Fail-Safe (1964)
Apr 17, 2001Nuclear War
Work of incredibly stark tension set amidst post-Cuban Missile Crisis nuclear anxieties with the US trying to recall a bomber that has been accidentally dispatched to drop an atomic bomb on Moscow
Fritz Weaver
The Day of the Dolphin (1973)
Sep 7, 2001Talking Dolphins
George C. Scott is a marine biologist who has taught dolphins to speak but faces the military want to take his research. A serious work that all hinges on whether one is willing to accept the idea of dolphins talking in squawky voices
Demon Seed (1977)
Feb 15, 2000Computer Wants to Have Sex
Adaptation of an early Dean R. Koontz novel about an A.I who imprisons a woman in her own home with the intention of impregnating her. A variant on Rosemary’s Baby conducted far more tastefully than you might think
The Martian Chronicles (1980)
Aug 12, 2012Human Colonisation of Mars/Ray Bradbury Adaptation
Ray Bradbury's book about the human colonisation of Mars is an SF classic for its wistful, nostalgic poetry. This tv mini-series adaptation is killed by a lumbering director who over-explains Bradbury's imagery in the most literal ways
Jaws of Satan (1981)
Dec 27, 2016Satanically Empowered Killer Snakes
This seems to have been slung together as a mash-up of Jaws and the 1970s fad for occult films. Ridiculous and badly made on all levels, no more so than the climax with a giant snake conducting a devil worship ceremony
Creepshow (1982)
Jul 6, 2000Horror Anthology
Stephen King and George Romero collaborate on a horror anthology made as homage to the EC Comics, telling five tales that replicate the blacker-than-black sense of humour (and even the visual look) of the comic-book with hilarious results
The Cobbler (2014)
Aug 23, 2017Cobbler Turns Into the Person Whose Shoes He Puts On
Adam Sandler does more acting than usual in the story of a shoemaker who transforms into the wearer whenever he puts on a pair of shoes. A throwaway premise that attracts a surprisingly high-profile cast