Though extremely violent, the film is surprisingly boring in spots.

Buoyed by a distinguished cast of horror veterans, Bloch's well-written script, and Baker's deft direction, Asylum is the most satisfying of the horror anthologies of the 1970s.

A brilliant surrealistic joke about a group of friends whose attempts to dine are continually thwarted.

The mind marvels at the bravery of the person who walked into the producer's office to pitch this idea.

An ugly, disturbing, passionately conceived cult favorite, Last House on the Left is much more complex (albeit crudely made) than its controversial reputation would suggest.

Sounder is one of the truest examples of a family film ever made and a triumph for all concerned.

Far from a perfect movie, or even Lee's best, but it shows that he may have developed into an original and talented filmmaker.

Where this film towers above the first one is in the music, written by Disney stalwarts Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman.

Seven segments make up this melange--some of them work; some of them are dreadful. It was Allen's sixth screenplay, his third directorial assignment, and one of his weakest efforts.

This interesting feature is one of the few Hollywood films that takes an honest look at the lives of African-Americans in the ghetto.

Fat City is both an extraordinarily realistic look at the bottom rungs of the fight game and a moving exploration of the human condition.

Morose, shockingly violent yet strangely beautiful, Deliverance is a tale of what happens to civilized values when put to the test in a hostile wilderness environment.

One is left with an overwhelming sense of knowledge about these characters and of human nature, and finally, a recognition of the profound sadness of everyday life. LATE SPRING is truly transcendent.

Bad editing, uninspired direction, and a script that teetered precariously on the verge of parodying a John Wayne movie combined to make Joe Kidd nothing more than a plodding shoot-em-up.

This film ventures into slightly darker psychodramatic territory than much of Ozu's work, by courageously dramatizing and exploring issues such as maternal abandonment, broken families and substance abuse.

Melville coolly mixes the conventions of American crime films from the '40s and '50s ( THIS GUN FOR HIRE is one key reference point) with a distinctly European austerity, yet the film still manages to pack quite an emotional punch.

Predictable and dull, though sleazy brothers Borgnine, Martin, and Elam are terrific.

An allegorical fable of fascism and slavery, CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES is the best of the four sequels in the hugely successful APES series, as well as being the darkest and most violent.

Handlers, spin-doctors, and the good man they lead astray. Jeremy Larner's Academy Award-winning screenplay provides a voyage into the sea of politics; the result is a fascinating film that sometimes feels like a documentary. Despite minor glitches, this is a prophetic glimpse of politics in the age of TV.

Hitchcock's first British film in almost two decades marked a smashing return to his earlier form .

Lots of violence, typical of the Corman exploitation mill, but the film still shows the budding talent of Scorsese in his use of moving-camera and period detail.

Highly derivative of Night Of The Living Dead and filled with amateurish performances, strained comedy, and zero production values, Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things does convey, nonetheless, an undeniable power in the rising-dead scenes and a genuine mood of unease throughout that most big-budget horror outings fail to capture.

Well-plotted action, but as in most of Leone's films scenes seem to have been deleted from the American prints.

Director John Hough, who made his mark in several episodes of the popular television series The Avengers, keeps things moving at a brisk pace and stages the scenes of horror with considerable panache.

Director Robert Mulligan does an excellent job of evoking both the historical period and the terror, aided greatly by Robert Surtees' fine photography. The performances from the Udvarnoky twins are nuanced and memorable. Well worth seeing.

Beautifully photographed in the wilds of Utah, this film unfortunately doesn't know when to stop; it feels consumed by a self-concious desire to be arty, and offers a treatment too cool for its subject matter. The dialogue, by John Milius and Edward Anhalt, is full of homespun homilies that undercut the attempted seriousness.

A true film buff's film about a film buff.

Stereotypes abound in this foolish, witless western--a production misusing the fine talent in its cast.

All in all, Fritz is best observed as a cultural artifact, with its success allowing Bakshi to follow it up with more heartfelt projects such as Heavy Traffic (1973) and Coonskin (1975).

The Godfather is a generational saga; it's also an action film; but above all, it catches the imagination of audiences because it suggests that the career of a gangster is not so very different from the career of a businessman or a politician.

The improbable star of this ultra-low budget cinematic gross-out is 300-pound transvestite Divine, whose willingness to do virtually anything in front of the camera, along with an undeniable screen presence, made Pink Flamingos a favorite on the campus and midnight-movie circuits.

Delicately constructed and deliberately leisurely, TOKYO STORY allows its dramatic content and thematic concerns to envelop an audience the way social mores envelop the films' characters.

An attempt to capitalize on the success of WILLARD (1971), this silly-sounding revenge-of-nature film is surprisingly effective.

Silent Running concentrates heavily on special effects, resulting in some stunning imagery. Dern gives an engaging, against-type performance, though the script is stretched out very thin to support a feature-length film.

While WHAT'S UP, DOC? may not be as great as the classic screwball comedies of the 1930s and 40s, director Bogdanovich has delivered a film with energy, wit, and a madcap pace that is well worth watching.

Chilling Fosse vision of Weimar Berlin, stylishly directed and choreographed, featuring a show-stopping musical performance by Minnelli, Grey's unforgettable emcee and thoughtful acting from Michael York.

By Romero's own admission the film was a disaster and shouldn't have been made at all. It is quite obvious the director's heart just wasn't in it.

