Some Thing Has Found Us

Starring: Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T. J. Miller, Anjul Nigam, Margot Farley

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"Approximately seven hours ago, uh, some thing attacked the city. I don't know what it is. Um, if you found this tape, I mean if you're watching this, then you probably know more about it than I do. Uh, whatever this thing is, it killed my brother..." - Robert Hawkins

Why watch this? Its "found footage" presentation style adds a fresh take on a stale genre.

Plot Summary:  The story follows a group of friends as they attempt to survive an unexpected giant monster attack on New York City. At first, there is confusion, then the situation quickly changes. The destruction is devastating. Even the monster's "fleas" prove deadly to the fleeing humans. The film is presented as a tape discovered by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Bad Robot; Paramount Pictures

Fight Evil With Evil

Starring: Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Keith David, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Claudia Black, Rhiana Griffith

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"All you people are so scared of me. Most days I'd take that as a compliment. But it ain't me you gotta worry about now." - Riddick

Why watch this? This is one hell of a sci-fi film. Strong female characters, flying creatures and introducing the smoldering Vin Deisel.

Plot Summary: A space transport ship carrying crew and passengers, including a dangerous criminal, crashes on a desolate planet where it is perpetually day due to three orbiting suns. The crash kills most of the passengers, leaving a small group of survivors, including the pilot, the criminal, a bounty hunter, a holy man, and a young girl. They discover that the planet's seemingly lifeless exterior hides a terrifying secret: a deadly species of creatures that emerge to hunt in the darkness of the infrequent total eclipse.

Gramercy Pictures, Interscope Comm.;
USA Films

The power of an immortal. The soul of a human. The heart of a hero.

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N'Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Udo Kier, Arly Jover, Traci Lords, Kevin Patrick Walls, Tim Guinee, Sanaa Lathan, Eric Edwards

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"You better wake up. The world you live in is just a sugar-coated topping! There is another world beneath it: the real world. And if you wanna survive it, you better learn to PULL THE TRIGGER!" – Blade, to Karen

Why watch this? OK, there's a black vampire super-hero. It's Wesley Snipes. Sign me up!

Plot Summary: Blade, the man, is a unique being, possessing vampire qualities (super strength, invincibility), but none of their weaknesses (sunlight, silver, garlic), except his need to consumer human blood. This makes him incredibly adept at hunting and killing real vampires. He crashes a rave club in Los Angeles owned by the blood-sucker Deacon Frost. Blade literally mops the floor with dead vampires, but one manages to bite hematologist Karen Jenson. Blade takes her to his hideout, where his friend and ally Whistler, does all he can to keep Karen from turning into one of the undead. Meanwhile, vampire leadership decides that their race's survival depends on obtaining Blade's hybrid blood, followed by his immediate death.

Marvel Ent., Amen Ra Films, Imaginary
Forces; New Line Cinema

There's only one movie scarier than the 'Evil Dead'...

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Sarah Berry, Dan Hicks, Kassie Wesley, Denise Bixler, Richard Domeier, John Peaks, Lou Hancock, Ted Raimi, Williams Preston Robertson (voice)

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"Then let's head on down into that cellar and carve ourselves a witch." – Ash

Why watch this? Outrageous. Terrifying. Bloody. Hilarious.

Plot Summary: Lone survivor Ash Williams returns to a remote cabin in the woods, where he unwittingly unleashes flesh-possessing demons after playing a recorded incantation from an ancient book. As the demonic forces terrorize him and a new group of arrivals, Ash is forced into a frantic, chaotic battle for survival that pushes him to the brink of insanity. Armed with a chainsaw and a shotgun, he must fight through the night to survive the demonic onslaught and escape the cabin's terrifying grasp.

Renaissance Pictures; Rosebud Releasing Corp.

Inner City vs. Outer Space

Starring: John Boyega, Jodie Whittaker, Alex Esmail, Leeon Jones, Franz Drameh, Simon Howard, Maggie McCarthy, Danielle Vitalis, Nick Frost, Michael Ajao, Natasha Jonas, Gina Antwi

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"What kind of alien, out of all the places in the whole wide world, would invade some shitty council estate in south London?" - Dimples

Why watch this? It's one of the best low-budget alien invasion films in years.

