The Night Has Eyes (1942)
Apr 1, 2003Gothic Psycho-Thriller
James Mason stars as a brooding composer who may be a murderer in this Gothic thriller
James Mason
Pandora and the Flying Dutchman (1951)
May 7, 2011Immortally Cursed Sea Captain/Romantic Fantasy
Exquisitely shot Technicolor fantasy in which Ava Gardner is romanced by James Mason as the Flying Dutchman, cursed to eternally sail the seas
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
Mar 18, 2003Victorian Submarine Inventor/Jules Verne Adaptation
Disney's adaptation of Jules Verne's novel is a lavishly produced period adventure. This became the definitive version of the book and inspired a string of other period-set Verne adaptations over the next decade
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)
Apr 12, 2003Underground Adventures/Jules Verne Adaptation
The success of Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea created a spate of Jules Verne's adaptation. Here Verne's tale of explorers in an underground realm has been turned into an absurdly colourful adventure
Child’s Play (1972)
Aug 25, 2001Catholic Boys' Boarding School Sadism
Not to be confused with the Chucky films, this is a little-seen film about a series of sadistic games played by pupils that targets other pupils in a Catholic boys' boarding school
Frankenstein: The True Story (1974)
Sep 5, 2002Frankenstein Adaptation
The ‘true story’ bit is contentious but this tv mini-series was the first production to take the Frankenstein story back to the way Mary Shelley told it. Lavishly produced and with a fantastic cast
Heaven Can Wait (1978)
Jan 18, 2001Afterlife Mixup
Warren Beatty co-directs/stars in a remake of the afterlife film Here Comes Mr Jordan. Amiably lightweight but this was over-praised at the time, inexplicably receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture
The Water Babies (1978)
Mar 10, 2004Children's Adventure/Magic Underwater World
Part live-action, part animated adaptation of a classic Victorian children's story about an urchin who discovers a secret world underwater
The Boys From Brazil (1978)
Jun 4, 2008Nazi Cloning Experiments
Big-budget thrillers with Nazi villains were popular in the 70s. This pits acting legends Laurence Olivier and Gregory Peck on opposite sides in a conceptually ingenious plot about the attempts to clone Hitler
Salem’s Lot (1979)
Dec 2, 2000Town of Vampires/Stephen King Adaptation
One of the best Stephen King adaptations made as a tv mini-series concerning a town overrun by vampires. Director Tobe Hooper excels himself, staging the book in terms a series of captivating set-pieces
Murder By Decree (1979)
Dec 13, 2002Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper
A lavish and ambitious production that has the fictional character of Sherlock Holmes solving the real-life Jack the Ripper murders, even if the eventual resolution opts for one of the more far-fetched theories about The Ripper’s identity