The Sentinel (1977)
Feb 15, 2000Haunted Apartment/Gateway to Hell
Michael Winner directs a film about a sinister apartment building but his typical crude and heavy-handed style fails to conjure anything remotely scary
Chris Sarandon
Fright Night (1985)
Jan 28, 2001Vampire Next Door Neighbour
Slick well made film that successfully transplants the vampire to modern suburbia. Made with a top-drawer arsenal of effects, including taking a leaf from An American Werewolf in London and showing a detailed man into bat transformation
The Princess Bride (1987)
Dec 6, 2002Fairytale Romance/Swashbuckler
Swashbuckling fairytale that treads a fine line between deconstruction and parody, while reveling in a script where the dialogue positively dances. Perfectly cast - a film that few do not come out enjoying its ebullient fantasy
Child’s Play (1988)
Jun 8, 2001Possessed Doll
The very first of the Chucky films. At the time, this seemed a very silly and at times ridiculous killer doll film and not the basis of an ongoing series of sequels that have lasted more than three decades
Whispers (1990)
May 15, 2001Disturbed Twins/Dean R. Koontz Adaptation
Dean R. Koontz adaptation in which Victoria Tennant kills an attacker only for him to be found alive again and return to attack her, involving her in a complex web involving Satanism, vampirism and twins
The Resurrected (1992)
Jul 1, 2001Black Magician's Resurrection/H.P. Lovecraft Adaptation
Alien scripter Dan O’Bannon jumps aboard the 80s/early 90s fad for H.P. Lovecraft adaptations is this directorial outing that eventually develops quite reasonable effect
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Feb 8, 2004Halloween Denizens Take Over Christmas/Stop-Motion Animation
Tim Burton and Henry Selick combine on this stop-motion animated fantasy made in Burton's characteristcially eccentric style, a beautifully stylised and dark fantasy in which assorted Halloween denizens invade Christmas
Temptress (1995)
Apr 19, 2010Erotica/Possession by Kali
Erotic horror film made by Playboy where Kim Delaney is possessed by an incarnation of Kali
Cybertech P.D. (1995)
Apr 12, 2003Cyberpunk
At face value, this seems to be no more than a Lorenzo Lamas action film for video release, but it surprises one and becomes a quite reasonable Cyberpunk film that conducts a smart airing of the tropes
Tales from the Crypt Presents Bordello of Blood (1996)
Dec 16, 2001Vampire Brothel
The second of the films spun off from tv’s Tales from the Crypt. While the first film Demon Knight took itself seriously, this does not and is killed by a campy tone and a miscast Dennis Miller keeping up a running barrage of excruciating one-liners
American Perfekt (1997)
Dec 13, 2000Road Movie Psycho-Thriller
A surprisingly good road movie psycho-thriller focusing on various people travelling a desert highway where it becomes apparent that one of them is a serial killer
Reaper (1998)
Jul 2, 2005Psycho-Thriller
Chris Sarandon is a writer who becomes embroiled in solving a series of murder that mimic his own books. An okay set-up that rarely moves beyond the unfolding of cliches
Fright Night (2011)
Aug 27, 2011Vampire Next Door Neighbour
Another 1980s horror remake that resurrects and changes the original to little purpose. This fails to understand that what was original in 1985 lacks much when placed alongside contemporary vampire films