Abbott and Costello Go to Mars Movie Review
But they don't.
Sci-Fi Movies - A
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man Movie Review
Abbott and Costello play newly graduated detectives who take on the murder case of a boxer (Arthur Franz) accused of killing his manager. Using a serum that makes people invisible, the boxer helps Costello in a prizefight that will frame the real killers, who killed the manager because the boxer refused to throw a fight. An extra edge is added – this is one of the only invisib…
The Abominable Dr. Phibes Movie Review
After being disfigured (and believed dead) in a freak car accident, a twisted genius decides that the members of a surgical team let his wife die and shall each perish by a different Biblical plague.
Abraxas: Guardian of the Universe Movie Review
Cheapo Canadian production casts World Wrestling Federation vet Jess “The Body” Ventura in the stiff title role, a space cop on Earth to foil his evil ex-partner Secundas, who's inseminated a virgin with the “anti-life equation” that could destroy the universe.
The Absent-Minded Professor Movie Review
Classic dumb Disney fantasy of the era is still fun for kids and for adults who remember it with fondness.
The Abyss Movie Review
When it comes to staging big action scenes involving people and hardware, director James Cameron is as good as anyone in the business. Here, he has created some brilliant underwater set pieces, but the film falls victim to its own excesses: a crippled submarine, dangerous nuclear warheads, the hurricane, the insane diver, and if those aren't enough, we've also got extraterrestrials w…
Access Code Movie Review
Government agents attempt to uncover a private organization that has gained control of nuclear weapons for the purpose of world domination.
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Movie Review
Terry Gilliam, director of Time Bandits, The Fisher King, and Brazil (not to mention the timeshifting 12 Monkeys), has often tried to blur the line between dreams and reality. With his version of the Munchausen tales, he not only succeeds, he actually takes us right into the adventure. Overstatement and out-and-out lies were the rule for the real life 18th-century raconteur upon whom…
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension Movie Review
After accidentally opening up a gateway to the eighth dimension, our (and everybody's) hero Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller) must call on all of his talents in an interstellar battle for the world. Luckily, he is a multi-skilled genius-expert at everything. Race car driver, top neurosurgeon, rock star, diplomat, comic book hero, martial artist, scientist, last hope…
Aelita: Queen of Mars Movie Review
Now we know how Mars became the Red planet.
After the Fall of New York Movie Review
Dim-witted post-apocalyptic tale set in New York after the fall of the “Big Bomb.” A man, driven to search for the last normal woman, has reason to believe she is frozen alive and kept in the heart of the city.
Aftermath Movie Review
Three astronauts return to Earth to discover the planet ravaged by a nuclear war that has destroyed all semblance of civilization, budget, editing, and acting talent.
Aftershock Movie Review
A beautiful alien bimbo beams down to Earth in the mistaken belief that there's intelligent life.
Akira Movie Review
In the future megalopolis of Tokyo, secret government experiments on children with ESP go awry, resulting in an cataclysmic explosion on Tokyo. Akira, the most powerful of the children, is kept in cryogenic suspension under strict security. Some of the city's youth gang members, who may or may not be subjects of the experiment themselves, become involved with the various factions fighting t…
Alien Movie Review
Taught direction by Ridley Scott, stunning sets and special effects, and an excellent ensemble cast make this a suspenseful roller coaster ride in outer space. In the claustrophobic tradition of The Thing, an intergalactic freighter is invaded by an unstoppable, carnivorous, acid-spewing alien intent on picking off the crew one by one. While the crew desperately seeks a way to destroy the creature…
Alien 3 Movie Review
This second Alien sequel picks up where Aliens left off. Survivor Ripley crashlands on Fiorina 161, a planet that serves as a penal colony for sex offenders. Ripley is forced to shave her head because of the planet's lice problem, and she sets out to survive on the cold, unfriendly planet until a rescue ship can come for her. Fending off sexual advances from the men, Ripley soon discovers t…
Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction? Movie Review
Hey, this presentation of some old film footage that may be of the actual autopsy of an alien being, presumably from a saucer crash in 1947 near Roswell, New Mexico, is hosted by Jonathon Frakes (Star Trek: The Next Generation).
