The Whisperer in Darkness (2011)
H.P. Lovecraft Adaptation
An H.P. Lovecraft adaptation that makes exacting effort to get the mood and period setting right
Portals
In fantastic cinema, portals are doorways that lead to somewhere else. A portal need not be a literal doorway – it can be a gate, a window, a cave, a hole in the ground, a Time or Space Warp, or else a stargate, even a cupboard as in the Narnia films. Stories are rarely about the portal in itself but almost always about the adventure that can be found on the other side. In horror films, they can be doorways that let something else into this world.
Often portals are hidden and the key to open them or the map to their whereabouts is something that is greatly sought. Or else they can simply be discovered forgotten or unnoticed amid some corner of the everyday.
Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992)
Horror Movie Pastiches
Sequel to Anthony Hickox’s Waxwork, which ups the number of horror homages but suffers a low budget
Warriors of Virtue (1997)
Fantasy Otherworld
Fantasy film set in a magical otherworld defended by martial arts wielding kangaroos
The Warriors Gate (2016)
Videogamer Transported to Ancient China
Luc Besson written/produced effort where a videogamer kid is transported to Ancient China. A blatant copy of The Forbidden Kingdom that manages to be fundamentally implausible on every level and one of the worst attempts to pander to the Chinese box-office
Warcraft (2016)
Computer Game Adaptation/Epic Fantasy
Adapted from the videogame, this is a third hand rehash of the basics of Tolkien. Secondly, it looks like a giant CGI cartoon where almost anything interesting about the world has been sidelined in favour of fantasy action
War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave (2008)
Alien Invasion
Sequel to The Asylum mockbuster version. Sequelising H.G. Wells is a daunting prospect and not too surprisingly this throws much of Wells out and creates its own film, which is undercut by a typical Asylum low budget
The Video Dead (1987)
Zombies Out of the TV Set
An entry from the classic 1980s era of the zombie film about zombies that emerge from a cursed tv set
V/H/S Viral (2014)
Anthology of Found Footage Horror Tales
Third of the V/H/S films, all horror anthologies in the Found Footage style. While the other two were fairly hit and miss, this is extremely good. Each of the four stories sits among the very best episodes among the current crop of multi-director horror anthologies
Versus (2000)
Yakuza Zombies/Splatter
The directorial debut of Ryuhei Kitamura. A film premised on the idea of mashing the John Woo-styled gangster film up with the gore-drenched George Romero zombie film.
Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
Marvel Comics Superhero
The third of the Venom films, which has become one of the worst of the modern Marvel spinoffs. By this point any pretence that the films are taking themselves seriously has been long forgotten
Vampires and Other Stereotypes (1994)
Gateway to Hell
Low-budget independently made film that manages to effectively use a singe warehouse location to suggest a gateway to Hell
Unwelcome (2022)
Faerie Creatures at the End of the Garden
Irish horror about a couple who inherit a house with faerie creatures at the end of the garden
2067 (2020)
Time Portal
Australian film in which Kodi Smit-McPhee heads through a time portal to save a polluted world resulting in a time paradox that ties back to his childhood. This had promise but badly lets down on its premise
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Stargate/Amok AI/Human Evolution/Space Mission
The greatest science-fiction film ever made? Stanley Kubrick goes against all convention – the film is slow, has no clear story and reaches an enigmatic ending and yet it is a work of brilliance, both visually and in terms of effects technology
Toad Road (2012)
Drug Taking/Journey Along Pathway to Hell
Indie film that seems a mix of A Field in England and The Picnic at Hanging Rock. The first half contains some very realistic scenes of people getting wasted on drugs but the second as characters set out along a path in the woods that leads to Hell proves frustratingly elusive
The Time Travelers (1964)
Time Travel/Post-Holocaust Future
Modest B-budget SF film with scientists opening a time portal and becoming caught up in a future war between humanity and mutants
Time Bandits (1981)
Gonzo Adventures Throughout Time
Highly enjoyable Terry Gilliam film about a young boy who joins a group of dwarves on a series of adventures though time
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
The 10th Kingdom (2000)
Fairytale Parody Mini-Series
Hallmark mini-series set in a world 200 years after the classic fairytales have occurred, this wittily deflates or contrasts classic story elements with the present-day
Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018)
Animation/Comic-Book Superhero Team
Film spinoff from the animated tv series Teen Titans Go! This hits in with an hilairous barrage of one-liners wickedly spoofing the superhero genre and jokes at DC Comics canon
Suzume (2022)
Anime/Quest to Close Portals
Beautifully made anime from Makoto Shinkai about a young girl and a three-legged chair on a quest to close a series of portals across Japan and prevent unimaginable chaos emerging
