</strong>Room 37: The Mysterious Death of Johnny Thunders

Most movies that blend horror with rock ‘n’ roll turn out to be regrettable camp-fests with guitar-playing zombies. In its better moments, this film by sibling directors Fernando Cordero Caballero and Vicente Cordero channels psychological phantasmagorias like The Shining and Barton Fink in what-if riffing on a real-life tragedy in the music world: the shadowy 1991 death in New Orleans of John Anthony Genzale, aka Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls. Battling addiction in a seedy French Quarter hotel in a bid to see his little daughter, the rocker (Leo B. Ramsey) finds his methadone missing—apparently stolen by an old invalid woman in the next room—and he subsequently succumbs to macabre paranoia and visions of a killer redneck pusher and the drowned ghost of Dolls drummer Billy Murcia (another drug casualty). A rational explanation for the weird events may disappoint viewers accustomed to kitschy paranormal activity, but this small-scale feature still casts an effective spell. A strong optional purchase. (C. Cassady)