The Devil’s Rain (1975)
Sep 29, 2001Satanist Cult
Big-budget Satanism film that came out during the mid-70s occult film fad, this promptly collapses into a bad movie through many unintentionally absurd touches and a nonsensical screenplay
Tom Skerritt
Alien (1979)
May 2, 1999Alien Nasty on a Spaceship
One of the most influential films on this site, producing a host of sequels and making the careers of all involved. At heart, a simple monster on a spaceship film, it is made into a classic through Ridley Scott's relentless suspense and H.R. Giger's design work
Spacecamp (1986)
Nov 10, 2003Teenagers Trapped in Orbit in the Space Shuttle
This comes with the unappealing concept of 'Teenagers Trapped in Orbit in the Space Shuttle' and vies between cliche and passable treatment
Maid to Order (1987)
Feb 14, 2024Spoilt Girl Swapped Into a Different Life/Light Fantasy
1980s light fantasy comedy where spoilt rich girl Ally Sheedy wakes up in a world where nobody recognises her and is forced to take a job as the maid
Poltergeist III (1988)
Nov 1, 2002Haunting
The third of the Poltergeist sequels, which moves the locale to an apartment building and is better than its predecessor thanks to a series of eerie mirror effects
Big Man on Campus (1989)
Jul 29, 1999Modernised Hunchback of Notre Dame Comedy
An amiable comedy that relocates the basic story of The Hunchback of Notre Dame to a modern American campus about the taming of a scruffy hunchback who lives in the university belltower
Knight Moves (1992)
Aug 3, 2000Chess-Playing Serial Killer
Christopher Lambert and Diane Lane star in a thriller about a serial killer who treats his victims like a chess game
Contact (1997)
May 25, 2009Communications from Space
Carl Sagan's novel about SETI is inflated into a big budget film determined to impress even though the story did not need it. Sagan's interesting debate about religion and science is emasculated so as not to offend any religious groups
The Alien Saga (2002)
Aug 4, 2013Documentary About the Alien Series
Documentary about the making of the Alien series (although only covers the first four films). Contains some fascinating behind-the-scenes footage and anecdotes, interviews and cut material
Category 7: The End of the World (2005)
May 5, 2007Superstorms/Disaster Mini-Series
Sequel to the tv mini-series Category 6: Day of Destruction ups the scale of the super-storm but is also better constructed as a disaster movie
Desperation (2006)
Oct 20, 2009Stephen King Adaptation/Possessed Sheriff
Halfway reasonable Stephen King adapted tv mini-series. This has been placed in the directorial hands of King’s worst adapter Mick Garris who at least holds his worst tendencies in check
Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde (2008)
Oct 31, 2008Evil Personality Within Unleashed
Modernised version of the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde story starring Dougary Scott. The principal novelty here is that the bulk of the story takes place in a courtroom as Hyde is placed on trial for murder
Ted (2012)
Jun 28, 2012Foul-Mouthed Teddy Bear
Comedy about a foul-mouthed talking teddy bear. This gets its laughs from much scatological, decidedly non-PC humour that occasionally manages to be funny, especially when it comes to some of the 80s pop culture jokes
Memory: The Origins of Alien (2019)
Nov 13, 2020Documentary About the Making of Alien
An absorbing documentary about the making of Alien, which charts the film’s origins and the making of the classic chestburster scene