I’m unsure whether or not “American Psycho” is intended to be a legitimate horror movie, a parody or both. This is a messy and depraved film with scenes of extreme violence covered in a pop music video feel. At times, it feels completely surreal yet throughout, it feels awkward and unwholesome.

In this movie, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale “Batman Begins”, “The Machinist”) is a wealthy Wall Street investment banking executive (and a devout narcissist), who has some terrible secrets. He struggles to hide his psychopathic ego from those around him as he spends his nights engaging in murder and disturbing sexual activities.

Christian Bale is a great actor but here he comes across as goofy, this guy acts more like Freddy Krueger than a real serial killer. Bateman never feels like a real person, he’s a complete caricature. The sadistic acts carried out by Bateman in the film are disgusting and unpleasant but his cheeky sense of humour just confuses us about how we are meant to feel. The scenes where Bateman interacts with other people are just ridiculous because he is so poor at hiding his violent impulses. William Dafoe (“Spider-Man”) is underwhelming as a police detective investigating one of Bateman’s murders. The other characters are all really boring.

“American Psycho” features some disgraceful sexual scenes and some brutal instances of violence yet the movie seems like it sort-of wants us to laugh. The movie isn’t even sure what to say when it all ends as we get an ambiguous finale. I warn people that this is a very distressing watch as we see scenes of what amount to sexual torture and we also see scenes of very graphic violence. In one scene, Bateman has “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” playing in the background and much like that film, “American Psycho” aims for shock value over substance.

“American Ninja” is a very cheesy action flick that will bring a smile to your face even if it does fail to thrill you. It’s a very clichéd film that feels very much like other action films of the era such as “Missing In Action” and “Commando” but with ninjas thrown into the mix.

Set in the Philippines, the movie follows Joe (Michael Dudikoff “Platoon Leader”), a martial artist American soldier with amnesia. When local rebels start stealing the U.S. military’s vehicles and equipment, Joe is forced to use all his fighting abilities to stop them. He will also have to do battle with a small army of ninjas.

Michael Dudikoff was apparently cast solely because he looked like James Dean (“Rebel Without A Cause”). The man had no martial arts training and he cannot act to save his life. Unsurprisingly, he gets very few lines considering he’s the star. He’s a terrible choice for the protagonist in a martial arts film and as a result, a lot of the fight sequences are underwhelming. Regardless of what you think of their acting skills, at least Jean-Claude Van Damme (“Universal Soldier”) and Chuck Norris (“The Delta Force”) are good at kicking people. The other characters are pretty bland too but I never get tired of seeing all the people in ninja costumes flipping around.

“American Ninja” delivers some amusingly bad action sequences so it has that going for it. However, I doubt many people are going to be particularly impressed by it. The era that brought us “Lethal Weapon”, “Police Story”, “Cobra” and “Bloodsport” means that there is some tough competition to face and there’s no denying that films such as “America Ninja” get overshadowed. If you are desperate to see some crazy action from the ninja subgenre then you might want to check this out but everybody else should look elsewhere.

“American History X” is one of the most violent and disturbing films that I’ve ever seen but it’s also incredibly powerful and one perhaps even more impressive than “Do The Right Thing”, which similarly focused on the issue of racial tensions.

In “American History X”, Derek Vineyard (Edward Norton “Fight Club”) was a violent white supremacist that shot a bunch of black gangsters but now he has left prison and he’s left behind the neo-Nazi skinhead movement. He wants to help ensure that his younger brother (Edward Furlong “Terminator 2: Judgement Day”) doesn’t go down the same wrong path that he did.

Edward Norton does a terrific job and in the flashback scenes you really believe that he’s a committed racist and in the other scenes you truly get the sense that he’s reformed and has seen the error of his ways. Edward Furlong is also really good as Derek’s younger brother, Danny. Avery Brooks (“15 Minutes”) is entertaining as a teacher committed to ensuring that Danny doesn’t throw his life away by demanding that Danny writes a paper about his brother after Danny previously turned in a report about Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”. The other characters are also very good.

“American History X” features a terrifying sexual assault in a prison shower, it features a man’s head being stomped on and the torturing of ethnic minority shop workers by neo-Nazi thugs and endless streams of racial abuse but the film is intelligent enough and features enough great performances for it to pull it off. “American History X” clearly illustrates a transition from legitimate immigration and gang violence concerns to outright racism and extreme violence in a very powerful way. Maybe you think “Do The Right Thing” was more impressive but either way, I think you’ll agree that “American History X” is definitely worth watching.

Before “Star Wars”, George Lucas directed “American Graffiti”, an enjoyable coming of age film. Some consider it a classic and while I would definitely not go that far, I do have to agree that this is a good movie.

Set in 1962, “American Graffiti” follows the misadventures of several high school graduate students on their final night out before they go off to university. They cruise around while they listen to pirate radio and eat in diners so it’s not the most eventful film but it’s not trying to be. This is clearly a teen film that is grounded in reality.

