Reviewing Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Cinema
The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review is an attempt to provide an exhaustive online resource and an intelligent and well-reasoned review guide to fantastic cinema. It is hoped that the site will provide visitors with informed and well-reasoned criticism, as well as direct people toward less well-known genre material.
One of the popular Beach Party light comedies of the 1960s featuring teenagers engaged in assorted hijinks on the beach. Tommy Kirk turns up as a bumbling Martian to romance Annette Funicello
https://www.moriareviews.com/sciencefiction/pajama-party-1964.htm
One of the popular Beach Party comedies of the 1960s. Tommy Kirk turns up as a bumbling Martian to romance Annette Funicello
The second half of today's police procedurals and detective thrillers double bill.
Second up - Messiah (2001). A strong and worthwhile serial killer thriller mini-series from the BBC that draws influence from Se7en with a killer targeting victims with the names and professions of the apostles. Several sequels followed.
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/messiah-2001.htm
A strong and worthwhile serial killer thriller mini-series from the BBC with a killer targeting victims with the names and professions of the apostles
Today I am creating a double bill devoted to police procedurals or detective stories. This is normally a genre confined to the crime film or detective thriller but has a number of genre overlaps - it is where the serial killer thriller had its beginnings, for instance.
First up - Night Game (1989). A police procedural with Roy Scheider as a detective tracking a serial killer who strikes on the nights of big baseball games
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/night-game-1989.htm
The Fast and the Furious series has escalated from films about illegal street racing to essentially superhero films involving ridiculous stunt work that defies the laws of physics. I hadn't had to write about any of the other films and overlooked this when it first came out. I finally had to cover the series here because this film takes the characters into orbit
https://www.moriareviews.com/sciencefiction/fast-and-furious-9-2021.htm
The Fast and the Furious series has escalated from films about illegal street racing to stunt work that defies physics. This entry takes the characters into orbit
This ratchets up quite a reasonable degree of scary tension in taking a kitchen sink view as spiders overrun a low-income Paris apartment building
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/infested-2023.htm
This ratchets up quite a reasonable degree of scary tension in taking a kitchen sink view as spiders overrun a low-income Paris apartment building
A film where I am struggling to find any easy label for it. What it is is an hilariously ultra-violent and over-the-top parody of an action movie that will have your sides splitting.
I apologise for censored name in the title. However, in the last couple of weeks Facebook has taken to deleting my posts if I "breach community standards" and their algorithm seems to have no capacity to tell the difference between whether I am describing the title of a film or advocating the act itself and other such absurdities. Title will be restored a little later.
https://www.moriareviews.com/fantasy/boy-kills-world-2023.htm
A film that defies any easy labelling, an hilariously ultra-violent and over-the-top parody of an action movie that will have your sides splitting
The third part of the adaptation of DC Comics’ classic title Crisis on Infinite Earths featuring an epic battle to prevent the destruction of the multiverse
https://www.moriareviews.com/sciencefiction/justice-league-crisis-on-infinite-earths-part-three-2024.htm
The third part of the adaptation of DC Comics’ Crisis on Infinite Earths featuring an epic battle to prevent the destruction of the multiverse
Euro vampire film that floats around under several different titles. Andrew Prine goes to an island following the death of his father only to disturb the tomb of a vampire queen. (aka Crypt of the Living Dead)
Repost No 2. Apparently FB considers the picture of a woman standing fully clothed in a white robe to be offensive and against community standards. I've removed the picture for now and will replace it later. If anyone knows where I can complain to some human agent about this absurd censorship overkill, I would be greatly appreciative
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/hannah-queen-of-the-vampires-1973.htm
Euro vampire film that exists under several different titles. Andrew Prine goes to an island after the death of his father only to disturb the tomb of a vampire queen
Roger Corman produced film in which Brooke Adams attends a fertility specialist and starts to realise that something sinister might be happening with her pregnancy. Essentially Rosemary's Baby but with sinister genetic engineers instead of devil worshippers
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/unborn-1991.htm
Roger Corman produced film where Brooke Adams realises that something sinister might be happening with her pregnancy
This is absurd - I can't mention the name of the film because it apparently "contravenes community standards". There is no process that tells me exactly what the problem is and no process for appeal to a human agent to decide otherwise. I'll be restoring the full title later.
Zany Czech film where a scientist invents a device that can cause dream to manifest only to cause the comic-book heroine her husband is dreaming about to appear. The result is like a collision between Keystone and the 1960s Batman tv series
https://www.moriareviews.com/sciencefiction/who-wants-to-jessie-1966.htm
Who Wants to Kill Jessie? is a zany Czech film where a scientist invents a device that can cause dream to manifest only to materialize a comic-book heroine
Sequel to the 2022 remake of the 1980s horror classic, shot back-to-back with its predecessor, this is a better film than the remake was and asks some amusing questions about how the original would adapt to the social media generation
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/terror-train-2-2022.htm
Sequel to the remake of the 1980s horror classic, shot back-to-back with its predecessor, this is a better film than the remake was
Terror Train starring Jamie Lee Curtis was one of the classics of the original slasher film fad. This is a remake where the efforts to make it more inclusive and morally lecture the audience leaves you squirming
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/terror-train-2022.htm
Terror Train starring Jamie Lee Curtis was one of the classics of the original slasher film fad. This is a remake
A fourth entry in the Planet of the Apes reboot saga. The previous two entries hit incredible heights in terms of motion capture performances and showed the series at the peak of its game. The question is will this still hold up with a change of director?
