Pleasurecraft (1999)
Space Opera/Erotica
Softcore erotic film set aboard a space mission where a crew have to deliver an assignment of empathic alien women
Films of 1998
Addams Family Reunion (1998)
Kinky Perverse Family
The big screen Addams Family films ended with the death of Raul Julia. Subsequently the rights were sold to Saban Entertainment who made this cheap, terrible direct-to-video film with a new cast
The Red Violin (1998)
Stories of a Cursed Violin
A reasonable arthouse hit, this tells the story of a cursed violin through five different periods of history
Progeny (1998)
Alien Abduction and Impregnation
Horror director Brian Yuzna jumps aboard the alien abduction and impregnation theme that was popular at the time thanks to tv’s The X Files. All of Yuzna’s films have a fascination with sexual perversity so here the emphasis is placed on the impregnation
The Prophecy II (1998)
War Between Angels
Okay sequel to the angel film The Prophecy. As in the previous film, a returning Christopher Walken steals the show and gets all the best lines
Psycho (1998)
Psycho Remake
Over Gus Van Sant’s shot-for-shot remake of Psycho, there hangs the single question of “Why?” The result seems a futile conceit, one only designed to infuriate those who regard the original in such high esteem
Quest for Camelot (1998)
Animation/Arthurian Fantasy
An Arthurian legends fantasy adventure made as part of the animation renaissance of the 1990s. Anything serious aspirations are wrecked by the insertion of inane popular culture in-jokes
Razor Blade Smile (1998)
Chic Modern Vampires
Modern vampire movie that aims for a chic sophistication amid poses borrowed from MTV and other films
Reaper (1998)
Psycho-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
Resurrection Man (1998)
Irish Killing Gang
Strong and effective film set against the backdrop of The Troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1970s depicting a gang of psychopaths that killed and tortured people on the streets
Practical Magic (1998)
Modern Witches
Chick Flick with Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as two sisters from a family of witches. The film never really settles on a consistent tone between comedy, thriller or romance and veers all over the place
Richie Rich’s Christmas Wish (1998)
Comic-Book Rich Kid/Alternate Timeline
Cheaply made video sequel to the Macaulay Culkin Richie Rich based on the popular comic-book character, this steals the basic plot of It’s a Wonderful Life
Ring (1998)
Cursed Video Broadcast/Japanese Ghost Story
Kaidan eiga (Japanese ghost story) that was a huge hit, spawning several sequels and an English-language remake, not to mention a horde of imitators. For all its reputation, the film is often crude nevertheless does evince an eerie atmosphere
Rub Love (1998)
Korean Near Future Thriller/Amnesia Drug
Stylish but not always coherent South Korean near-future thriller about a comic-book artist, a hit woman and an amnesia drug
The Rugrats Movie (1998)
Animation/Talking Babies
The first film spinoff of the popular animated tv series Rugrats about infants observing the adult world
Run Lola Run (1998)
Alternate Timelines
Tom Tykwer’s visually inventive variant on the alternate timelines theme with Franka Potente trying to replay events to save her boyfriend’s life
Saving Grace (1998)
Contemporary Jesus
Uneven New Zealand-made film where a girl meets a mystery man who claims that he is Jesus Christ
The Second Arrival (1998)
Alien Infiltration and Takeover
Low-budget and fairly indifferently made sequel to David Twohy’s quite good alien invasion film
The Prince of Egypt (1998)
Animation/The Biblical Exodus
The second animated film from DreamWorks, an impressively produced retelling of The Book of Exodus and the story of Moses.