Alien Contamination Movie Review
Italian-made tale of two astronauts who return to Earth from an expedition to Mars carrying some deadly bacterial eggs.
Alien Dead Movie Review
Meteorite lands on obnoxious teens, turning them into flesh-eating ghouls.
The Alien Factor Movie Review
Another low-budget crazed critter from outer space dispatch, this one featuring multiple aliens, one of whom is good, who have the misfortune of crashlanding near Baltimore.
George Stover on The Alien Factor Movie Review
When I was offered a role in The Alien Factor, I couldn't believe that my dream of being in a science-fiction film was finally going to come true. However, there were many obstacles to overcome in producing a low-budget 16mm feature, especially one that was ambitious enough to require several different monster costumes, stop-motion animation, and other special-effects scenes. Not since John…
Alien from L.A. Movie Review
A limp comedy about a California girl (Kathy Ireland) who unwittingly stumbles onto the ancient civilization of Atlantis while searching for her lost archaeologist father.
Alien Intruder Movie Review
Tracy Scoggins is an evil space demon (or something) in the guise of a beautiful woman, who appears before lustful deep-space astronauts – usually during virtual-reality sex fantasies – and tempts them to kill each other for her affections.
Alien Nation Movie Review
A few hundred thousand alien slaves in a hijacked saucer find sanctuary on “near-future” 1990s Earth, and face the challenge of any immigrant minority. Some assimilate into American society, others dwell in the ghetto. Mandy Patinkin plays an upscale “newcomer” (renamed – a la Ellis Island – after the city of San Francisco) who becomes the fi…
Alien Nation: Dark Horizon Movie Review
The alien Newcomers have successfully adapted to life on Earth but face continuing dangers when a human-supremacy group develops a virus to wipe them out and an alien infiltrator is plotting to return them to slavery on Tencton.
Alien Predators Movie Review
Three friends encounter a malevolent alien in this dull reworking of the plot of The Andromeda Strain with laughable special effects tossed in for those outwitted by the script.
Alien Prey Movie Review
Two lesbians in a dysfunctional relationship induct a wandering simpleton into a menage a trois.
Alien Private Eye Movie Review
An extraterrestrial detective searches Los Angeles for a missing magic disk while investigating an intergalactic crime ring.
Alien Seed Movie Review
Aliens kidnap a woman (well played by Heidi Paine) and impregnate her.
Alien Space Avenger Movie Review
After a Star Wars space skirmish, four serpentine alien convicts crashland in 1930s’ NYC and possess a few mobsters and their molls for fleetingly funny moments when the visitors mistake vintage Flash Gordon serials and pulp comics for nonfiction. After 50 years of hibernation, the evil misfits wake up to find that they've inspired the look of the bad guys in the latest Space Avenger…
Alien Warrior Movie Review
A naive extraterrestrial muscleman (whose predecessor, it's hinted, was Jesus Christ) fights a street pimp to save a crime-ridden Earth neighborhood.
Alien Women Movie Review
A soft-core British sci-fi yarn about scantily clad alien babes and the special agent who's trying to uncover their secret.
Alienator Movie Review
An intergalactic villain sentenced to execution instead escapes to present-day Earth and terrorizes local nitwits.
Aliens Movie Review
One of those rare sequels that equals, or arguably, surpasses the original. James Cameron fulfilled the promise of The Terminator with this state-of-the-art thriller that particularly revitalized the action film. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley, who reluctantly agrees to lead an expedition back to Acheron, home of the acid-dripping beast that made mincemeat out of her colleagues way back when &…
Aliens Are Coming Movie Review
A spaceship crashlands on Earth, and its devious denizens begin invading human bodies.
Aliens from Spaceship Earth Movie Review
Are strange, celestial forces invading our universe? If they are, is man prepared to defend his planet against threatening aliens of unknown strength? Lame docudrama featuring the Hurdy Gurdy man himself, Donovan.
Alligator Movie Review
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the sewers, along comes Ramon.
The Alpha Incident Movie Review
Time-worn doomsday drama about an alien organism with the potential to destroy all living things.
Alphaville Movie Review
One of Jean-Luc Godard's most accessible films (but still perhaps not quite ready for prime time) stars Eddie Constantine, a B-movie bust in the States, but a star in Paris, where he popularized on film the pulp hero Lemmy Caution.