Plot Summary: A South London gang and the nurse they just mugged must reluctantly team up to survive when their council estate is invaded by hostile extraterrestrials. What starts as a simple robbery is interrupted by an object falling from the sky, forcing the group to face an intergalactic threat with improvised weapons. Throughout the night, they defend their turf against predatory, fanged creatures as they learn to put aside their differences for the sake of survival.

StudioCanal, Film4, UK Film Council,
Big Talk Pictures; Optimum Releasing

Horror in the Streets

Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox, Daniella Kertesz, David Morse, Peter Capaldi, Fana Mokoena, Peter Capaldi

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"The clue's there. Sometimes the thing you thought was the most brutal aspect of the virus, turns out to be the chink in its armor. And she loves disguising her weaknesses as strengths. She's a bitch." - Andrew Fassbach

Why watch this? These zombies swarm like huge locusts; it's really horrifying to watch.

Plot Summary: A rapidly spreading global pandemic turns the majority of the world's population into dangerous, fast-moving zombies. Recalled to duty, Gerry Lane, a former UN Investigator, must leave his family and embark on a perilous, globe-spanning mission to uncover the source of the outbreak and find a way to halt its devastating spread. His journey takes him to various locations and challenges him to confront the terrifying hordes and unravel the mystery before humanity is entirely consumed.

Plan B Ent., Skydance Prod., Hemisphere
Media Capital, GK Films, 2DUX;
Paramount Pictures

Dance with the devil.

Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O'Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, Delroy Lindo, Peter Dreimanis, Lola Kirke, Li Jun Li, Saul Williams, Yao

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"You keep dancing with the devil... one day he's gonna follow you home." – Pastor Jedidiah

Why watch this? Mudbound meets From Dusk til Dawn. Hell yea!

Plot Summary: Twin brothers, World War I veterans, return to their hometown in 1932 Mississippi hoping to open a juke joint and start a new life. Their plans for a safe haven in the Jim Crow South take a dark turn when a sinister, supernatural force descends upon their community. The brothers and their community are forced to face this ageless, unexpected evil.

Proximity Media; Warner Bros. Pictures

Escape from the zombies! Get on board to stay alive!

Starring: Gong Yoo, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an, Choi Woo-Shik, Sohee, Kim Eui-Sung, Choi Gwi-hwa, Jang Hyuk-jin, Jeong Seok-yong, Park Myung-sin, Ye Soo-jung

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"Dad, you only care about yourself. That's why mommy left." – Soo-an

Why watch this? This is one intense zombie film that races down the tracks.

Plot Summary: A divorced, workaholic father and his estranged young daughter board a high-speed train from Seoul to Busan. Unbeknownst to them, a zombie outbreak is sweeping across South Korea, and a seemingly ill passenger brings the infection onto their enclosed train. As the situation unfolds and compartments fall to the undead, the passengers must fight for survival against both the rapidly spreading infection and the escalating tensions among themselves, hoping that Busan, a city reportedly holding back the hordes, will be their safe haven.

RedPeter Film, Next Entertainment World

Six soldiers. Full moon. No chance.

Starring: Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd, Emma Cleasby, Liam Cunningham, Darren Morfitt, Chris Robson, Leslie Simpson

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"We are now up against live, hostile targets. So, if Little Red Riding Hood should show up with a bazooka and a bad attitude, I expect you to chin the bitch." - Sgt. Harry Wells

Why watch this? A company of British soldiers against a bunch of werewolves. Oh yeah!

Plot Summary: A squad of British soldiers, on a training exercise in the Scottish Highlands, stumble upon the remains of a Special Forces unit and discover they're being hunted by a pack of werewolves. The soldiers take refuge in a secluded farmhouse and must fight to survive the night against the monstrous creatures.

Kismet Ent. Group, The Noel Gray Motion Pic. Co.,
Victor Film Co. Carousel Picture Co.; Pathé

28 Days Later (2002), Director: Danny Boyle, rated R for language, nudity, strong violence

His fear began when he woke up alone. His terror began when he realised he wasn't.

Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson, Megan Burns, Christopher Eccleston, Noah Huntley, Stuart McQuarrie, Ricci Harnett, Leo Bill, Luke Mably, Junior Laniyan, Ray Panthaki

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"Right from the beginning you knew this was different, because it was happening in small villages, market towns, and then, it wasn't on the TV any more. It was in the street outside. It was coming through your windows. It was a virus, an infection. You didn't need a doctor to tell you that. It was the blood. There was something in the blood." – Selena

Why watch this? It starts out pretty bleak, yet tensely builds to a great ending.

