The Raven (1935)

The Raven (1935)

Beautiful, young, and beguiling Jean Thatcher (Irene Ware) crashes her car, leading to brain damage. The only one with a chance to save her is Dr. Richard Vollin (Bela Lugosi), a Poe-obsessed retired surgeon. Her father, stuffy Judge Thatcher (Samuel S. Hinds) pushes Vollin until he agrees. The operation is a success, and Vollin falls

The House of Fear (1945)

The House of Fear (1945)

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) are sent to Drearcliff manner, situated on a coastal cliff in ever-misty Scotland. There, two member of the “Good Comrades” club have died after receiving an envelop filled with orange pits. The members all live together in an aged house, looked after by housekeeper Mrs. Monteith,

Oliver! (1968)

Oliver! (1968)

Orphaned Oliver (Mark Lester) escapes his dreary life in the workhouse and as an indentured servant and heads for London. There he meets up with pickpocket The Artful Dodger (Jack Wild) and Fagin (Ron Moody), who runs an army of child-criminals. When his first time on a job goes wrong, Oliver is taken to court,

The Rogues' Tavern (1936)

The Rogues’ Tavern (1936)

Police detective Jimmy Kelly (Wally Ford) and ex-department store detective Marjorie Burns (Barbara Pepper) are in a hurry to get married so hop across the border to the Red Rock Tavern, which is instead an inn—I suppose when the producers couldn’t find a tavern set for cheap they decided it was too much effort to

Chloe, Love Is Calling You (1934)

Chloe, Love Is Calling You (1934)

Old dear lord… OK, here goes: In some fantasy Deep South straight out of the wet dream of a KKK Grand Dragon, Voodoo practitioner and stereotype Mammy (Georgette Harvey) has returned to the broken down hovel she’d abandoned when her husband Old Sam was killed by Colonel Gordon (Francis Joyner). She brings along her half-White

The Batman (2022)

The Batman (2022)

In a world of stunted emotions, a strung-out, emo Batman (Robert Pattinson) is called in by Lt. James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) to help solve the gruesome murder of the mayor by a new costumed vigilantly, The Riddler (Paul Dano). The Riddler is a BDSM gimp merged with an insel, who somehow is very effective at

The Climax (1944)

The Climax (1944)

Obsessed theater doctor Friedrich Hohner (Boris Karloff) murders Marcellina, his opera star girl friend when she rejects him for being too controlling. Ten years later a new singer, Angela Klatt (Susanna Foster) is the new big thing, with a voice that sounds exactly like the dead star’s. This is too much for Hohner, who hypnotizes

The Mark of Zorro (1940)

The Mark of Zorro (1940)

One of the standard Swashbuckler plots has the hero masquerading as a fop so his real self can right wrongs and win the maiden, and no film did it better than The Mark of Zorro. Leslie Howard recited doggerel poems as the The Scarlet Pimpernel and Louis Hayward dithered on about banking as The Son of Monte Cristo, but Tyrone Power is on

Suicide Squad (2016)

Suicide Squad (2016)

Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) puts together a group of unusual criminals (Harley Quinn—Margot Robbie, Deadshot—Will Smith, Diablo—Jay Hernandez, Killer Croc—Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Boomerang—Jai Courtney, Enchantress—Cara Delevingne) with the intention of creating a US force to defend against meta-humans. The group is called into action early when one of her criminals slips through her fingers and sets

Reptilicus (1961)

Reptilicus (1961)

Miners discover a giant frozen reptilian tail and hunkiest miner sends it to Professor Marteen of the Copenhagen aquarium. Professor Marteen has two, hot, man-hungry daughters. It doesn’t matter for the story, but the film wants you to know just how male-crazed these two chicks are and how lucky any man is who they get

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)

The evil stereotype Shredder is broken out of jail while in the care of the guy from Arrow (Stephen Amell). Naturally, he puts on a hockey mask and beats up people with his hockey stick to redeem himself. This leads him to April O’Neil (Megan Fox) and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (some guys…who cares).

Superman II (1980)

Superman II (1980)

In a cosmic coincidence, the Phantom Zone prison of Ursa (Sarah Douglas), Non (Jack O’Halloran), and General Zod (Terence Stamp) happens to drift by Earth right when Superman (Christopher Reeve) has tossed a nuclear bomb into space. Now freed, the three Kryptonians move to conquer Earth. Meanwhile, Lois (Margot Kidder) has discovered Clark is Superman