"Leave Her to Heaven" (1945)

Implausible trash, essential viewing. This technicolor noir (a rarity in itself) features the alluring Gene Tierney in the second of her great femme fatale roles of the '40s, "Laura" being the other. Here she's the ultimate icy psychobitch, a venal murderess with the daddy of all Electra Complexes. When she sets her sights on hapless patsy Cornel Wilde, she mows down anybody in her path to maintain his ardor. Prepare yourself for one of the most famous--and disturbing--murder scenes in cinema. The Oscar winning cinematography wraps the whole thing in colors so sumptuous and florid it's borderline kitsch, high art on a velvet canvas. And if that's not enough, the architecture porn will leave you agog: two stunning houses, one a Taos hacienda, the other a cabin on a Maine lake. Don't miss this one.