Mythica: The Iron Crown (2016)
Epic Fantasy Adventure
This was the fourth in the surprisingly good Mythica series of low-budget epic fantasy films funded via Kickstarter. This proves to be the best of the series yet
Gods and Deities
For discussion on this site, titles listed under the theme God refer to the One God of Judaeo-Christendom and Islam. By contrast, Gods and Deities refers to every other deity, whether part of a world religion or fictional, whether said religions be monotheistic or the deities belong to a pantheon.
There are numerous films featuring appearances from the gods of Greek Mythology, Norse Mythology and Ancient Egyptian Mythology, and to a lesser extent from Hindu Mythology, Eastern Beliefs and other world mythologies. These range from heroic fantasy adventures where characters battle or are aided by deities, to works where we see gods living in the present-day world to ones (usually horror films) where demonic figures from these mythologies are incarnated. The Marvel Cinematic Universe even gives us a Norse god as superhero.
There is a whole body of other fictional deities that appear in works of horror or else are encountered in Epic Fantasy. A notable made-up variant was the Great Old Ones of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos in Lovecraftian Films, ancient elder entities of unimaginable power that wait to be awakened.
Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow (2008)
Animation/The Children of Marvel Superheroes
Whose bright idea was it to give us kid versions of The Avengers (ostensibly their children)? While Marvel have had an unparallelled string of hits on the big screen in the 00s, their attempts to replicate the successes that rival DC have had in animation have been a dismal failure
Night Life of the Gods (1935)
Petrification Ray/Greek Gods Come to Life Comedy
A 1930s screwball comedy about the invention of a ray that can petrify people that is then used to bring statues of Greek gods to life
The Nines (2007)
Reality Bender
Fascinating directorial debut from screenwriter John August that tells three stories about Ryan Reynolds who gradually makes mind-boggling discoveries about the nature of reality
Odysseus and the Isle of the Mists (2008)
Greek Myth Adventure
Supposedly an adventure based on an untold story from The Odyssey, an entry among the fantasy adventure films made for cable filler in the 2000s
Older Gods (2023)
Lovecraftian Cosmic Horrors
An original work that conjures a fantastic sense of ominous Lovecraftian cosmic horror as a man is haunted by a cult whose purpose is to wake a slumbering deity that is dreaming all of reality
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010)
Greek Myth in the Present Day
Chris Columbus seeks to emulate the success of the Harry Potter films with this adaptation of a Young Adult series about the children of Greek gods. The film falls apart due to Columbus’s typical banal cues and effects overkill
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)
Greek Myth in the Present Day
This sequel is marginally better than the first film (largely due to Chris Columbus no longer being in the director’s chair), being more dramatically engaged and with effects that feel less like random eye candy. That still doesn’t disguise the fact that the Percy Jackson series is no more than a lightweight and forgettable Harry Potter knockoff
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007)
Pirate Fantasy Swashbuckler
Third of the Pirates of the Caribbean films and purportedly made without a completed script, this becomes bloated and sprawling
Pokemon: The Power of One (1999)
Animation/Cute Creatures
The second of the animated films spun off around the Pokemon phenomenon and an altogether better film than its predecessor due to some imaginative animation
Puppet Master 4 (1993)
Malevolent Dolls
The fourth in Charles Band’s most popular series about a group of malevolent dolls. This turns the dolls into good guys and adds an Ancient Egyptian deity who despatches a Terminator robot against them
The Pyramid (2014)
Sinister Forces in an Egyptian Pyramid
A monster movie where the major distinction is that the monster is drawn from Ancient Egyptian mythology and the locale is an unearthed pyramid. The film is too conceptually slim to do much with such an interesting background but it does deliver some solid jumps
Red Sonja (2025)
Warrior Woman/Sword and Sorcery
Following the disastrous Brigitte Nielsen film, a new version of Robert E. Howard’s Amazonian warrior woman has been promised since the late 2000s. It finally emerges here from the same people behind the revivals of Hellboy and the Jason Momoa starring Conan
Reign of Chaos (2021)
Deities War in the Aftermath of Civilisation
Low-budget film that takes an ambitious conceptual grasp in its story of deities and daughters of goddesses warring in the ruins of civilisation
Return of Giant Majin (1966)
Stone Deity Awakens
A Japanese monster movie with a difference. The second in a trilogy of films about a giant stone deity that awakens to defend villagers in trouble
The Ritual (2017)
Mysterious Happenings in the Woods
The first feature film from David Bruckner who has been doing strong work in various anthologies. This is like The Blair Witch Project with regular camerawork and an actual witch where Bruckner creates a strong and effective sense of foreboding and accumulating mood
The Runestone (1991)
Monster Movie
Monster movie where a runestone uncovered in the present day unleashes the Norse god Fenrir
The Scorpion King: Rise of a Warrior (2008)
Sword and Sorcery
Prequel to The Scorpion King. Unfortunately director Russell Mulcahy allows his broad hand with comedy free reign and the plot is overrun by glib character banter and constant flip modern one-liners
The Secret of Kells (2009)
Animation/Celtic History and Mythology
Beautifully made animated film that won surprise recognition at the Academy Awards. More a festival film than necessarily a box-office one
Sharks of the Corn (2021)
Gonzo Killer Shark Film
Perhaps not the worst Gonzo Killer Shark film ever made but it would sit among the worst half-dozen involving a shark-worshipping cult conducting sacrifices to summon a shark god in the cornfields
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
Comic-Book Superhero
Shazam! was one of the more enjoyable DCEU superhero offerings, placing a light-hearted spin on the superheroics. This is the sequel
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
Arabian Nights Adventure/Animation
DreamWorks animated Sinbad adventure by the numbers that seems to go out of its way to tell a Sinbad story divorced of its Islamic cultural background