Postmortem (1998)
Serial Killer Thriller
Albert Pyun jumps aboard the post The Silence of the Lambs serial killer thriller fad with a routine that has Charlie Sheen as a writer in Glasgow being taunted by the killer he wrote a book about
Six-String Samurai (1998)
Post-Holocaust Rock'n'Roll Samurai
Gonzo comedy set in alternate world where a samurai-sword wielding Buddy Holly wanders through a post-apocalyptic present
Nightwatch (1998)
Morgue Attendant's Paranoia/Serial Killer
Ole Bornedal conducts an English-language remake of his Danish thriller Nattevagten. Rich in black comedy and dark twists, Bornedal demonstrates a mastery of Hitchcockian suspense
Modern Vampires (1998)
Vampires
Richard Elfman film about chic vampires who have become an elite living in Hollywood. Despite promise and some interesting ideas, this is ruined by an atrociously overacting cast
Mulan (1998)
Disney Animation/Chinese Legend
Disney animated film based on the Chinese legend of the girl who posed as a warrior. Unlike the similar historically-based Pocahontas, this emerges as well rounded and satisfying
Murdercycle (1998)
Alien-Possessed Motorcycle
Passable B-budget film about an alien-possessed motorcycle
National Lampoon’s Men in White (1998)
Genre Spoof
An excruciatingly unfunny spoof of Men in Black that was shoved out using the name of National Lampoon magazine. A painful viewing experience.
New Rose Hotel (1998)
Cyberpunk/William Gibson Adpattion
Abel Ferrara adapts a William Gibson short story but seems disinterested in Gibson’s densely cluttered, technologically brimming Cyberpunk futures and strips the essence down to a caper film
Nick Fury, Agent of Shield (1998)
Marvel Comics TV Pilot/Spy Adventure
Way back before Marvel Comics’ extraordinary domination of cinema screens and Samuel L. Jackson’s airing of the role, there was this tv pilot with David Hasselhoff; Although the film has a ridiculed reputation today, David S. Goyer delivers a tongue-in-cheek script filled with side-splitting one-liners
Outside Ozona (1998)
Road Movie Psycho-Thriller
Thriller following several different people as they drive towards the title Texas town, while a serial killer calls into an all-night radio talkback
Pokemon The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998)
Animation/Cute Creatures
The first film spun off from the popular Pokemon phenomenon and animated series, this is largely incomprehensible to anyone who is not familiar with the series
The Patriot (1998)
Action Film/Biowarfare Outbreak
Steven Seagal action film in which he plays a former virologist fighting a militia group threatening to unleash a deadly virus
Perfect Prey (1998)
Serial Killer Thriller
When the Bough Breaks was one of the better 1990s serial killer thrillers; though it didn’t need it, this is a sequel, albeit with a completely different cast. While the original was clever, this falls into drawing too much from The Silence of the Lambs, the inspiration behind both films
The Phantom of the Opera (1998)
Madman Beneath the Opera House
Dario Argento takes on The Phantom and welcomely rescues it from musical romance and returns it to being a horror film. Despite a beautifully mounted production, Julian Sands’ Phantom is too weak and wimpy
Phantoms (1998)
Evil Force Takes Over a Small Town/Dean R. Koontz Adaptation
One of the best and most underrated Dean R. Koontz adaptations, which creates eerie atmosphere out a town where the residents have disappeared due to what is revealed as a uniquely different creature
Pi (1998)
Reality-Bending Mathematics
Directorial debut for Darren Aronofsky, a fascinating work about a mathematician who uncovers a mysterious formula that can bend reality
Pleasantville (1998)
Trapped Inside a 1950s TV Show
Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon are modern teens who become trapped in a 1950s tv show and end up puncturing its innocence. The messages made end up being broad and heavy-handed but the premise and the visual palette of the film is extremely clever
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998)
Disney Animation/Pocahontas Goes to England
One of the better among the cheap video-released sequels to their animated films Disney released during the 1990s/2000s, this actually works better than the original
Senseless (1998)
Sense-Heightening Drug Comedy
Comedy vehicle for Marlon Wayans in which he becomes a test subject for a sense-heightening drug. Marlon’s natural comic energy far exceeds the slightness of the premise
