Troll (2022)
Norway attempts to compete with the Godzilla films in the story of a giant troll amok and pull off a work that does the whole mass destruction spectacular well and with some top notch effects
Tromeo & Juliet (1996)
Made to coincide with the Leonardo DiCaprio Romeo and Juliet, this Troma offering sets out to conduct as many bad taste variations on Shakespeare as it can
Tron Legacy (2010)
Tron was a groundreaking work that predicted the advent of cyberspace. Three decades on, this sequel never does anything as imaginative, although advances in effects technology allow for a dazzling reinvention of The Grid
Trouble in Mind (1986)
Alan Rudolph makes a modern film noir that takes place in a vaguely futuristic setting. Starring Kris Kristofferson and Divine
Trump vs The Illuminati (2020)
A clone of Donald Trump battles The Illuminati and the Egyptian god Anubis on Mars before travelling to Hell to sort out The Devil. The sheer dementia of the premise alone has one sitting down to watch
The Trumpet of the Swan (2001)
Animated film based on a book by Charlotte’s Web author E.B. White about a trumpet-playing swan
The Truth is in the Stars (2017)
The William Shatner documentary is a fascinatingly bizarre beast. This involves Shatner talking to a bunch of scientists and celebrities, before meeting with Stephen Hawking but peculiarly enough seems to have no central thesis or idea about what it is setting out to prove
Truth or Dare (2018)
Jeff Wadlow made the smart Cry Wolf, a slasher film about a campus game turned deadly. In this Blumhouse production, he has simply remade that with a different game where the killer is now a demonic curse
Tuck Everlasting (2002)
Disney adaptation of a classic children’s novel about the discovery of a family in the woods who are immortal due to a magical spring
The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: From Vaux to the Sea (2004)
The second part of Peter Greenaway’s massive multi-media installation, a surreal mock biography dominated by Greenaway’s fascination with nonsense lists. Gorgeous to look it but does it make for a dramatically engaging a film?
The Tulse Luper Suitcases Part 3: From Sark to the Finish (2004)
The third and final of Peter Greenaway’s Tulse Luper films, a sprawling mock biography that is more like a mad multi-media art installation than a film, filled with digressions, endless lists and obscure jokes
The Tunnel (2011)
Construed as a Found Footage version of The Descent or perhaps more so of Creep about a camera crew venturing into the tunnels beneath Sydney, Australia, this follows where others have gone before and fails to produce much in the way of jolts
Turbo (2013)
The 24th film from DreamWorks Animation – the studio that once offered a reasonable challenge to Disney is now starting to slip into the bland formula of competitors like Blue Sky. While passable, this feels like a film substantially lacking in originality and where you can predict its every move
Turbo Kid (2015)
There is a fantastically witty idea here – a low-tech parody of the 1980s post-holocaust film – but one that seems in search of an accompanying film. The film overspills with retro ephemera and stylistic jokes but I wish there had been more to it beyond the hook of the initial joke
The Turn of the Screw (1992)
Another version of Henry James’ classic psychological ghost story updated to the 1960s where the subtleties of the original are rendered in terms of crude effects
The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976)
Animated film based on the popular comic-books co-directed by the comic-book’s creators René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo,. This is disappointingly weak animation that substitutes slapstick cartoon gags for the comic’s more sophisticated humour
Twice Dead (1988)
An 80s horror film that suffers a bizarre identity crisis and doesn’t seem to know whether it wants to be a haunted house film, a home invasion film or a makeup effects vehicle
Twice-Told Tales (1963)
With the success of the Edgar Allan Poe adaptations starring Vincent Price, this was a copycat attempt that cast Price in a trio of tales adapted from another writer of American horror stories, Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Twilight People (1972)
Filipino exploitation film from the director of Blood Island films, an uncredited adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr Moreau about a mad scientist creating beast people
Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, John Landis and George Miller came together to make this homage to tv’s The Twilight Zone. The episodes are variable but the standout is Miller’s Nightmare at 20,000 Feet
Twilight’s Last Gleaming (1977)
Robert Aldrich makes a thriller in which rogue general Burt Lancaster hijacks a nuclear missile silo and demands the truth about the Vietnam War be released. A big muscular production that attained some controversy at the time
Twist of Fate (1998)
A convoluted courtroom thriller where District Attorney Mädchen Amick is forced to team up with serial killer Chris Mulkey
Twisted Nerve (1968)
A film clearly influenced by Psycho with Hywel Bennett as a disturbed young man with a mother fixation. The film caused some controversy at the time for its wholly unscientific linking of psychopathology and Down’s Syndrome
Twixt (2011)
Francis Ford Coppola makes what may be a ghost story or a vampire film but things are so confused you are never sure what. Less like the mature work of one of the great American filmmakers than an ingenue effort from director straight out of film school with a head full of muddled pretensions
Two Evil Eyes (1990)
George Romero and Dario Argento collaborate on an anthology, each adapting an Edgar Allan Poe tale. Either director leaves you with high expectations but the results are very mixed
Two of Us (2020)
Thai-made film that gives off some initial vibes of The Quiet Earth as two girls enjoy a private paradise in a holiday resort following the collapse of civilisation, before becoming a zombie film
