Both of these movies come highly recommended -- by other people, because my personal copies have not arrived yet (Grrr!!!). Still, I've heard from such a wide cross-section of trusted friends and complete strangers that I feel completely confident in suggesting you check these movies out. Both were released in Region 1 DVD editions earlier this week.

Kiltro was one of the movies that people were raving about at Fantastic Fest last fall. As as our own Scott Weinberg noted at the time, Kiltro is an action flick from Chile starring "stuntman-turned-hero Marko 'The Latin Dragon' Zaror." Michael Gingold of Fangoria wrote that, despite a multitude of kung-fu movie conventions, Kiltro succeeds "due to a tongue-in-cheek approach that tweaks the genre's requirements ... and the charisma and abilities of Zaror." The DVD from Magnet Releasing includes deleted scenes, bloopers, fight training and behind the scenes footage, and storyboard action.

Jessica Alba's latest, The Eye, is about a blind woman who has an eye transplant that enables her to see into the supernatural world. It's a remake of twin brothers' Oxide Pang Chung and Danny Pang's 2002 Hong Kong horror film Gin Gwai. The new film was directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud, with re-shoots (uh-oh) by Patrick Lussier. It was written by Sebastian Gutierrez, who scripted Gothika and Snakes on a Plane (uh-oh again). The trailer is up online over at Yahoo Movies, and you've probably got some questions. Will this one be any better than the average crappy horror flick? Are we talking more The Ring or more The Grudge 2? If Jessica Alba were really blind, could she learn to love a monster like me? Maybe you should take your pretty little eyes over there and check out that trailer, Mogambo!

The trailer feels like more of a long teaser. There is no dialogue, just some pulsing music, and quick flashes telling the story in images. It's nicely done but not mind-blowing. A few moments stood out, like the floating feet and the nice little jump at the end. I also like the bit where she appears to be painfully squeezing fluid out of her eye. It reminded me of trying to put in my contact lenses while hung over. The Eye co-stars Alessandro Nivola (Junebug) and the always delightful Parker Posey. I saw Posey for a half second in the trailer, and no Nivola, but I guess when you've got one of the most beautiful women in the world in your movie, you want to put her front and center. Cinematical visited the set of The Eye back in April, and if you'd like to read a discussion with Miss Alba regarding the film, you can find it here. The Eye is due in theaters on February 1st, 2008.

The ferocious French import known as both Ils and Them has no interest in slowing down or wandering around. It offers only the barest hints of character development and it doesn't have time to bother with subplots, red herrings or extraneous characters. It's just a stripped-to-the-bone stalker thriller in which two unfortunate souls spend one hellacious night trying to evade something extraordinarily murderous. (Or maybe someone, but I don't want to spoil the flick for you.)

The flicks opens with a fairly conventional stinger: a teenage girl and her mother run afoul of something deadly after suffering a nasty car accident. From there we meet a sweet-natured young teacher who's just about to head off and spend the weekend with her boyfriend in a rather isolated (and massive) house. And once the lights go out for the night, the action is just getting started.