The film features several individuals that would go on to have very successful careers. Richard Dreyfuss (“Jaws”, “What About Bob?”), Ron Howard (“A Beautiful Mind”, “The Shootist”) and Harrison Ford (“Air Force One”, “The Fugitive”) all have roles in this movie. Most of the characters in the film feel very realistic and they are not caricatures like later teen films such as “Animal House”. However, the character of Terry (Charles Martin Smith “The Untouchables”) does come across as a little exaggerated. My favourite teen is probably the one played by Harrison Ford but he sadly does not have a lot of screen time.

“American Graffiti” is not a particularly exciting film but it is not trying to be. For the most part. This seems to be an honest look at the transition of teens to adults as the teens in this film face the reality that in the morning, they will be off to university. Some of the gags are funny but some of the others are not and the one where a guy pretends he wants to molest a child is not remotely amusing. A lot of the movie is building towards a big car race but what we get is somewhat underwhelming. Again, I think the film was trying to be more realistic than anything else. I recommend “American Graffiti” and while it is not “Star Wars”, it’s infinitely better than “THX 1138”.

“American Beauty” is a terrific film somewhat damaged by a single character and in that respect it reminded me a lot of “To Kill A Mockingbird”. I had a great time with many of scenes in “American Beauty” and a bit of a struggle with several others.

Kevin Spacey (“Superman Returns”, “The Usual Suspects”) stars as Lester Burnham, a middle-aged man in a dysfunctional household. He’s ignored by his wife (Annette Bening “Mars Attacks!”) and loathed by his daughter (Thora Birch “Hocus Pocus”) yet he finds himself becoming drawn towards his daughter’s friend, Angela (Mena Suvari “American Pie”). Meanwhile a new family has moved into next to Lester and the son (Wes Bentley “The Hunger Games”) enjoys videotaping everything.

Kevin Spacey is absolutely terrific as Lester Burnham. He feels betrayed by suburban lifestyle and rebels by quitting his job and voicing his opinions about his wife. Annette Bening is also pretty good as Carolyn. Thora Birch is okay as Jane. Mena Suvari is actually really quite good as Angela. By far the worst character in the film is Wes Bentley’s Ricky. He’s a creep and a drug dealer that enjoys showing off his father’s Nazi plate and videotaping plastic bags. He nearly ruins the picture because every scene with him makes the picture grind to a halt.

“American Beauty” has some wonderfully crafted scenes in which Kevin Spacey shreds settings so often seen as essential in ‘normal’ life such as the work parties and the evening dinner with the family but it also has scenes such as one in which a young man talks to a girl about how beautiful it was to see a dead woman in the street. I also have mixed feelings about how the film opens by telling us that Lester will be killed as it in some ways takes away the surprise of the ending but I guess you could also say that keeps you guessing as to who will be responsible for his demise. “American Beauty” is worth a watch despite its flaws.

Uwe Boll (“BloodRayne”, “House of the Dead”) torments us again with another videogame adaptation. I have never played any of the “Alone In The Dark” games so I have no idea if it resembles them or not but what I can tell you is that this is a terrible film.

“Alone In The Dark” features a needlessly complicated story where a paranormal investigator by the name of Edward Carnby (Christian Slater “Broken Arrow”, “True Romance”), uncovers the mysteries of an indigenous American tribe as well as his own childhood. Along the way he will have to blast his way through waves of creatures that lurk in the dark.

Christian Slater is usually bland and his performance in “Alone In The Dark” does nothing to change his reputation. Tara Reid (“American Pie”) plays Edward’s girlfriend, Aline, and she too is forced to shoot at everything that moves. The other characters in the movie are not remotely interesting and I did not care about any of them. The creatures in this movie are complete rip-offs of the Xenomorphs from the “Alien” franchise and they have the cheek to call them ‘Xenos’. The monsters look terrible as the special effects look really cheap and nasty.

This sci-fi/action/horror flick is a complete bore and it features some of the worst action sequences I have seen in a long time as they take place in the pitch black with only the gunfire producing any light. “Alone In The Dark” looks cheap, the acting is bad and the editing is dreadful. I’m unsure if fans of the videogames will find anything of any value here but I imagine anybody with any sanity would find this to be a bad movie. The only positive I can think of is that it is not quite as awful as “House of the Dead”.

“All Hallows’ Eve” is a seriously generic horror flick. It’s a movie with a cursed tape like “The Ring” and it has a maniacal serial killer that is clearly meant to be the next Freddy Krueger or Pinhead. There’s very little that’s truly new on offer with “All Hallows’ Eve”. It’s not a terrible movie but it is a forgettable one.

A young boy and his sister find an unmarked VHS tape in their Halloween candy collection and are eager to find out what is on it. Despite some objections from their babysitter, they all sit down to watch and the tape. It contains sadistic murders carried out by Art the Clown (Mike Giannelli). As the night goes on, questions are raised about how ‘real’ the violent images onscreen were.

The kids are okay for this type of movie. The babysitter is pretty annoying and once again, I am left wanting to see another Jamie Lee Curtis in “Halloween”. The babysitter is pretty dumb because she tells the kids that she will turn off the tape if it gets too violent (at least one of them is only 10). However, she lets the tape continue to roll even when it shows a pregnant woman having her baby ripped out of her stomach. Art the Clown does not speak but looks fairly sinister. There are other monsters that appear in the movie. There is a robotic one that looks absolutely ridiculous. Satan also appears on the tape at one point.