The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan (1979)
Classic tv movie in which Lindsay Wagner travels back to the 19th Century to romance Marc Singer. Classic what is the question – what we have is a weepy romantic version of a time travel film that eliminates any of the interesting things like culture clash, advanced knowledge and time paradox
Tykho Moon (1996)
Film from Enki Bilal, a celebrated comic-book creator in France, about the noirish goings-on and in-politics on a lunar colony
Tyrannosaurus Azteca (2007)
This comes with an intriguingly original concept – that Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortes during his conquest of Mexico came up against dinosaurs
The Ugly (1997)
A New Zealand made serial killer thriller that emulates The Silence of the Lambs but becomes distracted by directorial effect
U.H.F. (1989)
A series of parody sketches based around the popularity of Weird Al Yankovic who plays the owner of a struggling cable tv station
Ultimate Avengers II (2006)
Follow-up to the previous animated Marvel Comics film featuring The Avengers, this serves to introduce Black Panther to the screen for the first time
Ultramarines (2010)
Animated film based on the popular fantasy wargame. The set-up is a fascinating mix of SF and mediaeval religion but the plot rehashes Aliens without much payoff and the animation is B-budget
The Unborn (1991)
Roger Corman produced film where Brooke Adams realises that something sinister might be happening with her pregnancy
The Unborn (2009)
Scriptwriter David S. Goyer takes the director’s choice to make a possession film. The one distinction here is that Goyer draws from Jewish mythology, otherwise this feels like another canned teen horror film
The Unbroken (2012)
Film about a woman who moves into a new apartment and is haunted by a little ghost boy. Follows the plotting for the ghost story genre to a completely tried and true formula and with wholly unremarkable results
The Uncanny (1977)
A production from Amicus founder Milton Subtosky in the style of the horror anthology that made the company’s name
Uncanny (2015)
This was made before Ex Machina and has a surprisingly similar plot – although takes it even further in many regards – where a woman journalist goes to interview a tech genius and ends up in a romantic triangle between him and his android creation
Uncle Sam (1997)
Film about an undead military veteran from director William Lustig and a script by the great Larry Cohen that unevenly digs into patriotic sentiment with black regard
The Understudy: Graveyard Shift II (1988)
Sequel to Graveyard Shift with a vampire appearing on a vampire film set and taking over the role in the film
The Undying Monster (1942)
One of the first few werewolf films ever made, this takes place at a big old mansion and is a murder mystery whodunnit about who might be the werewolf
The Unearthly (1957)
One of the very last gasps of the great era of mad scientist films from the 1940s. Despite assembling a great cast of genre regulars, this never does much to stir its pot – the mad scientist’s scheme is vague and the film almost never ventures outside of a single house
Unforgettable (1996)
Thriller where Ray Liotta undergoes an experimental process to receive an injection of memories from his dead wife and from these sets out to try and solve her murder
Unforgettable (2017)
A psycho-thriller that hearkens back to the Fatal Attraction and the copycats it inspired where a newly engaged Rosario Dawson has to deal with her fiance’s vengeful ex, an ice cold Kathrine Heigl
Unhallowed Ground (2015)
Set in a British boarding school/military academy, this starts out seeming like a ghost story but does a mid-film flip to reveal something else altogether is going on. I held out promise but between a low budget and a contrived end explanation this fails to work
The Unholy (2021)
Adaptation of a James Herbert book about a deafmute girl who suddenly speaks and performs miracles, which may have a sinister cause
Unhuman (2022)
From writers of several Saw films and The Collector, a film about teens under attack in the woods where it is unclear what is going on oe who they are facing for most of the film
Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979)
A Disney version of Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court where the story of a man thrown back in time to Camelot is dragged into the era of Star Wars with the addition of space shuttles and androids
Uninhabited (2010)
A couple on a getaway to an uninhabited island on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef find the island may be haunted
The Uninvited (2003)
One of the spate of South Korean ghost stories that came out in 2000s. While made with undeniable directorial style, the two hour running time drags and the plot is often unclear what is happening
The Uninvited (2009)
The Hollywood remake of the South Korean ghost story A Tale of Two Sisters that waters down and reduces the effectiveness of the original to generic shocks
Universal Soldier (1992)
The first studio film from Roland Emmerich, a loud, noisy action featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren as Vietnam Vets resurrected as super-soldiers
Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)
The fifth of the Universal Soldier films reuniting both Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, while being given a tough, brutal action punch by director John Hyams
Unknown Island (1948)
Routine B-budget lost world fantasy with a group of explorers stranded on an island filled with dinosaurs
Unlawful Entry (1992)
Psycho-thriller where husband and wife Kurt Russell and Madeleine Stowe are terrorised by psycho cop Ray Liotta
Unmasked Part 25 (1988)
A parody of the slasher film with an amusing central idea – what if a slasher maniac found a love interest and wanted to give up hacking and slashing to be with them?
