The Preacher’s Wife (1996)
Angelic Visitation
Remake of The Bishop’s Wife with Denzel Washington as an angel come to aid an overworked pastor but falling for his wife Whitney Houston
Films of 1996
Precious Find (1996)
Gold Prospectors in Outer Space
Very cheap-looking attempt to essentially relocate a gold prospectors adventure into outer space
Project: ALF (1996)
Annoying Alien Vistor Comedy
A tv movie revival of the hit 1980s tv sitcom ALF. Looking back it’s hard to wonder what ever seemed funny about the show at the time
Rebirth of Mothra (1996)
Japanese Monster Bash
One of the worst among the usually worthwhile Japanese monster movie revivals of the 1990s. Much of the film is played down at an inanely silly children’s movie level, with there only being the requisite mass destruction effects to enliven the show
Repligator (1996)
Experiment Turns Men Into Women
A film about a teleportation experiment that has the unforeseen effect of turning men into woman and then into human-alligator hybrids. We are in extremely bad movie stakes here
Rockabilly Vampire: Burnin’ Love (1996)
1950s Rocker Vampire
Troma film less terrible than most about a modern who gets involved with a vampire from the 1950s
Saint Clara (1996)
Precognitive Girl
Israeli film co-directed by Ari Folman about a girl with precognitive powers. After a great opening, the film loses all real dramatic impetus
Schizopolis (1996)
Surreal Satire
One of the most obscure films in the oeuvre of Steven Soderbergh, a strange and head-scratchingly surreal satire of workplace and domestic life
Scream (1996)
Slasher Movie Parody/Deconstruction
Wes Craven and scriptwriter Kevin Williamson make a witty homage to the 1980s slasher film, turning the genre on its head by having the characters perfectly aware they are in a horror film and of the genre’s cliches
Sex & Zen II (1996)
Hong Kong Erotic Comedy/Gender Changing Sorcerer
Sequel to the Hong Kong erotic film, an entirely unrelated work that inflates the original into a madcap Wu Xia film filled with crude, rude humour
The Silencers (1996)
Action Film/Alien Invasion Conspiracy
Action film made at the height of the popularity of tv’s The X Files with Jack Scalia fighting off the Men in Black
Solo (1996)
Android Becomes Self-Aware
Mario Van Peebles plays a military android who defies his programming to defend the villagers he is sent to kill
Sometimes They Come Back … Again (1996)
Supernatural Retribution
Sequel to the Stephen King adapted film about hoodlums resurrected from the dead, this descends into an incredible silliness. Featuring a teenage Hillary Swank
Space Jam (1996)
Toon Basketball Game
Based on a Pepsi commercial, this brings NBA star Michael Jordan and a host of Looney Tunes characters together in a basketball game. A cute idea not very well developed.
