Facebook page, many people are—you’re no doubt savvy to the fact that the rogues’ gallery of wingnuts he’s played onscreen are very closely aligned to the man’s eccentric personality. Beginning with his self-scalp-eating cannibal kook in Tobe Hooper’s TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 and continuing through his portrayal of Otis in Rob Zombie’s HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES and THE DEVIL’S REJECTS, Moseley has become iconic in the genre, working steadily in features, showing up on the con circuit and generally forging a legacy as a sort of trailer-trash kin to Vincent Price.

One of the most distinctive albums of the year, WRETCHED. FILTHY. UGLY. combines the jittery, hyperactive feel of acoustic folk rock and the trashiness of horror movies. The band behind it, Harley Poe, fabricates a unique sound all its own.

From deep red to grey velvet, the cinema of Dario Argento drips with pungent pigmentation. Vivid color is deployed for texture and sensuality. The primary hues of SUSPIRIA’s Tans Academy pulsate with a primal femininity. The densely filtered light in INFERNO creates a heady dreamscape saturated with dangerous allure.

There have been countless grassroots undead movies in the last couple of decades, and more than a few indie flicks that applied the THIS IS SPINAL TAP mockumentary approach to the horror genre. So it’s a nice surprise that the Canadian indie REEL ZOMBIES combines the two subgenres in ways that are fresh and funny.

There aren’t many things left in this world you can get for $1, let alone something worth every penny of it. Buying a home pregnancy test at the dollar store (I’ve seen ’em!) is something you want to avoid. On the other hand, purchasing issue #1 of DC/Vertigo’s I, ZOMBIE is a buck well spent.