Jack Frost (1998)
May 15, 2011Man Reincarnated as a Snowman
One of the most bizarre family films ever conceived in which father Michael Keaton is killed and returns from the dead in the body of a snowman to be near his family
Mark Canton
Red Planet (2000)
Dec 31, 2000Mission to Mars
One of a spate of scientifically grounded Mars movies that came out in 2000, featuring a space mission crew stranded on the planet
Taking Lives (2004)
May 12, 2004Serial Killer Thriller
Serial killer thriller with Angelina Jolie as an FBI profiler tracking a killer in Montreal and becoming involved with suspect Ethan Hawke. The plot falls apart in some shabby twists
Land of the Dead (2005)
Aug 5, 2005Zombies
George Romero's return to the zombie genre after twenty years, after others starting remaking and homaging his films. Romero still makes potent social metaphors but the gory extremes of his earlier films seem tamed down
300 (2007)
Apr 19, 2007Fantasticised Historical Battle/Graphic Novel Adaptation
Zack Snyder's adaptation of the classic Frank Miller graphic novel about the Greek battle of Thermopylae. In replicating the look of the original's panels, Snyder pushes what would otherwise be a standard historical film into something extraordinarily stylised and fantastic
The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008)
Apr 21, 2008Secret World of Magical Creatures
Film version of a popular series of children's books that has a good deal of fun bringing to life a secret world of trolls and goblins
A Perfect Getaway (2009)
May 3, 2011Tourist Psycho-Thriller
David Twohy has shown himself a standout screenwriter and director with the Riddick films but came unstuck with this effort where tourists in Hawaii come to believe their traveling companions are wanted killers. A film killed by far-fetched twists
Piranha (2010)
Aug 28, 2010Killer Fish
Another in the fad for 70s/80s remakes where Alexandre Aja for once captures the spirit of Joe Dante's 1978 original by planting tongue in cheek and wading in with mind-bogglingly gory enthusiasm
Immortals (2011)
Nov 19, 2011Greek Myth
A venture into Greek myth retelling the story of Theseus and the labyrinth. Tarsem Singh, a director with a visually extraordinary eye, lavishes everything on the sets and costumes. One film of the 3D overkill fad that needs to be seen in 3D
Piranha 3DD (2012)
May 26, 2012Killer Fish
Sequel to the Piranha remake. Much the same as before but up one cup size. Well not really, the sequel is more like a joke that was funny the first time that becomes belaboured in the retelling
300: Rise of an Empire (2014)
Mar 8, 2014Fantasticised Historical Battle
Less a 300 sequel or prequel than a parallel story, this offers much the same as before but in 3D and with naval instead of land combat. Seeing Zack Snyder's amazing visuals repeated all over again, all the poses and hyper-masculinity now seem to bubble with an inherent risibility.
The Pyramid (2014)
Aug 10, 2015Sinister Forces in an Egyptian Pyramid
A monster movie where the major distinction is that the monster is drawn from Ancient Egyptian mythology and the locale is an unearthed pyramid. The film is too conceptually slim to do much with such an interesting background but it does deliver some solid jumps
The Last Witch Hunter (2015)
Nov 7, 2015Immortal Witch Hunter
This seemed to promise something of tv's late lamented Constantine or the first Warlock. Instead what we end up with has been turned into a ponderous effects vehicle for Vin Diesel
Phoenix Forgotten (2017)
Aug 5, 2017UFOs/Found Footage
Film set around the Phoenix Lights, one of the most well-documented modern UFO sightings. Despite being co-produced by Ridley Scott and receiving a theatrical release, this does not seem too different from the standard Found Footage film that novices make for about $2000
The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024)
Jun 15, 2024Home Invasion and Brutality
The Strangers was one the sleeper hits of the 2000s. This is the first chapter in a three film reboot. On the minus side, it has been handed over to Renny Harlin, who should be on any worst directors list
Red Sonja (2025)
Sep 19, 2025Warrior Woman/Sword and Sorcery
Following the disastrous Brigitte Nielsen film, a new version of Robert E. Howard’s Amazonian warrior woman has been promised since the late 2000s. It finally emerges here from the same people behind the revivals of Hellboy and the Jason Momoa starring Conan
The Strangers: Chapter 2 (2025)
Oct 24, 2025Mysterious Masked Killers
The Strangers was an incredibly eerie home invasion story that has become a modern classic. This is the second chapter in a trilogy of reboot films that have been handed over to the perpetually terrible Renny Harlin
The Strangers: Chapter 3 (2026)
Mar 13, 2026Mysterious Masked Killers
The concluding chapter in a desultory trilogy of films based on the eerie home invasion classic The Strangers. The surprise is that this ends up being the best of the three films