100 Million BC (2008)
An Asylum mockbuster released at the same time as Roland Emmerich’s 10,000 B.C., this involves time travel mission into the prehistoric past that accidentally brings a dinosaur back to the present
101 Dalmatians (1996)
This live-action remake of the classic Disney animated film benefits from Glenn Close chewing scenery in grand style as Cruella De Ville but the latter half essentially degenerates into no more than a series of Home Alone-styled slapstick violence scenes
13/13/13 (2013)
The Asylum made 11/11/11 and 12/12/12 and released them on said dates. Despite running out of exploitable months in the year, they then released a third film here
13 (2010)
The English-language remake of the Georgian 13 Tzameti about underground Russian Roulette gambling. This has an impressive cast line-up but lacks the stark tension of the original
13 Eerie (2013)
A zombie film from the director who subsequently went on to make the WolfCop films. The one thing this has going for it are some convincing zombie makeups and exxxxtremely gory splatter effects
13 Fanboy (2021)
Slasher film that comes with a great hook – one where various real-life actresses from the Friday the 13th films are stalked by a masked maniac
13 Ghosts (1960)
One of the films from gimmick master William Castle, a more routine ghost story that eventually opts for a mundane ending. This was later remade as Thir13en Ghosts
13 Going on 30 (2004)
Essentially a rehash of Big in which a tormented teen wishes she was thirty and wakes up as Jennifer Garner. Amiably average without ever finding the wistful charms that Big had
13 Sins (2014)
I was very impressed with Daniel Stamm’s previous film The Last Exorcism; this was his follow-up – a brutal English-language remake of a Thai film where people are offered the challenge of engaging in increasingly more malicious and extreme acts to win large sums of money
15 Minutes (2001)
Thriller about two killers inspired by tabloid tv selling tapes of their crimes to tv, this becomes a heavy-handed, tub-beating rant of disgust against modern media
18 Again (1988)
One of the spate of 1980s bodyswap comedies a la Big, Vice Versa and Like Father, Like Son in which octogenarian George Burns swaps bodies with his teenage grandson Charlie Schlatter
1920 London (2016)
The Bollywood horror film is a rare and strange beast – what other horror film would you see that comes with song and dance numbers? This is a Bollywood possession film where, despite the use of local colour and custom, it is surprisingly still drawn from the cliches created by The Exorcist
1BR (2019)
A girl moves into a new and welcoming apartment complex only to be imprisoned and tortured by her neighbours into following the code of moral precepts by which they live
2:22 (2017)
Michiel Huisman is an air traffic controller who discovers that small inconsequential things are repeating themselves every day and that he is being drawn to reenact a fatal incident. A beautifully made film that arrives at an ending that leaves you scratching your head in puzzlement
200 Degrees (2017)
A thriller in the vein of films such as Phone Booth and especially Buried with Eric Balfour locked in a room in a warehouse with heat lamps that are slowly turning the temperature up to the title level. This ratchets suspense well, Balfour is good but things fall apart at the denouement
2012: Ice Age (2011)
One of several disaster movies set around the supposed year 2012 apocalypse made by The Asylum. Bad science abounds as a giant adrift glacier ends up creating a new Ice Age
2019: After the Fall of New York (1983)
One of the more cheesily entertaining among the Italian-made ripoffs of Mad Max 2 during the 1980s (as well as more than a few dashes of Escape from New York). The film works up a moderate head of steam
2020: Texas Gladiators (1983)
One of the numerous Mad Max imitators made in Italy. Directed by notorious adult director Joe D’Amato who pushes the material further than other entries
2025 Armageddon (2022)
A crossover between all the menaces in The Asylum’s films, which are brought to life as part of an alien invasion plan
2067 (2020)
Australian film in which Kodi Smit-McPhee heads through a time portal to save a polluted world resulting in a time paradox that ties back to his childhood. This had promise but badly lets down on its premise
2103: The Deadly Wake (1996)
Low-budget SF film about a ship at sea carrying a cargo of convicts, toxic waste, a deadly virus and a killer android
24 Hours to Live (2017)
An action film variant on the thriller D.O.A. where Ethan Hawke is resurrected from the dead and has 24 hours to bring down a corrupt corporation
247°F (2011)
In the vein of films like Phone Booth and Buried, a Conceptual Containment Thriller with a group of people trapped in a sauna with the heat being turned up. From the director who later made Landmine Goes Click in this same vein
3 from Hell (2019)
Rob Zombie is back,, making the third in his trilogy of Firefly films following House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects. It is all fairly much the same as before where Zombie’s sympathies are cleanly with the family of psychopaths and their murderous rampage.