Plot Summary: An bicycle courier awakens from a coma to discover a deserted, post-apocalyptic London, its population decimated by a contagious "Rage" virus. He soon finds a small group of survivors, but their desperate journey for sanctuary reveals that the true horror may come from the surviving humans luring them into their military compound.

DNA Films, Film Council; Fox Searchlight Pics

Believe In Angels

Starring: Brandon Lee, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, Rochelle Davis, Bai Ling, Sofia Shinas, Anna Thomson, Tony Todd

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"People once believed that, when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest." - Sarah

Why watch this? It's dark and gothic, yet shining through is Jason Lee's charismatic light. 

Plot Summary: Eric Draven, a musician, is brutally murdered along with his fiancée the night before their wedding. A year later, Eric is resurrected by a mystical crow, gaining supernatural powers. Guided by the crow, he seeks vengeance on the criminals who killed him and his fiancée. His only tether to humanity is his young friend, Sarah.

Entertainment Media Investment Corp.,
Pressman Film, Jeff Most Prod.;
Dimension Films, Miramax Films

A romantic comedy. With zombies.

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, Nicola Cunningham, Keir Mills, Matt Jaynes

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"Who died and made you f***ing king of the zombies?" - Shaun

Why watch this? It was high-time for a zombie comedy, a zomedy, if you will!

Plot Summary: Shaun, an ordinary electronics salesman, faces the challenge of a zombie apocalypse sweeping through London. He decides to embark on a quest to rescue his girlfriend Liz, his mother, and their close friends, intending to seek refuge in his favorite pub, The Winchester. Alongside his best friend Ed, Shaun must navigate the chaotic, undead-ridden city and find a way to survive this unexpected challenge to his mundane life.

StudioCanal, WT² Prod., Big Talk Prod.;
Universal Pictures

Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Richard Grove, Patricia Tallman, Timothy Patrick, Michael Earl, Bridget Fonda

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"Well hello Mister Fancy-pants. Well, I've got news for you pal, you ain't leadin' but two things, right now: Jack and shit... and Jack just left town." - Ash

Why watch this? Where the first two films just stayed in one place, this one goes someplace very interesting - the Middle Ages!

Plot Summary: Ash Williams is accidentally transported to 1300 A.D. To return to his own time, he must retrieve the Necronomicon, a book of evil, and battle an army of the dead it has unleashed. Ash must lead medieval knights against skeletal forces and use his modern ingenuity to defeat the supernatural threat.

Dino De Laurentiis Comm., Renaissance Pics,
Introvision Int.; Universal Pictures

From the Dark Side to Our Side

Starring: Ron Perlman, John Hurt, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, Jeffrey Tambor, Rupert Evans, Karel Roden, Biddy Hodson, Corey Johnson, Kevin Trainor

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"In the absence of light, darkness prevails. There are things that go bump in the night, Agent Myers. Make no mistake about that. And we are the ones who bump back." – Professor Broom

Why watch this? It's a great comic book hero adapted to film. Pearlman is awesome!

Plot Summary: Raised by a professor after being summoned to Earth by Nazis during World War II, a demon named Hellboy now works for a secretive government organization known as the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Alongside his fellow unique agents, Hellboy must protect the world from various supernatural threats that emerge from the shadows. However, his skills and fiery personality are truly tested when a powerful, resurrected sorcerer from his past returns with a sinister plan that seeks to unleash the apocalypse.

Revolution Studios, Lawrence Gordon/Lloyd
Levin Prod., Dark Horse Ent.; Columbia Pics

The year is 1766... The hunt for a killer has begun

Starring: Samuel Le Bihan, Vincent Cassel, Émilie Dequenne, Monica Bellucci, Mark Dacascos, Jérémie Renier, Jean Yanne, Édith Scob

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"Lies appear true when dressed in Latin." - Gregoire De Fronsac

Why watch this? It's a wonderfully dark French take on the werewolf legend.

Plot Summary: In 18th-century France, a military officer and his Iroquois companion investigate a series of brutal killings attributed to a mysterious beast in the province of Gévaudan. As they investigate, they discover that the creature is no ordinary animal and a larger conspiracy may be at play.