Sliding Doors (1998)
Alternate Life Pathways
Popular Gwyneth Paltrow hit that spawned a series of films that follow a woman’s alternate life pathways
Mighty Joe Young (1998)
Giant Ape
The original Mighty Joe Young was a wonderfully underrated giant ape film. This is a remake conducted in the post-Jurassic Park era that adds CGI but holds none of the magic of the original
Urban Ghost Story (1998)
Haunted Apartment
Ghost story effectively relocated to Glasgow apartment building with a solo mother terrorised by something supernatural. Filled with social realism
Twice Upon a Yesterday (1998)
The Past Revisited/Romance
Appealing and well told fantasy in which a couple are each individually offered the opportunity to go back in time and change the circumstances that led to their breakup
Twist of Fate (1998)
Psycho-Thriller
A convoluted courtroom thriller where District Attorney Mädchen Amick is forced to team up with serial killer Chris Mulkey
Ultraviolet (1998)
Vampire Hunters
A British mini-series that offers an ingenious modernised reconeptualisation of the vampire genre, depicting the activities of a secret agency of vampire hunters
Universal Horror (1998)
Classic Horror Documentary
Documentary about the Golden Age of Horror at Universal Studios during the 1930s and 40s (although it does touch on works from other studios too). The topic is covered with an impressive degree of detail
Universal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms (1998)
Undead Super-Soldiers/Action
The first of two cheap Universal Soldier sequels made in Canada with Matt Battaglia inheriting Jean-Claude Van Damme’s role
Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business (1998)
Undead Super-Soldiers/Action
he second of two cheap video-released sequels to the Jean-Claude Van Damme film. This has the novelty of featuring Burt Reynolds as the bad guy
Urban Legend (1998)
Slasher Film
Following the success of Scream, this was an attempt to make an upmarket slasher film based around the motif of urban legends in the same way that Scream used 1980s slasher films. It is a stretch to make urban legends fit in some cases but director Jamie Blanks delivers reasonable tension
A Town Has Turned to Dust (1998)
Post-Holocaust Racism
Adaptation of an old Rod Serling script about racial prejudice and lynch mobs. The original was a non-genre work that took place in a Western setting but this has transplanted the milieu to an alien planet.
Vampires (1998)
Vampire Hunter
John Carpenter revitalises the vampire film with a sharp action edge as James Woods heads a team of vampire hunters. Woods gives a ferociously determined performance way above and beyond the call of duty
Virtual Girl (1998)
Virtual Sex Program Amok
One of the numerous Virtual Reality films to come out in the mid-90s, this seems undecided whether it wants to be an SF or an erotic film
The Wall (1998)
Belgian Dystopia/Magical Realism
Film made to celebrate the millennium where a totalitarian government creates a wall that divides Belgium along linguistic lines
What Dreams May Come (1998)
The 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
The Wisdom of Crocodiles (1998)
Vampire Film
A uniquely different take on the vampire film, directed with extraordinary stylism by Hong Kong director Po Chih Leong
The Wolves of Kromer (1998)
Gay Werewolves
British werewolf film that wittily uses being a werewolf as a metaphor for being gay
The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998)
Ray Bradbury Adaptation/Magical Suit
Stuart (Re-Animator) Gordon adapts a Ray Bradbury play about five men who buy a suit that has magical properties. Bradbury is a great writer but this drowns in overripe dialogue, bad racial caricatures and Gordon’s typically over-the-top propensities
The Truman Show (1998)
Man's Life as a TV Show
Ingenious film that predicted reality tv shows where Jim Carrey’s life has been a tv show since birth with him unaware of everything is staged
Too Tired to Die (1998)
Personified Death/Indie Comedy
Quirky indie film where a man encounters various strange people after learning he has 24 hours left to live
Small Soldiers (1998)
War Between Toys
Joe Dante had great success in the 1980s but his star started to pale into the 90s. Here he has resorted to a rehash of his biggest hit Gremlins, seemingly conceptually slung together with Toy Storyconcerning an army of malevolent toy soldiers come to life
The Storm Riders (1998)
Flying Swordsmen Fantasy
