First off, let’s make it clear that this has nothing to do with the first “8MM”. The original movie starred Nicolas Cage (“Vampire’s Kiss”) as private investigator trying to verify if a snuff film is real or not. This ‘sequel’ was originally titled “The Velvet Side Of Hell” but the distributors decided to just change it to “8MM 2”.

In “8MM 2”, David (Johnathon Schaech “That Thing You Do!”) is an aspiring politician that is about to marry Tish (Lori Heuring “Just Go With It”), who is the daughter of America’s ambassador to Hungary. The two engage in a threesome with the mysterious Risa (Zita Görög “Underworld”) but it was secretly being filmed. Now, they are being blackmailed.

The main characters in this film are so stupid. They are bothered about a tape of them having a threesome might wreck their careers so they decide the solution is to try and find the girl by visiting Budapest’s sex shops, strip clubs and any other vaguely seedy place. What if somebody spotted them there or got a photo? The acting is not too bad but I think the idiocy of the characters makes it hard to care about them. Most of the women in the movie are seen naked.

I won’t bother comparing it to the first movie because the two have no real connection. This is a stupid movie with characters that make dumb decisions. It has ending that is just ridiculous and makes no sense. It’s also another movie that makes Central and Eastern Europe look like the main place sexual depravity. It does for Hungary what “Hostel” did for Slovakia and “Hellraiser: Deader” did for Romania. If you really like erotic thrillers such as “Basic Instinct”, “Disclosure” and “Sliver” then maybe you’ll get a kick out of “8MM 2” (or “The Velvet Side Of Hell” as it should be known as).

There are plenty of actors and actresses out there that we know best for their comedic work. Sometimes, they decide to try and do more serious roles. Here is a list of films with some funny faces in them. Be aware of spoilers.

5. One Hour Photo – Robin Williams

Robin Williams is one of the most versatile actors ever. He has done other serious films but he’s still primarily known for family movies including “Aladdin”, “Jumanji”, “Flubber” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” as well as his stand-up comedy work. It’s then really quite impressive when we see him in a film as disturbing as this. There’s nothing creepier than thinking you are being stalked by someone that is just a minor part of your life and it’s even scarier when it’s Robin Williams doing the stalking.

4. The Number 23 – Jim Carrey

Like Williams, Jim Carrey is another really talented actor. However, we often mainly think of him goofing around in “Ace Ventura”, “The Mask” and “Bruce Almighty”. “The Number 23” is easily one of his darkest movies as we see a man’s descent into madness as he tries to figure out the numeric clues inside a mysterious novel. It’s an underrated murder mystery flick.

3. Blood Work – Jeff Daniels

He’s done a variety of movies including “Speed” and “Gettysburg” but let’s be honest, it’s “Dumb And Dumber” that we most associate with Jeff Daniels. He’s also done other comedies such as “My Favourite Martian”. “Blood Work” is truly clever as you initially think Daniels is the comic relief but he turns out to be the bad guy in this Clint Eastwood thriller.

2. Vice – Steve Carrell and Tyler Perry

“Vice” stars Christian Bale as Dick Cheney but it also features Steve Carrell (“Evan Almighty”) as Donald Rumsfeld and Tyler Perry (“Diary Of A Mad Black Woman”) as Colin Powell. It’s pretty bizarre seeing Madea himself as a serious politician discussing the Iraq War.

1. Requiem For A Dream – Marlon Wayans

Marlon Wayans has starred in many comedy films with his brothers such as “Scary Movie”, “White Chicks” and “Mo’ Money”. He’s never been seen as a particularly good actor so it’s really jarring to see him in “Requiem For A Dream”. This is a disturbing movie about the impact of drug use and to see one of the stars of “White Chicks” here feels completely surreal. He’s actually really good in the role.

“House On Haunted Hill” is a seriously disappointing mystery movie. This came out a few years before “The Haunting”. The two films are quite similar both in terms of content and in terms of the quality. Both also got remakes in the 90s. This movie just isn’t scary and the mystery is not interesting.

