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Dan Owen presents
THE 100 GREATEST UNDERDOG MOVIESP a r t 4 o f 4
Here we are. Now it gets serious. The twenty-five Greatest Underdog Movies, as compiled byyours truly. Feel free to protest, but these are (I think) some of the most unfairly ignoredor reviled films yet committed to celluloid.
The final countdown curtain beckons: 24 1!
24. TEEN WOLF (1985)Dir: Rod Daniel. Stars: Michael J. Fox
Scott is a teenager on a struggling basketball team, desperately seeking the attention of agirl who’s out of his league. However, Scott’s luck changes when he transforms into a werewolfone night and suddenly finds himself the town’s big shot…
Somewhat forgotten about after Back To The Future hit big in the same year for Michael J. Fox,Teen Wolf has much to recommend it being an engaging comedy with a totally crazy scenariothat somehow manages to work. Yes, the werewolf make-up is more simian than canine, but thatonly adds to the weird joy of things. Again, Michael J. Fox proved he had more screen charismaevery ’80s star put together and the werewolf transformation sequence is an unsung classic ofits ilk. It certainly used to frighten me!
Watch it for: The red eyes scene in the liquor store!
23. HOWARD THE DUCK (1986)Dir: Willard Huyck. Stars: Lea Thompson, Tim Robbins & Jeffrey Jones
A scientific experiment unknowingly drags an extraterrestrial duck to the Earth through a laserbeam. As the alien, known as Howard, settles into life on Earth amongst “hairless apes”, a muchmore sinister creature also appears…
Yes! I can see you all groaning now, but believe me Howard The Duck is a classic! More vitriolhas been thrown at this mid-’80s turkey than most other movies on this list, but there’s some goodamongst the bad here, trust me! The bizarre premise is so half-baked you just have to run with it,while the infamous “bestiality” sex scene (well, almost) between Thompson and Howard is cult cinemabad-taste at its greatest!
However, what I most enjoy about Howard The Duck is the sublime Jeffrey Jones as The Dark Overlord.He’s one of the funniest screen bad guys ever seen! Just check out the entire diner scene it’scrammed with ludicrously funny one-liners. In addition, the final confrontation between Howard andthe fully-realized Overlord is genuinely thrilling and a great piece of work from a pre-CGI IndustrialLight & Magic. Admit it, you all love this movie. I can see you all air-guitaring to the music at the end!
Watch it for: The entire diner scene
22. LAST ACTION HERO (1993)Dir: John McTiernan. Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger & Charles Dance
Danny Madigan is a big fan of Jack Slater, an action movie actor played by Arnold Schwarzenegger.One night, Danny uses a magic ticket in a cinema and finds himself transported into the movie worldof his hero. Once inside, Danny and Jack Slater try to stop the film’s villain, Benedict, fromentering the real world…
The wind was severely knocked out of Arnie’s sails by Last Action Hero’s summer turkey status.Post-Terminator 2, this was a crushing blow for the Austrian Oak, and some might say his careernever really recovered afterwards.
But, Last Action Hero is nowhere near as bad as you might think. The premise is fantastic, just notas well executed as it should have been. There are plenty of mistakes with the film, but the ideaof ridiculing a genre from within is something Last Action Hero actually pioneered.
These days, audiences would be able to grasp Last Action Hero’s premise much easier and thefilmmakers would know exactly how to handle the subject matter. In 1993, they didn’t, and themovie was ham-fisted where it should have been witty. But the general sense of fun prevails,and Charles Dance makes a great pantomime villain: “In this world, the bad guys can win!”
Watch it for: The T-1000 cameo!