Altered States Movie Review
Probably everyone who's tried mind-altering substances has believed that the changes in personal perception can also change external reality. That's the idea behind Paddy Chayefsky's (here, AKA Sidney Aaron) tale of a young scientist (William Hurt) who uses psychedelic drugs and sensory deprivation to go back to his evolutionary roots, as it were. N…
Amanda and the Alien Movie Review
The alien of the title looks like a horseshoe crab but can take over human bodies, killing the host in the process.
The Amazing Colossal Man Movie Review
A fairly standard ‘50s sci-fi film about a monster created by atomic radiation.
TV on Tape: Amazing Stories Movie Review
When NBC made an unprecedented commitment to Steven Spielberg in 1985 to develop an anthology series, they were no doubt hoping for a ratings bonanza of E.T.-like proportions. What they got was closer to 1941. Though Spielberg is one of the most commercially successful filmmakers of all time, Amazing Stories was an amazing gamble. No anthology series had finished in Nielsen's top 25 since t…
The Amazing Spider-Man Movie Review
The Marvel Comics superhero's unique powers are put to the test when he comes to the rescue of the government by preventing an evil scientist from blackmailing the government for big bucks.
The Amazing Transparent Man Movie Review
A mad scientist is forced to make a crook invisible in order to steal the radioactive materials he needs.
American Cyborg: Steel Warrior Movie Review
Basic evil-machine-bent-on-mankind's-destruction movie – with a hero bent on rescuing the world.
The Amphibian Man Movie Review
What does a scientist do once he's created a young man with gills? Plunge him in the real world of aqua pura to experience life and love, albeit underwater.
Android Movie Review
Mad scientist Klaus Kinski needs a little help producing the now-illegal industrial robots that allow him to get by in the out-of-this-world.
The Android Affair Movie Review
Isaac Asimov's name is featured prominently in the credits of this cable-TV feature, though he did little more than provide story material for an early draft.
The Andromeda Strain Movie Review
A satellite falls back to Earth carrying a deadly bacteria that must be identified in time to save the population from extermination.
Andy and the Airwave Rangers Movie Review
Shambling shot-to-tape con aimed at the unwary.
The Angry Red Planet Movie Review
An unintentionally amusing sci-fi adventure about astronauts on Mars fighting off aliens and giant, ship-swallowing amoebas.
Anna to the Infinite Power Movie Review
Sci fi based on the book of the same name follows a young girl with telepathic powers.
A*P*E* Movie Review
Giant gorilla escapes from a boat, wrestles a rubber shark, faces toy tanks, and generally challenges anything that comes between him and the actress he loves.
The Ape Man Movie Review
With the aid of a secret potion, a scientist turns himself into a murderous ape.
A.P.E.X. Movie Review
Slowly paced shoot-'em-up is set in yet another desolate dystopian future.
Arcade Movie Review
Kids flock to the amusement hall to play the new virtual-reality video game Arcade, only to disappear if they lose.
Arena Movie Review
Remember old boxing melodramas about good-natured palookas, slimy opponents, gangsters, and dames? This Charles Band production puts those cliches in a garish sci-fi setting, with handsome Steve Armstrong battling E.T.s, femme fatales, and the galactic gambling syndicate to be the first human pugilistic champ in decades.
Armageddon: The Final Challenge Movie Review
After a nuclear holocaust, evil forces rule the Earth in the guise of “The Future Bank.” They send out Fear-Permutator Clones to keep order and kill undesirables but naturally there's a rebel ready to do battle.
Army of Darkness Movie Review
Everyone knows that this is the third Evil Dead movie, but Universal Studios thought they could pretend that the more graphic and intense predecessors didn't exist if they changed the name. Bruce Campbell returns as the square-jawed, not-too-bright, thinks-he's-hipper-than-thou hero, Ash, in another Sam Raimi extravaganza. And this one's awfully good, too! Tossed back in time …
Around the World Under the Sea Movie Review
Bunch of men and one woman scientist plunge under the ocean in an experiment to predict earthquakes.
The Arrival Movie Review
An never-seen alien parasite turns an old man into a vampiric young stud after female blood.
