The Undead (1957)
Apr 2, 2024Hypnotic Regression/Mediaeval Witchery
An early Roger Corman film that stirs a fascinating mix of elements involving hypnotic regression, witchery, time travel and appearances from The Devil
Dick Miller
Not Of This Earth (1957)
Apr 12, 2017Alien Vampire
One of the classic B-budget films directed by the legendary Roger Corman back in his heyday. Concerning a mysterious alien vampire, this comes with all the quirks and dry humour of Corman's films of this era
War of the Satellites (1958)
Jun 11, 2020Aliens Sabotage Space Launches
An early film from legendary B movie producer/director Roger Corman. This is an alien invasion film but has been twisted out of shape to exploit the fascination with satellites after the launch of Sputnik several months before the film came out
A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Dec 13, 2010Murderous Beatnik Artist/Black Comedy
A quirky low-budget black comedy from cult B movie director Roger Corman with Dick Miller as a wannabe who suddenly receives artistic acclaim when he exhibits dead bodies in plaster as works of art
The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
Nov 12, 2002Killer Plant Black Comedy
The original, Roger Corman's zero budget film about a killer plant is an hilarious black comedy that has become a cult favourite and remains his most well remembered film
Piranha (1978)
Dec 26, 2000Killer Fish
The second film from Joe Dante. Mounted as a quickie copy of Jaws by producer Roger Corman, Dante succeeds in peppering it with a lot of sly jokes and genre in-references
The Howling (1981)
May 24, 2013Werewolves/Genre Spoof
The film that made the name of Joe Dante who fills it with a barrage of werewolf movie references and in-jokes. The film's reputation rests on an amazing mid-film effects sequence where a man transforms into a wolf
Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
Dec 16, 2000Fantasy Anthology/TV Series Remake
Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, John Landis and George Miller came together to make this homage to tv's The Twilight Zone. The episodes are variable but the standout is Miller's Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
Space Raiders (1983)
Jun 2, 2016Space Opera
Low-budget producer Roger Corman jumped aboard the Star Wars sf bandwagon with Battle Beyond the Stars then took all the effects scenes and wrote another entire film around them with Space Raiders
V: The Final Battle (1984)
May 4, 2009Alien Invasion
Follow-up to the popular V mini-series, this is an absurd melodrama that is made up of incredibly bad science-fiction writing and directed with zero plausibility
Gremlins (1984)
Feb 16, 2000Malicious Creatures
The film about malicious creatures that was the runaway box-office hit of 1984. Director Joe Dante runs amok like a schoolboy with a chemistry kit and gleefully trashes the wholesome innocence of producer Steven Spielberg's E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial
Explorers (1985)
Jan 18, 2001Teenagers Build Spaceship
Joe Dante's successor to Gremlins and a box-office flop. This nevertheless evokes a genteel sense of wonder in its story with Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix as teen inventors who build a backyard spaceship
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Dec 6, 2002Malicious Creatures
A far less successful sequel to the mega-hit of Gremlins where director Joe Dante brings the gremlins to Manhattan and allows the silliness to go completely over-the-top and into orbit, even breaking the fourth wall
Evil Toons (1992)
Jul 6, 2023Demonic Toons
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? popularised the idea of the toon where cartoon characters mingle with humans. This was exploitation director Fred Olen Ray’s take where a stripper is possessed by a demonic toon
Matinee (1993)
May 23, 2003B-Movie Homage/Genre Fandom Childhood
Joe Dante film set during the Cuban Missile Crisis about a childhood in B movie fandom and with John Goodman paying homage to filmmaker William Castle
Tales from the Crypt Presents Demon Knight (1995)
Mar 19, 2001Siege Against Demons
Film spinoff from the popular Tales from the Crypt horror anthology tv series but with more gore effects, this is competently done but does nothing to distinguish itself
Small Soldiers (1998)
Nov 5, 1999War Between Toys
Joe Dante has resorted to a rehash of his biggest hit Gremlins, seemingly conceptually slung together with Toy Story - concerning an army of malevolent toy soldiers come to life
Trail of the Screaming Forehead (2007)
Aug 13, 20091950s SF Parody/Invading Alien Foreheads
From Larry Blamire, a deliberately ridiculous spoof of the 1950s alien invasion film. Blamire's dialogue and the deadpan with which everybody plays is frequently hilarious
Machete Maidens Unleashed! (2010)
Jun 2, 2011Filipino Exploitation Cinema Documentary
A documentary about the US exploitation film industry in the Philippines in the 1970s filled with mind-boggling anecdotes that uncover a wild west of unregulated filmmaking
Burying the Ex (2014)
Sep 7, 2015Zombie Ex-Girlfriend Comedy
Joe Dante makes a zombie comedy. Dante is in his element and the film overspills with classic horror references but Dante feels like he is playing slow catch up with what the zombie genre has become