Mr. Scott has always made his films beautiful to look at, whether it be "Blade  Runner," "Gladiator," "Alien" or "Black Hawk Down," to even his lesser films like "Legend" and "Hannibal," his films have a great visual style, and "Body of Lies" is no exception, the film looks great.

Russell Crowe proves that yet again he is a top-notch performer; he plays the part of a CIA boss Ed Hoffman, who does the complete opposite of what he is asked or advised. 

Leonardo DiCaprio plays the part of Roger Ferris, a CIA  operative who keeps trying to do his job and save lives despite his boss’ objections. DiCaprio also proves that he is one of the most intense character actors in Hollywood and  with the upcoming "Revolutionary Road" (co-staring his Titanic love interest Kate  Winslet) he will hopefully get his well-deserved Oscar nomination. 

The fault with this  film lies within the script, written by William Monahan, who did a great job with the  script for "The Departed."

When the script focuses on the hunt for an Osama Bin Laden type of terrorist, it is tight andense; it then at times drops it and begins to focus on a love  story centering on Ferris and a Palestinian nurse, which is to obvious and predictable and  makes the plot lose credibility. 

If Ridley Scott would have trimmed around 40 minutes  or so, this would have been a tauntthriller, but instead it is a great looking film that you will  forget you have seen around 20 minutes after you have left the theatre. The only  reason I can recommend it is for the stellar performances by the two leads.  Two out of  four stars.      

With very few decent films opening in theatres for horror fans (the "Saw" films are not horror films, they are just violence and gore with no  plot or point), here are a few horror films that are seldom seen or talked about because most of today’s youth are obsessed with the aforementioned "Saw" franchise. 

It is this critic’s opinion that horror films are supposed to be something supernatural, bizarre or  popular around this time are not really horror, they fall  into the suspense category.

The few slasher films that are the exception are the original 1978 version of John Carpenter’s "Halloween" and Stanley Kubrick’s haunting version of the slasher/ghost story "The Shining." 

First off in the people seem to have forgotten Roman Polanski’s "Rosemary’s  Baby," a chilling adaptation of Ira Levin’s novel of the same name centering on a naïve young woman named Rosemary (played perfectly by Mia Farrow) who moves into an  apartment building with her actor husband (the great John Cassavetes). 

Their neighbors  are a kindly, unsuspecting old couple played by Ruth Gordon (who won an Oscar for the  role) and Sidney Blackmer, who pay visits, bring food and practice devil worship.

They soon drug Rosemary and with the consent of her ambitious husband offer her to the devil. After what seems to be a horrific dream sequence, Rosemary is taken by the devil and is carrying the devil’s offspring. 

This film has many memorable, tense moments and will have you on the edge of your seat. 

There is the little-seen film from 1977 called "The Sentinel" about a young woman who rents an apartment.

Her neighbor is a kindly old  gentleman (played by the perfectly sinister Burgess Meredith) who introduces her to the  other tenants, which include a blind priest who lives on the top floor and never leaves.

The  young woman soon starts hearing noises and seeing her father who has been dead for five  years, she then learns that the entire apartment has been vacant with exception of the  priest and herself, the last 10 minutes of this film are very disturbing and unsetteling.   

From 1972 there is Robert Mulligan’s chilling film "The Other" (don’t confuse this with  the 2001 Nicole Kidman ghostlyale "The Others"), centering on twins, one is sweet and  innocent, the other is evil and demented, and again the last ten minutes of this film will  stay with you long after you have seen it.   

From director John Landis, known mostly for his comedies like "Animal House"  and "The Blues Brothers" comes "An American Werewolf in London," a truly unique  horror comedy because the comedy is funny.

And when the horror kicks in, it becomes  tense (the dream sequences alone will have you jumping).

This is one of the few films that cleverly mixes werewolves, zombies and ghosts and is not and exploitation film.  1995’s  "In the Mouth of Madness" is John Carpenter’s last interesting foray in the horror genre  ("Vampires" and "Ghosts of Mars" are unwatchable), this film centers on the search for an  iconic horror author who has disappeared and whose latest book is making people  literally go mad.

This apocalyptic tale also is probably the closest anyone has gotten to  making a disturbing film centering on H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos.

1987’s  controversial "Angel Heart" is a very moody and atmospheric thriller about a private  detective (played with perfect intensity by the very underrated Mickey Rourke) who is hired by a mysterious millionaire (the devilish Robert De Niro) to search for a crooner who owes him a serious debt. 

The search takes Rourke into Louisiana voodoo territory  and deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness. 

Last but not least, there is 1990’s  surreal "Jacob’s Ladder" starring Tim Robbins (a heart-wrenching performance) as a  Vietnam Vet who begins to lose his grip on reality after being seeing hellish demons  everywhere.

This is a very dark, unnerving descent into madness and is very well done by  taking its subject matter seriously and keeping it out of B-movie horror. 

Russell Crowe teams up for the fourth time with director Ridley Scott and this time they bring along Leonardo DiCaprio along for the ride in the action thriller "Body of  Lies."