The Asphyx Movie Review
Clever sf/horror set in the 19th century, where doctor Robert Stephens uses the newly developed invention of photography to detect the Asphyx, an aura that surrounds a person just before death.
Assassin Movie Review
Made-for-TV drama about a mad scientist who creates a bionic killer for a bizarre plot to take over the world.
TV on Tape: Astro Boy Movie Review
If you ask most Americans about Japanese cartoons, it's likely they'll say something about those cartoons where “everybody has those big eyes.” It may puzzle them (if they think about it at all), that Asians would draw characters that way. The truth is that the “big eyed” style is but a small indication of how incredible the influence of one …
Assignment Outer Space Movie Review
A giant spaceship with bytes for brains is on a collision course with Earth.
The Astounding She-Monster Movie Review
How can you not love a movie with a title like this? A bad script and snail-paced plot are a good start.
The Astro-Zombies Movie Review
One of the schlockiest, most ineptly made, yet compellingly mind-boggling films of all time.
At the Earth's Core Movie Review
A Victorian scientist (fantasy-film veteran Peter Cushing) invents a giant burrowing machine, intending to market it as a mining tool. During a test run, however, the gizmo goes haywire and digs right down to the center of the Earth, depositing Cushing and his assistant in the lost world of Pellucidar. Here they encounter hokey-looking “prehistoric monsters,” who look a…
The Atomic Brain Movie Review
An old woman hires a doctor to transplant her brain into the body of a beautiful young girl. Of the three who are abducted, two become homicidal zombies and the third starts to act catty when she's given a feline brain. Oh, and did we mention the hairy monster chained to a tether in the back yard? A serious contender to Plan 9 from Outer Space’s title of Worst Film Ever Made, this is…
The Atomic Man Movie Review
The victim of an accident in a physics lab appears to have lost his mind – until someone notices that he's answering questions before they're asked.
Atomic Submarine Movie Review
Government agents battle alien invaders. The battle, however, is a bit out of the ordinary – it takes place in the ocean beneath the Arctic ice floes and is headed by an atomic-powered submarine clashing with a special alien underwater saucer and its BEM inhabitants. Despite some quarreling among crewmembers, our heroes find a way to win. Brawny cast resembles a B-movie version of a John Wa…
Attack of the Foot Woman (50 ) Movie Review
Size matters! The success of The Incredible Shrinking Man inspired this inevitable imitation.
Attack of the Ft. Woman (50 ) Movie Review
A campy remake of the 1958 sci-fi cult classic that tries to expand on the original's subtle humor and feminist overtones. This new version features the statuesque Daryl Hannah in the title role. As Nancy, Hannah's kept in a state of childish dependency by her domineering father (William Windom) and sleazy hubby (Daniel Baldwin). But after a close encounte…
Attack of the Giant Leeches Movie Review
Typically cheapo Roger Corman monster movie about giant leeches in a murky swamp who suddenly develop a taste for human flesh.
Attack of the Hiller Tomatoes Movie Review
“I know I'm going to miss her/A tomato ate my sister.” This overripe low-budget spoof of low-budget horror and science-fiction films is a staple of worst film festivals, but it is hardly as entertaining as the movies it is supposedly satirizing.
Attack of the Mushroom People Movie Review
You might not believe it from the title, but this is actually a well-made and fairly scary monster movie from Toho Studios, home of Godzilla & Co. A group of rich vacationers are stranded on a secluded, fog-bound island. They take up residence in an abandoned ship whose crew has mysteriously vanished, leaving all the mirrors onboard smashed. As time goes by, the castaways get increasingly s…
The Aurora Encounter Movie Review
Small spaceman lands his flying jalopy in Texas around 1900, befriending Earth kids but panicking authorities (one villain portrayed by the original George “Spanky” McFarland).
Automatic Movie Review
Following his directive to protect and preserve human life, a RobGen “Automatic"-model android Olivier Gruner stops a rape-in-progress of employee Daphne Ashbrook, and adequately kills the scumball exec while doing so.
Time Travel Movie Review
Time travel stories have always been troubling, since it is a paradox. It's both impossible and very real. Physicists tell us that time travel is a common phenomenon – but only at one speed and in one direction. For human beings to “travel” into the future at an accelerated pace, or into the past, is as near to a technological impossibility as you're likely to fi…