W (1974)
Aug 30, 2009Psycho-Thriller
Okay stalker psycho-thriller designed as a vehicle for the British model Twiggy that after a slow start eventually develops some sharp twists and surprises
Ronald Shusett
Alien (1979)
May 2, 1999Alien Nasty on a Spaceship
One of the most influential films on this site, producing a host of sequels and making the careers of all involved. At heart, a simple monster on a spaceship film, it is made into a classic through Ridley Scott's relentless suspense and H.R. Giger's design work
Phobia (1980)
Sep 4, 2014Psychotherapy Psycho-Thriller
The great John Huston, the director of The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen and other classics, directs a psychotherapy psycho-thriller. Alas the thriller essentials slip entirely through his hands
Dead & Buried (1981)
Apr 9, 2001Town of Zombies
After writing the huge hit of Alien, Dan O'Bannon next went onto this strange zombie film in which the people of a small town fail to stay dead
The Final Terror (1983)
Mar 10, 2015Backwoods Slasher
From the heyday of the slasher film, this seems to be trying to conduct a slasher version of Deliverance. Largely forgotten today and unremarkable but for an amazing cast of before-they-were-famous faces
King Kong Lives (1986)
Jun 9, 2002Giant Ape
Everybody hated the 1976 remake of King Kong but Dino de Laurentiis has the chutzpah to produce a sequel and the results are absolutely awful, full of scenes guaranteed to have an audience rolling in the aisle
Total Recall (1990)
Jun 18, 2005Virtual Memories/Reality Bender/Action
Adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story is killed by being turned into an Arnold Schwarzenegger action vehicle and by director Paul Verhoeven's burying the reality bending subtleties of the story under bludgeoning ultra-violence
Freejack (1992)
Oct 19, 2002Future Body-Snatching/Time Travel
Emilio Estevez is snatched into the future and pursued for his body by bounty hunter Mick Jagger in an SF film that makes no sense at all. A film more worth watching for some bizarrely awful performances
Hemoglobin (1997)
Apr 27, 1999Family Secrets/Monsters
Dan O'Bannon scripted film that is uncreditedly based on an H.P. Lovecraft story about family horrors and creatures lurking beneath the graveyard. Aka Bleeders
Minority Report (2002)
Jul 15, 2002Future Precognitive Police Force
Steven Spielberg takes on Philip K. Dick in a much grittier film than he usually makes. In the strong and intelligent script, Tom Cruise is an officer on a police force that predicts crime before it happens only to then be hunted by his own side
AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004)
Oct 4, 2004Alien/Predator Series' Crossover
Beginning as fan mill speculation, 20th Century Fox finally brought their Alien and Predator franchises together on the screen here. The result is an okay effort in the hands of Paul W.S. Anderson, even if it never has the grueling intensity of the early entries in either series
Total Recall (2012)
Aug 2, 2012Virtual Memories/Reality Bender/Action
I was never a particular fan of the Schwarzenegger original and this improves on it somewhat. This is far better conceived as an action film with some amazing Cyberpunk designs. On the other hand, the two decades interim has made the story's Philip K. Dick-ian reality bendings seem commonplace