Wild at Heart (1990): ***

Lula (Laura Dern) is completely in love with her boyfriend Sailor (Nicolas Cage). Lula’s mother Marietta (Diane Ladd) wants Sailor dead after he turned down her advances. The first hit she put out on him failed as Sailor killed the would-be hitman, landing him in jail for two years. After Sailor served his sentence, Lula and Sailor decide to run away from Lula’s controlling mother to California. Distressed and fearing that Sailor knows too much about her past, Marietta asks her boyfriend Johnnie (Harry Dean Stanton) to track the pair down and her past lover Marcellus Santos (J.E. Freeman) to arrange Sailor’s death. During their getaway, Lula and Sailor encounter many strange figures during their drive down the dusty, yellow highway. 

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The Breakfast Club (1985): ***

One Saturday, five students have to attend their local high school for an all-day detention. The state champion wrestler Andrew (Emilio Estevez), the prim and proper Claire (Molly Ringwald), the delinquent John (Judd Nelson), the geek Brian (Anthony Michael Hall) and the weirdo Allison (Ally Sheedy) are confined in the school’s library at the behest of Mr Vernon (Paul Gleason). John antagonises the others, causes arguments and flouts the rules directly in front of Mr Vernon when he comes in to check on them. As the hours pass, they begin to talk and get to know each other, sharing secrets and discovering they have similar problems. 

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Jupiter Ascending (2015): ***

Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) is an illegal alien from Russia. She works in Chicago as a cleaner along with the female members of her family. When Jupiter heads to a clinic to exchange her ovum for money, she is attacked by aliens before being rescued by Caine Wise (Channing Tatum), half-man half-dog soldier. Caine has been set by Titus (Douglas Booth), brother to Balem (Eddie Redmayne) and Kalique (Tuppence Middleton). They are part of a powerful alien dynasty, The House of Abrasax, and are squabbling over who gets to own Earth. Jupiter is revealed to be the reincarnation of the late mother of the Abrasax siblings, thus entitled to own Earth for her own. Jupiter must survive the numerous attempts on her life, with the help of Caine, as she tries to claim her inheritance.  

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The Dark Crystal (1982): ***

A thousand years ago the Dark Crystal fractured, creating two races: the benevolent Mystics and the evil Skeksis. The Skeksis guard the Dark Crystal jealously in the castle, drawing energy from its beams, whilst the Mystics live peacefully in the dry, rocky land far from the castle. A young Gelfling named Jen (voiced by Stephen Garlick), the last of his kind after the Skeksis destroyed his race, has been raised by his Mystic master. As the Mystic master lies dying, Jen is told he is part of a prophecy to find the crystal shard to save the world, if he fails the Skeksis will rule the world forever. Jen heads across the strange landscapes with its weird flora and fauna. Meanwhile the Skeksis send out their warriors, the Garthim, to kill him and to stop the prophecy. 

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Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012): ***

Politician by day, vampire slayer by night, Abraham Lincoln pulls in some long hours in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the film begins with a young Abraham stopping a slaver from beating his friend William. The plantation owner Jack Barts (Marton Csokas) punishes the Lincolns by attacking Abraham’s mother Nancy (Robin McLeavy), killing her and setting Abraham on a course of vengeance. Nine years later and after an unsuccessful attack on Barts, who is revealed to be a vampire, Abraham (Benjamin Walker) is taken under Henry Sturges’s (Dominic Cooper) tutorage. Henry teaches him how to kill vampires and about the master vampire Adam (Rufus Sewell) who owns a plantation in New Orleans, supplying the Southern vampires with the blood of slaves. Abraham must avenge his mother and win the Civil War to stop the vampires from taking over the United States.

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The Hills Have Eyes (1977): ***

The Carters are heading to L.A. in their cross-state journey, pulling up at Fred’s (John Steadman) gas station for fuel before they continue through the desert. Bob (Russ Grieve), Edith (Virginia Vincent) and their children Brenda (Susan Lanier), Bobby (Robert Houston) and Lynne (Dee Wallace) and the two dogs Beauty and Beast making up this American nuclear family, with Lynne’s husband Doug (Martin Speer) and their baby daughter Katie tagging along. It is Bob and Edith’s silver anniversary and they want to explore a silver mine they were bequeathed. Fred tries to dissuade them from going off the main road, as this particular stretch of desert is a military test site. At least that is the reason he gives them. However, Bob ignores Fred’s advice as he suspects Fred is trying to keep the silver for himself, heading off the main road and crashing the car. As night falls and the Carter family camp up, they soon encounter another nuclear family, of the more irradiated and cannibalistic sort, in the desert. 