21. WILLOW (1988)Dir: Ron Howard. Stars: Val Kilmer & Joanne Whalley Kilmer
A prisoner in the castle of the evil Queen Bavmorda gives birth to a child that is prophesizedto end the tyrannical Queen’s reign. The baby is smuggled away and adopted by a dwarf namedWillow, who is charged with returning the baby and fulfilling prophecy…
Another LucasFilm misstep (see also Howard The Duck) that seemed to cement George Lucas’ reputationas being a curse to any film without Star Wars in the title. Willow is actually a rather good fantasyadventure with some great action sequences and a lot of imagination. Yeah, these days it reeks of ’80sfantasy adventure utilizing dwarves, shrinking actors against blue-screen, dressing up dogs in fursas wild creatures, but it’s even more charming for it. Moreover, the sequence where an army aretransformed into squealing pigs is very unsettling and quite an alarming sight for a children’s film!
Watch it for: The pigs! The pigs! The horror!
20. EXPLORERS (1985)Dir: Joe Dante. Stars: River Phoenix & Ethan Hawke
Ben Crandall is obsessed with aliens and one-day dreams of a circuit board, which he constructs,with the help of his friends Wolfgang and Darren. The trio find they have been given the schematicfor a spaceship, and begin a mission into the cosmos…
Explorers is one of those great movies for children that really spoke to their sense of adventure.The young cast are excellent, although only Hawke became an adult star, and we all know whathappened to Phoenix. Dante directs this kid’s B-movie with great aplomb, but the second half ofthe film (when the kids reach space) is a big disappointment – featuring TV-obsessed aliens!For this reason, Explorers is only really half the film it should have been, but you can’tresist the first half’s spectacle of three friends building their own make-shift spaceship.Irresistible childhood adventure.
Watch it for: The first half…
19. SPACEBALLS (1987)Dir: Mel Brooks. Stars: Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman, John Candy & Daphne Zuniga
Planet Spaceball’s President Scroob sends the evil Lord Dark Helmet to steal Planet Druidia’sabundant supply of fresh air to replenish their own, and only a rogue trucker called Lone Starr can stop them…
Mel Brooks based his career on intelligent spoof movies most notable Blazing Saddles andYoung Frankenstein. In the 80’s, he somewhat-belatedly spoofed the sci-fi genre in Spaceballs,which was a huge flop. However, nearly 20 years later, and the spoof genre is in a dire state(see the Scary Movie franchise) so Spaceballs doesn’t seem half so bad! Maybe even Robin HoodMen In Tights will have its day…? Hmm, maybe not.
The cast are all on good form and there are some genuinely funny gags along the way, includingJohn Hurt reprising his Alien chest-bursting sequence, the infamous command for “Ludicrous Speed!”and a witty reinterpretation of Planet Of The Apes’ finale. Yes, there are some clunkers, too,but at least it doesn’t just rely on full-on parody and toilet humour like its contemporarybrethren. A funny few hours “May The Schwarzz Be With You!”
Watch it for: The tap-dancing Alien chestburster!
18. TIMESCAPE (1992)Dir: David Twohy. Stars: Jeff Daniels
Widower Ben Wilson and his daughter, Hillary, are visited by a woman seeking immediate lodgingfor her strange group of travellers. But why they won’t stay at the hotel in town…?
To say more would ruin the surprise but let’s just say that the “time” in Timescape plays animportant role. This is an early piece of cerebral sci-fi from David Twohy, who continued thevein with The Arrival and Pitch Black, before getting a megabucks budget for The Chronicles Of Riddick.
Timescape has a great story and really builds up speed once the true nature of the visitors isrevealed, and is adeptly handled by all the actors particularly Daniels. A decent sci-fi yarnfor fans of the genre, and a one that missed a lot of people the first time around.
