Michael Rooker Archives

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)

Rating: ★★★★

Apr 4, 2001Serial Killer

An immensely disturbing film loosely based on serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. John McNaughton directs with a chillingly understated ordinariness and Michael Rooker has never been better in a role.

Director: John McNaughton

Actors: Michael Rooker, Tom Towles, Tracy Arnold

Category: Horror

4 April 200131 October 2025 by Roog

Sea of Love (1989)

Rating: ★★★★½

May 11, 2001Psycho-Thriller/Romance

Standout thriller with great scripting and performances where detective Al Pacino goes undercover in the dating scene to track a killer and comes up against a sultry Ellen Barkin

Director: Harold Becker

Actors: Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, John Goodman, Richard Jenkins, …

Category: Horror

11 May 20017 March 2025 by Roog

The Dark Half (1993)

Rating: ★★★

Aug 4, 2001Writer's Evil Doppelganger/Stephen King Adaptation

George Romero's adaptation of a Stephen King novel with writer Timothy Hutton haunted by an evil alter ego. Underrated and quite possibly the King adaptation that is the most faithful to its source material

Director: George A. Romero

Actors: Timothy Hutton, Amy Madigan, Michael Rooker, Julie Harris, …

Category: Horror

4 August 200118 July 2025 by Roog

The Trigger Effect (1996)

Rating: ★★★★

Dec 12, 2004The Downfall of Civilisation

Excellent and understated directorial debut from screenwriter David Koepp where a mysterious citywide power cut suddenly brings out tensions and prejudices among people

Director: David Koepp

Actors: Kyle MacLachlan, Elisabeth Shue, Dermot Mulroney, Michael Rooker, …

Category: Science Fiction

12 December 20046 August 2026 by Roog

Bram Stoker’s Shadowbuilder (1997)

Rating: ★★★

Apr 6, 2001Shadow Demon

One of several films that came out after the success of Bram Stoker's Dracula claiming Stoker's above their title despite slim or no connection. That said, this is a modestly effective film about a demon that exists in the shadows

Director: Jamie Dixon

Actors: Michael Rooker, Leslie Hope, Kevin Zegers, Andrew Jackson, …

Category: Horror

6 April 20015 March 2020 by Roog

Deceiver (1997)

Rating: ★★

Nov 28, 2004Police Interrogation Psycho-Thriller

A police interrogation film that becomes a psycho-thriller as suspect Tim Roth turns the interrogation back on the detectives. Despite a strong cast, the film eventually strains plausibility

Director: Jonas Pate, Josh Pate

Actors: Tim Roth, Renee Zellweger, Michael Rooker, Chris Penn, …

Category: Horror

28 November 200410 October 2025 by Roog

The Bone Collector (1999)

Rating: ★★

Nov 6, 1999Serial Killer Thriller

Serial killer thriller with Denzel Washington as Jeffrey Deaver's quadriplegic profiler Lincoln Rhyme and Anjelina Jolie as a rookie cop who becomes his aide

Director: Phillip Noyce

Actors: Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Michael Rooker, Queen Latifah, …

Category: Horror

6 November 19997 March 2025 by Roog

The 6th Day (2000)

Rating: ★★★

Nov 19, 2000Cloned Man/Action

Arnold Schwarzenegger revisits something of Total Recall in this modest and clever action film in which he discovers that a clone has stolen his life

Director: Roger Spottiswoode

Actors: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tony Goldwyn, Robert Duvall, Michael Rooker, …

Category: Science Fiction

19 November 200011 November 2025 by Roog

Replicant (2001)

Rating: ★★★

Sep 14, 2002Cloned Serial Killer

Halfway reasonable Jean-Claude Van Damme film in which he plays the clone of a serial killer who is brought to life in attempt to track down the original

Director: Ringo Lam

Actors: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael Rooker, Catherine Dent

Category: Science Fiction

14 September 200226 November 2024 by Roog

Slither (2006)

Rating: ★★★

Jun 21, 2006Alien Mutation and Zombies

James Gunn directs a film about body-snatching alien slugs that proves enormous fun and comes packed to the edges with numerous genre references and homages

Director: James Gunn

Actors: Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Michael Rooker, Gregg Henry, …

Category: Horror, Science Fiction

21 June 200622 November 2024 by Roog

Jumper (2008)

Rating: ★★

Feb 23, 2008Mental Teleportation Abilities

Doug Liman makes a film that has a great concept – a secret world of people with the mental ability to teleport anywhere – that emerges as no more than a slickly polished effort that does nothing with its premise

Director: Doug Liman

Actors: Hayden Christensen, Jamie Bell, Samuel L. Jackson, Rachel Bilson, …

Category: Science Fiction

23 February 20085 February 2022 by Roog

Meteor (2009)

Rating: ★★

Jul 2, 2024Impending Meteor Collision

Disaster TV mini-series where assorted well-known faces fight through the chaos to prevent an impending meteor strike

Director: Ernie Barbarash

Actors: Marla Sokoloff, Christopher Lloyd, Jason Alexander, Billy Campbell, …

Category: Science Fiction

2 July 202413 November 2025 by Roog

Super (2010)

Rating: ★★★½

Jul 24, 2011Schmuck Tries to Become a Superhero

After Defendor and Kick-Ass all coming out within a short space of time, the superhero with no powers comedy was getting over-familiar but this outing from James Gunn still finds some new things and proves highly amusing

Director: James Gunn

Actors: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page/Elliot Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon, …