https://www.moriareviews.com/sciencefiction/kingdom-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-2024.htm
A fourth entry in the Planet of the Apes reboot saga. The previous two entries hit incredible heights in terms of motion capture performances but this still holds up well
Joshua John Miller, the son of The Exorcist’s star Jason Miller, makes a film about an actor cast as the priest in a remake of The Exorcist becoming possessed. A far better homage to the original than Exorcist: Unbeliever, this comes with a witty and clever level of meta reference and autobiography
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/exorcism-2024.htm
Joshua John Miller, the son of The Exorcist’s star Jason Miller, makes a film about an actor cast as the priest in a remake of The Exorcist becoming possessed
A Backwoods Brutality film that becomes quite gore-drenched. Written by its leading man Paul Logan who casts himself as a perfect action hero wading in to kick hillbilly ass
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/horde-2016.htm
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A Backwoods Brutality film that becomes quite gore-drenched. Written by its leading man Paul Logan who casts himself as a perfect action hero wading in to kick hillbilly ass
The last of the popular Hong Kong Mr Vampire comedy series about hopping vampires. While the other sequels started to get very silly, this seems to get it all together to go out on an inspired final note
https://www.moriareviews.com/fantasy/mr-vampire-1992-1992.htm
The last of the popular Hong Kong comedy series about hopping vampires. While the other sequels became very silly, this goes out on an inspired final note
Classic British adaptation of the Alexander Pushkin’s story about a poor soldier who seeks the secret of selling one’s soul for a winning hand at cards
https://www.moriareviews.com/fantasy/queen-of-spades-1949.htm
Classic British adaptation of the Alexander Pushkin’s story about a soldier who seeks the secret of selling one’s soul for a winning hand at cards
Nicolas Roeg was one of the great directors of the 1970s, making works like Performance, Don’t Look Now and The Man Who Fell to Earth. This was one of his last films where Mark Harmon is killed in an accident but makes a mysterious resurrection
https://www.moriareviews.com/fantasy/cold-heaven-1991.htm
Becky was a modest effort with Lulu Wilson as a thirteen year-old violently fighting off home invaders. This is a cartoonish sequel that similarly has her seeking revenge against white supremacists
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/wrath-of-becky-2023.htm
Becky was a modest effort with Lulu Wilson as a thirteen year-old violently fighting off home invaders. This is a sequel with her up against white supremacists
M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter Ishana directs a film of her own. Say what you will about nepotism, it is a really good film
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/watchers-2024.htm
M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter Ishana directs a film of her own. Say what you will about nepotism, it is a really good film
An enterprising B-budget copy of Alien from prolific genre director Fred Olen Ray. This amusingly transfers the basics of Alien down to Earth and replaces the crew of the Nostromo with Charles Napier as a tough, grizzled LAPD cop puzzling over a series of bizarre deaths
https://www.moriareviews.com/sciencefiction/deep-space-1988.htm
An enterprising B-budget copy of Alien from prolific director Fred Olen Ray, this amusingly transfers the basics of Alien down to Earth
A low-budget independent vampire film with a group of vampire hunters trying to bring down the master vampire, the local Catholic priest
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/bullets-fangs-and-dinner-at-8-2015.htm
An historical horror where Boris Karloff plays an evil despot of a European province who masquerades as his good twin brother when in danger of being deposed
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/black-room-1935.htm
A film about children hiding in big old house of secrets following the death of their mother. A film filled with all manner of fascinating secrets and wild twist revelations
https://www.moriareviews.com/fantasy/marrowbone-2017.htm
Film about children hiding in big old house following the death of their mother, one filled with all manner of fascinating secrets and twist revelations
An adaptation of an R.L. Stine book. This resembles Messiah of Evil turned into a work of safe anodyne horror about zombies trapped inside a film overrunning a town
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/zombie-town-2023.htm
45 years on, George Miller returns to make a fifth entry in his Mad Max saga, a prequel to Fury Road. It is an exhilarating action piece and run through his unique post-apocalyptic junkyard world
https://www.moriareviews.com/sciencefiction/furiosa-a-mad-max-saga-2024.htm
45 years on, George Miller returns with a fifth entry in his Mad Max saga, an exhilarating action piece that is a prequel to Fury Road
The twelfth film from Hayao Miyzaki at age 82, a quasi-autobiographical world where a boy is taken on a venture into a strange fantasy otherworld by a tricksterish talking heron
https://www.moriareviews.com/fantasy/boy-and-the-heron-2023.htm
Today's double-bill is devoted to epic fantasy and sword and sorcery films.
Second on the bill - Barbarian Queen (1985). One of a fad for low-budget sword-and-sorcery films that came out in the 1980s. This predates both Red Sonja and Xena with its depiction of a fierce warrior woman. Produced by Roger Corman.
https://www.moriareviews.com/fantasy/barbarian-queen-1985.htm
This was one of the low-budget sword-and-sorcery films of the 1980s and predates both Red Sonja and Xena with its depiction of a fierce warrior woman
Today I am devoting a double-bill to a genre that floats under assorted different names - Epic Fantasy, Heroic Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery. It is that which takes place in a secondary world and encompasses everything from J.R.R. Tolkien to Conan the Barbarian.
First up - Dragon Knight (2022). This is quite a decent low-budget Scottish-made epic fantasy film that does imaginative things on modest resources
https://www.moriareviews.com/fantasy/dragon-knight-2022.htm
Quite a decent low-budget epic fantasy film that does imaginatively on modest resources
Quite a twisted little film about a big overweight psycho who abducts girls and makes them enact a fantasy of being a cheerleader. Produced by one of the directors of The Blair Witch Project
https://www.moriareviews.com/horror/otis-2008.htm
Film about a big overweight psycho who abducts girls and makes them enact a fantasy of being a cheerleader. From one of the directors of The Blair Witch Project
http://www.moria.co.nz/, http://www.moriareviews.com/
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