The Ghoul (1933)
Mar 20, 2013Resurrection/Old Dark House Thriller
Creaky but atmospheric British film where Boris Karloff dies but is brought back from the dead by an Egyptian jewel to stalk his heirs through a big old mansion
Ralph Richardson
Things to Come (1936)
Oct 9, 2003Building a Scientific Utopia
From a script by H.G. Wells, this comes with a visionary sweep that depicts the building of a scientific utopia but equally suffers from dull and heavy-handed polemical dialogue
The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1937)
Apr 14, 2001Man Gains Miraculous Powers
H.G. Wells scripted film with Roland Young as a man who suddenly finds he can perform miracles
Q Planes (1939)
Jan 20, 2003British Air Hero Comedy-Thriller
British air adventure story with Ralph Richardson trying to stop an enemy armed with a raygun and all played with an appealingly eccentric comic tone
The Sound Barrier (1952)
Feb 2, 2003The Quest to Break the Sound Barrier
David Lean conducts a fictional account of the efforts to build a plane that breaks the sound barrier
The Bed Sitting Room (1969)
Jun 8, 2001Post-Holocaust Absurdist Comedy
Richard Lester adapts an absurdist Spike Milligan play set in the aftermath of the nuclear holocaust where the survivors are mutating into animals and items of furniture. A film with a really bizarre sense of humour that most at the time did not get
Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1972)
Oct 23, 2024Grand Old Dame Thriller
From the great and overlooked Curtis Harrington, a Grand Old Dames film with Shelley Winters going mad in the Baby Jane vein. This also becomes a modernised retelling of Hansel and Gretel
Tales from the Crypt (1972)
Feb 18, 2001Horror Anthology/Comic-Book Adaptation
Amicus adapts several stories from the notorious EC Comics as one of their anthology films. Missing is EC's black humour but this is a worthwhile Amicus anthology
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1972)
May 6, 1999Alice in Wonderland Adaptation
A live-action film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland that conducts a passable run through of Lewis Carroll with the supporting characters populated by an all-star British cast
O Lucky Man! (1973)
Nov 4, 2000Social Satire
The second of Lindsay Anderson and Malcolm's McDowell's social satires with coffee salesman McDowell passing through increasingly more surreal adventures
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
Rollerball (1975)
Feb 2, 2001Future Ultra-Violent Sport
Classic work of dystopian SF set in a future where an ultra-violent sport has been created to pacify the masses
Watership Down (1978)
Apr 7, 2003Animation/Talking Rabbit Quest
Neglected today, this adaptation of Richard Adams' classic novel about a quest among rabbits was one of the finest animated films of its era. This is frequently heartbreaking and touches on darker emotions that Disney and most other family films regularly sanitise.
Time Bandits (1981)
Jul 29, 2002Gonzo Adventures Throughout Time
Highly enjoyable Terry Gilliam film about a young boy who joins a group of dwarves on a series of adventures though time
Dragonslayer (1981)
Aug 28, 2001Sorcerer's Apprentice vs Dragon
An overlooked fantasy film. Although the spirit of Star Wars stands over it, it offers a dark and gritty vision of the Middle Ages and soars with a full flight of fantasy with some stunning dragon effects
Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984)
Aug 17, 2012Revisionist Tarzan Film
Maybe the definitive Tarzan film, one that drops the pulp adventure and recasts the story as British arthouse theatre. Superbly mounted and cast. Christopher Lambert has never better in the title role