StudioCanal, Davis Films, Eskwad;
Metropolitan Filmexport

The terror starts the moment he stops.

Starring: Rutger Hauer, C. Thomas Howell, Jeffrey DeMunn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, John M. Jackson, Billy Greenbush, Jack Thibeau

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"I want you to stop me." - John Ryder

Why watch this? It's as dreadfully suspenseful as a movie can get.

Plot Summary: Driving a car across country, young Jim Halsey picks up a hitchhiker who reveals himself to be a dangerous serial killer. After Jim narrowly escapes, the relentless hitchhiker proceeds to stalk him, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake and framing Jim for his crimes. Now pursued by the police and the killer, Jim's only hope for survival and clearing his name lies in the aid of a truck stop waitress named Nash.

HBO Pictures, Silver Screen Prod.;
TriStar Pictures

Postwar Japan. From zero to minus.

Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetake Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Sae Nagatani, Miou Tanaka, Kisuke Iida

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ - near perfect

"That's why this time I'd take pride in a citizen led effort that sacrifices no lives at all! This next battle is not one waged to the death, but a battle to live for the future." - Kenji Noda

Why watch this? On Godzilla's 70th anniversary, he won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Way to go, Big G!

Plot Summary: In 1945, kamikaze pilot Shikishima watches as his entire garrison is wiped out by a monster of incredible size. This leaves him with survivor's guilt and PTSD. When he returns home, he learns his parents were killed in the bombing of Tokyo. While mourning, he takes in a woman and orphan child. To get by, he also signs on as a minesweeper. The monster, now known as Godzilla, has mutated (thanks to US nuclear tests) to be much larger. The Japanese Navy deploys Shikashima's boat to lay mines and hopefully deter the beast's onslaught of mainland Japan.

Robot Communications; Toho Co. Ltd.

The monster movie that breaks new ground.

Starring: Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, Michael Gross, Reba McEntire, Bobby Jacoby, Tony Genaro, Ariana Richards, Richard Marcus

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"Run for it? Running is not a plan. Running is what you do when a plan fails!" - Earl

Why watch this? Gigantic, underground, man-eating worms! That's a hard YES for me.

Plot Summary: Set in the remote desert town of Perfection, Nevada, two handymen, Val and Earl, decide to leave their dull lives. Before they can depart, strange tremors and a series of mysterious deaths suggest a dangerous threat lurks beneath the surface. Along with other residents, including a seismologist and a survivalist couple, they must fight to survive against unseen, giant creatures that hunt by sensing vibrations.

No Frills Prod., Pacific Western Prod.;
Universal Pictures

Aliens (1986), Director: James Cameron, rated R for sci-fi gore, violence, language

THIS TIME IT'S WAR

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Paul Reiser, Carrie Henn, Lance Henricksen, Bill Baxton, Jenette Goldstein

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

DML Top 50 #24b - Dad's Full (Spoiler) Review and Deep Dive of Aliens

"We better get back 'cause it will be night soon and they mostly come at night... mostly." - Newt

Why watch this? The Alien sequel brings the action and a lot more aliens to deal with.

Plot Summary: After surviving the alien attack, Ellen Ripley is rescued from deep space after 57 years in stasis. She reluctantly agrees to return to the planet where the creatures were first encountered when contact is lost with a terra-forming colony established there. Ripley and a group of Colonial Marines face an overwhelming threat as they attempt to rescue the colonists and battle, not one, but many aliens.

Brandywine Productions; 20th Century Fox

It came for the thrill of the hunt. It picked the wrong man to hunt.

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Bill Duke, Jessie Ventura, Elpidia Carrillo, Sonny Landham, Shane Black, Richard Chaves, Kevin Peter Hall

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"There's something out there waiting for us, and it ain't no man.... we're all gonna die." - Billy

Why watch this? ... Schwartzie and his biceps are at the top of their game in this action-sci-fi thriller.

Plot Summary: An elite paramilitary rescue team led by Dutch goes on a mission in a Central American rainforest. During their operation, they discover they are being hunted by a technologically advanced, extraterrestrial warrior. The film follows the team's fight for survival against this formidable foe, which hunts them for sport.

Davis Entertainment; 20th Century Fox