Spy Hard (1996)
Spy Movie Spoof
Styled in the same movie parody style vein as Airplane, this digs into the spy movie, although in actuality it is more of a scattershot spoof of films of then-recent vintage. Leslie Nielsen found regular employ in these types of film
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Time 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
The Stendhal Syndrome (1996)
Giallo Psycho-Thriller
One of the less effective films in the oeuvre of Dario Argento. Another giallo thriller, this has the same flourishes of style in sporadic moments but the plot is even more confusing than usual
The Stupids (1996)
Family of Very Stupid People/Gonzo Comedy
A mind-bogglingly surreal John Landis film about a family who take everything literally. A completely demented viewing experience in watching as they bumble around trying to puzzle over who is stealing the garbage
Subliminal Seduction (1996)
Sinister Brainwashing Plot
Ian Ziering stars in a B-budget ripoff of The Stepford Wives where he discovers that a computer company is encoding brainwashing messages in a videogame
Superman: The Last Son of Krypton (1996)
Comic-Book Superhero/Animation
Pilot for the excellent Bruce Timm Superman animated tv series of the mid-1990s. This retells the Superman origin story, keeping great faith to the comics, while adding some fantastic action scenes
Tales from the Crypt Presents Bordello of Blood (1996)
Vampire Brothel
The second of the films spun off from tv’s Tales from the Crypt. While the first film Demon Knight took itself seriously, this does not and is killed by a campy tone and a miscast Dennis Miller keeping up a running barrage of excruciating one-liners
A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996)
Female Stalker Comedy
Martin Lawrence directs and stars in a comedy variant on Fatal Attraction in which he has the role of a player who is stalked by a psycho Lynn Whitfield
Thinner (1996)
Weight Loss Curse/Stephen King Adaptation
Adaptation of one of Stephen King’s Richard Bachman novels about an obese lawyer afflicted with a thinning curse. There are some great effects but the film’s moral messages come off as wrong
To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday (1996)
Ghosts of Memory
Ambiguous ghost story in which Peter Gallagher sees and talks to his late wife Michelle Pfeiffer. Written by hit tv producer David E. Kelley (The Practice), this frequently disappears into its own self-congratulatory dialogue
Tremors II: Aftershocks (1996)
Monster Movie
The first of several sequels to the modest hit of Tremors with Fred Ward and Michael Gross repeating their roles, hunting Graboids in Mexico this time. As with the first film, this ably balances suspense, creature effects and a considerable sense of humour
The Trigger Effect (1996)
The Downfall of Civilisation
Excellent and understated directorial debut from screenwriter David Koepp where a mysterious citywide power cut suddenly brings out tensions and prejudices among people
Trilogy of Terror II (1996)
Horror Anthology
Sequel to the classic Karen Black-starring horror anthology tv movie with Lysette Anthony starring in a trio of horror tales
Tromeo & Juliet (1996)
Bad Taste Shakespeare Parody/Troma Film
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
Twister (1996)
Tornado Chasers
After the massive success of Jurassic Park, anything with Michael Crichton’s name on it was hot property. This is made from his script about tornado chasers and is a rather entertaining film made with no other purpose that to keep producing a series of spectacular mass destruction scenes on an ever-expanding scale
2103: The Deadly Wake (1996)
Futuristic Ship Voyage
Low-budget SF film about a ship at sea carrying a cargo of convicts, toxic waste, a deadly virus and a killer android
Tykho Moon (1996)
Lunar Colony Noir
Film from Enki Bilal, a celebrated comic-book creator in France, about the noirish goings-on and in-politics on a lunar colony
Unforgettable (1996)
Transplanted Memories Thriller
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
Vampirella (1996)
Comic Book Adaptation/Alien Vampire Heroine
Disappointingly tatty rendering of the famous comic-book strip as a low-budget Roger Corman production. Vampirella is missing her distinctive costume and Talisa Soto comes nowhere near the comic-book character’s statuesque voluptuousness
Village of Dreams (1996)
Mischievous Twins' Childhood/Magical Realism
Japanese Coming of Age tale about two mischief-making twin brothers growing up in the 1940s
Warhead (1996)
Action/Nuclear Missile Silo Hijacking
Routine action film about the attempts to stop a rogue general who has hijacked a nuclear missile silo
The Whole Wide World (1996)
Robert E. Howard Biopic
Biopic of Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja and others. Contains some fine acting from Vincent D/Onofrio and Renee Zellwegeras the teacher he becomes involved with
The Wind in the Willows (1996)
Talking Animals/Absurdist Adventures
Monty Python’s Terry Jones conducts a live-action adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s classic children’s story
Within the Rock (1996)
Alien Nasty
Low-budget Alien copy directed by makeup effects artist Gary J. Tunnicliffe with a plot that prefigures Armageddon as drillers uncover an alien nasty on an asteroid
X (1996)
Anime Superheroics
Anime involving a superheroic battle for the fate of the world. Dazzling eye candy but too many characters and subplots make things confusing