Frank Marshall directs Paul Walker, Bruce Greenwood and Moon Bloodgood in this Disney adventure where a team of huskies are abandoned to fend for themselves through an Antarctic winter.

A solid kid’s adventure movie that imbues the dogs with definable personalities and does not sugarcoat the peril or human culpability. If you’ve come just for cute dogs in a triumphant story of survival you might need to brace yourself. Genuinely thrilling at times, though do watch out for the terrifying Leopard Seal’s close-up!

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/

Tony Richardson directs Albert Finney, Susannah York and George Devine in this period adaptation of Henry Fielding’s riches to rags romp.

An unlikely and now unloved Best Picture Winner, this is a lot of bawdy fun. Playing like a lighter, more madcap Barry Lyndon, I really enjoyed it. Showcasing fine support from York, George Devine and in particular Joan Greenwood. There is some dated animal cruelty that holds it back.

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/

Werner Herzog directs The Dalai Lama, Lama Lhundup Woeser and Takna Jigme Sangpo in this documentary witnessing the Buddhist ceremonies and pilgrimages at Bodh Gaya, India.

The camera gets right in the mix here and captures some immersive footage. Herzog’s deadpan and doom laden narration adds an unintentional humour to the proceedings. Hearing the disembodied voice of the sinister and ominous crackpot auteur interview the living embodiment of wisdom and serenity has its pleasures.

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/

Rob Zombie directs Scout Taylor-Compton, Malcolm McDowell and Tyler Mane in this slasher horror remake that re-explores the backstory and psychology of Michael Myers.

About as good as modern day reboots get, Zombie takes everything that works about Carpenter’s revered original and puts his own extreme, sleazy and unsettling stamp on it. Is it as expertly composed as its canonical source? No. Does it deliver an unrelenting, heart stopping alternative take? A lot of the time… yes. Not for faint hearts (or haters of helium voiced scream queens), this is a very nasty, decent budgeted piece of genre fanfic from a unique cinematic visionary.

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/

Jim Sotos directs Bo Hopkins, Dana Kimmell and Aleisa Shirley in this slasher horror where the mysterious new hottie in a small town keeps ending up meeting boys just before they are murdered.

No great shakes as a horror but the murder mystery aspect is as well developed as a Columbo or a Murder She Wrote. I enjoyed Dana Kimmell as the over enthusiastic final girl. The Sheriff’s sleuthing daughter who has graduated from Nancy Drew to Agatha Christie is a neat protagonist in a town heaving with suspects. We guessed the killer the moment they appeared but that didn’t dampen the low level pleasures this has to offer.

5

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/

Luc Besson directs Jean-Marc Barr, Rosanna Arquette and Jean Reno in this existential sports drama where two deep sea divers compete to see who can stay under the under ocean deepest and longest without oxygen.

The first two hours of this epic are a seductive blend of once in a lifetime visuals and competitive yearning. Only James Cameron seems to share Besson’s obsession with aquatic exploration, macho extremes and love at first sight romance. Reno completely energises the narrative as the rival diver / best friend. Quirky, consumed and chaotic his strutting peacock is less antagonist and more confidant. Yet at three hours this does strain the patience… magical realism and shrill emotion can’t be sustained for that bum numbing length. Jean-Marc Barr is too blank a hero to care for, and his creepy dolphin obsession borders on taboo. Arquette is as alluring as ever as the outsider let into this tribal subset but by the last hour is reduced to a screeching nag. Messy but still way too spectacular to overlook.

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/

Robert Stevenson directs Hayley Mills, Dean Jones and Roddy McDowall in the Disney live action caper where the FBI think a mischievous cat might know the location of two bank robbers and a hostage.

How! Can! This! Be! Two! Whole! Hours! Long!

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/

Rob Reiner directs Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal and Carrie Fisher in this romantic comedy that asks ‘Can men and women be friends or does sex always get in the way?’

Magical cinema. Crystal and Ryan bounce wonderfully off and into each other as two odd jigsaw puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together. Nora Ephron’s script is the Holy Grail of wit, maturity and insight. Reiner and cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld make Manhattan look like the most romantic place on Earth… and do you know what? Thanks to this unimpeachable classic, eternal rewatchable, it is!

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/

Ida Lupino directs Joan Fontaine, herself and Edmond O’Brien in this drama where a salesman finds himself leading a double life when he marries the lonely woman he falls for when his first wife becomes obsessed with work.

Framed and told like mystery noir, yet all the characters are given complexity, sympathy and humanity. O’Brien is a bit of a back on his heel lug in this. It is hard to see what either of his wonderful secret wives see in him. Nice feminist message about the limited opportunities afforded to women in work and relationships even when we witness both are far more capable sellers than the shared man of their houses. Great stuff.

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/

Curtis Hanson directs James Spader, Rob Lowe and Lisa Zane in this erotic thriller where a yuppie falls in with a seductive conman who destroys his life.

More Highsmith than Hitchcock. Spader and Lowe… no wonder my wife ordered in this blast from the past. The sexual tension is palpable between our tanned leads though they never go the full Ripley and pink sword fight. Much to Natalie’s chagrin. Humping their frustrations into a series of glamorous surrogate ladies instead. The mystery aspects are better and creepier than I remember from when I rented this as a teen. It has matured well, especially Lowe’s against type reptilian bully. He build a pretty tight trap around Spader’s willing sap.

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/