Perfect Creature (2006)
Alternate World of Vampires
Conceptually ambitious New Zealand made film set in an alternate history where vampires live alongside humans
Genetic Engineering
Piranha (1978)
Killer Fish
The second film from Joe Dante. Mounted as a quickie copy of Jaws by producer Roger Corman, Dante succeeds in peppering it with a lot of sly jokes and genre in-references
Piranha (1995)
Killer Fish
The 1978 Piranha is remade as a cable tv movie but has excised all the humour and witty genre in-referencing of the original
Piranha II: Flying Killers (1981)
Killer Fish
The film that James Cameron would prefer we forget about. A nominal sequel to Joe Dante’s enjoyable tongue-in-cheek Piranha, this misses that film’s sense of humour and lets the show sink amid absurd effects
Planet of the Apes (2001)
Planet of Talking Apes
Tim Burton’s much disliked remake. Certainly, the ape makeups are superb. While Burton touches many points with the original, he has dropped the biting satire in favour of adventure, while the ending left everyone scratching their heads
Pokemon The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back (1998)
Animation/Cute Creatures
The first film spun off from the popular Pokemon phenomenon and animated series, this is largely incomprehensible to anyone who is not familiar with the series
Post Apocalyptic Commando Shark (2018)
Gonzo Killer Shark Film
Gonzo killer shark film that gets full marks for an entertainingly ridiculous title but is real bad movie material on all accounts
The Predator (2018)
Alien Huntsman Comes to Earth
Shane Black, a writer-director with a reasonable cult following, makes the sixth Predator film (he also appeared as an actor in the original). Black shakes the series up, introduces a number of new ideas and makes an okay entry
Proteus (1995)
Shape-Shifting Monster
Shabby copy of Alien with shipwreck survivors facing a genetically engineered monster on an oil rig
Raiders of the Lost Shark (2015)
Flying Killer Shark
This is the one of worst films to come out in the gonzo killer shark fad – it is surely the killer shark genre’s equivalent of The Room. The effects hit a level of terribleness not seen since Birdemic, the rest is full of ridiculous continuity gaffes, bad acting and bad dialogue
Rampage (2018)
Videogame Adaptation/Giant Animals Amok
The idea of Dwayne Johnson facing a giant gorilla in an adaptation of a 1980s arcade game doesn’t exactly shout out Academy Award material; on the other hand, appreciated as a zero expectation cartoon of a film and the mindless mass destruction spectacle it is, this works in a goofily entertaining way
Reign in Darkness (2002)
Vampire Action
Australian vampire action that feels like a single pose that has been inspired by too many watchings of The Matrix
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
Videogame Adaptation/City of Zombies
The first of the Resident Evil sequels and a better film than its predecessor, getting in a series of spectacular, if at times ridiculously silly, action sequences
The Rift (1990)
Submarine Encounters Monsters Underwater
A cheap submarine adventure/underwater monster encounter from Spanish director Juan Pique Simon that was intended as a copy of James Cameron’s The Abyss
The Rise of the Beast (2022)
Giant Ape Amok
Low-budget British film about environmental protestors pursued by a genetically engineered giant ape
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
Planet of the Apes Prequel
Reboot of the classic franchise, a loose remake of Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. Thanks to some remarkable CGI effects, the apes entirely outshine the humans
Robot Jox (1990)
Future Gladiatorial Combat with Transformer Robots
Stuart Gordon, the cult director of Re-Animator, turns his hand to making a live-action Transformers film way back before anybody had ever head the name Michael Bay
Scared to Death (1980)
Genetic Monster Amok
The directorial debut of William Malone later to make House on Haunted HillAlien (one of the first of many such), albeit brought down to Earth. As a novice director, Malone is relatively crude and far removed from the masterful style of Ridley Scott
Scintilla (2014)
Genetically Engineered Alien Hybrid Experiments
A modest effort that has studied well at the Ridley Scott school of people being stalked in the dark. The film produces a genuinely unearthly and alien creation. The main problem is that the film is severely underwritten and fails to do much after coming up with such an original creature
The Secret Kingdom (1997)
Miniature World Under the Kitchen Sink
This is an appealingly strange Charles Band produced children’s film about a kid who discovers a miniature magical kingdom that is located under the kitchen sink
Seeds of Destruction (2011)
Massive Runaway Plant Roots
Cheap Syfy Channel CGI disaster spectacle about runaway plant roots – from the Garden of Eden, no less – growing to endanger the entire planet. Utterly formulaic and seeming to consist of no more than canned pieces of cliche action
Seobok (2021)
Psychic Powers
Quite good Korean film about a clone with vast psychic powers, this mounts to a climax that captures something of Akira
Shark Attack (1999)
Killer Shark Film