Sinister (2012)
Hauntings and Ritual Killings
Scott Derrickson film that is badly underwritten in terms of proper explanatory rationale. That said, you cannot deny that Derrickson manages to produce the scary goods on a number of occasions
Sinister 2 (2015)
Hauntings and Ritual Killings
The original had some undeniably effective jumps but suffered from a lack of explanatory rationale but this makes for a shaky house of cards when the same arbitrary happenings are extended for a sequel
Son of the Mask (2005)
The Mask Sequel
Sequel to the Jim Carrey starring The Mask with Jamie Kennedy taking over in a film that was regarded as one of the worst sequels of all time
Stargate (1994)
Intergalactic Portal/Planetary Adventure
The first of Roland Emmerich’s special effects epics. Emmerich rehashes Erich von Daniken’s Ancient Astronauts theories but casts it as a planetary adventure on an epic canvas with surprisingly entertaining results
Support Group Olympus (2021)
Greek Gods in the Present-Day
A film about the Greek gods trying to get by in the present-day where they are suddenly all required to attend a support group
The Sword of the Barbarians (1982)
Italian Sword and Sorcery
One of the various low-budget Italian sword and sorcery of the 1980s that borrows much from Conan the Barbarian
Thor (2011)
Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
The film adaptation of Marvel Comics’ The Mighty Thor is placed in the hands of Kenneth Branagh who delivers an okay film, if one where he never quite seems at home with the superheroic action
Thor: God of Thunder (2022)
Norse Superhero/The Asylum Mockbuster
A low-budget mockbuster from The Asylum designed to jump aboard the bandwagon of Marvel’s Thor: Love and Thunder
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
The fourth of Marvel’s Thor films, where director Taika Waititi gets the balance of humour down much more successfully than he did in the previous film
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
The third of the MCU’s Thor films. This time Kiwi director Taikia Waititi gives much more of a comedic emphasis where you get the impression the intention has been to push the film in the direction of Guardians of the Galaxy. On the other hand, the superheroics are routine
Thor: Tales of Asgard (2011)
Animation/Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
Though Marvel Comics have had massive success with their big screen adaptations in the 00s, they have been far less successful with their attempts to spin off animated films. An okay but unexceptional animated prequel released at the same time as the first Thor live-action film
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Marvel Comics Norse God Superhero
Sequel to Thor that earranges the same basic elements much more satisfyingly than the first film – the actors (with the exception of a tranquilised Natalie Portman) seem more at home in their roles and a director who is more confident with the effects and superheroics. That said, it is starting to feel like Marvel is shuffling the same plot ingredients around between films
Trump vs The Illuminati (2020)
Gonzo Satire/Trump's Clone Fight The Devil in Space
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
Ultimate Avengers (2006)
Marvel Comics Superhero Team/Animation
The first of several animated films based on Marvel Comics properties, this does a solid job in adapting Mark Millar’s The Ultimates, a retelling of The Avengers origin story
Ultimate Avengers II (2006)
Marvel Comics Superhero Team/Animation
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
Unico (1981)
Anime/Young Unicorn Boy's Adventures
aka The Fantastic Adventures of Unico Japan. 1981. Crew Director – Toshio Hirata, Screenplay – Masaki Tsuji, Based on a Story by Osamu Tezuka, Producer – Shintaro Tsuji, Music – Ryo Kitayama, Art Direction – Akio Sugino. Production Company – Sanrio. Plot The gods are jealous of the young unicorn boy Unico who can bring […]
V/H/S/85 (2023)
Anthology of Found Footage Horror Tales
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
Woman on Top (2000)
Magical Realism
Frothy work of Magical Realism with Penelope Cruz as a woman whose cooking weaves a magical spell
Wonder Woman (2009)
Animation/DC Comics Superheroine
Fine animated version of the DC Comics superheroine that gets the character just right and tells the story in a way that eclipses all previous filmed versions
Wonder Woman (2017)
Comic-Book Superheroine
After three films of mixed success, DC Comics finally get their Cinematic Universe right. Director Patty Jenkins blows all of the others away with a series of exhilarating action sequences that have an entire audience cheering
Wrath of the Titans (2012)
Greek Mythology Adventure
Sequel to the Clash of the Titans remake. Much the same as before except with bigger monsters and more explosions … flash and spectacle that washes over you with all the substance of the light from a disco ball
Xanadu (1980)
Disco Fantasy/Greek Muse Comes to Earth
Bizarre disco fantasy that could have only been conceived out of 80s cocaine madness. Olivia Newton-John is a Greek muse come to Earth to inspire the building of a roller disco. Frequently cited as a bad movie classic, this has mind-boggling scenes that have to be seen to be believed
YatterMan (2009)
Anime TV Series in Live-Action/Gonzo Giant Robot Heroics
Takashi Miike conducts a live-action adaptation of a 1970s anime tv series with completely madcap results. The effect is like drowning in multi-coloured candyfloss flavoured with LSD
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie – Pyramid of Light (2004)
Anime/Playing Card Dueling
An animated film based on the hit playing card phenomenon, which proves largely incomprehensible to anybody not versed in the game
Yuki: Snow Fairy (1981)
Anime/Young Goddess Comes to Earth
A very rare anime film about a fairy who descends to Earth from the heavens and takes the side of downtrodden peasants in standing against a greedy landowner and a demon god
Zhongkui: Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal (2015)
Wu Xia Film
Lush, visually extravagant Chinese-made Wu Xia film, shot with an epic widescreen eye that looks amazing. It falls down somewhat when the two leads become replaced by CGI and only look like the avatars from a videogame
Zombi Child (2019)
Voodoo Film
An extraordinary French film that has nothing at all to do with flesh-eating zombies but delves into voodoo religion that expands out to makes contrasts with French colonialism with striking results