Lewis Teague directs Rutger Hauer, Mimi Rogers and James Remar in this sci-fi prison break movie where a diamond thief in the near future finds himself shackled with an exploding collar that will detonate if he gets too far from a sexy inmate with a hidden agenda.

The kinda movie whose trailer was frontloaded onto every video I rented in 1992! Far better than it has any right to be… definitely thanks to a B-Movie cast enjoying one last romp before they are relegated to the DTV doldrums. Everyone here goes big so you can enjoy this at home. It is a tie between Stephen Tobolowsky’s slimy warden and Joan Chen’s maniacal cackling moll over who vamps it up the best. Hauer and Rogers have sexy chemistry as The Defiant Ones who are gonna get it on. He plays neatly against type as a reluctant nerd coward who throws down like a boss only when absolutely necessary. The near future setting is lightly satirical… it is easier to think of it is an alternative 1991 rather than some far reaching prophetic dystopia. With all the chuckle worthy cheese on offer it is easy to forget it should be an action thriller first and foremost. I’d have preferred at least one more set-piece that involved the perfect plot hook of the deadly synced up bomb collars getting lethally distant from each other… but this throwaway flick is clearly here for a good time not for a long time. And on that it delivers.

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/

Stephen Surjik directs Mike Myers, Dana Carvey and Tia Carrere in this comedy sequel where the public access TV superstars try to put on a music festival.

A decent middle of the road retread of what made the first one a classic. Most of the revisited gags are a little staler this time around, the stars clearly have their eyes on their next projects but Ralph Brown has a lovely part as a demented roadie. An inoffensive, quick turnaround cash-in you don’t begrudge anyone for being involved in. It would be weirder if there was only one Wayne’s World movie but dispiriting if there were three or four.

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/

John McPhail directs Ella Hunt, Sarah Swire and Paul Kaye in this Christmas set romantic comedy zombie musical where a small Scottish town is besieged by your standard infected ghouls.

A sweet undemanding movie that feels just a little too cynically calculated in the amount of popular boxes it wants to tick. Shaun of the Dead meets Glee meets your Christmas perennial release. Only not as funny or as spectacular or as well acted as any of those cribbed influences. Doesn’t really ever put a foot wrong but equally never actually gets the pulse going or catches you by surprise as it mashes-up its various obvious homages inoffensively.

4

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/

Powell and Pressburger direct John Gregson, Anthony Quayle and Peter Finch in this WII retelling of an early naval battle.

A rare misfire from The Archers, though it was one of their most financially successful releases. The true story is quite unusual so it is a shame this takes the dullest route to tell it. At least it often looks just as lush and beautiful as you’d expect.

3

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/

Jim Sharman directs Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Richard O’Brien in this camp cult sci-fi spoof musical where an unwitting couple turn up on the doorstep of a transsexual alien mad scientist.

Something for everyone or everyone for something. If you like girls there’s Susan Sarandon in her tighty whities. If you like boys then Meatloaf bursts through a wall on a motorcycle and raises hell. If you like everything then there’s Tim Curry’s delicious, iconic gender bending wickedness. Oh to be a show stealer in a show as mad as box of frogs. The numbers are toe tapping bangers, the look is pure maniac magic. So it does drag its feet with nowhere else really to go in the last reel… that’s a minor problem in a film as energetic and loveable as this. I can’t understand why it was critically reviled on release. I can completely understand why outsider audiences discovered it, interacted with it, further fetishised it and made it their own. I wish my generation had such a rites of passage.

9

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/

Charles Frend directs Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden and Denholm Elliott in this WWII naval drama following the crew of a convoy protector through the entire course of the war.

An ensemble of British talent are put through the psychological wringer as they try to survive the constant threat and spiritual damage of being out at sea during WWII. Softly acted and with as many moments of stoic tenderness as heroic bravado, this is one of the greatest war movies ever made. The set pieces are nail biting, the soapier visits home wound with their casual bruising callousness. An Ealing Studios Classic that offers no respite.

9

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/

Rose Glass directs Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle and Lily Frazer in this psychological horror where a newly converted Roman Catholic with a dark secret begins caring for a manipulative lesbian on her deathbed.