Category: Fantasy

24 July 201122 November 2024 by Roog

Freeway Killer (2010)

Rating: ★★

Mar 24, 2021True-Life Serial Killer

A low-budget entry in the 2000s fad for true-life serial killer films. This is based on William Bonin who around the L.A. freeways in a van and abducted and killed young men

Director: John Murlowski

Actors: Scott William Leet, Michael Rooker

Category: Horror

24 March 202123 October 2025 by Roog

Cell 213 (2011)

Rating: ★★

Jun 17, 2011Prison Horror Film/Soul Redemption Allegory

A muddled allegorical redemption drama with Eric Balfour sentenced to a maximum security prison where he is haunted by hallucinations

Director: Stephen Kay

Actors: Eric Balfour, Bruce Greenwood, Michael Rooker, Deborah Valente, …

Category: Horror

17 June 201129 December 2025 by Roog

Hypothermia (2011)

Rating: ★★

Oct 21, 2021Monster Beneath a Frozen-Over Lake

A Larry Fessenden produced monster movie that takes place around a hundred square feet of a frozen-over lake with people being hunted by a monster beneath the ice

Director: James Felix McKenney

Actors: Michael Rooker, Don Wood, Blanche Baker, Greg Finley

Category: Horror

21 October 20211 April 2026 by Roog

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Rating: ★★★★

Aug 2, 2014Marvel Comics Adaptation/Space Opera

A triumphal Marvel Comics adaptations that manages to mainline the spirit of the original Star Wars, while in in its wryly, self-deflating culture savvy suggesting a Star Wars rewritten by a 14 year-old Quentin Tarantino

Director: James Gunn

Actors: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, …

Category: Science Fiction

2 August 201426 October 2025 by Roog

The Belko Experiment (2016)

Rating: ★★★

Jun 17, 2017Office Employees Trapped in a Deadly Elimination Game

Greg (Wolf Creek) McLean directs from a script by James Gunn. The Office by way of Battle Royale as 80 employees are locked in an office building with orders to eliminate one another

Director: Greg McLean

Actors: John Gallagher Jr, Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley, …

Category: Horror

17 June 201717 July 2026 by Roog

Life After Flash (2017)

Rating: ★★½

Jul 22, 2025Documentary About the 1980 Flash Gordon and Star Sam Jones

A documentary about the making of the 1980 Flash Gordon and following the career of its star Sam J. Jones afterwards

Director: Lisa Downs

Actors: Sam Jones, The Alba Family, John Altman, Melody Anderson, …

Category: Science Fiction

22 July 202513 November 2025 by Roog

Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017)

Rating: ★★

May 20, 2017Marvel Comics Adaptation/Space Opera

Guardians of the Galaxy was an audience winner with its eccentric humour and effortless charm; this sequel feels buried under bloated production overkill where the charms of the original remain thinly drawn

Director: James Gunn

Actors: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, …

Category: Science Fiction

20 May 201726 October 2025 by Roog

Fantasy Island (2020)

Rating: ★★

Apr 25, 2020TV Series Remake/Island That Makes Fantasies Come True

The big screen remake of the popular 70s/80s tv series about an island that makes guests fantasies come true. In the hands of Blumhouse, this has now been turned into a horror film

Director: Jeff Wadlow

Actors: Michael Peña, Lucy Hale, Maggie Q, Austin Stowell, …

Category: Fantasy

25 April 202017 January 2026 by Roog

Love and Monsters (2020)

Rating: ★★

Dec 11, 2020Journey Across a Post-Apocalyptic World of Giant Animals

A nerdy guy sets out across a post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with giant animals to be with the girl of his dreams. This sound promising in description but suffers an identity crisis on screen

Director: Michael Matthews

Actors: Dylan O'Brien, Jessica Henwick, Michael Rooker, Dan Ewing, …

Category: Science Fiction

11 December 202021 March 2026 by Roog

Vivo (2021)

Rating: ★★

Aug 13, 2021Animated Musical/Talking Monkey

Animated film about a talking and singing monkey from Cuba that travels to the US on a quest

Director: Kirk DeMicco

Actors: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Zoe Saldana, Gloria Estefan, Ynairaly Simo, …

Category: Fantasy

13 August 20212 July 2023 by Roog

The Suicide Squad (2021)

Rating: ★★★½

Aug 14, 2021Team-Up of DC Comics Super-Villains

James Gunn takes over the Suicide Squad franchise and welcomely rescues it from the dud first screen outing, giving it his characteristically irreverent sense of humour

Director: James Gunn

Actors: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, Joel Kinnaman, John Cena, …

Category: Fantasy

14 August 202112 August 2026 by Roog

Fast & Furious 9 (2021)

Rating: ★

Jul 29, 2024Action Film

The Fast and the Furious series has escalated from films about illegal street racing to essentially superhero films involving ridiculous stunt work that defies the laws of physics. This takes the characters into orbit

Director: Justin Lin

Actors: Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris Ludacris Bridges, …

Category: Science Fiction

29 July 202413 November 2025 by Roog

Corrective Measures (2022)

Rating: ★★½

Jun 16, 2024Prison for Super-Villains/Comic-Book Adaptation

Another of the last films made by Bruce Willis before his retirement. This one has a watchable central idea and is set around the idea of a prison for super-villains even if Bruce is not up to much

Director: Sean Patrick O'Reilly

Actors: Bruce Willis, Michael Rooker, Tom Cavanagh, Brennan Mejia, …

Category: Science Fiction

16 June 202411 January 2026 by Roog