the thin man (1934)

After four years away former detective Nick Charles returns to New York with his wife Nora and dog, Asta. Whilst there he's approached by Dorothy Wynant whose father is missing and accused of murder. Nick doesn't want the case but is dragged into it by wife Nora, who thinks it will be an interesting adventure.
A wonderful cast and script, with even the dog delivering on all levels. They very rarely made them like that even in them days!

airplane (1980)

aka Flying High! Kentucky Fried Airplane.
Whilst looking for inspiration for their next comedy the team saw Zero Hour! and a light bulb moment occurred. They bought the film rights and thus was born the spoof to end all spoofs.
Chock full of humour on every level, that rewards repeat viewing as there is always something you missed the first time.

return of the living dead (1985)

"Send more paramedics."

A couple of employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally open a barrel filled with toxic gas and a body. They rapidly become sick, whilst the leaked gas seems to reanimate the dead. Their boss hatches a plan to cremate the bodies and get rid of the evidence, but all this does is spread the gas to a nearby cemetery. Unfortunately some punks are having a party there and the living dead quickly start hunting down their favorite food, brains. These zombies are quick and can think, one even uses an ambulance radio to ask that they 'send more paramedics'. A great example of a zombie horror comedy.

dark star (1974)

Dark Star is a space ship on a mission to destroy any unstable planets in the universe. A job the crew have undertaken for over 20 years, and are by now thoroughly bored of. But one day Bomb #20 sustains damage in an asteroid storm and threatens to detonate while still in the ship's bomb bay. The crew attempt to talk the bomb out of this course of action, trying to teach the bomb the rudiments of phenomenology.
A wonderfully comic Sci-fi that started out as a student project.

a chinese ghost story (1987)

aka Sien nui yau wan
Ning Tsai-Shen, is a scholar making a living collecting taxes. Then one night he's forced to sleep in a haunted temple. There, he meets Taoist Swordsman Yan, and a young woman, who he falls in love with. Unfortunately, she's a ghost, and promised by a hideous tree spirit in marriage to another demon.
A true one off that blends martial arts, comedy and horror into a roller coaster of a film, producing one of the very best of Hong Kong cinema.

flesh for frankenstein (1973)

aka Andy Warhol's Frankenstein. Andy Warhol's Young Frankenstein. Carne per Frankenstein. De la chair pour Frankenstein. Frankenstein. Il Mostro è in tavola barone Frankenstein. The Devil and Dr. Frankenstein. The Frankenstein Experiment. Up Frankenstein.
Udo Kier is the Baron dreaming of creating a Serbian super-race piece by piece! He has already created the perfect woman, now all he needs to do is create the perfect man, and get them to procreate.
Morrissey tries to push the boundaries with his study into humour, class and gore. The Baron's sex scene with his female creations innards, is wonderfully over the top, and produces one of the finest lines of dialogue you will ever hear in a film. A fine example of campy schlock horror, that was originally shot in 3-D.

the horror of frankenstein (1970)

Ralph Bates is Victor Frankenstein, a descendant of the infamous, Baron Von Frankenstein, who follows in the Barons footsteps creating his own monster.
Instead of straight up Gothic horror, hammer decided to re-work the genre creating a more comic drama, with tongue firmly in it's cheek. Some don't take to the comedy elements, but I rather like this twist to the tale, and some of the characters such as Dennis Price's graverobber, add an extra dimension to the film.

profondo rosso (1975)

aka Deep Read. The Hatchet Murders. Dripping Deep Red. The Deep Red Hatchet Murders. La Tigre dai denti a sciabola.
"Look, maybe you've seen something so important you don't realise it."
David Hemmings is an English pianist living in Rome, who gets involved in solving the murder of a psychic. His task is complicated by being hounded by a quirky journalist, Gianna (Daria Nicolodi), and in trying to puzzle out who the murderer is, they both get drawn deeper and deeper into the warped mind of a serial killer.
One of Argento's best. With all elements coming together to make an intriguing story: from a fantastic soundtrack, that drives it along, interesting set piece murders and great characters.

the vampires' night orgy (1974)

Grave Desires. L'Orgia notturna dei vampiri. Orgy of the Vampires. La Orgía nocturna de los vampiros.
A bus load of tourists divert to an unknown village when their driver dies at the wheel. The village seems deserted as they settle down for the night, but soon the inhabitants make themselves known, and the mysterious countess sets about satisfying the villagers and guests appetites for good food. Then her source of meat becomes obvious when one guest notices a finger on her plate!
An interesting film, though not essential viewing. It features some great and varied library music.

baby love (1968)

A kitchen sink drama version of Lolita. Following the suicide of her mother Luci is taken in by her mothers old school friend, who is now a well to do doctor. But all is not what it seems in the nice middle class household and Luci, obviously suffering trauma from her mother's death, soon sets about unwittingly destroying the fragile domestic bliss. Preying on the various sexual mores of each of the family, the son's voyeurism and sexual insecurity, the mother's lesbian tendencies, and the father's subsequent sexual frustration and jealousy.
Whilst the melodrama plays out quiet slowly, the film does give some fascinating glimpses into the swinging London of the period. A promising film that doesn't quite fulfil it's potential, but worth a look if you come across it.

monster from a prehistoric planet (1967)

aka Daikyojû Gappa. Gappa the Triphibian. Monsters. Gappa, the Triphibian Monster. The Giant Beast Gappa. The Triphibian Monster.
A childlike version of UK monster flick Gorgo, where an expedition to a tropical island find the natives worshiping the beast Gappa. An earthquake reveals a baby reptile, and the exhibition leaders decide to take it back to Japan, with tragic consequences to the negro section of downtown Tokyo!
Not the greatest Japanese monster movie and some speculate that this is deliberatly bad and is in fact a spoof of the Kaiju genre, but I think it's a Japanese monster movie not Shakespeare! If you like wanton distruction by men in rubber suits and Japanese actors blacked up as South Pacific natives, then this is the film for you.