Geo-Disaster (2017)
Disaster Movie
A disaster movie mockbuster from The Asylum that was intended to exploit the (non)-success of Geostorm. Directed by the writer of the Sharknado films
Films of 2017
Geostorm (2017)
Weather Control/Disaster Movie
Directorial debut of Roland Emmerich’s regular screenwriter Dean Devlin who has clearly been given orders to make another Emmerich film. Thus we get all the same effects-driven mass destruction spectacle, absurd science and pro-environmental messages
Gerald’s Game (2017)
Woman Handuffed to a Bed/Stephen King Adaptation
Mike Flanagan tackles one of the most difficult Stephen King books from a logistics perspective – the book has only one character who is handcuffed naked to a bed for the duration – but pulls it off with great faithfulness
Get Out (2017)
Sinister Small Town/Racial Mind Control
A rehash of The Stepford Wives recast along racial lines. It is a surprise to see a mainstream horror hit with a strong message about racism, not that Jordan Peele neglects the horror element either
Ghost House (2017)
Thai Ghost Houses/Possession
Modest effort in which Scout Taylor-Compton becomes possessed by an evil spirit while in Thailand. Nothing groundbreaking but this creates reasonable atmosphere
Ghost in the Shell (2017)
Live-Action Anime Adaptation/Cyberpunk Future
This US-made live-action adaptation of the cult anime is a disaster on every level. The original’s haunting meditation on the dividing line between machine and human is diluted to being no more than a Cyberpunk action film
A Ghost Story (2017)
Man Becomes a Ghost
A ghost story in which the ghost is played by someone beneath a sheet with two eyeholes. It’s an idea that seems too goofy to work outside of an episode of Scooby Doo. I do like being proved wrong and this ended up my Best Film of 2017
Gintama (2017)
Live-Action Anime Adaptation
The live-action adaptation of a popular anime and manga, this takes place in an alternate history version of Japan where samurai fight following an alien invasion
Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017)
Anime/Japanese Monster Movie
The 30th Japanese Godzilla film, this is the first anime Godzilla film and the first in a trilogy. More disappointingly, it is more a space opera and planetary adventure than it is ever a Godzilla film
Gogol: The Beginning (2017)
Occult Investigator
The first in a trilogy of Russian dark fantasy films featuring the real-life horror writer Nikolai Gogol as an occult detective investigating a series of supernatural mysteries
Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017)
Winnie the Pooh's Creator Biopic
Biopic of A.A. Milne that tells the story of how he came up with his most famous creation Winnie the Pooh. The film takes some time to warm to, but eventually opens up with some heartwarming charms
The Gracefield Incident (2017)
UFO Found Footage Film
We have had a few UFO Found Footage films, most of which are rehashes on The Blair Witch Project with aliens instead of backwoods hauntings. This is one entry that produces a series of eerie jumps
Granny of the Dead (2017)
Zombie Seniors
A British-made effort that offers the amusing idea of zombified geriatrics on their walking frames. However, the actual film lacks any tongue-in-cheek approach and emerges as excruciating on all counts
The Greenaway Alphabet (2017)
Peter Greenaway Documentary
A documentary about arthouse director and regular genre contributor Peter Greenaway. This takes an alphabetical look through Greenaway’s themes and offers some peculiar insights into him as a person
Gremlin (2017)
Goblin in a Box
Technically not actually a film about gremlins but about a goblin creature that emerges from a box where it will kill a person unless they pass it on to someone they love
Guardians (2017)
Russian Superhero Film
A Russian attempt to create their own equivalent of an Avengers film. The results emerge surprisingly better than you expect and with some standout effects
Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 (2017)
Marvel Comics Adaptation/Space Opera
Guardians of the Galaxy was an audience winner with its eccentric humour and effortless charm; this sequel feels buried under bloated production overkill where the charms of the original remain thinly drawn
Habit (2017)
Secret Underworld of Cannibals
Undeniably effective film set in Manchester where a young man is drawn into a secret world of people that live on the periphery of society and enjoy eating human flesh.
