BODY SNATCHERS - No-one did seventies conspiracy angst like Phil Kaufman in his 1978 remake of 'Invasion Of The Body Snatchers'. Things had moved on by 1993, the year of the animatronic dinosaur, but Abel Ferrara's 'Body Snatchers' stands tall as an avatar of paranoia. It's set on a military base where echoes of The Gulf / Kuwait linger in the air; Ferrara's neo-noir palette of backlit blinds and long shadows pretties up the grim vibes, but then so does Meg Tilly, who takes centre stage when she transforms from goofy mum to sultry pod vixen.
NOT OF THIS EARTH - A remake of Corman's fifties B movie. You can tell it's the mid-nineties by the way people go on about the internet and the preponderance of goth-vamp-aliens in PVC coats. One day, badly outdated CGI will be cherished in the same way old H G Lewis-style butcher's window-type gore is now (ie not at all by some, but I kind of like it, and I love the awful computer generated Lovecraftian jellyfish near the end in this). Otherwise, 'Not Of This Earth' carries a vibe I always appreciate, that of a bad film played straight. I should mention, our man with the shades and the transfusion fixation is played by Peter York. Might not have been a good year for him.
RELIC - I always think that films about the horrors of old age are a bit patronising. 'Relic' doesn't necessarily take that line, but any movie exploring inter-generational trauma is going to touch on similar themes. Mother and daughter (who don't get along) go to gran's house to find out why she's been wandering in the night; is it the start of dementia, or something more otherworldly? 'Relic' is a sly observer of slippery dynamics, and there's enough in that to make for compelling viewing. The bigger draw for me is that it's basically also a film about sinister mould! It's all very well stylised and visually manicured in an A24 vein, an exercise in creeping tension that occasionally trips up when it forgoes subtle dread for moments of horror bluntness. A good film overall.
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