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London Road (2015): ***

London Road tends to raise some eyebrows when it is described; it’s a musical about the Ipswich murders. However, the focus is squarely on how this event affected the residents on London Road, where serial killer Steve Wright lived briefly whilst he committed his murderous acts. As the police and journalist flurry towards their street, the residents struggle to process what is going on and find themselves trapped on their road. After Wright’s arrest, the residents start to reach out to each other to connect and build a stronger community amongst themselves. 

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Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome (1985): ***

We return once again to Max (Mel Gibson) in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, at least a decade since the events of Mad Max: The Road Warrior. The world has officially gone to hell, it is hinted that a nuclear bomb was the cause of this apocalyptic wasteland. After his camel-drawn wagon is stolen, Max heads to Bartertown to try to retrieve it. However, with no possessions to barter with Max offers a day of his life to trade, catching the attention of Bartertown’s leader Aunty Entity (Tina Turner). Aunty offers Max his vehicle and supplies, if he completes a task for her. However, Max finds he cannot go through with the deal and is exiled to the desert, where he stumbles across a green oasis populated by kids.

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Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981): ***

In George Miller’s sequel Mad Max 2, we continue our journey with Max (Mel Gibson) who is haunted by the death of his family, with only his greying dog for company. Max is being pursued by mohawked biker Wez (Vernon Wells) and his lackeys, members of Lord Humongus’s (Kjell Nilsson) gang on the hunt for motors and gasoline. After giving them the slip, Max encounters a Gyro pilot (Bruce Spence) who informs Max of the whereabouts of a large oil refinery compound, the residents of it currently under-siege by the Humongus gang. Originally intending to get hold of some gas, Max soon finds himself caught in the conflict. 

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Mad Max (1979): ***

The ‘terminal psycho’ Nightrider (Vincent Gil) is on the run in Australia, after breaking out of jail and killing a novice cop. His escape is short-lived, however, when Main Patrol Force officer Max (Mel Gibson) causes Nightrider to crash and die. In the face of endless bureaucracy and mad drivers, Max fears that he will become a terminal psycho and considers quitting the MPF, to spend more time with his wife Jessie (Joanne Samuel) and his kid. However Nightrider’s death has put Max and his partner Goose (Steve Bisley) squarely into his biker gang’s sights, with their leader Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) vowing to get revenge for Nightrider.

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Splice (2009): ***

Genetic engineers Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) have successfully created a pair of worm-like hybrid creatures, Fred and Ginger, capable of producing a protein for medicinal use. Clive and Elsa want to proceed to the next stage, to create a human hybrid creature to cure diseases such as Alzheimer’s and cancer. However, the N.E.R.D company are only focused on making a profit, ordering Elsa and Clive to focus on extracting the protein on a commercial level. Unwilling to abandon their scientific progress, Elsa and Clive decide to go ahead and create their human hybrid in secret. After a nightmarish birth sequence in a womb-like tank, Clive and Elsa have successful created a girl – with a little bit of every animal thrown in – named Dren (Delphine Chanéac). But success comes with a new set of problems, as Dren grows up rapidly with Elsa and Clive unaware of her true capabilities. 

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Grosse Pointe Blank (1997): ***

Martin Blank (John Cusack) is having a mid-career crisis. Killing shady men isn’t as satisfying as it used to be and his rival Mr Grocer (Dan Aykroyd) is hassling him to join his newly formed assassins’ guild. After Martin botches a client’s contracted job he heads back to his old home town Grosse Pointe, to make amends for his client by assassinating another target. At the recommendation of his assistant Marcella (Joan Cusack) and his therapist/hostage Dr Oatman (Alan Arkin), Martin decides to attend his high school’s ten year reunion and give the ‘don’t kill anyone’ thing a try. When Martin arrives at Grosse Pointe, he makes contact with local radio host Debi (Minnie Driver), who’s still mad about being stood up at the prom by Martin ten years after the fact. Can Martin rekindle the old flames between them, whilst also dodging several assassination attempts on his life? 

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Heart of Glass (1976): ***

A lone man named Hias (Josef Bierbichler) stares out into the raging foamy water of a waterfall and declares the end of the world is coming. It definitely feels true for the townspeople, who are set adrift by the death of the town’s master glassmaker. With the secret of how to make the town’s famed ruby glass taken to the grave, the owner of the glass factory is driven mad in his efforts to recover the lost secrets. Hias tries in vain to help some of the locals, warning them of the future he has seen and the approaching destruction of their town. 