The 30-Foot Bride of Candy Rock (1959)
The one and only solo outing from Lou Costello of Abbott and Costello fame made after the duo’s split-up and just before Lou’s death. The film is essentially a comedy remake of the previous year’s Attack of the 50 Foot Woman in which Lou’s newlywed wife abruptly becomes a giant
3022 (2019)
Spacegoing film that follows the crew aboard a space station as they survive the destruction of the Earth
31 (2016)
Rob Zombie featuring people abducted and forced to play in a deathsport game. This is largely a re-run of House of 1000 Corpses, while both films in turn draw heavily on The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. As always, Rob Zombie has a following but also switches large swathes of his audience off
388 Arletta Avenue (2011)
Found Footage film about a stalker secretly filming a couple and abducting the wife, this tepidly circles around thriller cliches where other Found Footage films have delved into the psycho genre with more disturbing effect
The 3rd Floor (2007)
A low-budget ingenue effort by three friends about a tenant who discovers that the third floor of his apartment building contains the ghosts of dead asylum inmates
4:44 Last Day on Earth (2011)
Abel Ferrara makes an End of the World film that hardly ever leaves the characters’ apartment and in which almost nothing happens. Considering the angry, bleak work of his heyday, you cannot wonder if the 60 year-old Ferrara has lost his mojo
4 Horsemen: Apocalypse (2022)
The Asylum build a disaster movie around the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse who make amid volcanoes eruptions, locust swarms and other worldwide disasters
47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)
47 Meters Down, with two sisters trapped underwater in a shark cage with a failing supply of air, didn’t require a sequel. Here we get two different sisters trapped underwater with a limited air supply and surrounded by sharks
47 Ronin (2013)
US film based on a real Japanese historical incident that has been oddly spun out into a Keanu Reeves-starring epic samurai fantasy film. One of the biggest financial flops of 2013
5 Headed Shark Attack (2017)
The Asylum, the company behind the Sharknado phenomenon, made 2 Headed Shark Attack. Figuring the only way to top that was to keep adding more heads we had 3 and now 5 Headed Shark Attack
6-Headed Shark Attack (2018)
The Asylum’s Multi-Headed Shark Attack series hasn’t quite hit the sense of delirious absurdism that their Sharknado films did – the only gimmick the series has is to keep adding heads to the shark. On the other hand, a scene where where the shark emerges onto land walking on two of its heads will have you rolling on the floor in laughter
666: The Child (2006)
An early mockbuster from The Asylum that came out the same day as The Omen remake, this conducts a blatant copy of The Omen on a low-budget
7 Below (2012)
Modest name cast, including a highly entertaining Val Kilmer, in a film about a group of strangers brought together at a mysterious backwoods house
7500 (2014)
Takashi Shimizu has done commendable work on the Ju-on/The Grudge films and so I anticipated his taking on the airplane-board horror genre. Only he delivers a surprisingly middle-of-the-road handling before reaching a cliched twist ending that truly deserves to be put out to pasture
The 7th Dwarf (2014)
German animated film about the adventures of Snow White’s Seven Dwarves. Lightweight and trivial, this feels like it has come along ten years too late to the fad for fairytale parodies and mash-ups we had in the mid-2000s with films like Shrek and Hoodwinked!
8MM (1999)
This seeks to be another Se7en, adapting a script by Se7en writer Andrew Kevin Walker and employing the same visual style in the story of Nicolas Cage delving into a seedy underworld in search of a snuff movie.