Every Autumn we get a critically acclaimed small “H” horror. These rattlers come out lauded as “the scariest movie ever” and struggle with the hype. It attracts the kids and the casuals, expecting Insidious or Friday the 13th, who are disappointed and restless by the quiet, difficult, sophisticated and unsettling drama they have accidentally bought a ticket for. The Babadook, The Witch and (the not quite as good) Mother! all struggled with expectations forced upon them by overwhelming marketing when their audience should have been prepped for slow burn and word of mouth chills. Thank Covid that Saint Maud’s screenings are only alluring to the horror hardcore. Those of us who know for every Texas Chainsaw, there is a Repulsion. Watching this in a screen of only 15 engaged cinephiles rather than 60 plus distracted mongos was a snobbish luxury. The movie itself is an achingly beautiful character study, chillingly acted by Clark and Ehle. Newcomer Morfydd puts in a powerhouse, colouring in similar lines to Anthony Perkins in Psycho or Jennifer Jason Leigh in Single White Female. The kinda tightly wound, nerdy, vulnerable killer loon who you want to take under your wing and just give a cuddle to, whose unhinged point of view you can actually see and empathise with. I do find British seaside towns alienating. I do struggle to find a way to tell normal people, friendly and /or threatening, to fuck off. Who doesn’t like spying on posh houses with the 20p cliffside telescope? Her loneliness, multiplying delusions and sexual confusion are very humanely handled. The escalating and inventively sinister self harm hits home hard… the film this most reminded me of is a little seen French horror called Dans Ma Peau. That nightmare of abuse made me need a little breather from the screening but this again seeps more into your imagination than your gut. Then a supernatural madness creeps up on you, intruding more and more into the actual frame. A quietly disturbing film that only really ramps up its true terror in the final few scenes Saint Maud is ridiculously polished and clever debut. I can’t wait to be under her dedicated but lunatic charge again soon. A few lacklustre moments aside, I’m happy to venerate this as a new British Horror Classic!

8

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/

Otto Preminger directs James Stewart, Lee Remick and Ben Gazzara in this courtroom drama where a reluctant defence attorney becomes intrigued by a case where a husband kills his wife’s rapist… possibly.

When you think about it, it is surprising how few courtroom dramas spend a significant amount of their runtime in the courtroom. Anatomy of a Murder has an preamble hour where Stewart’s folksy smartie decides whether to take the case, researches it and the law. But then we spend pretty much an extra feature length actually in front of the judge. We watch the theatrics of the judicial system and the pressures put on witness. And the ever loveable, completely trustworthy James Stewart is our handholding guide. Watching him expertly navigate the less reliable characters (all played by that new fangled method acting sort) is part of the joy. Gazzara is a little awkward in his rage fuelled defendant role but George C Scott makes an impression in an early turn as an out-of-town prosecutor. The real stand out is Lee Remick… she not only always looks fantastic despite playing a rape victim and a beaten wife but her cutesy flirt act appears to be a smokescreen for a far tougher cookie who occasionally pops out from the cover. That’s the superb thing about Anatomy of a Murder… you don’t get any flashbacks… the witnesses, victims and accused are clearly all lying about something. We never get the actual truth. Even in the final shot, a cynical coda worthy of Billy Wilder, after the verdict has been won, we aren’t really sure of anyone’s fate. It takes a long road to get there… it really feels like two movies playing in tandem… but there is plenty of racy material, fine shots, memorable moments and superb performances within. Another great jazz score too by Duke Ellington who has a cameo.

8

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/

Ant Timpson directs Elijah Wood, Stephen McHattie and Martin Donovan in this gory thriller where a mild mannered son arrives at the secluded beach house of his estranged and deranged father.

A really fun little film that constantly is shifting the stakes and threats to keep you guessing, glued and appalled. Elijah Wood is carving out a neat little niche as the go to lead in cult nasty at the moment.

6

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/

Spike Lee directs Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes and himself in this drama where a jazz musician’s inability to appreciate those around him heralds his downfall.

Spike Lee’s Raging Bull… only in vivid colour. Denzel gives one of finest performances, playing against type as a thoroughly unlikable genius. Snipes also gets to do a fair bit of acting… and you don’t see that very often after this point in his career. Spike may reach out at a lot of ideas in his follow up to Do The Right Thing (gambling addiction, systemic exploitation of black talent, fatherhood) but this is somehow his most focussed work. An excellent celebration of jazz and an engaging, satisfying character study.

8

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/