Paramount

The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (1930)

The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (1930)
Rating: ★★★
Oct 7, 2025Super-Villain
The second of the films made about the Chinese super-villain Fu Manchu, the first made in sound. This is where the film series started to find itself, turning in some superlative thrills and a wonderful battle of wits between hero and villain. Pulp thrills at their best
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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Rating: ★★★★
Jul 18, 2001Evil Personality Within Unleashed
The definitive version of the Jekyll/Hyde story in this author’s opinion, winning a Best Actor Oscar for Fredric March. Rouben Mamoulian uses some unique directorial effects and laces the show with a strong undercurrent of repressed sexuality
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Death Takes a Holiday (1934)

Death Takes a Holiday (1934)
Rating: ★★★
Sep 28, 2016Death Takes on Human Form
Classic fantasy film in which Death takes human form to visit a party and experience the human condition. Frederic March gives us Death as a comically eccentric outsider and the film has some great moments of imagination
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The Monster and the Girl (1941)

The Monster and the Girl (1941)
Rating: ★★
May 10, 2023Mad Scientist Transplants a Brain Into a Gorilla Body
Mad scientist film in which George Zucco transplants an executed man’s brain into a gorilla’s body whereupon the ape-man proceeds to exact revenge against those who wrongly convicted him
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The Man in Half Moon Street (1945)

The Man in Half Moon Street (1945)
Rating: ★★½
Mar 25, 2013Scientist with an Immortality Serum
Effort from the heyday of mad science cinema about a scientist who has perfected an immortality treatment. Better budgeted than most of the other cheapies of the era and better written, although suffers from a slow talkiness
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Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)

Night Has a Thousand Eyes (1948)
Rating: ★★½
Apr 2, 2025Film Noir/Medium Gains Real Clairvoyant Powers
A classic work of Film Noir adapted from a Cornell Woolrich novel featuring Edward G. Robinson as a stage mentalist who suddenly finds he can predict the future for real
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A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949)

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949)
Rating: ★
Apr 27, 2003Modern Man Time Travels Back to Camelot
Adaptation of Mark Twain's classic about a modern man thrown back to the time of King Arthur. This has been made as a vehicle for Bing Crosby and makes for fairly excruciating viewing today
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The War of the Worlds (1953)

The War of the Worlds (1953)
Rating: ★★★★
Jun 8, 2012Alien Invasion/H.G. Wells Adaptation
First and best adaptation of the book, this takes liberties with the H.G. Wells original but smartly updates the book's underlying anxieties to the Cold War era (in so doing becoming the grandaddy of the 1950s alien invader film) and providing what was top notch effects spectacle for the era
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The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956)

The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956)
Rating: ★★
Jan 2, 2014Hypnotic Regression to Past Lives/"True Story"
Dramatic recount of a true-life sensation during the 1950s when an amateur hypnotist claimed that he had regressed a housewife to recall her past life in 19th Century Ireland. The film has an earnestly prostheletysing belief in its own case but sceptical examination pulls holes in its credibility
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The Colossus of New York (1958)

The Colossus of New York (1958)
Rating: ★★★
Feb 1, 2014Scientist's Brain Transplanted Into a Robot Body
1950s sf film about a scientist's brain transplanted into a hulking robot body. Fairly standard plot material that is turned into something striking by director Eugene Lourie of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms fame
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I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)

I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)
Rating: ★★★
Dec 16, 2000Alien Duplication and Takeover
Defying the sensationalistic title, this is actually a fairly reasonable entry in the 1950s alien body snatchers fad in which wives discover their husbands have been taken over by aliens come to Earth to repopulate their species
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Vertigo (1958)

Vertigo (1958)
Rating: ★★★★
Sep 11, 2003Reincarnation Thriller
Considered one of Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest films, this is a study in obsession and features a reincarnation plot. What works more so than the contrived plot twists is Hitchcock’s expert direction, all thunderously brooding mood and lush Technicolor dreaminess
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Visit to a Small Planet (1960)

Visit to a Small Planet (1960)
Rating: ★★½
Feb 3, 2008Alien Visitor Comedy
A satirical Gore Vidal play is bent out of shape to become a vehicle for the slapstick nonsense of Jerry Lewis, cast as an alien visitor. Lewis is a love him or hate him actor; depending on one’s tolerance for such, this has much fast-paced silliness
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The Nutty Professor (1963)

The Nutty Professor (1963)
Rating: ★★★½
Feb 27, 2003Personality Transformation Formula Comedy
Jerry Lewis is either a low him or hate him figure; whatever the case, one should give this, his best film, a chance ... It is Lewis offering his own comedic spin on the Jekyll/Hyde story, which contains a great performance on his part as he swings between a socially inept nerd and smooth lounge singer
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No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)

No Way to Treat a Lady (1968)
Rating: ★★★
Jul 1, 2004Psycho Actor/Comedy Thriller
Amid the host of Psycho copies that came out during the 1960s, this was one that played everything as a comedy. A wildly overacting Rod Steiger is a psycho actor who adopts a different disguises every time he goes out to kill
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On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970)
Rating: ★★½
Feb 2, 2001Reincarnation and Clairvoyance Musical
Romantic musical in Barbra Steisand discovers psychic powers and her reincarnated past lives. Despite being a flop, this is a film of oddball charms and features an effervescent Stresiand
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Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Rating: ★★★★
Jul 29, 2002Gonzo Children's Adventure/Fantastical Candy Factory
A Roald Dahl children's film that has become a cult classic, set in a deliriously nonsensical world with Gene Wilder give a sinisterly threatening performance in the title role
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Star Trek – The Motion Picture (1979)