Frederick Loren (Vincent Price “The Fly”, “The Last Man On Earth”) is an eccentric millionaire, who has offered $10,000 to each member of a group of individuals tasked with staying in a large and spooky mansion. Is the place or haunted by ghosts or is something else going on? It will be a night of terror and death.

Vincent Price is as whacky as always. However, this is another movie where he’s stuck with a completely dud script. We have a collection of other characters but none of them are very interesting. Elisha Cook Jr. (“The Maltese Falcon”, “The Killing”) plays Watson Pritchard, a man convinced that there are ghosts in the mansion. Carol Craig (“Giant”) plays Nora Manning and she’s probably the best of the bunch. I just didn’t care about any of the characters and you need to care about the characters in a movie such as this.

“House On Haunted Hill” starts off like a generic ghost movie and ends with a rubbish twist that is clearly trying to be like a twist from a Hitchcock film such as “Vertigo”. Some of the special effects are absolutely awful; the severed head could not look more fake. If you like old ghost movies such as the original versions of “The Haunting” and “13 Ghosts” then maybe this is the movie for you. I just thought it was dreadfully dull. It’s frustrating because we know Price can be really entertaining when given good material to work with.

There are plenty of whacky martial arts films out there including “Shaolin Soccer” and “Riki-Oh”. It’s hard to make a list when there are so many to choose from. Here is a selection of truly crazy martial arts movies.

5. Game Of Death

After martial arts legend Bruce Lee (“Enter The Dragon”) died, attempts were made to cobble a film together using footage he already shot for a new movie. What we got was this total mess that utilises stock footage from earlier Lee films such as “The Way of the Dragon” as well as stand-ins and lots of other whacky tricks to try and fool you into thinking this is a genuine Bruce Lee movie. It’s never convincing as it’s so obvious what they are doing.

4. The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires

What do you get when you combine the kung-fu madness of Shaw Brothers with the gothic horror style of Hammer? You get this bizarre film that stars Peter Cushing (“Star Wars”) battling Dracula and his martial arts minions in China.

3. Game Of Death II

It’s hard to top the ridiculousness of the first “Game Of Death” but this sequel manages it. Yet more dodgy tricks to make you think it’s a real Bruce Lee movie. However, this one also features a guy fighting what is meant to be a real lion but it’s clearly a guy in a bad costume.

2. Infra-Man

Shaw Brothers made many crazy kung-fu movies but their crowning achievement is arguably “Infra-Man”. This is like “Ultraman” with a superhero battling lots of silly monsters with his martial arts skills. Very cheesy but very funny.

1. The Dragon Lives Again

“The Dragon Lives Again” was one of countless ‘Bruceploitation’ films designed to cash-in on the popularity of Bruce Lee films after his death. This one sees Bruce Lee (or a guy playing him) join forces with Popeye to fight James Bond, Dracula and other famous film characters. It’s a complete mess from start to finish but where else can you see Popeye and Dracula in the same movie?

“Freaks” is a film that arguably defies the criteria for a normal review. Originally released in 1932, this film caused quite a stir and was even banned in the United Kingdom and parts of the United States. It features real circus ‘freaks’ so it’s hard to know whether it should be viewed as exploitative or not. It’s certainly an ugly and unpleasant film.

Hans (Harry Earles) is a dwarf, who falls for a trapeze artist (Olga Baclanova “The Man Who Laughs”). They both work in a circus and she decides to marry him after learning that he is set to inherit lots of money. However, the other sideshow performers turn on her when her motives for marrying Hans and her true opinion of the other performers are revealed.

It’s pretty horrifying seeing all the different deformed performers. We have people without limbs, people with deformed heads and somebody with no clear sex. Sideshows may have once been a staple of circuses but society has since come to view them as cruel and exploitative. I don’t know if any of these performers were in pain due to their conditions. It is certainly uncomfortable to watch them. The other characters are not particularly interesting to me.