Superman (2025)
Comic-Book Superhero
James Gunn’s almost completely successful reboot of the cinematic Superman, the first film that comes with a total confidence in the comic-book source and where Gunn is not afraid to be goofy
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
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Animation/Comic-Book Superhero
The animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse proved an unexpected success. This sequel builds on that ups the artistic quality of the original to something quite extraordinary
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Videogame Adaptation/Supersonic Alien Hedgehog
After a disastrous fan reception of its initial trailer, the film of the videogame arrives on screen. The surprise is that for such a zero expectation film and one that defies the engagement of any of your braincells it is as much fun as it is.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024)
Videogame Adaptation/Supersonic Alien Hedgehog
Third of the Sonic the Hedgehog films and surprisingly far more entertaining than you expect from such a lightweight formulaic film
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022)
Videogame Adaptation/Supersonic Alien Hedgehog
Sequel to the hit videogame adaptation, this offers up fairly much the same mix of elements as before – a cutely anthrompomorphic creature and Jim Carrey going to rafter-rattling excess
Smurfs (2025)
Animation/Cute Blue-Skinned Creatures
An animated revival of The Smurfs. This was greeted with a very negative reception. With a massive celebrity voice line-up packed into almost any corner of the film the casting director can manage
The Smurfs (2011)
Cute Blue-Skinned Creatures
Live-action version of the popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon series. In its favour, it is at least slickly polished and comes with far less in the way of irritating smartass humour that one expected
The Smurfs 2 (2013)
Cute Blue-Skinned Creatures
The first film was vaguely passable but this is an agonising piece of commercial product that has reduced everything to lazy slapstick sequences, cutsie laughs and smartass lines played for the single-digit age groups
Slumberland (2022)
Adventures in Dreams
Live-action adaptation of the one of the great early comic-strips Little Nemo in Slumberland, a work that was ground-breaking for its experimental innovation
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
Short Peace (2013)
Anime Anthology
An anthology of short anime pieces from various directors, including creator Katsuhiro Otomo, the cult creator of Akira. The four episodes vary from historical to fantasy to futuristic warfare and, as with any anthology, vary in quality from the okay to the watchable
Shikoku (1999)
Japanese Ghost Story
Spookily effective Japanese ghost story about a mother’s pilgrimage around a series of shrines to raise her daughter’s spirit from the dead
Shazam! (2019)
Comic-Book Superhero
Adaptation of the superhero comic is played for comedy, making it very different in emphasis to the other films in the DCEU. The boy into man transformation is played up as essentially Big with superpowers – with appealing results
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)
Marvel Comics Martial Arts Superhero
The Marvel onslaught continues with this resurrection of a martial artist superhero character from the 1970s. Amid the mostly ho-hum MCU offerings of the 2020s, this becomes an energised action vehicle
The Sentinel (1977)
Haunted Apartment/Gateway to Hell
Michael Winner directs a film about a sinister apartment building but his typical crude and heavy-handed style fails to conjure anything remotely scary
Secret Headquarters (2022)
Kids Discover Superhero Lair
A kid makes the discovery that his father is a superhero and he and his friends amuse themselves with the cool gadgetry in his secret headquarters, before being required to defend it against a villain
Scoob! (2020)
Ghostbusting Team/Hanna-Barbera Crossover
An animated film revival of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? This also makes an misguided attempt to build a shared universe among assorted Hanna-Barbera characters
The Rizen (2017)
Labyrinth of Lovecraftian Horrors
Amnesiac persons wake up in a bunker filled with monstrosities. Sort of H.P. Lovecraft served up as a low-budget variant on Resident Evil
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie (2022)
Animation/Comic-Book Superheroes
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are resurrected in a new animated film that feels like a watered-down fix designed for Ritalin-deprived youth
R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned (2022)
Afterlife Police Force
A sequel to R.I.P.D. that tells an origin story of how the sheriff character played by Jeff Bridges in the original became an afterlife enforcement officer
Reign of the Supermen (2019)
Comic-Book Superhero/Animation
Second half of the two-part animated adaptation of The Death of Superman, which depicts the aftermath where Metropolis is puzzled over the appearance of four impostors all claiming to be the real Superman
The Refrigerator (1991)
Possessed Refrigerator
A film about a possessed refrigerator!
