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
Magic Spells
Magic Spells are incantations and rituals to affect Magic. Spells are frequently found inscribed on scrolls and involve reciting a series of arcane phrases or hand movements. A spell frequently can also require the use of a staff or a Potion, or the assemblage of various obscure items (bat’s wings, eye of newt etc). It may need to be conducted in a magic circle inscribed with protective runes and symbols.
Magic spells serve many purposes. They can be conjurations of some force or entity; they can open Portals; they can enact transformations such as human into animal or reverse age; lift or enact curses; or repel evil.
Shrek the Third (2007)
Animation/Fairytale Spoof
The third of the Shrek films settles in with a formulaic blandness where the characters turn up more because everyone expects them to than the film finds much for them to do
Side Effect (2020)
Witch’s Spell
Another work of Russian dark fantasy where a man asks a witch for a spell to help his wife, only to get very different results than intended
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)
Arabian Nights Adventure
The third of Ray Harryhausen’s Sinbad films, this came out the same year as Star Wars and Harryhauden’s stop-motion animated creatures look much more flat in comparison
Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of Mists (2000)
Arabian Nights Adventure/Animation
An early CGI animated film conducted on a cut-price budget that tells further adventures of Sinbad
Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997)
Adult Fairy-Tale
Beautifully made and very adult version of the fairytale, which seems determined to play up the terror aspect of the title, resulting in a work that seems a long way away from Disney
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (1978)
Animation/Magician's Apprentice
If you don’t know who Karel Zeman is, you need to check out his films – he is quite one of the most extraordinary directors in his blend of live-action and animation. Zeman’s later films are pure animation and tend to be overlooked but are not uninteresting.
Sorceress (1995)
Erotica/Suburban Witches
Jim Wynorski is a B-budget director whose films feature women with massively oversized breasts. Beyond epic-sized mammaries, this softcore tale about housewives engaged in witchcraft that makes no sense on a plot level
Spell (2020)
Backwoods Voodoo
Bizarrely overwrought film in which a successful city lawyer is made prisoner by a backwoods voodoo priestess
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Comic-Book Superhero
Sony’s Spider-Man franchise ingeniously competes with Marvel’s shared universe by bringing all their previous incarnations of Spider-Man together
Stardust (2007)
Epic Fantasy Adventure
Matthew Vaughn adapts a Neil Gaiman book in this undeniably appealing fantasy that comes with a story of epical sweep that vies between fantastic imagination and broad humour
Suitable Flesh (2023)
H.P. Lovecraft Adaptation/Bodyswap Horror
An H.P. Lovecraft adaptation, this is a venture into bodyswap horror that proves immensely entertaining ride
Summer of Fear (1978)
Witch Comes to Stay
An early, little known Wes Craven film originally shot for tv in which Linda Blair believes that that cousin who comes to stay might be a witch
The Sword in the Stone (1963)
King Arthur's Childhood/Disney Animation
Forgettable Disney animated film telling the story of King Arthur’s boyhood where the Arthurian legends are sidelined in favour of talking animals and slapstick
Tamara (2005)
Bullied Teenage Girl Returns From the Dead
Feels like an early 80s copy of Carrie about a bullied teenage girl taking supernatural revenge – that and the plot of I Know What You Did Last Summer … A slick but largely superficial effort with little legs beyond its teen audience, although Jenna Dewan injects some sizzle into the role of the nerd girl turned bad girl
Teen Witch (1989)
Teenage Witch Comedy
Amiably lightweight 80s comedy in which average teenage underdog Robyn Lively gains magical abilities and the complications these create
The Toymaker (2017)
Toymaker Brings Dolls to Life
The third of the Robert the Doll films. Here Andrew Jones takes a few leaves from the Puppet Master films in creating an origin story set during the Nazi era
The Visitors (1993)
Time-Travel Comedy
Hilarious French comedy where a filthy Mediaeval knight and his servant are transported into the present-day
Warhunt (2022)
WWII Soldiers vs Supernatural
A supernatural variant on Overlord where G.I.’s during WWII enter the Black Forest and encounter something supernatural
The Watch (2020)
Terry Pratchett Adaptation
Mini-series based on the works of Terry Pratchett that feels as though it is made, designed and cast by people who haven’t even read the books
We Need to Do Something (2021)
Family Trapped in a Bathroom During a Mysterious Catastrophe
A horror film made as an allegory for Covid with a family trapped inside a bathroom without supplies as a mysterious catastrophe happens outside their door
Weapons (2025)
Mysterious Disappearance
Captivating and original film from Zach Cregger about a town that is affected by the mysterious disappearance of a class of children. One film where you definitely can’t predict where things are going
Wicked: For Good (2025)
Musical/The Wizard of Oz Prequel
The second half of the film adaptation of the musical Wicked. This essentially operates as Wizard of Oz fanfiction and substantially wrenches the characters and backstories from the 1939 film out of shape to write its own story
The Witches Hammer (2007)
Vampire Assassin vs Witches
Low budget vampire action about a vampire woman who is recruited into a secret government organisation
The Witches of Oz (2011)
Wizard of Oz Sequel/Modernisation
Sequel/modernisation (it is confusing what) to The Wizard of Oz relocated in New York. This tv mini-series may be the cheapest work ever served up bearing the Oz name and flounders amid the shabbiness of its effects and utter lack of magic its director conjures