The Unnamable (1988)
One of the spate of H.P. Lovecraft adaptations that came out in the late 80s/early 90s. This feels like an effort by earnest amateurs but does take its Lovecraft seriously unlike most of the other films of this cycle.
Until Dawn (2025)
The film adaptation of the popular videogame where a group enter a lodge and become caught in a timeloop where they face horrors and are killed and then resurrected to face them again
Untraceable (2008)
Gregory Hoblit has proven a fine director but this film about a site showing murders live on the internet feels like an hysterical rant about the dangers of the internet masquerading as a thriller
The Unwanted (2014)
An interesting adaptation of the classic lesbian vampire story Carmilla. This modernises and relocates it to Middle America and plays the vampirism with a psychological ambiguity
Unwelcome (2022)
Irish horror about a couple who inherit a house with faerie creatures at the end of the garden
Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)
Sequel fairly much in name only to Urban Legend and barely at all about urban legends, this has the amusing idea of taking place at a film school and features a number of sly asides. This alas befalls routine direction
User Friendly (1990)
Oddball New Zealand-made comedy with various characters in pursuit of a statuette with rejuvenative properties
V/H/S/85 (2023)
The sixth entry among the popular multi-director anthology series, this includes episodes from Scott Derrickson among others but is also one of the weaker of the V/H/S films overall
The Vagrant (1992)
Directorial outing from makeup effects artist Chris Walas who created the Gremlins and Cronenberg’s The Fly. This Bill Paxton as a Yuppie who buys a home and is driven paranoid as it keeps being invaded by a vagrant
Valentine (2001)
Following the revival of the slasher film with the success of Scream, this was a slick but forgettable studio copycat set around a Valentine’s Day motif
The Valley of the Rats (2016)
There is considerable conceptual ambition to this – a giallo homage, most of which takes place inside a limo. Charitably, you call it is a micro-budgeted collision between Cosmopolis and The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears, alas the film lets narrative fragment into incoherence in the latter half
Vamp (1986)
Very 80s film that feels like Martin Scorsese’s After Hours rewritten with vampires set around vampire nightclub. The comedy is uneven but there is is a striking performance from Grace Jones as the vampire
The Vampire (1957)
One of the first films about a medically rationalised vampire concerning a doctor who discovers pills that turn him into a vampire monster
Vampire (1979)
A vampire movie from the creators of Hill Street Blues, the greatest tv cop show ever made??? The mind boggles as to the possibilities and wonder what amazing creative possibilities they could put on it – alas, the show only ends up staying with the tried and true
Vampire Academy (2014)
One has zero enthusiasm for this, which has been sold as Twilight meets Harry Potter. Defying expectation, it is written with a sarcastic amusement puncturing its own seriousness and has a great performance from its leading lady, if in the end it is too weighted down by story exposition needed to set up its sequels to ever open up dramatically
Vampire Boys (2011)
This is essentially intended as a gay version of Twilight and features a near-identical plot in which a vampire fixates on a youth and decides he is his true love.