Watch it for: The story
17. THE BURBS (1989)Dir: Joe Dante. Stars: Tom Hanks & Carrie Fisher
A stressed suburbanite and his paramilitary neighbour struggle to prove their paranoid theorythat the new family in town are part of a cannibalistic cult…
The ‘Burbs is a riotous comedy that, these days, looks rather tame, but is still deserving ofa certain screwball status. There’s just something wonderfully involving about these quaintAmerican suburban neighbourhoods (that Dante specialises in!) and the cast all raise thesomewhat flimsy material to a higher level. Eventually, the pay-off is actually worth thesteady build-up, and there are some delicious dark moments along the way…
Watch it for: The tension
16. MILLENNIUM (1989)Dir: Michael Anderson. Stars: Kris Kristoffersen
An investigator seeking the cause of an airline disaster discovers the involvement oftime-travellers from a future Earth who seek to rejuvenate the human race from thoseabout to die in the past…
No, not the Chris Carter TV show, but an intelligent sci-fi thriller based on the novelby John Varley. The real star of the film is the premise because it’s just so damnedfeasible (if you believe in time-travel, of course) and Millennium is worth watching justto see the eerie “departure” of the “soon to be departed” on doomed airliners. An effectivelittle sci-f mystery that warrants attention.
Watch it for: The original premise
15. GROSSE POINTE BLANK (1997)Dir: George Armitage. Stars: John Cusack, Minnie Driver & Dan Aykroyd
Martin Blank is a freelance hitman who starts to develop a conscience, particularly whenhe decides to attend a school reunion at his hometown of Grosse Pointe, where he’s followed byover-enthusiastic FBI agents, a rival assassin, and an assassin who wants him to join an “Assassin’s Union”…
Not your typical romantic comedy, then! Just as John Cusack began to get his career “second wind”after teen icon status in the 80’s, he stars in a movie that mixes 90’s Tarantino-esque coolwith a classic 80’s soundtrack.
Cusack drips with coolness, Minnie Driver is a fun presence, and Akyroyd even manages tosubvert his comedy background to play a killer. Grosse Point Blank is a dark comedy with a lotof heart, but adds violently staged shootouts to keep the men happy. A gun-fight in a conveniencestore is a particular highlight. The perfect date movie, then…
Watch it for: The soundtrack
14. LABYRINTH (1986)Dir: Jim Henson. Stars: Jennifer Connelly & David Bowie
Young Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) is left home alone by her parents to baby-sit her baby brotherToby. But later that night, Sarah accidentally taunts goblins to steal Toby which they do.Now, Sarah must enter the Labyrinth to steal back her brother from the Goblin King (David Bowie)before Toby becomes a goblin at midnight…
Jim Hensons last hurrah before his death, and a fitting final work, despite the stuffy attitudeto Labyrinth when it first appeared. The movie has lots of imagination (it was co-written byan uncredited Terry Jones of Monty Python fame), a “coming of age” morality at its heart,and the usual Muppet madness ensure entertainment will be had by kids, and it’s genuinely weirdat times. It also helps that Bowie is on good form and Jennifer Connelly makes an engaging heroine.
Watch it for: David Bowie
13. ALIEN 3 (1992)Dir: David Fincher. Stars: Sigourney Weaver & Charles Dance
The escape pod carrying Ripley crashes onto a prison planet inhabited by murderer and rapists. Facinga frosty welcome from the inmates, Ripley is shocked to discover that her crash-landing wasdue to an alien stowaway…
Alien 3’s only real crime was to be different. Ridley Scott’s original Alien was a sci-fi horror,James Cameron’s sequel was a sci-fi war movie, and so Alien 3’s prison drama scenario (minusweaponry) meant a backlash was in place by fans expecting more rollercoaster thrills and scares.
