I’ve always enjoyed a good pirate movie: bold swashbucklers stirring up trouble across the seas in pursuit of stolen riches, with a thrill of danger and anti-establishment freedom. Add a sharp screenplay and a star-studded cast, and the result is seafaring magic.

In 1997, 39 members of the UFO-based religious group Heaven’s Gate, including its eccentric leader, Marshall “Do” Applewhite, died in the largest mass suicide on American soil.

With Scout Taylor-Compton, Robert LaSardo, Bill Moseley, and the late, great Sid Haig in the cast, how could Cynthia be anything but fan-fucking-tastic? 

After being disappointed by so many horror anthologies, I have become reluctant to seek them out. At Death’s Door only reinforces that hesitation, prompting me to reconsider the anthology films currently in my screener queue. But let’s get into the unavoidable.