Killer shark from the 1990s heyday. This works passably as the B movie it is intended as, while the last third turns into the schlockily absurd with the insertion of two different corrupt conspiracy elements and action movie chases
Shark Side of the Moon (2022)
Gonzo Killer Shark Film
Another gonzo killer shark film from The Asylum, makers of Sharknado films, this features the entertaining absurdity of evolved humanoid Soviet sharks living on the Moon
Sharktopus (2010)
Monster Shark-Octopus Hybrid
Amid the fad for deliberately absurd killer shark films viz Sharknado, this surely takes the prize for ridiculousness of conception and delivery – a hybrid creature with the head of a shark and the tentacles of an octopus. I defy you not to burst into laughter at some of the scenes (*)
Sharktopus vs Pteracuda (2014)
Giant Hybrid Monsters
Entry in the gonzo killer shark film (viz Sharknado et al), sequel to the earlier Sharktopus Though produced by veteran B movie producer Roger Corman, these Sharktopus films are some of the shittiest in the gonzo killer shark fad, featuring way below sub par effects and missing the sense of humour
The Sky Crawlers (2008)
Anime/Cloned Flyers
From Mamoru Oshii of Ghost in the Shell fame, an anime that seems a mix of Biggles and Never Let Me Go, all taking place in an alternate world. The film is exquisite in its detail
Sky Sharks (2020)
Nazi Zombies on Flying Sharks
This has been conceived as the ultimate modern exploitation film featuring Nazi zombie piloting flying sharks. Think Iron Sky by way of Sharknado. The results are highly entertaining
Soldier (1998)
Programmed Soldier Becomes Self-Aware
Kurt Russell gives a fine performance as a programmed soldier who discovers emotions but under Paul W.S. Anderson the rest of the big-budgeted film collapses into over-inflated cliches
Sorry to Bother You (2018)
Gonzo Workplace Satire
This directorial debut for rapper Boots Riley is a very funny satire on telemarketing that becomes increasingly more surreal as it goes on. Imagine something like Spike Lee around the point of Do the Right Thing mixed with the absurdist humour of Kurt Vonnegut
Species II (1998)
Alien Sex Fiend
Sequel to Species that this time offers up the male of the species. The film feels put together as an exercise in makeup effects but their physiological absurdity causes the film to topple into silliness
Species III (2004)
Alien Sex Fiend
The third of the Species films, which follows Sil’s daughter. Some okay makeup effects but the plotting gets fairly silly
Species: The Awakening (2007)
Alien Sex Fiend
Fourth entry in the Species series where at least the series seems to have gravitated to the arena of the trashily absurd B movie it belongs
Spiders (2013)
Giant Spiders
When you approach this in terms of exactly what it promises to be – a revival of the good old B movie standard of the giant spider film – this proves absurdly entertaining and with some surprisingly good CGI spider effects
Splice (2010)
Genetically-Engineered Creature
A genetically engineered creature film from Vincenzo Natali, this ventures into some fascinating places but ultimately returns to Frankenstein science territory
Spriggan (1998)
Anime/Alien Artefact/Psychic Kid Amok
Katsuhiro Otomo overseen anime about the discovery of Noah’s Ark, an alien artifact that gives a child vast psychic powers in a swathe of destruction not dissimilar to Akira
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Intergalactic 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
Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013)
Intergalactic Adventures
I had mixed feelings about J.J. Abrams’ reboot of Star Trek This time around the actors seem more at home in the characters and the plot works a good deal better (for the most part), while Abrams creates a hurtling effects spectacle that is the most action-oriented of the Trek films
Street Fighter (1994)
Videogame Adaptation/Action Team
Based on the popular videogame, you cannot complain that this is exactly what you expect – wall-to-wall action, comic-book heroes and villains. The complaint might be that the action is never particularly enervated and the film lacks anything beyond that
Superman: Doomsday (2007)
Comic-Book Superhero/Animation
A condensed animated adaptation of the top-selling DC comic-book of all time The Death of Superman that comes with some massively exciting animated action set-pieces
Tail Sting (2002)
Mutant Scorpions on a Plane
A completely ridiculous film about mutant scorpions on a plane – after something this laughable, it’s hard to see why Snakes on a Plane needed to plant tongue in cheek
Tamala 2010 (2002)
Demented Anime/Girl Cat's Space Adventures
Grungy low tech anime that comes out like a sarcastic version of Hello Kitty
Teleios (2017)
Space Rescue Mission
An expedition is sent to Titan to investigate a ship that has failed to return and what has happened to its missing crew
Terminus (1987)
Future Truck Race
Very strange French SF film about a futuristic truck race
Terra Formars (2016)
Mutated Insects on Mars
Takashi Miike delivers a completely madcap film about evolved cockroaches on Mars being fought by astronauts who take doses of mutagenic serum to give them insect-based super-powers
Theodore Rex (1995)
Cop and Dinosaur Partner
Disastrous flop that tries to do a Lethal Weapon buddy cop film by way of Jurassic Park and gives us a film about a cop with a dinosaur partner!