Notoriously, newcomer Fincher, who would later become a pioneering director thanks to Seven andFight Club, was fighting an interfering studio and the demands of Sigourney Weaver, so it’slittle wonder Alien 3 had “problems”. That said, the problems aren’t quite as serious as youmay remember. The sequel is actually suitably grim, blessed with decent actors and should becommended for its failure to comply to expectation. Plus, it has a simply fabulous finale thatneatly capped a fine trilogy until even Alien 3’s greatest achievement was nullified by thebrain-sapping Alien Resurrection…
Watch it for: The brilliant opening credits and closing scene
12. THE DEVILS BACKBONE (2001)Dir: Guillermo Del Toro. Stars: Fernando Tielve & Marisa Paredes
It’s 1939 and the Spanish civil war is ending – with General Franco’s Nationalists are poised todefeat the Republican forces. A young boy, Carlos, the son of a fallen Republican war hero, isleft by his tutor in a remote orphanage run by a considerate headmistress and a kindly professor.However, Carlos becomes increasingly aware that his orphanage has a supernatural power…
Del Toro’s Spanish-speaking movie was never going to be a major hit with audiences even inthe days when Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, became a foreign language hit across the world.However, it’s still a notable achievement and a good ghost story for fans of the genre tocherish. The cinematography is excellent and the atmosphere suitably chilling. Amongst Mimic,Blade II and Hellboy, this is a welcome change of pace for the talented, yet often overlooked, director.
Watch it for: The cinematography
11. A SIMPLE PLAN (1999)Dir: Sam Raimi. Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Bill Paxton & Bridget Fonda
Two brothers, one a mild-mannered hardware store manager (Paxton), the other an unemployed slob(Thornton), and a friend, stumble onto $4.4 million cash in stolen money. But their newfound fortunebrings nothing but trouble after the trio decide to keep the cash a secret…
Raimi sidesteps his Evil Dead horror roots and goes for something more reality-based, in thisinvolving what if? drama. Of course, he’d achieve the worldwide fame he’s been struggling forwith the Spider-Man franchise a few years later, but A Simple Plan shows Raimi can direct peoplewithout chainsaws and spandex suits. The cast are impressive, the plot suitably quirky and layered.All in all, a well-made film cruelly snubbed.
Watch it for: The story
10. LIFEFORCE (1985)Dir: Tobe Hooper. Stars: Steve Railsback, Frank Finlay & Patrick Stewart
A space shuttle mission investigating Halley’s Comet brings back a malevolent race of vampires,who transform most of London’s population into zombies. The only survivor of the mission andBritish authorities attempt to capture the mysterious, and beautiful, originator of the outbreak…
This sci-fi hokum from the director of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is often the subject of pubdiscussion with nobody ever remembering the title, but with key sequences firmly engrained onthe mind. Lifeforce is a fast-paced pulp adventure with a silly premise (the film’s even knownas Space Vampires!) but it’s amazing how many people clamour to rediscover this movie!
The old-school effects are great and the whole movie is treated with a strange seriousness thatreminds you of the good Hammer horror movies of the 70’s. The acting is variable, butgenerally quite strong thanks to some Brit thespians, and there’s always a genuinely creepy,bloodthirsty or nude sequence around most corners. Plus, of course, it’s just nice to seeBritain take centre stage for a change as zombies fill Londons streets. Fabulous sci-FUN horror!
Watch it for: The energy
9. BREAKDOWN (1997)Dir: Jonathon Mostow. Stars: Kurt Russell & J.T Walsh
Jeff and Amy Taylor are moving to California and drive across the country to their new life,only to find themselves stranded in the middle of a desert. A friendly trucker takes Amy toa nearby town to call for help, but when Jeff arrives in town soon after, he is shocked to findnobody has seen or heard from his wife and so a desperate search his wife begins
A nightmare scenario, excellent presented by director Jonathon Mostow, and brilliantly acted byKurt Russell and the great J.T Walsh. Its a problem everyone can identity with and the deceitand general paranoia are tangible to audiences. This kick-started Mostows Hollywood career hesince went on to helm Terminator 3 but is a movie many people have heard or, but never seen.At best, people tend to remember the fittingly what if? trailer. Well, time to sit down andenjoy the sun-drenched nightmare itself
Watch it for: The story
8. THE FRIGHTENERS (1996)Dir: Peter Jackson. Stars: Michael J. Fox, Trina Alvarado & Jeffrey Combs
Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) is a small town psychic who genuinely has the ability tosee ghosts, two of whom he has befriended and uses to scare up business. However, things take adramatic turn for the worst when a malign spirit known as The Soul Collector turns up in town…
Before The Lord Of The Rings trilogy made him a household name, Peter Jackson made a cult namefor himself in the ’80s as a purveyor of blood-drenched zombie movies (Bad Taste, Braindead,et al). In 1994, he won a screenwriting Oscar for Heavenly Creatures, so it was curious tosome that he used his newfound industry respect to direct The Frighteners a big-budget comedy horror.
