Red Dawn (1984)
Jan 11, 2003Communist Invasion of the USA
Ridiculous red-blooded, flag-waving film in which the Soviets invade the USA and a group of high-school teenagers maintain a lone guerilla campaign
C. Thomas Howell
The Hitcher (1986)
Feb 17, 2003Psycho Hitchhiker
One of the best horror films of the 1980s, a grippingly suspenseful work where C. Thomas Howell is caught in a series of taunting psychological games across the interstate after offering psychopathic hitcher Rutger Hauer a ride
Suspect Device (1995)
Apr 6, 2004Identity Bender/Action
What seems a routine low-budget action film is propelled into the decidedly watchable by a bizarre Philip K. Dick-ian twist that comes mid-film
Dead Fire (1996)
May 24, 1999Space Station Action
Action film set aboard a space station that houses cryogenically frozen survivors of a devastated Earth as C. Thomas Howell tries to stop a mad Matt Frewer
Last Lives (1997)
Apr 2, 1999Alternate World Criminal/Action
B-budget action film in which C. Thomas Howell is caught up in a chase when an escaped criminal from an alternate timeline abducts his wife.
Red Team (2000)
Jun 15, 2004Rogue FBI Serial Killer-Hunting Team
Serial killer thriller about an FBI team who realise they are hunting a killer who targets other serial killers
The Hitcher II: I’ve Been Waiting (2003)
Mar 18, 2005Psycho Hitchhiker
The Hitcher was a classic of 1980s horror. This is a cheap and indifferently made sequel that brings back C. Thomas Howell but misses all of the seat-edge suspense of the original
The Hillside Strangler (2004)
Feb 23, 2008True Life Serial Killers
Excellent film based on true-life serial killers Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono with C. Thomas Howell and Nicholas Turturro giving electrifying performances in the respective roles
War of the Worlds (2005)
Sep 9, 2012Alien Invasion/H.G. Wells Adaptation
Where the legend of The Asylum and their low-budget mockbusters began, this was a cheap modernised version of the H.G. Wells novel that was released a day before the Spielberg film. Despite cheap effects, this adheres closer to Wells than Spielberg did and is better written than most Asylum product
Mutant Vampire Zombies from the ‘Hood (2008)
Jan 27, 2016Gangbangers vs the Zombie Apocalypse
There is a great title and the germ of a good idea here – two rival street gangs and a white cop are forced to set aside their difference and cooperate to deal with the zombie apocalypse. Alas, as a directorial outing from the writer of the Sharknado films, this emerges cheaply and tattily
War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave (2008)
Jan 17, 2018Alien Invasion
Sequel to The Asylum mockbuster version. Sequelising H.G. Wells is a daunting prospect and not too surprisingly this throws much of Wells out and creates its own film, which is undercut by a typical Asylum low budget
The Day the Earth Stopped (2008)
Sep 17, 2014The Asylum Mockbuster/Alien Visitors
A mockbuster from The Asylum that was released three days before the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. While some of The Asylum's mockbusters have their amusements, this is cheaply and indifferently made
The Land That Time Forgot (2009)
Aug 18, 2010Prehistoric Lost World
A low-budget modernised version of the Edgar Rice Burroughs book about a group ending up on a lost island where dinosaurs still roam. Slightly better than usual for The Asylum
Cross (2011)
Jan 22, 2014Action Film/Mystical Artifacts
A copy of The Expendables (albeit with the addition of fantasy elements) that brings together a line-up of B-action movie actors as a team. While some of the actors shine, the feel is of a cheaper effort earnestly trying to copy its betters
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Jul 2, 2012Comic-Book Superhero
The reasoning behind rebooting the Spider-Man franchise after ten years and only three films is a puzzle. That said, this offers an edgier origin story than Sam Raimi's take and Andrew Garfield makes for a fine Spider-Man
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)
Mar 9, 2014Animation/Comic-Book Superheroes/Alternate Timeline
A strong, intelligent DC Universe animated film set in an alternate timeline where the histories of various familiar DC characters have turned out radically different
Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015)
Nov 18, 2016Animation/Alternate World Justice League
An alternate world take on DC Comics characters, who are much more morally ambiguous – Superman is General Zod's son and Batman's role is taken by Man-Bat and is an actual vampire
Siren Song (2016)
Mar 24, 2017Greek Sirens in the Present Day
Not to be confused with the more high-profile released a few months later, this is a British effort where a man is drawn to a small island by an internet relationship where the sirens of Greek myth run a hotel, luring men to their doom. Good idea but amateurish on almost every level
Shadow People (2016)
Sep 5, 2019Haunting
Husband and wife find their new home in the countryside to be haunted. A ghost story that is not up to much before what has become one of the biggest cliche endings in the book
Attack of the Killer Donuts (2016)
Jun 2, 2017Gonzo Monster Movie
There is a certain genus of films based around coming up with deliberately ridiculous titles. The filmmakers sell you instantly on the film from the title alone but have lavished little care or budget on the actual film
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (2018)
Apr 8, 2018Animation/Team-Up of DC Comics Super-Villains
A DC Universe Original Animated Movie given over to Suicide Squad. Clearly inspired by the live-action film, this goes overboard on the super-villains present, having three entire teams running around to general confusion, while striking a very odd tone in its pitch for an R-rating