976-Evil (1988)
Riding on his fame as Freddy Krueger in the Elm Street films, actor Robert Englund made his directorial debut here but the film is lumbered with the lame concept of a demonic phone line
A.I. Tales (2019)
An anthology of four SF tales, short films from various directors around the world, although surprisingly none that feature Artificial Intelligences
Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953)
Abbott and Costello take time out from comic hijinks with the Famous Monsters to go to Venus (despite the title) and engage in various datedly sexist gags with a planetful of women
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1953)
The third of Abbott and Costello’s comedic meet ups with the Famous Monsters – in this case a series of lowjinks as they encounter Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (played by Boris Karloff)
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
The second of Abbott and Costello’s outings with Universal’s Famous Monsters. The usual numbskullery is boosted by some excellent invisibility effects
Abby (1974)
A Blaxploitation copy of The Exorcist – so blatant that it was sued for copyright infringement. Worth seeing for its entertaining absurdities including the climactic exorcism held on a disco dancefloor
Abigail (2019)
Russian film that creates a fascinating alternate reality where Steampunk and magic blend in an almost familiar world
Abigail (2024)
From the duo behind the Scream reboot films, a thriller about the kidnap of a young girl in the vein of From Dusk Till Dawn that abruptly pivots to become a vampire film
Abominable (2019)
Animated film in which a girl befriends a Yeti. Essentially a rewrite of E.T. that never much rises out of banal formula. On the other hand, I do have an issue with a children’s film pushing blatant political propaganda
The Absent (2011)
Ingenue slasher film from Sage Bannick about a teacher finding his pupils are being killed, this eventually settles down as an old hat evil twin plot
Ace Drummond (1936)
One of a spate of films featuring flyer heroes that were popular in the era. Adapted from a comic-book created by an actual World War I flying ace, this is a thirteen chapter serial but proves rather crudely made today
Action Replayy (2010)
Bollywood film that is a blatant copy of Back to the Future with the young hero going back in time to prevent his parents from divorcing. Lame comedy routines but some extremely colourful song and dance numbers
Adam and Eve vs the Cannibals (1983)
A bizarre Italian film that recounts the Biblical story of Adam and Eve and then follows on from their banishment from Eden and into the wilderness where they encounter dinosaurs, cavemen and wild beasts
The Adam Project (2022)
Likeable but lightweight time travel film where Ryan Reynolds gains the aid of his twelve year-old self after travelling back in time to the present on a mission to save the future
Addams Family 2 (2021)
The animated revival of the Addams Family was a mixed affair. All of the same creative personnel and voice talents return here for a sequel, which takes the Addams Family on a road trip
The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box (2014)
Yet another adaptation of a series of Young Adult fantasy books that failed to fly. The idea of an Indiana Jones-type adventure set in Victorian England holds promise but the film only sporadically manages to let the adventure fly
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension (1984)
An object lesson in how to create an instant cult film – exceedingly eccentric, a commercial failure at the box-office, it instantly receiving a fan clique – all without it ever being a particularly great film
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999)
A rather slight film spinoff red-furred Elmo, the popular character from Sesame Street. A film designed for very young children.
The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
Huge flop comedy for Eddie Murphy in which he plays a nightclub owner on The Moon. There is an almost good SF film hiding inside and depiction of a surprisingly detailed Lunar culture but the unnfunny comedy elements kill it
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000)
Cinematic revival of the old Rocky and Bullwinkle series having the two animated characters emerge into the real (live-action) world. A film that you feel should have been funnier and more energetic than is
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D (2005)
This is another one of Robert Rodriguez’s home made children’s films that takes off in a wackily gonzo manner. The results are uneven but often cutely appealing
The Adventures of Taura: Prison Ship Star Slammer (1986)
B-budget director Fred Olen Ray makes a Women in Prison film set in space. Known under several different names, this is another of Olen Ray’s bimbo pictures where he plants tongue well in cheek
Aeon Flux (2005)
Disappointingly watered down live-action adaptation of the cult animated series. Karyn Kusama creates some interesting visuals but eventually everything lapses to Hollywood formula
After Alice (1999)
Kiefer Sutherland is a detective investigating a serial killer who finds he is having clairvoyant dreams. A fairly routine thriller on all counts.
Aftershock (2012)
Film in which Eli Roth does everything else except direct. Set in the aftermath of a Chilean earthquake, this feels more like a disaster movie than the horror film it is awkwardly squeezed into being
Against the Dark (2009)
Steven Seagal tries to extend his career by taking on the zombie film. However, this is routine on all levels, although to its advantage Seagal is not on screen much
The Age of Adaline (2015)
Aimed at the same audiences as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Blake Lively is a woman who hasn’t aged since the 1930s. This comes with the nostalgic weepiness and solemn self-importance of a work pitched to Academy Awards voters
Age of Ice (2014)
Low-budget disaster movie from The Asylum where the Middle East is covered in a sudden Arctic conditions with the onset of a new Ice Age
The Age of Stupid (2009)
Using the framework of an SF film, told from the perspective of a devastated future, this is a documentary about Global Warming, although one that falls short of making a convincing argument
Age of the Dragons (2011)
This has a concept so ridiculous it might actually work – a fantasy version of Moby Dick. The sea captain’s obsessive hunt for a whale is transplanted to a fantasy kingdom and the whale made into a dragon
Age of the Hobbits (2012)
A mockbuster from The Asylum that sets out to copy Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit such that Jackson and co sued, forcing The Asylum to change the title in several territories
Agency (1979)
Lee Majors starring thriller set around the 1970s fad over subliminal advertising. The film fails to generate much in the way of thrills.