The Frighteners died at the box-office (it was released over the U.S. Super Bowl weekend), but foundsome fans after its video release. Michael J. Fox is excellent as the (quite literally)haunted Frank, while the supporting cast all give suitably quirky support particularly adementedly entertaining Jeffrey Combs as FBI Agent Dammers.
What’s most exciting about The Frighteners is how it feels like an independent film yet has avisual effects budget to rival Hollywood. In fact, Robert Zemeckis was instrumental in givingJackson carte blanche to craft the movie (originally conceived as a Tales From The Crypt spin-off!)
The Frighteners starts as a spooky comedy, but evolves into a sinister horror with a fewcensor-baiting sequences. It’s a wonderful rollercoaster ride that has more wit and imagination ondisplay than most other movies of the time, well directed by Jackson (who obviously found theFX so enjoyable he made Lord Of The Rings straight after) and with an unpredictable storyline.
Watch it for: The marvellous special effects
7. FALLING DOWN (1993)Dir: Joel Schumacher. Stars: Michael Douglas & Robert Duvall
William (D-FENS) wants to get home to see his daughter on her birthday. Unfortunately, nothingseems to be going right for him. Hes stuck in a traffic jam on a sweltering hot day, so hesnaps and walks across the city dispensing his own unique brand of consumer payback whilea cop about to take retirement hunts to track him down
Michael Douglas, given the right movie, can be an awesome presence onscreen. Falling Down is atimely satire on consumerism and his D-FENS characters is basically the everyman finally havingthe guts to speak his mind and take action against lifes annoyances.
The film takes great delight in its set piece moments where D-FENS calmly (and sometimes notso calmly) makes his feelings known be it on a private golf course, to an overcharging storeowner or with a teenaged gang. The great joy with Falling Down it sitting back and watchingsomeone say, and do, what you only wish you could. But in real life you cant, so the moviesare the only escape.
Joel Schumacher would later take a big nosedive when he agreed to helm the Batman franchise,and is only now getting back on-track, while Douglas career generally sunk just as badly(briefly saved by David Fincher in 1997s The Game). Falling Down marks a high-point inboth their careers, and one never justly recognized by audiences. Time to put that right
Watch it for: Michael Douglas
6. CANDYMAN (1992)Dir: Bernard Rose. Stars: Virginia Madsen & Tony Todd
Helen Lyle is a student who decides to write a thesis about local legends and myths. She visitsa decrepit part of town, where she learns about the legend of the Candyman; a one-armed figurewho appears to slaughter you if you say his name five times, in front of a mirror
Ever heard of Bernard Rose? Thought not. This is a shame, because he crafted one of thegreat horror movies with Candyman, based on a short story by author Clive Barker. As anyone whohas seen it will testify, Candyman is a superb horror with an unsettling premise (I genuinelyknow people who daren’t say you-know-what five times in a mirror!), a mature plot that doesn’tpander to gore (as the sequels sadly did) and it’s brilliantly acted by Madsen.
It’s bizarre how Rose vanished, and Madsen followed him. Even Tony Todd somehow never escapedhis Candyman role finding employment in genre TV (Star Trek), the enjoyably bad sequels,and similarly monosyllabic roles (Final Destination).
Rewatching Candyman is a wonderful experience, because you see just how clever, originaland downright scary it still is. This should feature in everyones best horror movies of the1990s. If it doesn’t, you obviously haven’t seen it. Rectify that now.