Pussy Cake (2021)
Girl Rock Band vs Zombies
An Argentinean film where the four members of a girl rock band are forced to deal with a zombie outbreak
Portals (2019)
Anthology/Mysterious Alien Portals Appear
Produced by Bloody Disgusting, an anthology from different directors about a series of mysterious alien portals that appear around the world
The Portable Door (2023)
Apprentice in a Magical Company
A story about an apprentice at a mysterious company that deals with magic, this could well serve as a fix for those wanting something more of the Harry Potter franchise
Poltergeist (2015)
Haunting
It has become an overused phrase in this site’s critical arsenal to say “yet another 70s/80s remake that is inferior to the original”. The 1982 Poltergeist was one of the great ghost stories of the era; this hits all the beats and with bigger effects but fails to find any of the haunted mood of the original
Poltergeist (1982)
Haunting
Debate will always rage as to whether this was directed by Tobe Hooper or executive producer Steven Spielberg. It doesn’t alter the fact that it is a superlative rollercoaster of a ghost story that doesn’t always make sense but pulls its effects off flawlessly
The Phantom Treehouse (1984)
Animation/Boy's Adventure on a Magic Island
Australian animation about a boy’s adventure on an island amid pirates, inventors and magic creatures that in its better moments suggests a collision between Peter Pan and Pufnstuf. Unfortunately, the film is made with a budget that must have been well within four figures
The Phantom Tollbooth (1970)
Journey into Absurdist Realm/Animation
Chuck Jones, the director of numerous Warner Brothers cartoons, adapts a popular children’s book that comes with a dizzying array of surreal visuals and puns
The Peanut Butter Solution (1985)
Gonzo Children's Film
Strange Canadian children’s film about a boy who goes bald and is then given a peanut butter solution that causes wild uncontrolled hair growth
Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (2015)
Haunting Found Footage Film
For supposedly the Paranormal Activity series final entry, this offer the novelty of the first Found Footage film in 3D – a gimmick that signals the series is out of fresh ideas. Moreover, the series’ look via watching security cameras has been de-emphasised in favour of another CGI driven ghost story
Parallel (2018)
Portal to a Parallel Timeline
From Isaac Ezban in his English-language debut, a cleverly and pleasingly contorted film where a group of friends discover a mirror that leads to a parallel timeline
Palm Springs (2020)
Timeloop Comedy
Variation on the Groundhog Day timeloop theme, this has two people trapped on the same day at a wedding. Of all the copies, this is a delight that has a really hilariously madcap creativity
The Other Side of the Mirror (2016)
Darker Version of Alice in Wonderland
This sets out to offer a dark take on Alice in Wonderland but leaves you scratching you head. At most the Wonderland characters take a lot of drugs, along with a haphazard mix of scenes from the book cheaply shot
Orphee (1950)
Modernised Greek Myth
Jean Cocteau’s beautiful modernisation of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice updated to post-War France
100 Million BC (2008)
Time Portal to Prehistory/The Asylum Mockbuster
An Asylum mockbuster released at the same time as Roland Emmerich’s 10,000 B.C., this involves time travel mission into the prehistoric past that accidentally brings a dinosaur back to the present
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
Neverland (2011)
SF Version of Peter Pan
Following Tin Man and Alice, another of Nick Willing’s ingenious rewritings and rationalisations of classic children’s tales in science-fiction terms. Here the essentials of Peter Pan are transported to another planet
Necromentia (2009)
Hallucinations, Fetish and Gateways to Hell
Drawing very clear influence from Clive Barker and Saw, this is a delve down into perverse fetish, gateways to Hell and bizarre hallucinations. After watching the film through twice, I still remain confused to what it was all about
The Mortuary Collection (2019)
Horror Anthology
A horror anthology with a mordant sense of humour with Clancy Brown doing a great turn as an octogenarian mortuary attendant who tells several stories of the bodies he has tended
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
Secret World of Magic Amid the Everyday
