The Seventh Seal (1957)
Jan 20, 2001Death Incarnate
Ingmar Bergman's classic work where Max Von Sydow plays a game of chess with Death. A film that seems to carry the philosophical weight of the modern world on its shoulders
Max Von Sydow
The Magician (1958)
Mar 10, 2004Enigmatic Magician
Ingmar Bergman film about a travelling magic show. Bergman is fascinated with the power that illusionists hold and what happens behind the mask. A spellbinding film that is more haunted that most genre films
The Virgin Spring (1959)
Oct 21, 2007Revenge Film
One of the classic works from Ingmar Bergman, uncreditedly remade by Wes Craven as The Last House on the Left, with Max Von Sydow as a virtuous farmer who is driven to vengeance after three youths rape and kill his daughter
Hour of the Wolf (1968)
Feb 2, 2001Tormented Artist's Hallucinations
One of the works of the celebrated Ingmar Bergman with Max Von Sydow as an artist tormented by insomnia who starts to slip into disturbing hallucinations where he (and we) can not be certain what is being seen is real
The Exorcist (1973)
Sep 24, 2000Demonic Possession
A landmark classic of the horror genre, a film whose take on demonic possession and exorcism laid down a series of tropes that are still present over five decades later. A gruelling and intensive horror story into the bargain
The Ultimate Warrior (1975)
Aug 15, 2011Post-Holocaust
An early example of the post-apocalyptic action film with Yul Brynner as a lone fighter hired to defend a peaceful community
Deathwatch (1980)
Jul 6, 2001Future Media Obsession with a Dying Woman
Quietly understated French SF film set in a future where all illness has been abolished and a woman becomes a media sensation when she is diagnosed with a terminal condition
Flash Gordon (1980)
Jun 20, 2000Campy Space Opera
Dino de Laurentiis climbed aboard the Star Wars fad with this remake of the classic serial. Against expectation, the film's campy tone and eye-popping sets and costumes work and it has become an audience favourite
Conan the Barbarian (1982)
May 31, 2001Sword and Sorcery
Adaptation of Robert E. Howard's pulp adventure stories and the film that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a star. The script from Oliver Stone takes unevenly from Howard but director John Milius gives the film a brutal, primal majesty
Never Say Never Again (1983)
Aug 25, 2002James Bond Film
Rogue James Bond film made outside the regular series due to a complicated copyright battle. Sean Connery was inveigled back the role and this has some standout casting that is a welcome relief from the unserious Roger Moore films
Dreamscape (1984)
Jul 18, 2000Psychic Dream Therapists-Assassins
The original version of Inception almost, featuring psychics entering into people's dreams and then attempts to dream assassinate the US President. Despite much promise, the idea is prosaic in its handling
Dune (1984)
Feb 1, 2001Desert World/Intergalactic Politics/Precognitive Messiah
David Lynch disowned his film version of the classic Frank Herbert SF novel. However, Lynch may be incapable of making a bad film and this, while acting freely with the book, has a visual grandeur that makes it highly watchable
Needful Things (1993)
Aug 8, 2000The Devil Stirs up a Small Town/Stephen King Adaptation
Anodyne adaptation of a weaker Stephen king novel about a curio shop that sells objects that cause people to become obsessed and in so doing wreaks havoc throughout a small town
Judge Dredd (1995)
May 21, 2001Comic-Book Adaptation/Future Law Enforcement Officer
The film adaptation of the cult comic-book gets everything wrong. The designs and costumes look great but the film misses the comic's satiric sense of humour and simply becomes a thudding Sylvester Stallone action vehicle
What Dreams May Come (1998)
May 16, 1999The Afterlife
Vincent Ward is one of the least recognised great directors in the world. Here he creates an extraordinary vision of the afterlife in which he employs CGI to create a world that resembles classic artworks brought to life
Intacto (2001)
Aug 8, 2003Gambling on People's Luck Quotient/Thriller
Fascinating directorial debut from Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo about a man drawn into an underground society where people bet on the luck quotient of others
Sleepless (2001)
Nov 8, 2004Giallo Psycho-Thriller
One of the more routine of Dario Argento's giallo psycho-thrillers. The artily stylistic set-pieces are disappointingly average and even the plot relatively straightforward
Minority Report (2002)
Jul 15, 2002Future Precognitive Police Force
Steven Spielberg takes on Philip K. Dick in a much grittier film than he usually makes. In the strong and intelligent script, Tom Cruise is an officer on a police force that predicts crime before it happens only to then be hunted by his own side
Solomon Kane (2009)
Jul 21, 2010Puritan Era Sword and Sorcery/Robert E. Howard Adaptation
Reasonable adaptation of Robert E. Howard's stories about a Puritan warrior, an entry in the 00s sword-and-sorcery fad that comes with a welcomely dark edge
Shutter Island (2010)
Mar 9, 2010Sinister Psychiatric Institution/Reality Bender
Martin Scorsese and an impressive A-list cast make a 1940s-styled psycho-thriller about a sinister asylum that soon starts into a series of major reality bending turns
Branded (2012)
Nov 8, 2016Brand Names Revealed as Parasitic Entities
An ambitious film in its depiction of a near-future Russia and satire on the media. The latter half has the hero undergo a mystical experience and discover that advertising brands are living entities that feed on human need
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Dec 26, 2015Space Opera
Ok so it's not another Empire Strikes Back but it makes up for the prequels. A good part fanservice homage to the original – if overly reliant on rehashing elements from Star Wars – this also does many things right and feels a welcome return to the sort of adventure we kept wanting George Lucas to resdiscover