Solid, epically plotted variant on the Hong Kong flying swordsman genre. This is the point where Wu Xia cinema discovered CGI effects
Soldier (1998)
Programmed Soldier Becomes Self-Aware
Kurt Russell gives a fine performance as a programmed soldier who discovers emotions but under Paul W.S. Anderson the rest of the big-budgeted film collapses into over-inflated cliches
Species II (1998)
Alien Sex Fiend
Sequel to Species that this time offers up the male of the species. The film feels put together as an exercise in makeup effects but their physiological absurdity causes the film to topple into silliness
Sphere (1998)
Crashed UFO Underwater/Michael Crichton Adaptation
Michael Crichton was hot property after the success of Jurassic Park but this was one flop. A by no means uninteresting film about a group of scientists in an underwater habitat making contact with an alien lifeform
The Spiral (1998)
Ring Sequel
The black sheep among the Japanese Ringu films. A sequel released the same time as the first film, this lacks the other’s uncanny atmosphere and was ignored as the other film launched a franchise
Spriggan (1998)
Anime/Alien Artefact/Psychic Kid Amok
Katsuhiro Otomo overseen anime about the discovery of Noah’s Ark, an alien artifact that gives a child vast psychic powers in a swathe of destruction not dissimilar to Akira
The Stalker’s Apprentice (1998)
Psycho Film
British tv psycho film that works through a multi-layered plot of dexterous twists and a handsomely engaging lead actor
Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Intergalactic Adventures
Third of the Star Trek: The Next Generation films has Jonathan Frakes back in the director’s seat where he again plays to his strengths with great visual effects scenes but the story feels like a filler episode
Strangeland (1998)
Psycho Sadist
80s outrage rocker Dee Snider writes and stars in this horror film where he plays a freakish serial killer who is demonised by parents
Three Businessmen (1998)
Surreal Journey
An obscure joke from Alex Cox that has he and Miguel Sandoval as two businessman who go to dinner but keep passing through different cities
Talos the Mummy (1998)
Revived Mummy
Part of a late 90s spate of mummy movies, this effort from Highlander director Russell Mulcahy revives the genre with a modern arsenal of effects
Target Earth (1998)
Alien Invasion
Alien invasion tv movie that mostly consists of cliches borrowed from the then success of tv’s The X Files
Tarzan and the Lost City (1998)
Jungle Hero
German-made Tarzan film that resurrects most of the adventure film tropes to negligible effect. As Tarzan, Caspar Van Dien looks like an Ivy League college student in the jungle.
Temmink: The Ultimate Fight (1998)
Future Gladiatorial Combat
Dutch film set in a future where Jack Wouterse is a prisoner who is offered a chance to fight to the death in televised gladitorial combat
The Tempest (1998)
Shakespeare Adaptation Updated to the US Civil War
A retelling of the Shakespeare play, which had been updated to the midst of the American Civil War with some interesting results
There’s Something About Mary (1998)
Stalker Black Comedy
The Farrelly Brothers have become known for their crude and rude humour but this stalker comedy is one they hit with all barrels firing and has become regarded as a modern comedy classuc
Thirst (1998)
Plague Outbreak
Rather dull plague outbreak drama tv movie based around a deadly outbreak at a water filtration plant
The Minion (1998)
Body-Hopping Demon
Low-budget action film with Dolph Lundgren as a modern-day Knights Templar tasked with preventing The Devil returning to Earth at the millennium
Meet Joe Black (1998)
Death Falls in Love
Ponderous big screen remake of Death Takes a Holiday where Death in the form of Brad Pitt comes to Earth, engages in a romance
Addicted to Murder: Tainted Blood (1998)
Modern Vampires
This was the second in Kevin J. Lindenmuth’s trilogy of modern vampire films, which comes with much subtle effect and a strong character-driven story, a kitchen sink tale about a newborn vampire
Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998)
Pagan Child Cult
Quite who the audience for these Children of the Corn films is that they keep making more of them is a mystery. This was the fifth of eleven films and at least better than the last two entries
Bride of Chucky (1998)
Child's Play Sequel
Fourth of the Child’s Play films where the importation of Hong Kong director Ronnie Yu doesn’t do much to enliven proceedings, although this does embellish the black humour element considerably
