Impostor (2001) – Gary Fleder.

In a dystopian future, an ozone layer depleted earth is at war with the Centuri, an aggressive, technologically superior species, and following a suspected arson attack, premier weapons engineer (Gary Sinise) is captured, interrogated, accused of being a Centuri replicant infiltrator, he escapes, undertaking a deadly flight to prove his own identity! Impostor remains a paranoid, kinetic, impactful Sci-Shoot 'em up, a thrillingly locomotive composite of The Fugitive, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. While this propulsive Sci-fi roller-coaster provides an adrenal gland sapping overload of stylised futurist action, I think it is fair to say the subtleties of Philip K. Dick's short story gets largely absorbed in all gung-ho Starship Trooperisms. One of the stronger reasons Impostor merits a revisit, is the qualitative cast, Stowe, Sinise, and D'Onofrio are all outstanding, with a high energy performance from Mekhi Phifer, concluding dramatically in a satisfyingly white-knuckled climax.

 Ozone! Attack of The Redneck Mutants. (1986) – Matt Devlen.

Following an unreported chemical spill, the catastrophic depletion of the Ozone layer engenders a grotesque physical transformation in the proletarian denizens of some rustic southern backwater, mutating them into ragingly brutal, pus-spewing, gut-chewing horrors! This lively, prodigiously gory indie eco-shocker, like some royal mummy, has successfully weathered the sands of time, delivering all the generously blood-splattered mayhem a gore hound might care to see. The female, whistleblowing protagonist proves especially memorable, as is the ornery, chicken fryin', shotgunnin' grandma who quite clearly deserves her very own franchise!

A gruesome, copiously slime-slathered, full-throttled, goofily enjoyable admixture of Troma and H.G Lewis, Ozone! Attack of The Redneck Mutants is not only a galollopingly grisly hillbilly horror hoedown, it may still prove to be an apocalyptic augur of monstrous calamities yet to come! A gloriously goo garlanded dream on HD, lovingly restored, fiendishly fabulous splatter-bomb Ozone! Attack of The Redneck Mutants is sure to infect a newly appreciative generation of gore-guzzling Vidiots like me!

 Biohazard (1985) – Fred Olen Ray.

'Those horror movies give you weird ideas!!!!'

Gruff veteran actor Aldo Ray turned up in some pretty creaky B-flicks during the twilight of his career, and in some, he appears relatively sober, Biohazard is demonstratively one of the better ones. Following a catastrophic mishap at an off-grid military research facility, a small, psychically manifested being runs bloodily amok, and it is down to likeable hunk Carter (William Fair) and striking, voluptuously endowed empath (Angelique Pettyjohn) to arrest its frenzied, flesh-flaying rampage! Interestingly, even with its stridently 80s synthesizer score, B-maestro Olen Ray's boffo creature feature Biohazard shares many similarities with both 50s Drive-In Sci-schlock, and the gonzoid extravagances of revered psychotronic polymath Ray Dennis Steckler. I dig Olen Ray's shtick, he frequently delivers on the gore, action, and bodacious displays of T&A, which provides the very lifeblood of watchable brain melt. Along with Scalps, Biohazard is one of my fave go-to Olen Ray gems, it's playful, doesn't take itself all too seriously, but has just enough smarts to know what it takes to produce a quality B-feature. As a nipper who grew up wrong on Godzilla /Roger Corman monster mashed quickies, man-in-a-suit, or in this case, child-in-a-suit shenanigans is like Mother's Milk to me!

 Longlegs (2023) – Osgood Perkins.

Enjoyably daft, meticulously predictable, and about as scary as an onion, but each time Cage turns up, oh my! What bountiful larks!!!! Hail Fucking Satan!!! The exquisite Alicia Witt remains absolutely lovely, and, by god, her maternally mental mommy is sexier than all hell!! With only the rarest exception, a great many contemporary horror/genre films are frustratingly easy to read, the historical references, and shameless recycling is so stark, one is only ever truly surprised by the film-makers/writers unabashed refusal to avoid cliche. Lacking intrigue, or genuine menace, Longlegs technical merits are very high, the impressively stylised photography being really rather evocative, but, sadly, I was mostly nonplussed by the unstintingly formulaic narrative.

 Queen of the Blues (1979) - Willy Roe.

Delightfully diminutive, deliciously delectable Top Shelf sin siren Mary Millington plays crowd-teasing stripper Queen of the blues in crude, gaudy, boorishly smutty 70s romp Queen of The Blues. Two not altogether convincing hoods apply pressure on the club's new owners to illicit protection money, fortunately, these lacklustre interludes are libidinously enlivened by saucy strumpets jiggling rhythmically about in the nude! Awkwardly presenting itself like an extended novelty episode of The Sweeney, with unsophisticated humour, and amusingly bogus nookie, it would be entirely just to state that gorgeous Mary Millington's sensually luminous presence remains the most cogent reason to watch it. Queen of the Blues is a mostly uninspired, tackily opportunistic, moderately raincoat-twitching nullity, yet composer David Whittaker's bouncy, disco-delicious score provides the lithe backbeat to Millington's erotic, enticingly limber, never less than scintillating performances.

 The Earth Dies Screaming (1964) – Terence Fisher.

Like some toxic shroud, without warning, pitiless annihilation descends upon Great Britain, and the survivors of this alien holocaust are trapped within a deserted Village, increasingly overwhelmed by sinister automatons, and horribly ambulatory corpses! Made with the consummate skill one would expect of Hammer icon Terence Fisher, the superb cast, palpable doomy atmosphere, and pacey, grippingly tense plot, make 60s corker The Earth Dies Screaming a must have title!

From the stark opening up to the rousing finale, master film-maker Fisher never once falters, driving the narrative forward with alacrity, a visually dynamic Sci-thriller with compelling moments of spine-chilling horror! The bleak milieu is chillingly captured in stunning monochrome, Fisher's exciting B-Movie romp is buoyed by credible performances, featuring an especially likeable turn from Willard Parker as the group's more than capable Alpha hero.

 Piggy (2022) – Carlota Pereda.

I greatly enjoyed Piggy, but, truth be known, I had very much hoped that the appealingly rotund female protagonist (Laura Galan) might have enjoyed an exhilarating, albeit brief romantic union with her lumbering, serial killing beau! I couldn't honestly say that I had much sympathy for any of the characters outside of Sara and the big fella, Sara's family were altogether vapid, and her bland tormentors manifestly deserved to die. In reality, bullies never change, they remain thus for all of their miserable lives, happily, most horror films adhere strictly to their own rules, thereby offering redemptive arcs, bloody catharsis, and triumphant Final Girl blah blah blah. I have always enjoyed non-supernatural screen maniacs utilizing the prodigious strength of their powerful bodies to kill, Slaughter House and Don't Answer The Phone being firm favourites, and Piggy's husky hatemonger is, arguably, a chunky chip off the old B-Slasher block. For me, the true mark of a quality horror film is whether I would happily watch it again, and I believe 'Piggy' would prove no less enthralling the second time around, since there is so much more to her than meets the sty!