Agent Cody Banks (2003)
Another in the spy parodies that emerged following Austin Powers. Frankie Muniz is a high school teenager who is recruited as a spy. a mildly amusing set-up that is delivered with surprisingly little wit
The Aggression Scale (2012)
I always maintained that when you stop looking at it in terms of G-rated slapstick, Home Alone was an incredibly violent film – this is Home Alone reconceived as an ultra-violent modern home invasion thriller
Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeywoman (2021)
Another variant on the fad for True Crime based movies, this is a film that purports to tell of the early years of true-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos where she is played by Peyton List
Air (2015)
This comes with a great premise – two men are woken from cryogenic suspension only to find one of their cryo-tubes broken and they discover their purpose there may not be what they were told
Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
Airplane was a parody of the disaster movie that proved a hit. This was a sequel that expands the action aboard the space shuttle and contains many SF in-jokes but to generally lesser effect
The Airship Destroyer (1909)
Early British silent film that tries to predict the idea of aerial warfare that proves quaintly amusing and archaic in terms of what we know to be the realities today
Aladdin (1992)
Popular hit among the 1990s renaissance of Disney animation, this is a glib work that allows the original story to be overrun with hip-jokes and Robin Williams being Robin Williams
Aladdin (2019)
As part of the ongoing firesale, Disney offer up a live-action remake of their animated hit. where a mismatched Guy Ritchie delivers a mediocre rehash of what was an overrated classic in the first place
Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996)
The second of two video-released sequels to Disney’s Aladdin that brings back Robin Williams as the genie and goes madcap with the pop culture jokes
Alex Cross (2012)
Reboot of James Patterson’s criminal profiler books makes the mistake of hiring an action director. Tyler Perry lacks the genius mental agility Morgan Freeman previously brought to the role but Matthew Fox does crazy well
Alferd Packer: The Musical (1996)
The first film from South Park‘s creator Trey Parker, a willfully absurd musical based on the story of a true-life cannibal. Amateurish but worth seeing by completists
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (1943)
One amid the popular fad of Arabian Nights adventures made by Hollywood during the 1940s. Here the story of Ali Baba is subverted to become a swashbuckling romantic adventure
Alice (1990)
One of Woody Allen’s less interesting films, a modernised version of Alice in Wonderland with Mia Farrow as a bored housewife who passes through various surreal experiences
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Tim Burton takes on Lewis Carroll but Carroll gets lost beneath Burton doing his usual quirky eccentric thing and a plot that seems to want to turn Alice’s adventures into a modern epic fantasy
Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)
Sequel to the 2010 Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland. This has even less in common with Lewis Carroll’s book sequel than its predecessor did – a total of two scenes. The sets and effects are just pretty eye candy
The Alien Agenda: Under the Skin (1997)
The third and least satisfying of the otherwise above average compilation films on the theme of alien invasion from Kevin J. Lindenmuth and other directors
Alien Arsenal (1999)
A banal David De Coteau directed kid’s film about two teens who find an arsenal of alien equipment and put the suits on to become superheroes
Alien Cargo (1999)
Alien crossbred with The Crazies. Jason London and Missy Crider are crewmembers on a spaceship affected by an alien contaminant that makes them turn homicidal
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Ridley Scott makes a further Alien prequel that is an improvement on Prometheus. While the first half gives us the stuff of aliens hunting humans, the second less interestingly doglegs off into the story of a mad android
The Alien Factor (1978)
Film from low-budget director Donald M. Dohler about escaped alien zoo animals amok in rural Maryland. The film has the benefit of some good creature effects
Alien from L.A. (1988)
Head-scratching Albert Pyun oddity made for Cannon Films with Kathy Ireland searching for Atlantis underground. This emerges as a weird mix of Valley Girl comedy and Journey to the Center of the Earth
Alien Hunter (2003)
Film about a mysterious alien artifact unearthed in the Antarctic that falls apart due to a script that is constantly jumping all over the place and spending more time homaging other science-fiction films
Alien Invasion (2023)
From prolific producer Scott Jeffrey, best known for Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, a low-budget Alien copy, essentially an Alien that takes place in an English country mansion
Alien Invasion: S.U.M.1 (2017)
An enigmatic film set in a future where aliens have invaded the Earth as a lone soldier is sent to crew a remote post and imagines he is seeing things
Alien: Resurrection (1997)
The fourth of the Alien films. French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet comes on board and delivers a comic-bookish run through of a Joss Whedon script that overspills with too many ideas
The Alien Saga (2002)
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
Alienate (2016)
An alien invasion film with a more character driven focus than most, telling the story through the eyes of a husband and wife separated across different states as he tries to get back home
Alienoid (2022)
A South Korean SF film that comes with a wide canvas involving alien invasion, time hopping between two eras and some epic action in possibly one of the most head-scratching plots seen in some time