Hack House (2017)
Slasher Set in a Halfway House
Not a film about computer hackers living together as you initially think but a slasher film set in a halfway house for violent offenders. An original setting but the film does nothing terribly interesting
Hangman (2017)
Serial Killer Thriller
A dreary revival of the 1990s serial killer thriller. The surprise for a work that has no ambition beyond cable filler is that it has attracted a name like Al Pacino who mugs and showboats through the worst performance of his career
Happy Death Day (2017)
Timeloop Slasher Film
A Christopher Landon film released by Blumhouse. This has been conceived as a mash-up between Groundhog Day and a slasher film with a girl who wakes up every day to be pursued by a masked killer
Happy Hunting (2017)
Town That Hunts the Socially Worthless
Solid, well made variant on The Most Dangerous Game human hunting scenario with an alcoholic man fighting for his life in a small border town that holds an annual hunt to eliminate the socially worthless
Heartthrob (2017)
Stalker Film
Film about a high-school stalker from Chris Sivertson, who breathes life into the cliches and has good central performances on hand to make the familiar plot seem fresh
House By the Lake (2017)
Girl's Sinister Imaginary Companion
A strange film about parents who become concerned when their young daughter insists she has an imaginary fish man companion. This arrives at a head-scratchingly WTF ending
House Shark (2017)
Gonzo Killer Shark Film
The gonzo killer shark film has gained its own genre in recent years, popularised by Sharknado. This concerns a shark that emerges out of toilets and prowls around suburban living rooms
The Houses October Built 2 (2017)
Found Footage/Extreme Halloween Attractions
Sequel to The Houses October Built with the same group touring Halloween haunts encountered sinister figures beneath the masquerade as everything starts happening all over again
Housewife (2017)
Sinister Cult
Turkish director Con Evrenol made a splash with the horror film Baskin; this was his follow-up, an often head-scratching film about a housewife who is drawn into the mind-bending activities of a sinister cult
How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017)
Romance with an Alien Visitor
Though the title seems more suitable to a book of pick-up lines, this is about a romance with an alien visitor set during the punk era. John Cameron Mitchell adapts a Neil Gaiman story but seems to have forgotten the comedy elements
Howard Lovecraft and the Undersea Kingdom (2017)
Animation/Young H.P. Lovecraft’s Adventures
The second in a series of animated children’s films about the young H.P. Lovecraft and his encounters with the various denizens of the Cthulhu mythos
The Humanity Bureau (2017)
Dystopian Future
Nicolas Cage is a lawman of the future who rebels against the system to protect a woman and child. Essentially a copy of the basics of Logan’s Run, this manages to be uninteresting in every way
I Kill Giants (2017)
Girl Believes in Giants
The title leads you to expect a variation on Jack the Giant Slayer but instead we get a very good story about a troubled girl who believes in giants. Very similar to A Monster Calls, this is carried by a fantastic performance from 15 year old Madison Wolfe
iBoy (2017)
Teen Gets the Power to Mentally Access Internet Traffic
A British film about a teen who gets a cellphone embedded in his head and develops the ability to tap into cellular and internet traffic. The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes with an admirably gritty edge
The Ice Cream Truck (2017)
Psycho Film
A horror film about a psycho ice cream truck driver prowling a suburban neighbourhood. The film is made appealing by its characterisation of the heroine
The Institute (2017)
Sinister 19th Century Asylum/"True Story"
James Franco co-directs and stars as a sinister psychiatrist in a 19th Century asylum who subjects patients to drugs and mind control so they can play in elaborate orgies. Supposedly based on a true-life incident
The Invisible Guardian (2017)
Spanish Serial Killer Thriller
The first in a trilogy of Spanish detective thrillers adapted from Dolores Redondo concerning ritual child killings, a serial killer and a local Bigfoot type creature lurking in the background
It (2017)
Stephen King Adaptation/Killer Clown Monster
I far preferred the 1990 mini-series to the cinematic remake of the Stephen King book. This emerges as a lesser copy of tv’s Stranger Things, which did the whole 80s nostalgia/horror story far better
It Comes At Night (2017)
Plague Outbreak/Fallout Shelter Drama
Audiences were confused by a title and promotion that led them to expect a horror film. This isn’t a horror film but a plague outbreak/fallout shelter drama – at which it is an okay offering but nothing standout
Jackals (2017)
Home Siege by a Sinister Cult
One of the directors of the Saw sequels surprises with this film where a family’s attempts to conduct a cult deprogramming as masked cultists surround the house prepared to do anything to get their recruit back
Jeepers Creepers 3 (2017)
Monster Movie
Having been promised for a long time, this is the third of Victor Salva’s Jeepers Creepers films. Filled with some unworldly jumps, this is also the slightest of the Jeepers Creepers trilogy
Jigsaw (2017)
Saw Sequel
Whether we asked for it or not, this is a revival of the Saw series. The upside is that unlike the other sequels it comes from a duo of directors who have made some quite good films elsewhere
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable – Chapter 1 (2017)
Manga Adaptation
The cinematic madman Takashi Miike takes on a live-action adaptation of one of Japan’s longest running mangas concerning high-school teenagers with powers and unique hairstyles
Journey to the West: Demon Chapter (2017)
Epic Chinese Legend
A sequel to Stephen Chow’s Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons. Directed by the legendary Tsui Hark who leaps in with wildly fantastic regard but is also forced to incorporate Chow’s slapstick
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
Trapped Inside a Jungle-Themed Videogame
A revival of Jumanji. The original’s boardgame is now a videogame that sucks the players inside. The adventure elements are routine but the film’s has comedic fun with its bodyswapped characters
Jurassic School (2017)
Children's Dinosaur Film
The Asylum offer up their own mockbuster copy of the Jurassic World films, an amiable children’s film where a young boy hatches a dinosaur egg he finds
Justice League (2017)
Comic-Book Superheroes
Zack Snyder completes his run through DC superheroes with mixed results. The introduction of the characters works well but Snyder too readily throws established continuity out the window, while the visual dourness becomes tedious
Justice League Dark (2017)
Animation/Team of Occult Superheroes
We are familiar with the Justice League but this gives us an alternate League whose members have supernatural abilities or are versed in dealing with the occult.