Maybe “Freaks” is a brilliant horror movie because it is unsettling to watch and maybe it gave sideshow performers the chance to be the stars of a Hollywood movie but it’s not a film I remotely enjoyed watching. Some may find it an interesting piece of cinematic history and others may be intrigued by seeing an insight into the life of sideshow performers. To judge as just a normal film seems unfair because so many questions around the morality of watching it are not easily answered. I felt queasy watching “Freaks” and I don’t really think anybody else would feel particularly great watching it.

Ren and Stimpy return in the disastrous “Ren & Stimpy: Adult Party Cartoon”. John Kricfalusi created the characters and the original series but was fired from “The Ren & Stimpy Show” due to creative differences and frequently missing deadlines. Here, he seems to have full creative control but that’s not necessarily a good thing. The old show was angry and outrageous but it had enough charm to pull it off, now we just have angry and outrageous.

We get more adventures with Ren the chihuahua and Stimpy the cat but this time, things are more adult-oriented. Prepare things to get even more violent, aggressive and disgusting than the old show and this time, things get rather sexual as well.

I like the Ren and Stimpy characters because they make a good comedic duo and they felt like the 90s answer to Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. However, when you have scripts that are as depraved as the ones in “Adult Party Cartoon”, it’s hard to find yourself enjoying the characters. Ren was always violent but he used to be funny, not in this show. Stimpy used to be a loveable goof. He was rather innocent and naive but now he’s just completely side-lined by the aggression of Ren. The animation on the characters does not look as creative this time around either.

It’s hard to explain exactly why the old show was so good and this sequel series is so bad. The old show walked the fine line between entertaining and purely bad taste. The new show crosses over into the purely bad taste category. “The Ren & Stimpy Show” felt like a throwback to the old “Looney Tunes” cartoons of the 50s but with a 90s twist. “Adult Party Cartoon” has scripts that seem like they were made by sick fans on the internet. This just wants to shock, not shock and entertain. Do not accidentally let your kids watch this version as this is way more disgusting and perverted than the old series.

“Nerve” is a surprisingly unsettling film that successfully manages to give a plausible depiction of the potential dangers of the internet and people wanting fame at any cost. I was genuinely impressed with how well this movie seemed to actually understand how the internet works.

Vee (Emma Roberts “We’re The Millers”, “Wild Child”) is a somewhat shy teen that gets immersed in a seedy online game where ‘players’ must complete dares set by anonymous ‘watchers’. The dares start off relatively harmless but become increasingly dangerous yet Vee finds herself addicted to the game. It may have terrible consequences not just for her but for wider society as more and more people log in to watch.

Emma Roberts does a really good job and she’s very believable in the role. The irony is of course that she starts doing the dares as a means of showing that she won’t be told what to do by her friends but ends up being manipulated by the online community. Dave Franco (“21 Jump Street”) plays Ian, another “Nerve” player that gets partnered with Vee for many of the dares. He’s okay but nothing special. The other characters are okay but it’s really Emma Roberts that steals the show.

“Nerve” may end up being pretty dated in several years in terms of the technology it shows but its ideas perfectly capture a lot of the genuine risks of the internet. We get to see what people think they can get away with because they are anonymous, we see hacking of social media profiles and bank accounts and we see teens desperate to get as much approval from strangers as they possibly can. “Nerve” is not a flawless movie by any stretch of the imagination but it is a very entertaining thriller about technology. I can imagine a lot of people finding it really disturbing so watch it if you dare.

“The Intergalactic Adventures Of Max Cloud” (also known as “Max Cloud”) is a really bad film about retro videogames. Scott Adkins (“Accident Man”, “Ninja”) is clearly trying to show us that he can do more comedic roles but the film is just terrible. It is so similar to a game that we just want to pick it up and play it but instead, we’re sat watching somebody else play.

In this movie, Sarah (Isabelle Allen “Killers Anonymous”) is a gamer in the early 90s that finds herself transported into a sci-fi videogame after discovering an easter egg. Now, she’s trapped inside where losing a life in the game could really mean death.