Watch it for: … when The Candyman cometh…
5. THE IRON GIANT (1999)Dir: Brad Bird. Stars: (voices) Vin Diesel, Harry Connick, Jr. & Jennifer Aniston
“Iron Giant” is based upon the 1968 story, ‘Iron Man,’ by the British poet laureate Ted Hughes. Thefilm is about a giant metal machine that drops from the sky and frightens a small town in Maine in1958, only to find a friend named, Hogarth, that ultimately finds its humanity and saving the towns peopleof their fears and prejudices.
Before Pixar really began to cement their reputations as the “next big thing” in animation withtheir CGI-prowess, The Iron Giant sought to meld the two disciplines with 2D “old fashioned” spectaclewith 3D “new school” wizardry. It didnt quite work, but The Iron Giant was never about breakingtechnical barriers it was about story and characters.
The Iron Giant is quite simply one of the greatest animated movies ever. That it became alost classic just makes it appeal more. Forget McDonald’s tie-ins and merchandising juggernauts(even Pixar is guilty of that!), this is pure non-cynical animation from ex-Simpsons alumni Brad Bird.
The story is ’50s sci-fi paranoia, mixed with an E.T-style friendship between an enormous robot(with a terrible secret) and a small town boy called Hogarth. It’s sometimes a little too maudlinfor its own good, particularly early on, but quickly develops a groove and becomes an exciting androusing spectacle with a huge emotional punch. Never really shed a tear at a movie recently? Bythe time the credits roll, you will have. For all its brilliance, I have to admit that TheIron Giant (while a credit to its genre) would have been a much bigger success if it werelive-action and not animated. Maybe one day it’ll get a 101 Dalmations-style re-birth and thesuccess it so clearly deserved…
Watch it for: The emotional climax
4. IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (1995)Dir: John Carpenter. Stars: Sam Neill, Julie Carmen & Jürgen Prochnow
Hack horror writer Sutter Cane has vanished supposedly taken by the evil entities hisstories describe. Insurance investigator John Trent is sent to investigate Cane’s disappearanceand finds himself in the sleepy town of Hobbs End a place from one of Canes own books
Its time for a brain-twister and, for John Carpenter, probably his last decent movie beforerecycling his own ideas with Escape To L.A and Ghosts From Mars (which was basically AssaultOn Precinct 13 in space!). Sam Neill cuts loose from his goody-goody Jurassic Park persona totry something darker, and Carpenters insanely enjoyable ticket to brain-scratching land is agreat ride. There are lots of amusingly weird scenarios and the plot always manages to twistlike a snake, occasionally stopping to give you a truly freaky sequence: check out the kidon the bicycle! Another underrated chiller.
Watch it for: Kid. Bicycle. Night. ‘Nuff Said.
3. STRANGE DAYS (1995)Dir: Kathryn Bigelow. Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett & Juliette Lewis
Set in the year 1999 during the last days of the old millennium, the movie tells the storyof Lenny Nero, an ex-cop who now deals with data-discs containing recorded memories and emotions.One day he receives a disc that contains the memories of a murderer killing a prostitute.Lenny investigates and is pulled deeper and deeper in a whirl of blackmail, murder and rape.Will he survive and solve the case?
Directed by Bigelow, from a script by James Cameron himself, this has Camerons stamp all overit, but lacked enough crowd-pleasing punch to tempt the bearded one himself to the directors chair.However, it stands true as a rather intelligent and well-made sci-fi thriller with some memorablesequences and a clutch of good acting from Fiennes, Bassett and Lewis.
Its also rather strange to be reminded that this movie was amongst only a handful that actually usedthe millennium as an effective storytelling tool. Released in 1995, this film dated itself quickly,but its a faintly believable scenario presented well and with some intelligent plotting.