Keep Watching (2017)
Home Invasion/Found Footage
A Found Footage film about a family who finds everything they do is being filmed by hidden cameras before their home is invaded by masked figures
The Keeping Hours (2017)
Haunting
The best film that Blumhouse have produced to date. A ghost story as much as it becomes a relationship drama of incredibly authentic emotion that is beautifully made
Kill Switch (2017)
Mirror Earth Action
Dutch film involving action between this and a parallel Earth. Much of this is shot First Person Shooter perspective, while the director provides an accomplished level of mass destruction CGI effects all by himself
The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
Curse Placed on a Man's Family
Yorgos Lanthimos trains his a bizarrely deadpan black humour to make a horror film where surgeon Colin Farrell finds a strange malady has afflicted his family unless he kills one of them in sacrifice
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (2017)
Modernised Arthurian Legends/The Asylum Mockbuster
NOT the Guy Ritchie film but an Asylum mockbuster released at the same time. The most WTF take on the Arthurian legends ever with the Knights as gun-wielding US Marines
King Arthur: Excalibur Rising (2017)
Arthurian Legends Adventure
A passable B-budget film that came out in anticipation of Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. This is actually an Arthurian sequel, featuring Arthur’s son inheriting the sword.
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
Arthurian Legends
Guy Ritchie’s take on the Arthurian legends is an awkward beast that comes out as half wannabe Michael Bay film giddy with CGI delirium and half one of Ritchie’s typical Man’s Man caper films
King Charles III (2017)
Near-Future British Royal What If Story
A near future film that with eviscerates the royals with biting savagery as it depicts Prince Charles becoming the King of England and clashing with the government of the day
King Cohen (2017)
Genre Director Documentary
A documentary about cult director Larry Cohen, best known for It’s Alive and other works. This is filled with hilariously entertaining stories of his guerrilla film-making methods
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
Spy Film/Comic-Book Adaptation
Kingsman with its parody of gentlemanliness and action movie sensibilities, was the smartest of the modern spy movie parodies. This sequel has gone to the excesses of the Roger Moore Bond films in the space of one film
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Giant Ape
A reboot where King Kong is now part of a shared universe. This is less a tragic love story about Kong falling for a girl and being brought down by civilisation than Kong as a heroic defender fighting off other monsters
Kung Fu Traveler (2017)
Time-Travelling Android/Martial Arts
A Chinese version of The Terminator if you can imagine the android as the hero who travels back in time to learn a lost form of kung fu in order to prevent an alien invasion
Kuso (2017)
Gross-Out Surrealism
A surrealist film from the rapper known as Flying Lotus that consists of random plotless weirdness without any coherent rationale beyond serving up one gross-out effect after another
The Last Scout (2017)
Space Expedition
British SF film about the last survivors of Earth on an expedition to find new planet to make home. This manages to do some reasonable things on a low budget
Lazer Team 2 (2017)
Idiots With Parts of a Power Suit Comedy
Lazer Team was an easy predictable comedy about four screw-ups that accidentally obtain parts of an alien power suit. This sequel is all the same gags on rinse and repeat.