A Young Adult fantasy adaptation that fells a Harry Potter wannabe repackaged with the brooding teen romanticism of the Twilight series, all under a director whose indifferent handling fails to animate any of the material
Morlocks (2011)
Mutant Monsters/Time Portal
Not as you might assume an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine but another cheap and tatty Syfy Channel production that grafts Wells’ Morlocks onto the formula for their typical monster movie
Monster Hunter (2020)
Videogame Adaptation/Monster-Filled Other Dimension
Resident Evil series director Paul W.S. Anderson and star Milla Jovovich return with an adaptation of another popular videogame series
A Minecraft Movie (2025)
Videogame Adaptation
A live-action film based on the popular
Masters of the Universe (2026)
Intergalactic Sword-and-Sorcery
A reboot of Masters of the Universe, this fully embraces the mythology of the animated series and gives them great life. But is also a work that is constantly deflating any chance you are taking it seriously
Masters of the Universe (1987)
Intergalactic Sword-and-Sorcery
Live-action film based on the Mattel toy line and popular animated tv series. Given a Cannon Films budget, it emerges as a cheesily absurd Flash Gordon/Conan the Barbarian knockoff
The Marvels (2023)
Marvel Comics Superheroes
This ended up being the lowest rated of all MCU films. One wondered whether this was just fannish hyperbole but no what we end up with is the Batman & Robin of The MCU, the single worst film that franchise has produced
Un Mariage Sans Fin (2025)
Timeloop Comedy
Palm Springs was one of the funniest and most delightful variants on the Groundhog Day timeloop theme. This is a French language remake that relocates the story to the Moroccan desert
Magic in the Mirror: Fowl Play (1996)
Talking Ducks
Sequel to the delightfully madcap Magic in the Mirror set in a world of talking ducks
Magic in the Mirror (1996)
Alternate Dimension/Talking Ducks
One of the best children’s films from Charles Band, an utterly bizarre effort about a world through a magic mirror ruled by talking ducks
Little Monsters (1989)
Secret World of Monsters Under the Bed
A very likeable children’s film about a boy befriending the monsters under his bed. Made with a gleefully malicious anarchy and some great creature effects
The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe (1979)
Animation/Epic Fantasy Adventure/Magical Otherworld
Earlier less well known adaptation of the C.S. Lewis book made for tv. This is faithful to the book but is badly hampered by primitive animation and an exceedingly simplistic rendering of the story
Lilo & Stitch (2025)
Disney Animation in Live Action/Malevolent Alien Creature
The Disney live-action remake machine continues with this version of the hit 2002 animated film about a cuddly malevolent alien creature. As with most of the Disney remake, the original looks flat in live-action
Legion of Super-Heroes (2023)
Animation/Comic-Book Superheroes
Another of the DC Original Animated Movies. This deals with both the Legion of Super-Heroes and Supergirl, bringing them together in a mutual adventure
Last Action Hero (1993)
Adventures Inside the Movie Screen/Action Movie Parody
A big flop but highly underrated Arnold Schwarzenegger film, a sophisticated meta-fiction that views the cinema screen as another dimension and wittily deflates action cliches
Land of the Lost (2009)
TV Series Comedy Remake/Prehistoric Lost World
Big screen revival of the children’s lost world tv series that is now a loud and excruciating Will Ferrell vehicle that reduces the original into lowbrow farce. A majorly unfunny bomb on every level
Lake Fear (2014)
Cabin in the Woods Horror
A cabin in the woods horror made with an ineptitude of execution. This sets out to rip off The Evil Dead but becomes one shock effect after another that runs into an incomprehensible mass like a bad nightmare
Killer Pad (2008)
Party House with a Portal to Hell/Horror Comedy
Directorial outing from Robert Englund who makes the horror equivalent of a frat comedy where three guys rent a palatial home and throw a party as a portal to Hell opens in the basement
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 Kid Who Would Be King (2019)
Modern-Day Arthurian Legends
Joe Cornish gained much buzz with Attack the Block. His follow-up film concerns a kid who inherits Excalibur. Cornish has fun translating elements of the Arthurian legends to the present-day
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2015)
Rivalry Between Magicians