Watch it for: The POV shots
2. POWDER (1995)Dir: Victor Salva. Stars: Sean Patrick Flanery, Jeff Goldblum & Lance Henriksen
Sheriff Barnum investigates the death of an elderly rural resident, and discovers an albinoteenager hiding in a basement. Raised by his grandparents, who feared hed never be acceptedin the world, he has experienced the world only through books. The boy, known as Powder,struggles to fit in to his boys school particularly when the pupils realize his extraordinarysupernatural powers
An extraordinarily good movie, perfectly balanced between teen drama and X-Files mystery. SeanPatrick Flanery (Young Indiana Jones himself) is wonderful as the tormented boy, in a storythat drags some beautiful turns from everyone particularly Lance Henriksen in a heartbreakingdeath scene. Powder is an intelligent story, neatly directed, and contains some unforgettablescenes of abuse, emotion, and supernatural power. It wisely keeps on the right side of reality,focusing on the dramatic relationships between the characters, rather than emphasise its sci-fi leanings.
A powerful and moving piece of movie-making that was snubbed the world over, but finds convertsevery day whenever its shown. And all this from director Victor Salva, who would seemingly abandonthe style completely for the wildly uneven Jeepers Creepers movies
Watch it for: The story
1. REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000)Dir: Darren Aronofsky. Stars: Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly & Marlon Wayans
Sara Goldfarb is a TV-obsessed old widow who discovers shes due to star on a popular gameshow.Meanwhile, her slacker son Harry, and his beautiful girlfriend, Marion, both find their livestaking a turn for the worse in downward spiral of drug-taking and violence
Not for the faint-hearted, Requiem For A Dream is powerful stuff. Darren Aronofsky is agenius who manages to make the screen drip with tension and horror in a tangible way not seensince the late Stanley Kubricks Full Metal Jacket and The Shining.
The basic set-up seems simple enough, while the overall plot is the old-chestnut of drugs arebad, but Aronofsky weaves it all together with startling cinematography, impressive sound designand amazing camera tricks, to present a nightmarish world that just gets worse and worse culminating in a truly terrible conclusion that should leave you sitting on your sofa dumb-struckas the credits roll. See this movie. See it with surround sound, on a big screen, late at night,preferably alone and realise the power of cinema.
Requiem For A Dream was a tough sell when it was released in 2000 and, despite some great reviews,it died at the box-office. But make no mistake about it, this is perhaps one of the best moviesof the decade already and Aronofskys talent will hopefully shine in big-budget sci-fi adventureThe Fountain with Hugh Jackman, right after he successfully translates Alan Moores Watchmen.Hes the man for the job, and anyone doubting him should seek out Requiem For A Dream immediately.Required viewing particularly in schools as an anti-drugs campaigner! Fantastic.
Watch it for: The amputation… or the fridge… or the vein… or… oh, just watch it!
So, there you have it! The winner revealed! Feel free to complain, but I think the best man won.Requiem For A Dream is one of the most powerful films ever made, yet mention it to anyone and youget a blank look. Ludicrous!
Thanks for logging on to watch the countdown tick away. I hope you enjoyed chewing on the GUMthese past few days, and my thanks to Dom for hosting this little anniversary special for DMDand agreeing to the weird concept of celebrating the uncelebrated of the movie world.
I sincerely hope some of you will reconsider your feelings towards bad films in the future (evenif 85% of them are deservedly slated!), and make an effort to seek out the wonderful films thatdont ever reach cinemas or do, but dont find an audience. Bizarrely, in the weeks it has takento compile this list, quite a few of the movies features appeared on late-night terrestrial TV(Deep Rising, Dragnet, The 13th Warrior, etc), so you know where to keep an eye out.
Keep tuned to DVDfever.co.uk for Dans Movie Digest Issue 101
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3.
4.
5.
6.
John Carpenter
Wes Craven
Joe Dante
Victor Salva
John McTiernan
David Twohy
In The Mouth Of Madness, Memoirs Of An Invisible Man, Big Trouble In Little China, They Live!
The People Under The Stairs, New Nightmare, Vampire In Brooklyn
The ‘Burbs, Explorers, Gremlins 2
Powder, Jeepers Creepers
Last Action Hero, The 13th Warrior
Timescape, The Arrival
Email Dan Owen
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.