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A present-tense record of nation-splitting turmoil, Patricio Guzmán’s monumental documentary The Battle of Chile remains a landmark of activist cinema. Chronicling the events leading to the overthrow of Salvador Allende’s democratically elected socialist regime by a conservative military coup, it offers a staggering blend of history and narrative.

“The Insurrection of the Bourgeoisie,” the first of the film’s three parts, opens in the excitement of the 1970 election and closes in terror, as the street clashes between workers, students, and soldiers yield to bullets. Violence intensifies in the second part (“The Coup d’Etat”) as Allende’s government is besieged by business-controlled strikes and finally taken down by the Nixon/Kissinger-backed 1973 junta that placed Augusto Pinochet in power.

Edited from bits of often risky coverage taken during the period, the first two parts have the force of an early Roberto Rossellini picture. Attuned to the active political engagement of the Chilean people,...

Give it up for Juan Piquer Simon. Not only did the Spanish director bestow upon the horror world one of the craziest and memorable slashers of all time, Pieces (1983), he also found it within himself to give us Slugs (1988). Not quite as crazy as Pieces (but almost as good), Slugs trades heavily in the J.P. Simon business: a whole lot of weird, a nuclear ton of energy, and gore galore. If you only see one badly dubbed mollusk monster movie, filled with heavy pettin’ and (literally) explosive action, you would be wise to choose Slugs.

Released Stateside by New World Pictures (post Roger Corman years) in February, this Spanish/American coproduction has never been as beloved as J.P.’s killer-on-campus opus, but that’s only because it seems to play out in a more straightforward manner. Trust me; this film brings all the B level goods, with no expiration date in sight.