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The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923): ***

Based on Victor Hugo’s novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is set in a troubled Paris under the harsh reign of Louis IX, with all the drama converging near the Notre Dame de Paris. Quasimodo (Lon Chaney) is the hunchbacked bell-ringer of Notre Dame, under the Arch Deacon Claude Frollo (Nigel De Brulier) and serving his brother Jehan (Brandon Hurst). Quasimodo is misanthropic due to being shunned and reviled by the local Parisians, but Quasimodo begins to change after being treated kindly by the young Gypsy girl Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller), daughter of Clopin (Ernst Torrence) the leader of the Parisian criminals. Esmeralda has also caught the eye of Captain Phoebus (Norman Kerry), who is charmed by her dancing. However, Jehan lusts after Esmeralda also and plans various ways to get Esmeralda for himself.   

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Cosmopolis (2012): ***

Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson) is a billionaire Wall Street asset manager, on a journey in his stretch limousine across town for a haircut. His bodyguard Torval (Kevin Durand) accompanies him, worried about a potential threat to his client by an assassin. Despite the gridlock traffic caused by a Presidential visit, a celebrity’s funeral and an anti-capitalist protest, Eric is determined to go to his barber even it means travelling inches across the city. Eric receives numerous characters into his limo, occasionally stepping out of his limo to have lunch with his recently wed wife Elise (Sarah Gadon). As Eric’s world starts to close in on him, will he find the answers he’s seeking? Will he get his haircut?

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I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK (2006): ***

Young-goon (Im Soo-jung) believes she is a cyborg; she refuses to eat food and licks batteries instead to charge up. After she tries to charge up by attaching wires into her slit wrist and plugging herself into an outlet, Young-goon’s mother (Lee Yong-nyeo) has her committed at a mental hospital. At the institute, Young-goon happily chats to the fluorescent lights and the coffee machine during the day, before dutifully listening to the voice from her radio, who orders her to kill the hospital staff. Young-goon attracts the attention of Il-soon (Rain), an anti-social kleptomaniac who believes he can steal his fellow patients’ characteristics, who decides to try and support her whilst she’s at the hospital. 

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Blade II (2002): ***

After the events of Blade, Blade (Wesley Snipes) has set up his base in Prague to hunt vampires and retrieve his mentor Whistler (Kris Kristofferson). It is good timing as Blade, Whistler and Blade’s new technogeek Scud (Norman Reedus) are asked for help by vampire Overlord Eli Damaskinos (Thomas Kretschmann). There is a new strain of vampire on the loose called Reapers, feeding on humans and vampires alike, stronger than the common vampire. Blade goes on a mission to eliminate the Reapers, aided by Damaskinos’s daughter Nyssa (Leonor Varela) and the Bloodpack, a group of lethal vampires originally trained to kill Blade. Blade must watch his back whilst hunting down the Reapers and their creator Jared Nomak (Luke Goss). 

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An American Werewolf in London (1981): ***

David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) are two Americans starting their European trip in Yorkshire, England. After an uncomfortable encounter in a village pub, David and Jack mistakenly wander onto the moors during a full moon. They are attacked by a werewolf, which mauls Jack to death and injuries David. David is taken to a hospital all the way back to London - presumably because An American Werewolf in York doesn’t quite have the same ring to it - where he is plagued by nightmares. In a reoccurring vision, Jack warns David that he will turn into a werewolf during the next full moon. 

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ParaNorman (2012): ***

Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is estranged from his classmates, apart from fellow social outcast Neil (Tucker Albrizzi), and is constantly bullied by Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) because of his ability to see and speak to the dead. Norman’s dad (Jeff Garlin) is frustrated, Mum (Leslie Mann) is concerned and his older sister (Anna Kendrick) is irritated by Norman’s protests that he actually can communicate with the deceased. When a witch’s ancient curse brings zombies to the town of Blithe Hollow, Norman must use his ability to save his hometown.

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Killing Them Softly (2012): ***

Killing Them Softly opens with Frankie (Scoot McNairy) walking out a tunnel into the dusty lot, with litter swirling in the air. Crashing into this scene, along with the credits, are excerpts of a speech by Barack Obama given in the lead up to the 2008 Presidential Election. These snippets of political broadcasts and audio are a constant presence in Killing Them Softly, as we follow blundering criminals Frankie and Russell (Ben Mendelsohn) who rob a mob-backed poker game. The Mafia brings in hit-man Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt), and later Cogan’s associate Mickey (James Gandolfini), to take out those involved in the robbery. 

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