Vampire Bride (1960)
Rather drab and cheap Japanese horror film about a disfigured actress who returns to life as a hairy vampire creature to exact vengeance. Not without its schlocky appeals, the hairy vampire bride looks more funny than threatening
Vampire Hookers (1978)
Filipino exploitation film that has a reputation as something more trashy than it is. A dull and aimless effort where an aging John Carradine delivers a largely incoherent performance as the head vampire
Vampire Hunters (2002)
Tsui Hark scripted/produced Wu Xia effort that shuffles the familiar tropes about without seeming too enervated
Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)
An odd mismatch of talent where Wes Craven directs Eddie Murphy as a vampire who arrives in present-day New York. Craven and Murphy seem to drown either;s distinctive voices out
The Vampire Lovers (1970)
The first in Hammer’s trilogy of lesbian vampire films, an adaptation of the classic story Carmilla. Unfortunately in Hammer’’s hands, the story’s subtlety is killed by an emphasis on softcore titillation
Vampire Vermont (2000)
Low-budget video release about a group of people holed up in a house preyed on by a vampire. Passable but never amounts to much
Vampyros Lesbos (1970)
Another film in the cult of Jess Franco. Jumping aboard the early 1970s fad for lesbian vampire films, Franco offers up a sofctore take on the story of Dracula but cast with women.
The Vatican Tapes (2015)
The exorcism film has made a big comeback in the 00s. From one of the co-directors of the Crank films, this only offers up the same mix of cliches as usual – indeed, often seems like a series of random jump scares without any rationale as to why they would be happening
The Vault of Horror (1973)
The second of Amicus Films’ adaptations from EC Comics, a follow-up to their earlier Tales from the Crypt and one of their weaker horror anthologies with the episodes much more variable in overall quality
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
This gets full marks for an eye-catching title, even if it is one that has next to no relevancy in the film. The film itself is set in the world of art dealership and concerns a series of cursed paintings that kill all who seek to acquire them
The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967)
The third of the fifilms with Christopher Lee as the Chinese super-villain Fu Manchu and generally the point the series started to go downhill
Veronica (2017)
Paco Plaza has become one of the premiere names in Spanish horror due to the [Rec] films. Here he attempts to follow in the footsteps of The Conjuring with a film based on a supposedly true supernatural incident in 90s Madrid but fails to make a terribly interesting work
V/H/S/2 (2013)
Sequel to the modest success of V/H/S, an anthology of short Found Footage horror films featuring a different line-up of genre directors. The episodes are competent at best, none standout and mostly forgettable
V/H/S/94 (2021)
The popular V/H/S series, an anthology of Found Footage horror tales, is revived for a fourth entry
Vibes (1988)
Psychic powers comedy made in the aftermath of Ghostbusters where Jeff Goldblum is upstaged by a kooky Cyndi Lauper
Vice Versa (1988)
One of a spate of bodyswap comedies in the mid-1980s where father and son Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage end up swapping bodies
Vicious Fun (2020)
Horror comedy set around the wonderfully appealing idea of a support group for serial killers
The Video Dead (1987)
An entry from the classic 1980s era of the zombie film about zombies that emerge from a cursed tv set
A View to a Kill (1985)
The final outing as James Bond for a visibly aging Roger Moore, the fourteenth Bond film all told. One of the more anonymous among the giant unserious cartoon shows the Moore Bond films became
Viking Wolf (2022)
A Norwegian-made werewolf film where you have to admit the title Viking Wolf sets up some intriguing possibilities
Village of Dreams (1996)
Japanese Coming of Age tale about two mischief-making twin brothers growing up in the 1940s
Village of the Damned (1995)
Director John Carpenter did amazing things with his remake of The Thing but was not able to replicate such with his remake of Village of the Damned, which misses the taut atmosphere of the 1960 film
Village of the Giants (1965)
Bert I. Gordon, who spent most of his career making giant animal and people films, makes a film about giant rock’n’rolling teenagers. Supposedly adapted from a novel by H.G. Wells
Violent Blood Bath (1974)
A Spanish thriller about the investigation into mysterious payment made to an executed killer, which is then followed by a series of copycat killings that mimic those conducted by the dead killer
Violent Shit (1989)
Boundary-pushing film that consists almost entirely of very enthusiastic splatter and gore scenes. Amateurishly shot on video nevertheless this gained a cult following and produced sequels
Virgin Cheerleaders in Chains (2018)
Full marks for an attention-grabbing exploitation title, this is a horror film that takes place on a horror film set where film being shot and sinister characters on the sideline blur in a rubber reality
Virgin Witch (1971)
1970s British film about two sisters being drawn into the coven of witches. This comes with much in the way of softcore nudity but there is a surprising degree of innocence about all of it
Virtual Seduction (1995)
Produced by Roger Corman back when the idea of Virtual Reality was new and fascinated with the erotic possibilities. Jeff Fahey tests out a VR system and becomes lost in it after creating a simulation of his late girlfriend