This BBC adaptation of Susanna Clarke’s book about rival 19th century magicians kicks J.K. Rowling completely out of the ring. A beautifully staged costume drama, written with a superb Austen-esque dryness of wit
Jiu Jitsu (2020)
Action Film/Alien-Human Combat
The action film has largely died off in the 2010s. This is very much a throwback with a set-up reminiscent of Predator about an action team fighting an alien in the jungle
Interstellar Wars (2016)
Alien Invasion/Alien Zombies
Directed by low-budget actress Marlene Mc’Cohen, this is both an alien invasion and a zombie apocalypse film. A film where the skill gap and budget falls well short of what is needed to make a film work
Interstellar (2014)
Space Expedition
This could be Christopher Nolan’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. But where Kubrick was cold and oblique, this is a 2001 with a heart. A pleasure to see a film rooted in credible science and dealing with high concept SF
The Infinite Worlds of H.G. Wells (2001)
Anthology of H.G. Wells Stories/TV Mini-Series
TV mini-series that adapts six less well known short stories by H.G. Wells into an anthology with Wells as the central character. A couple of good stories, some that never hit the mark
Incredible But True (2022)
Gonzo Comedy/Time Portal in the Basement
Another of Quentin Dupieux’s gonzo, surreal comedies where a married couple buy a house and find it has a portal that takes them twelve hours into the future, while making them younger
In the Name of the King 3 (2014)
Epic Fantasy Adventure
A Uwe Boll film that feels as though he didn’t cared about what he was making. You’d have to go back to the Italian sword-and-sorcery films of the 1980s to find a more shoddy work of epic fantasy
In the Name of the King: Two Worlds (2011)
Epic Fantasy Adventure
Uwe Boll strikes again! Sequel to his passable earlier epic fantasy, which is dragged down by a lack of action and the need to provide star Dolph Lundgren with a series of excrutiating witticims
Imaginary (2024)
Sinister Imaginary Companion
A largely routine Blumhouse film where a woman’s return to her childhood home ends up awakening her imaginary companion who has now turned sinister
Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Anime/Epic Fantasy
This Hayao Miyazaki film about a girl who becomes assistant to a mysterious magician is not quite in the same league as Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away but has the sublime beauty, eccentric characters and tender charms that all his work does
Howard Lovecraft and the Kingdom of Madness (2018)
Animation/Young H.P. Lovecraft's Adventures
The third of the trilogy of animated films from Arcana Studios based around the adventures of a young H.P. Lovecraft
House II: The Second Story (1987)
Haunted House/Horror Comedy
The first sequel to House, this is largely unrelated to its predecessor and plays itself with a sense of humour to emerge as the superior film. Now a skull opens doorways in the house into different eras
The Hole (2009)
Kids Open a Portal/Young Adult Horror
One of the less known films of Joe Dante. A 3D work that just predates Avatar, it is a YA horror story in the vein of The Goonies or Dante’s own Explorers crafted with care and an affection for the characters
Hellraiser (2022)
Sadomasochistic Demons
A valiant attempt to remake Clive Barker’s glistening and brilliant original that only emerges as a better made version of one of the sequels. This has a disappointing tameness that would never have inspired a series of sequels
Hellraiser (1987)
Sadomasochistic Demons
The film that put the name of Clive Barker on the map. A work of considerable imagination where Barker delves into forbidden pleasures and fuses the film with S&M imagery for the memorable creations of the Cenobites
Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
Sadomasochistic Demons
The first of the Hellraiser sequels. This lacks Clive Barker’s original dark obsessive vision but is worthwhile in its own right, expanding the scope of the story out into a magnificent vision of Hell
The Hazing (2004)
University Hazing in a Haunted House
A low-budget film about a university hazing in a haunted house that goes wrong. This overspills with genre tropes to eventually arrive at an appealing ridiculousness
H.P. Lovecraft’s Monster Portal (2022)
Lovecraftian Film
Low-budget film about a woman who inherits a British country estate to find someone has opened a portal to unleash entities. One of several low-budget films of late to appropriate Lovecraft’s name