The Titan (2018)
Bio-Engineering Humans to Live on Titan
Conceptually highly ambitious SF film about humans being biologically modified in order to be able to live on Saturn’s moon Titan. After a highly promising beginning, the film falls apart in a badly cliched unethical scientist and lab experiment amok ending
Tomcat: Dangerous Desires (1993)
Man with Feline DNA Amok
Poorly made psycho-sexual thriller where Richard Grieco becomes a predator after getting an injection of feline DNA
Triassic Hunt (2021)
Dinosaurs Amok
Film from The Asylum about dinosaurs hunting mercenaries. Essentially Jurassic Park that takes place in a warehouse
Triassic World (2018)
Dinosaurs Amok
A mockbuster from The Asylum that was designed to capitalise on the release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, this is a low-budget CGI dinosaur film that is slightly better than most
Twins (1988)
Mismatched Clone Twins Comedy
A one-note joke premised on casting Arnold Schwarzenegger and diminutive Danny DeVito as mismatched clone twins. Unexpectedly charming with Schwarzenegger and comedy director Ivan Reitman turning out what are probably their best works.
Ultramarines (2010)
Animation/Wargame Adaptation/Space Marines vs Demonic Forces
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
Ultraviolet (1998)
Vampire Hunters
A British mini-series that offers an ingenious modernised reconeptualisation of the vampire genre, depicting the activities of a secret agency of vampire hunters
Ultraviolet (2006)
Dystopian Future Action/Vampire Mutations
Milla Jovovich is a part of a vampire rebel underground in a dystopian future. A film filled with incredible design schemes and action scenes that are as spectacular as they are ridiculously improbable
The Unborn (1991)
Sinister Pregnancy
Roger Corman produced film where Brooke Adams realises that something sinister might be happening with her pregnancy
Underworld (2003)
Vampire-Werewolf War
This stirs a bunch of elements from the late 90s vampire film and dark poses from the graphic novel to create a slick vampire action film. Several sequels followed.
Underworld: Awakening (2012)
Vampire-Werewolf War
Yet another entry that nobody asked for in a conceptually threadbare series that nobody seems to like … passably better than the last two sequels due to some ok action moves but still empty-headed in terms of ideas
Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)
Undead Super-Soldiers/Action
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
Vesper (2022)
Environmentally Devastated Future
Visually extraordinary film set in an environmentally devastated future, this place enormous creativity into depicting a strange, very alien world
A View to a Kill (1985)
James Bond Film
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
The Visitor (1979)
Satan is an Alien/Impregnation
Head-scratchingly strange Italian film that seems made as a crosshatch of 1970s Devil Child films and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Makes no sense in terms of story but worth watching for the bizarreness of its imagery
Watchers (1988)
Intelligent Dog/Dean R. Koontz Adaptation
Dean R. Koontz adaptation in which Corey Haim adopts an unusually intelligent dog unaware it is part of a genetically engineered killing machine. Produced by Roger Corman who spun out a series of sequels.
Watchers II (1990)
Intelligent Dog Hunted by a Monster
The first of three sequels to the Dean R. Koontz adaptation about an intelligent dog, although for each sequel producer Roger Corman has just remade the book
The Wild, Wild Planet (1965)
Italian Space Opera
One of the cheap Italian space operas of the 1960s from Antonio Margheriti. This has a certain colourful absurdity amid the mostly dull happenings and B-budget effects
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey II (2024)
Horror Version of Children’s Character
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey offered a horror version of the much loved children’s character. This is more of the same with a bigger budget
The Witches Hammer (2007)
Vampire Assassin vs Witches
Low budget vampire action about a vampire woman who is recruited into a secret government organisation
Xchange (2000)
Body-Swapping Future
A modest and surprisingly well thought out SF film set in a future where swapping bodies is commonplace only for a man to find his original body has been stolen