David Cronenberg directs James Woods, Sonja Smits and Debbie Harry in this sci-fi horror where a TV executive becomes obsessed with an illegal porn show of torture, paranoia and mutation.

An actual nightmare. There very little blatant logic in how the story unfolds but you are sucked down its fetid plughole anyway. The body horror and tech fetish FX are unnerving (for 1982). Woods and Harry give warm blooded performances as the voyeurs turned addicts – their flesh and personalities reprogrammed by their dark desires. Not family viewing.

8

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Robert Zemeckis directs Michael J Fox, Christopher Lloyd and Lea Thompson in this seminal teen time travel smash where an Eighties kid finds himself trapped in his parents’ youthful era.

This movie has been part of my life as far back as I can remember. Was the first time I watched it a video rental? Must have been. This ambitious blend of teen comedy, sci-fi, adventure and SFX is seamless. Glued solid by wonderful light comedy acting from Fox, Thompson and Thomas F. Wilson and wilder variations by Lloyd and Crispin Glover. The soundtrack thumps, the jokes are timeless and the set-pieces relentless. Movie magic. Doesn’t take one misstep, but risks a load of brave ones. I can’t remember the first time I watched BTTF but I wonder when was the first time I realised that very few movies were of this quality and invention?

10

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui direct Alexander McQueen, Isabella Blow and Janet McQueen in this documentary on the revolutionary working class fashion designer’s life.

I’m not sure we get much more than a rags to riches to extravagance understanding of the man himself. He admirably refuses to allow his patrons and wealthy hangers on to take credit for his graft and genius. And I like that aspect of him. The highlights of the doc are glimpses at his ominous, spectacular fashion shows, an era appropriate mixture of Britpop art and Event Horizon horror.

7

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Pedro Almodóvar directs Javier Cámara, Darío Grandinetti and Leonor Watling in this Spanish arthouse hit about men in love with coma victims.

One of Pedro’s more shocking and ambiguous productions. It also has a grace and restraint that made it easier for me to digest. Confrontational subject matter and blurred lines don’t really phase me in fiction, arthouse cinema should rarely conform or comfort, but this explores its dark and unusual passions with an accessible mastery.

7

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Enzo G. Castellari directs Bo Svenson, Fred Williamson and Ian Bannen in this Spaghetti WWII movie where a bunch of deserters take on a mission to topple the Nazi V2 project.

The Dirty Dozen but cheaper, funner and dirtier. Surprisingly action packed – the stunt work and model work emboss all the squibs and leftover war vehicles. It is strange watching an Italian production where the Allied are the (anti-) heroes but this is a great little afternoon killer.

6

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Sam Raimi directs Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton and Bridget Fonda in this wintery thriller where two brothers find a bag full of money only for murder and mistrust to seep into their relationship.

Bill Paxton made a great unofficial trilogy of rural noirs. One False Move, this and Frailty. A Simple Plan is his best though. A sombre Fargo peer with unexpected punctuations of Raimi brand horror to spice up the snow and betrayals. What really marks this out is that the acting and writing is Oscar worthy. You wouldn’t find a thriller this emotionally complex and insidiously cynical getting a multiplex release these days. I remember seeing it at the derelict Hammersmith Virgin and was utterly enthralled. It was an instant purchase when released on VHS. When I upgraded to DVD this, for no particular reason, never got replaced. So it has been a good 18 years since my last watch. It has matured nicely. Maybe not quite as breathtaking as that initial maiden watch but still a genre film of unique humanity.

8

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Tony Maylam and Ian Sharp direct Rutger Hauer, Kim Cattrall and Alastair Duncan in this sci-fi thriller where a near future cop hunts a monstrous serial killer through a flooded London.

Awful script. Bargain basement production design. Slumming it stars. Senseless violence. Should be the greatest film ever? Right?! You get boobies, big guns, decent creature design and a 2000AD vision of a damp and rat infested England… and yet somehow even the ever reliable Rutger Hauer fails to make anything commendable out of this throwaway piece of shit. Avoid.

2

Michel Gondry directs Michael Brodie, Teresa Lynn and Laidychen Carrasco in this teen movie following the last bus journey home of a bunch of Brooklyn school kids before summer holidays start.

Nobody wants to be stuck on a inner city bus journey full of hyped up kids. Yet Gondry takes his ragtag gang of amateurs and crafts a pretty energetic lo-fi Dazed and Confused. The inner city vibes feels accurate, the youths believable in their awful behaviour. As the seats start to open up and we are left with last few stragglers before the end of the line a sweetness and self-awareness replaces the noise and nastiness. Surprisingly satisfying.

7

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Wolfgang Petersen directs George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and John C Reilly in the true life disaster movie where a fishing trawler finds itself battling impossible waves.

An old fashioned ‘Dad’ blockbuster. Right up my alley as a youth, even more so now. The first half of this is really quite wonderful. We follow the economics, pressures and lives of a trawler of fishermen. There’s conflicts, adventure and a pretty thorough procedural of how they fish the distant seas. Clooney tries out some new crayons in his A-List colouring kit. He aims for a Bogart / Mitchum gruff and romantic manliness and hits a lovely feel. He gives a gently rousing speech just before we set out on the doomed expedition. The rest of the cast is soup to nuts quality. The movie’s problems set in once the weather front hits. A lot of the action is CGI boats and CGI waves. We don’t really know what the Andrea Gail went back through in 1991 but what the movie suggests (and how it portrays that) ain’t half as engaging as just watching a community go about one last dangerous trip out on the ocean to end the season in profit.

7

Check out my wife Natalie’s Point Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/

Gore Verbinski directs Johnny Depp, Kiera Knightley and Geoffrey Rush in this blockbuster sequels where the pirates squabble over control of the seas.

Way too dark for kids. Not that this is a concern for me. An annoying action light two hours gives way to a chaotic sea battle with only two ships of the opposing fleets taking part. Depp feels a little played out. Lost in a mad void, we have the larky moment of seeing multiple Jacks crew a wreck. But then that joke is revisited way too many times, the well is plumbed dry and the FX cheating to achieve a flock of Sparrows becomes very obvious. It leaves other players to steal the show. Rush’s resurrected Barbossa becomes the unpredictable, gleeful one. Kiera Knightley graduates into a star… she certainly dominates your attention and wins your affection here in a way she hadn’t figured out how to a couple of movies back. The uniqueness of the franchise was it was vehicle for Depp that he took for a joyride anyway. Watching other actors hotwire his show is disappointing. Still… looks wonderful.

5

Check out my wife Natalie’s Horror blog https://cornsyrup.co.uk

We also do a podcast together called The Worst Movies We Own. It is available on Spotify or here https://letterboxd.com/bobbycarroll/list/the-worst-movies-we-own-podcast-ranking-and/