Leatherface (2017)
Texas Chain Saw Massacre Origin Story
Supposedly a The Texas Chain Saw Massacre prequel that offers us a Leatherface origin story. The least Texas Chain Saw-like of the sequels and eventually a far cry from the original
The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
Animation/Lego Universe Superheroes
Following the success of The Lego Movie, where he was a scene-stealing supporting character, Batman gets a whole Lego film to himself. Less a Batman film than it is a parody of Batman
The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017)
Animation/Adventures in the Lego Universe
Third of the animated films based on the Lego toy line. This has the same fast-paced humour and witty fourth-wall breaking gags as its predecessors, even if you suspect the Lego Movie brand is starting to fade
Life (2017)
Alien Organism Amok on the International Space Station
This is essentially Alien as a scientifically grounded space film like Gravity where an original alien menace attacking aboard the International Space Station
Life After Flash (2017)
Documentary About the 1980 Flash Gordon and Star Sam Jones
A documentary about the making of the 1980 Flash Gordon and following the career of its star Sam J. Jones afterwards
Like Share Follow (2017)
Stalker Film
Fatal Attraction smartly updated for the generation that invented the term ‘YouTube influencer’ with Keiynan Lonsdale as an influencer stalked by a psycho fan Ema Horvath
Little Evil (2017)
Step-Parenting the Antichrist Child Comedy
The director of Tucker and Dale vs Evil returns with a comedy that spoofs The Omen about an average guy trying to step-parent the Anti-Christ child
The Little Vampire (2017)
Animation/Children’s Vampire Film
Animated film based on the popular series of children’s stories about a kid who befriends a vampire boy. The same stories had previously appeared as a live-action fllm
The Lodgers (2017)
Irish Ghost Story
A beautifully shot period set Irish ghost story that does a superb job in building atmosphere but is all fascinating mystery that ends without explaining a single thing
Logan (2017)
X-Men Film
Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart bid farewell to the X-Men franchise. One of the strongest films in the series, having been stripped of superheroics and allowed to play out as a character drama
Lu Over the Wall (2017)
Anime/Mermaid Girl
An appealingly charming anime about the friendship between a lonely boy and a mermaid. She gains legs whenever music is playing and they form a pop band together
Lucid Dream (2017)
South Korean Dreamscape Film
The South Korean version of Inception with a man using a device that allows him to enter his and others memories in search of overlooked clues to the abductor of his son
Madame Hyde (2017)
Gender-Reversed Jekyll and Hyde Film
A gender-flipped version of the Jekyll and Hyde story with Isabelle Huppert is a teacher who is walked over in every aspect of her life before she is changed by a strange electrical discharge
The Man From Earth: Holocene (2017)
Immortal Man
The Man from Earth built up a reasonable reputation with a simple concept – a 14,000 year old man tells his life story that comes with a killer of a twist. This sequel far less interestingly becomes a detective story about a group of students trying to find if their professor is the same character
The Man in the Shadows (2017)
Sleep Paralysis Horrors
At the time of reviewing Rodney Ascher’s sleep paralysis documentary The Nightmare, I commented it would make fascinating material for a horror film. This Canadian micro-budgeted feature is one of the first to try and is interesting, even if it never truly grapples with its ideas
The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)
Charles Dickens and the Writing of A Christmas Carol
Among the fad for biopics about writers and the origins of famous stories, this, about Charles Dickens and the creation of A Christmas Carol, is the most lunatic – and that’s not counting the blatant lie of the title
Marjorie Prime (2017)
Holograms of Departed Loved Ones
From the always interesting Michael Almereyda, an adaptation of a Pulitzer-nominated play set in a future where people replace their departed loved ones with holograms
Marrowbone (2017)
House of Secrets
Film about children hiding in big old house of secrets following the death of their mother. Filled with all manner of fascinating secrets and twist revelations
Mary and the Witch’s Flower (2017)
Anime/Young Witch
The third film from former Studio Ghibli employee Hiromasa Yonebayashi. Yonebayashi is seen as the carrier of Hayao Miyazaki’s mantle, so much do his films look like lost Miyazaki works. This is sweet and amiable, even if it never hits the emotional heights Miyazaki does
Mary Shelley (2017)
Frankenstein’s Author Biopic
Biopic of Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. This is a women-written and directed work so the film places an interesting feminist slant on her story meaning that she wrote the book less to address themes about science and hubris than because she was in an unhappy marriage