“All Hallows’ Eve” has some gory effects that are as violent as the ones that you can see in “Laid To Rest”, the 2006 “The Hills Have Eyes”, “Trick ‘r Treat” and countless other movies. The plot is not really very interesting here and the whole movie is just an excuse for the director to include some of his earlier short films.

James Cameron (“Titanic”) has made one of the few sequels that are superior to the original. “Aliens” is a fascinating movie with just as much suspense and sci-fi as before but this time with a faster pace and lots of great action sequences.

After Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver “Ghostbusters”) awakens from 57 years of suspended animation, she discovers the planet she and her crew visited in the first “Alien” has been colonized but contact has been lost. Ripley joins a bunch of marines as an advisor but when they arrive everyone is dead except for one little girl nicknamed Newt (Carrie Henn). The team of marines and Ripley then have to fight for survival as the aliens known as ‘Aliens’ (Xenomorphs to fans) attack in full force.

Sigourney Weaver is amazing this time as Ellen Ripley. The character feels deeper as her humanity is slipping away from her as she guns down the Aliens/Xenomorphs but the Newt character is the only thing keeping her from becoming just a cold killer as Ripley adopts a motherly role. The marines are fantastic. They’re so over the top and so fun that you can’t take your eyes off them. Although Michael Biehn (“The Terminator”) is good, Bill Paxton (“Twister”) makes for my favourite marine. The Aliens are done immensely well here.

“Aliens” isn’t a slow, horror vehicle like “Alien” but it has just as many great scares and wonderful suspense. Managing to keep the suspense and scares with a faster pace is hard but “Aliens” does just that. The action scenes are creative and mind-blowing. The score is one of the best aspects of the film. Despite a few cheesy moments “Aliens” is one of the best sci-fi/action films ever made with some great acting, fantastic action, suspenseful twists and turns and some unforgettable moments, making me enjoy this one more than the original “Alien”.

Ridley Scott (“Blade Runner”) is often considered to be one of the most talented filmmakers in the business and here is his 1979 sci-fi horror classic “Alien”. A fascinating movie that seems to manage to pay homage to “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” as well as adding its own remarkable items to the sci-fi movie universe.

In “Alien”, the crew of a mining vessel are woken up from suspended animation and receive a transmission from an uncharted world so they investigate for intelligent life. The crew member Kane (John Hurt “The Elephant Man”) finds a horde of eggs on the planet and a thing attaches himself to his face. Later and alien bursts out and starts killing the crew off one by one until only Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver “Ghostbusters”) is left.

The acting in this film isn’t brilliant and it’s not what you’ll remember the movie for but it’s not half bad. I think Sigourney Weaver as good as Ripley. John Hurt was good in this film as Kane in my opinion. Ian Holm (“The Fifth Element”) was good in this film as the science officer Ash. The rest of the crew were decent. The alien (known as ‘Alien’) was very convincing considering when this film was made and it’s great that most of the time you only get glimpses of him.

“Alien” features beautifully made sets, lots of good suspense and enough plot twists to make it a very enjoyable movie. The reason why the suspense is good is because it doesn’t set up a scene so you know where to look and the plot twists help that and also the fact the alien only pops in split-second shots for a lot of the film. I also like how the film waits a long time before you even get to see the alien much like the movie “Jaws” as it takes a long time before you see the shark.

“Alien: Resurrection” is a massive step above “Alien 3” but still remains a bad movie. “Alien: Resurrection” feels more like a mockery of the previous films by featuring superpowers and a few silly death scenes.

The movie takes places 200 years after “Alien 3” as we find Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver “Ghostbusters”, “Working Girl”) has been resurrected and the Alien Queen inside her is being grown as a group of scientists intend to tame it. The aliens known as ‘Aliens’ (or Xenomorphs) then take control of the ship so Ripley with her new superpowers must help the remaining survivors destroy the Aliens.

Sigourney Weaver is less than average as Ripley. She acts really weird this time as she likes to think of herself as the Alien Queen’s mother. It’s silly but hilarious when she says ‘I’m the monster’s mother’. The most annoying character is Call (Winona Ryder “Beetlejuice”). The Aliens look really good in this movie and a massive improvement over the rubbish one in “Alien 3” but I still prefer the more organic look in the first two as opposed to the computer effects look in this one. The rest of the characters are a bit weak and many of them are only there to die.

“Alien: Resurrection” is just stupid. It has so many flaws because of it being stupid but then again that is its best quality as well. Although bits of it are funny I wish they’d tried to ignore “Alien 3” (pretend it took place in another dimension) and instead take the story as if Ripley got to Earth and she’s been there for a while now as she looks way too old in this one considering after every movie she’s in cryo-sleep or dead. Unless you are absolutely desperate to see a film that shreds any remaining dignity from the once great “Alien” franchise by being a silly gore fest then I think you’ll find “Alien: Resurrection” is probably the movie for you.