Scott Adkins plays Max Cloud. He gets to do some fighting and that’s good but all the comedy just falls flat. It’s a shame that Adkins has picked this script to try and showcase more of his acting range. Isabelle Allen is forgettable as Sarah. When inside the game, she’s actually playing as a male character so we don’t even see Isabelle Allen for most of the movie. She’s being controlled by her friend ‘Cowboy’ and he’s easily the dullest character in the whole movie. The villains are not remotely memorable.

I’ll admit that the makers of the film have captured the whole retro 80s and 90s aesthetic but the whole film is all style and absolutely no substance. The action sequences are often irritating due to their speed and other gimmicks to make it look more like a game. Some of the special effects are okay but instead of being impressed by them, we are just cringing at the horrendous dialog. It’s basically “Jumanji” meets “Zathura” but with a really bad script. I hope Adkins can find some more interesting roles that showcase more of his comedic side.

“Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” is a film that gets debated by countless sci-fi fans around the world. While many accept it for what it is, others see it as damaging to the original “Star Wars” trilogy’s legacy. However, “The Phantom Menace” remains a uniquely interesting film to watch.

George Lucas directed the first “Star Wars” film back in 1977. At the time, nobody could have predicted how iconic the movie and the galaxy it created would be. Cast and crew would disagree with Lucas at times and Lucas had more financial constraints. Lucas did not actually direct the other instalments in the original trilogy but he was still heavily involved in their production. Despite some more freedom both artistically and financial, Lucas still faced some pressure from those around him.

By the time the prequel trilogy was in the works, Lucas was being hailed as a cinematic master. Suddenly, he had more money and more freedom than ever before despite the fact he hadn’t actually done any directing since the first movie. “The Phantom Menace” was when Lucas got given virtually unparalleled creative freedom. If there had been more resistance from those involved in production, would Jar Jar Binks have ever made into the film?

After “The Phantom Menace” hit theatres, there was some backlash from “Star Wars” fans. Criticisms of the movie included changes to the “Star Wars” mythology, the overuse of C.G.I. and the inclusion of characters such as Jar Jar Binks. Lucas took some notice and made some alterations to his plans for the rest of the prequel trilogy. This means “The Phantom Menace” is really the only time we got to see Lucas completely unfiltered. I can’t think of another movie this big where a director was given such freedom.

Lots of films upset a lot of people. Sometimes, it can be understandable but other times it can be completely unjustified. However, here are some films that were actually quite offensive (at least I imagine they would be to a lot of people) yet somehow avoided controversy.

5. The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!

Considering how many people complained about the “South Park” tv show and film, “Drawn Together” was able to get away with even more outrageous bad taste humour without attracting the attention of the masses. Filled with graphic depictions of sex, puppies being stamped on, a man urinating into a corpse and tons of anti-Semitic gags, “The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!” is truly vile.

4. White Chicks

The Wayans brothers (“Scary Movie”) play black F.B.I. agents that disguise themselves as white women using prosthetics. Considering how taboo blackface routines have become, this is essentially an equivalent. Had this film been about white guys pretending to be black women, I suspect there would have been more outcry.

3. Rampage

Not to be confused with the Dwayne Johnson movie of the same name, this thriller directed by Uwe Boll (“BloodRayne”, “Postal”) offers a realistic depiction of how to get away with a mass shooting. Considering how the media, politicians and parenting groups are often so quick to point to films and videogames for inspiring mass shootings, it’s amazing that this film didn’t get more criticism.

2. Jerusalem Countdown

Remember just how controversial “The Da Vinci Code” was? Well, “Jerusalem Countdown” managed to be even more theologically questionable. This is a film where an Israeli Prime Minister gets assassinated and Iran works with Russia to try and carry out nuclear terrorism within America. While all this is happening, the rapture is upon us too.

1. Thank You For Smoking

A film all about the tobacco lobby in the United States. This satirical picture gets pretty dark as it shows you just how sneaky big tobacco can be as he masks the serious health implications of smoking. More people die of tobacco-related illnesses than alcoholism and gun violence. It definitely covers a dark subject matter.