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The Dark Tower (2017)

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A major frustration with many Stephen King adaptations is that, due to copyright or other issues, the interconnectiveness of the stories never shines through.  Even a story like Hearts in Atlantis , which was integral in introducing Ted Brautigan, a character that would figure heavily in the last few Dark Tower  books, got adapted in a way to where it left the important parts out and concentrated on the coming-of-age story.  After ignoring all the connections for so long I was surprised to find out that an adaptation of The Dark Tower series was a thing. Then came the bad news.  The movie is only 95 minutes, hardly the time needed to encapsulate eight books' worth of material, even if it skipped some of the parts that felt more like wheel-spinning on King's part or the awful decision of including himself as a character in the last couple tomes.  It also did what too many movies do these days and race swapped Roland Deschain, who in the books is obviously modeled...
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The Super Infra-Man

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Shaw Brothers, one of the most famous movie studios in Hong Kong, was known for their grand martial arts epics and period dramas.  However, they occasionally branched off into stranger realms.  Influenced by Ultraman and many other Japanese films director Shan Hua and writer Kuang Ni came up with a kitschy, hilarious and often fun sci-fi film of their own. When a series of disasters begin to strike the world Professor Liu Ying-Te (Hsieh Wang) uses his advance scientific laboratory to investigate.  It doesn't take long before the source of the problems reveals itself: the Glacier Queen (Terry Liu), Demon Princess Elizebub, has gathered a number of creatures from the ice age to wreak havoc upon human civilization in an effort to reclaim the surface world.  In order to combat this threat Professor Liu recruits one of his best agents, Lei Ma (Danny Lee), to undergo an experimental procedure.  The result is that, when needed, Lei Ma turns into Super Infra-Man, a cybo...
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Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)

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A major problem with many of the Godzilla films from any era is, though the series may begin strong, it quickly devolves into trying to walk a fine line of presenting a cool monster story while still keeping it family friendly.  The modern-day versions have worked best when the stories went into darker territory and allowed the terror that permeated the original Godzilla to come through.   Surprisingly the Millenium Era of Godzilla understood this.  There was no grand plan except for a few of the movies made to have multiple chapters.  Instead, each entry presented Godzilla in a different manner, and both Godzilla 2000: Millennium and Godzilla vs. Megaguirus  were partially successful.  The issue was often that Toho didn't give the directors and special effects crews decent budgets, thus resulting in some impressive miniature work but often horrible CGI.  Because of that the feeling of watching an epic monster movie didn't surface until Godzilla...
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Send Help (2026)

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Sam Raimi, except for the premiere episode of Ash vs. Evil Dead , had backed away from directing after the disastrous flop  Oz the Great and Powerful .  It was the best decision at the time as that movie had little of what made Raimi great, either as a classic horror director or as the director of one of the best superhero films of all time.  It was a tired piece of work-for-hire Hollywood pablum that would cause anyone to question their career choices. Despite his reluctance to get behind the camera again he was talked into directing a Marvel film, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness .  Despite being a latter-day Marvel production it was a solid fantasy flick and was recognizably a Sam Raimi film despite all its flaws.  Although it had a mixed reception it got him interested in directing again and, lo and behold, we got Send Help in early 2026.  Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) is the hardworking head of the strategy and planning department of her com...
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The Strange World of Coffin Joe (1968)

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They were not the first movies that actor and director José Mojica Marins made, but they were the first horror films in Brazil.  Because of that Zé do Caixão, or Coffin Joe as he is known to English speakers, became a nationwide phenomena.   At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul and This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse became hits despite their low budget and the public was hungry for more.  Unfortunately there was a wait of over 40 years for a true sequel, but that didn't keep Coffin Joe from popping up here and there. In this case it's the first movie after the two in the series.  The Strange World of Coffin Joe is an anthology film, directed by Marins and featuring him in the last segment, with a voiceover at the beginning.  The two previous films owed a lot to British and Italian horror of the time, and during the late 1960s many of the major European studios were releasing anthologies.  With the military junta looking the other way as long as film...
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Cell (2016)

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Although many Stephen King books dwell on cosmic terrors and monsters that are often quite human, there have been a number of his books that dwelt on more traditional horror material.  He got vampires and werewolves out of his way early in his career, and there have been plenty of ghosts, but it wasn't until 2006 that he decided to enter the realm of zombies, despite being friends and often a collaborator with George A. Romero.  When it came time to do zombies King decided not to go with the traditional but instead added a healthy dose of technological fear.  For Cell  he pulled from movies such as 28 Days Later and added a hefty dose of Richard Matheson's  I Am Legend on top of it.  What he created still had many of the apocalyptic tropes that surround these stories, but it was something purely him.  It was also relatively short and pulpy.  It was one of the late-career novels that pulled King out of the mire of overlong epics he had been churnin...
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Batman: The Movie (1966)

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Long before there were superhero universes there were comic books.  Detective Comics featured a tragic figure in the form of Batman, a rich playboy turned vigilante after witnessing the death of his parents.  It was dark and brooding with a host of unforgettable villains that Batman was constantly keeping from destroying Gotham City or, in some cases, the world.  So, when it finally came time to bring him to the small screen, the writers decided to go all-in on the comic aspect.   It worked, at least for the first couple of seasons before budgets were cut and actors started rotating out of their roles.  It made Adam West and Burt Ward instant superstars for a time, although it pretty much typecast them as the Dynamic Duo for the rest of their lives.  The Batmobile became an iconic vehicle.  The sets were perfect for newfangled color televisions, full of bright colors, while the fights were enhanced by comic sound effect balloons.  It was corn...
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