A Bug’s Life (1998)
Pixar Animation/Talking Insects
The second film from Pixar. One of their slighter and usually overlooked works, this is nevertheless an enjoyably eccentric reworking of The Seven Samurai set amidst a circus troupe of talking insects
Bullet Ballet (1998)
Man's Obsession with a Gun
Shinya Tsukamoto of Tetsuo: The Iron Man fame turns his fascination with repressions to the story of a salaryman (played by himself) who deals with his girlfriend’s death by obsessively trying to obtain a gun
Can’t Be Heaven (1998)
Coming of Age/Ghostly Saxophonist
A low-budget Coming of Age story about growing up in an Italian-American neighbourhood. Ralph Macchio turns up as a ghostly saxophonist to offer advice
Carnival of Souls (1998)
Haunting and Hallucination
Carnival of Souls was rediscovered as a cult classic in the 1980s. Then there was this remake that misses all of the haunted mood of the original in favour of makeup effects jumps and reality blurrings that make no sense
Casper Meets Wendy (1998)
Comic-Book Characters Meet
The second of the video-released sequels to Casper where this time he crosses over to meet Wendy the Good Little Witch as played by Hilary Duff
The Chosen One: The Legend of the Raven (1998)
Superheroine/White Trash Melodrama
Hilarious film in which Carmen Electra gets resurrected as a superheroine via American Indian magic. Filled with hilarious white trash bitcheries
The Book of Life (1998)
Second Coming Black Comedy
A darkly funny Hal Hartley film set on the eve of The Millennium as Jesus Christ wanders about Manhattan having doubts whether to unleash the Biblical Apocalypse
City of Angels (1998)
Angel Romance
In undergoing a Hollywood remake, Wim Wenders’ exquisitely lovely angel fantasy Wings of Desire becomes a weepy romance with angel Nicolas Cage wooing Meg Ryan
Clay Pigeons (1998)
Smalltown Psycho Black Comedy
Small town murder/psycho film where an initially promising black sense of humour soon loses its head of steam. On the other hand, a talented cast keeps the fiim going
Cleopatra’s Second Husband (1998)
Unwelcome Tenants/Psychological Games
Modestly effective indie psycho-thriller in which a couple develop a twisted psycho-sexual relationship with their unwelcome tenants
Cold Harvest (1998)
Post-Holocaust Action
This is a competent but unremarkable action movie variation on the Mad Max film set in the aftermath of a plague as Gary Daniels must guide a group with an immunity through the wastelands
Creaturealm: Demons Wake (1998)
Occult Anthology
An anthology of three tales on an occult theme. The standout among these is the opening episode about a courtroom trial of a woman who was possessed
Dark City (1998)
Reality Manipulation
From Alex Proyas and David S. Goyer, this has an astonishing conceptual audacity in its plot dealing with shifting realities and transplanted memories, making it arguably the finest science-fiction film of the 1990s
Deep Impact (1998)
Asteroid Collision/Disaster Movie
Big serious attempt at creating an asteroid collides with Earth film, this came out the same year as Armageddon. Despite arraying much acting talent and effects artistry, this disappears into a melodramatic blandness
Brave New World (1998)
Dystopian Future
TV movie adaptation that conducts a hatchet job on Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel where his vision of a conditioned class structure is turned into an allegory about a media-saturated world
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
Gonzo Road Movie
John Landis and Dan Aykroyd minus the late John Belushi revisit their cult classic but the reunion exercise smacks of poor judgement and emerges as a haphazard arrangement made only to exploit the appeal of the original
The Dentist 2 (1998)
Psycho Dentist
In this sequel to their earlier film, director Brian Yuzna and star Corbin Bernsen return to the role of the psychopathic dentist and successfully tap the same outrageously sadistic nastiness and black humour once again
The Atrocity Exhibition (1998)
J.G. Ballard Adaptation
Adaptation of the classic J.G. Ballard novel that deals with the surreal blurring and breakdown between media, architecture, celebrity and the protagonist’s disturbed state of mind
After Life (1998)
The Afterlife
Entirely charming film from Hirokazu Kore-eda about a group of people who find themselves in the afterlife and their often comical attempts to deal with the situation