Mayhem (2017)
Mass Insanity Outbreak in an Offce Building
A cross between The Belko Experiment with its murderous elimination game in an office and George Romero’s The Crazies as workers in an office is infected by a virus that causes them to lose their inhibitions. Made with dark relish
Meatball Machine: Kodoku (2017)
Gonzo Japanese Splatter Film/Bio-Mechanoid Mutations
A sequel to Meatball Machine, the film that started the gonzo Japanese splatter genre, filled with wild mutations, over-the-top splatter, a surreal sense of humour and an obsession with schoolgirls in panties
Mississippi River Sharks (2017)
Gonzo Killer Shark Film
An appealingly tongue-in-cheek killer shark film with sharks attacking along the Mississippi
Mom & Dad (2017)
Mass Insanity Where Parents Try to Kill Their Children
A captivating variant on the mass insanity film where parents are frenziedly driven to kill their children. As the murderous father, Nicolas Cage gives a performance where he lets all stops go, while director Brian Taylor, formerly one half of Neveldine/Taylor, makes a rather watchable film
Most Beautiful Island (2017)
Woman Drawn Into a Secret Underground Society
Ana Asensio, a Spanish immigrant, writes, directs and stars in a story about a cash-strapped Spanish immigrant who is forced to seek employment in a secret society in order to make ends meet (*)
The Most Dangerous Game (2017)
Sportsman Hunts Human Game
Remake of the oft-filmed story wherein a couple are forced to survive with their bare hands while hunted by a sportsman. This has been updated where hero John Hennigan is now a reality tv star
Mother! (2017)
Surreal Allegorical Drama
Darren Aronofsky’s surreal drama wildly divided critics and was a box-office flop with general audiences. Naturally, what I thought the film was about was completely different to what Aronofsky stated it was about
Mother Krampus (2017)
Christmas Horror
From the same people who made Demonic Christmas Tree, this is a supernatural retribution film that was sold as a Krampus film
The Mummy (2017)
Revived Mummy
The reboot of the Mummy series emerges as a wannabe Michael Bay film where even star Tom Cruise plays second banana to the CGI eye candy. Equally, an attempt to jumpstart a shared universe out of Universal’s Famous Monsters with the inclusion of Dr Jekyll seems awkward
Muse (2017)
Man Haunted by Supernatural Muses
Jaume Balaguero has become one of the most promising of modern Spanish genre directors, principally on the basis of the [Rec] films. However, this supernatural mystery that resembles one of Dario Argento’s Three Mothers films fails to quite come together
My Friend Dahmer (2017)
True-Life Serial Killer's High School Years
A film based on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer that focuses not on his crimes but his last year of high school before he began his killing spree. Based on a graphic novel written by Dahmer’s best friend, this is a surprisingly sympathetic portrait of the extremes of social isolation
Nails (2017)
Haunted Hospital
Film that takes place with the heroine confined to a hospital bed unable to move as a malevolent ghost enters her room
Naked (2017)
Timeloop Comedy
Comedic variant on Groundhog Day where Marlon Wayans wakes up naked in an elevator on his wedding day and is forced to repeat the same hour over and over as he tries to get to the church
The Night Watchmen (2017)
Security Guards vs Vampires Comedy
Horror comedy set in an office building as a group of inept security guards fight off a vampire outbreak among the staff. Very similar to the earlier Bloodsucking Bastards, this balances comedy and horror but director Mitchell Altieri demonstrates comedy is not his strong point
Nightworld (2017)
Security Guard Takes a Mysterious Job
This is a horror film that comes with one of the most captivating and original build-ups of any film seen of recent. A man is hired to simply watch a locked doorway – only to then finding things moving
1922 (2017)
Stephen King Adaptation/Rural Murder Plot
A Stephen King adaptation, this is less the jumpshocks of It than a work of dark brooding psychology as a farmer contemplates the murder of his wife. Think Days of Heaven by way of Grant Wood’s American Gothic
Oceans Rising (2017)
Global Warming Disaster Movie
Disaster movie from The Asylum set around global warming. Notable for two things – the wackiness of the scientist’s scheme to save the planet by creating black holes, and the cheapness of the production, which does almost everything it can to avoid effects shots
Okja (2017)
Genetically-Engineered Super-Pigs
Boon Jong Ho’s version of E.T., albeit one where E.T. is a genetically-engineered pig the size of an SUV, not to mention one with an oddball sense of humour that it is hard to imagine being enjoyed by young age groups
One Cut of the Dead (2017)
Zombies on a Zombie Film Set Comedy
The idea of a zombie film all shot in a single take. This proves a novelty amusement but then the film spins this on its head and becomes positively ingenious.