Star Trek – The Motion Picture (1979)
Rating: ★★★½
Jun 18, 2000AI Encounter
Long-awaited revival of the tv series on the big screen. While this has a mixed fan reception, it is well worth re-evaluation. It is the only one of the Trek films that reaches for epic, mind-expanding places to find something of a 2001: A Space Odyssey
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Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Rating: ★★★★½
Aug 6, 2001Tomb Raiding Adventures
Steven Spielberg and George Lucas's homage to the adventure films of the 1940s was a huge hit in its day, spawning several sequels and many imitators. The film is pure action and adventure, delivered with enormous charm and wit
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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Rating: ★★★★
Aug 31, 2002Intergalactic Adventures
Second of the Star Trek films, usually regarded as the fan favourite because of its often moving character focus on themes of life, death and aging. Ricardo Montalban makes a grandly theatrical villain and the film gets some great suspense out of space war sequences
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Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
Rating: ★★
Aug 17, 2000Intergalactic Adventures
Leonard Nimoy steps into the director's chair of the third Star Trek film and his doing marks the shift of the films from intergalactic adventuring into the regulars engaged in a safe, easy set of adventures playing to fan audiences
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The Voyage Home: Star Trek IV (1986)

The Voyage Home: Star Trek IV (1986)
Rating: ★★
Jul 17, 2002Time Travel Back to the Present
Fourth of the original Star Trek films jumps on board the popularity of time travel themes following Back to the Future to have the regulars time travel back to the present for a series of amiable, easy comic encounters
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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Rating: ★
Aug 31, 2002Intergalactic Adventures
William Shatner tries to emulate the success had by Leonard Nimoy in directing a Star Trek film but falls on his face, badly overstressing the comedy elements and delivering the worst of the Classic Trek films
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Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Rating: ★★
Feb 15, 2001High Adventure/Holy Grail Quest
Third of the Indiana Jones films. This comes with all the breakneck action sequences and Sean Connery doing a fine comic turn as Indiana's irascible father but also plays to a much greater slapstick emphasis
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Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Rating: ★★★
Jul 20, 2000Intergalactic Adventures
The last of the classic Star Trek films. Nicholas Meyer, who made the last good Trek film The Wrath of Khan, returns to give the characters a moving send off, while the plot that reenacts the fall of the Berlin Wall with the Klingons gives the films a political immediacy that was missing since the tv series
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Fire in the Sky (1993)

Fire in the Sky (1993)
Rating: ★★★
Nov 16, 2001Alien Abduction/"True Story"
Film based on a true-life claim about a supposed alien abduction. This probably won't convince anybody who does not already believe but it is undeniably a well-made film, at its most striking when we go aboard the UFO
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Star Trek: Generations (1994)

Star Trek: Generations (1994)
Rating: ★★
Sep 11, 2000Intergalactic Adventures
The first of the Star Trek: The Next Generation films is an odd affair that seems like a routine episode of the series that accidentally gained a big-screen budget. This crosses over with Classic Trek where William Shatner mugs his way through a grand old airing of Captain Kirk
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Virtuosity (1995)

Virtuosity (1995)
Rating: ½
Jun 20, 2002Android Serial Killer
Director Brett Leonard started the fascination with Virtual Reality off with The Lawnmower Man but shot himself in the foot with this absurd braindead follow-up in which Denzel Washington pursues a madly OTT Russell Crowe as an android serial killer
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Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Rating: ★★★
Mar 18, 2002Time Travel/Cyborg Gestalt
The second of the Star Trek: The Next Generation films where series regular Jonathan Frakes takes the director's chair and delivers an exciting adventure, showing an excellent hand with the special effects. Far more satisfying than the previous film
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Escape from L.A. (1996)

Escape from L.A. (1996)
Rating: ★★★
Sep 11, 2003Action/Los Angeles as a Future Prison
John Carpenter’s sequel to Escape from New York falls too much in the shadow of its predecessor, nevertheless has some effective moments of its own, with Carpenter in particular creating a satiric fundamentalist future
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The Saint (1997)

The Saint (1997)
Rating: ★★
May 12, 2004TV Series Remake/Thief Hero
Big screen revival of the famous playboy spy falls flat due to the miscasting of Val Kilmer in the title role where Kilmer's attempts to adopt disguises and accents throughout becomes risible. The thriller plot is nothing to get excited about.
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Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
Rating: ★★½
Nov 16, 1999Intergalactic Adventures
Third of the Star Trek: The Next Generation films has Jonathan Frakes back in the director's seat where he again plays to his strengths with great visual effects scenes but the story feels like a filler episode
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Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Rating: ★★★½
Oct 25, 1999Urban Hell/Haunted Ambulance Driver
Martin Scorsese returns to the vision of urban hell he gave us in Taxi Driver with Nicolas Cage as an ambulance driver haunted the dead he sees. Powerful, blackly funny at times, if not quite up there as another Taxi Driver
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