A couple of good jokes and a superior performance by Martin are all that distinguish this feeble attempt at capturing the same audience who loved Newman in BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. Rosenberg's direction is pedestrian.

Director Yates, critically hailed for BULLITT (1968), seems to have little idea what to do with Redford, and the slowest parts of the film are the scenes developing his character into someone the audience still doesn't especially care about. The rest of the film, though, is quite enjoyable as the gang commits elaborate caper after elaborate caper, always finding their objective has just eluded them.

Mark Rydell shows some fine touches in his third feature, but the result is an overlong and often-dull movie that had the rare distinction of being one of the few John Wayne westerns that gasped at the box office.

A fascist film, or a film about a fascist cop? Either way, this is suspenseful, energetic stuff, directed with urgency and style by Cahiers du Cinema favorite Don Siegel.

Straw Dogs is one of Sam Peckinpah's finest films, a relentless study in violence and machismo that is shocking, not only for its explicit gore, but for the degree to which it manipulates "civilized" audiences. Even the most passive viewer may find himself silently cheering on the carnage at the film's climax--an act that, in retrospect, gives much cause for discomfort.

The picture is long, beautiful, and dull.

A little too much talk and not enough action, but it's still fun.

With MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ, Cassavetes took a break from the decidedly somber mood of FACES and HUSBANDS, and produced the most accessible, and endearing example of his very exceptional art.

Kubrick's liberal, anti-authoritarian reading of Anthony Burgess's very Catholic allegorical novel is morally confused but tremendously powerful... No serious moviegoer can afford to ignore it.

This is a doggedly eccentric film which some will reject out of hand. Others will find it profoundly moving and life affirming.

The Las Vegas locations sizzle and the script at least has the good sense not to take itself too seriously.

The laughs are sardonic, and the reality of Chayefsky's heavy-handed message (i.e., hospitals treat their patients badly) eats away at the viewer. But even when it falls flat, it's still an interesting watch.

Filled with unique special effects and delightful music.

While it remains a treat for the eyes, NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA suffers from the filmmakers' attempts to tell too much.

The script is full of inconsistencies, and the humor is strictly of the New York nebbish school, but it's well worth checking out.

An exquisite piece of streamlined suspense and action that clearly demonstrates that the 24-year-old filmmaker was already in full control of his vision.

A superior thriller, Play Misty For Me proved that popular actor Eastwood could direct himself in a film, concentrate on every aspect of the production from the visuals to the performances, and complete the shooting ahead of schedule and under budget. What he delivered was an engrossing study of how loneliness and longing can be transformed into irrational rage after a thoughtless act of selfish indulgence. Much of the credit must go to Jessica Walter for her outstanding performance which somehow manages to be chilling while at the same time sympathetic.

What could have been a brilliant film experience, expanding on the stage version as only film can, ends up instead as a series of wonderful bits and pieces.

Bogdanovich's finest effort; bleak and beguiling.

One of the best of many early 1970s vampire movies inspired by Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla, Daughters of Darkness is remarkable not only for its eroticism, but for Kumel's stunning visual style, reminiscent of that of Josef von Sternberg.

This tough, brilliant crime film features Hackman as the indefatigable Popeye Doyle, who passionately hates drug pushers.

This is a funny, entertaining comedy that handles its touchy subject with great skill and sensitivity.

This was the feature debut of director John Hancock (who would go on to BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY and WEEDS), and he does a fairly effective job of pulling good shocks out of this somewhat familiar material. The script doesn't help his cause: it's badly underdeveloped and contains some confusing inconsistencies.

Trumbo, directing his first film, drives home his points in a somewhat obvious, often awkward fashion that is overly talky, but so disquieting is his story and the reality underlying it that it is difficult not to be moved by the film and Bottoms' fine performance.

A humorless Greek-tragedy western with little going for it save its inexorable momentum toward the obvious end.

Badly dated and clumsily allegorical, The Omega Man has some fairly interesting moments, the most memorable being the view of a devastated, empty downtown Los Angeles.

Willard could have been a great horror film; instead, it just makes you want to lift your feet safely off the floor.

Players give excellent portrayals, but the picture is lacking in both setting and direction.

Gripping adventure tale.

The set design, by future director Derek Jarman, is probably the most successful element of the film.

Supposedly a no-holds-barred look at the seamy heroin subculture, The Panic in Needle Park is really little more than a boring romance between two dullards intercut with close-ups of filthy needles being jabbed into scarred veins.

Certainly not an average car chase movie, Two-Lane Blacktop is perhaps director Monte Hellman's finest film.

A hard-hitting action thriller.

One of the most original, visually stunning, and provocative films of the 1970s, Walkabout is timeless in its beauty and unique approach to a classic coming-of-age story. The film is arguably director Nicolas Roeg's finest achievement.

Adapted (with some changes) by Roald Dahl from his famous children's book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Willy Wonka creates a marvelous world as close to heaven as any kid can imagine and never talks down to its young audience. The film is sometimes dark in its tone but by the end (when Wonka's motives and true nature are revealed) it is fabulously uplifting.

This light-hearted fun is made to work thanks to the performances of a well-chosen cast, though the overall pacing drags and the editing is rough.

An uneven but unusually thoughtful melodrama, Carnal Knowledge avoids most of the the trendy excesses that make some other films of its era so difficult to watch today.

One of the best things the highly variable Jane Fonda has ever done.

A grim and dirty slice of bleak frontier life rendered with extraordinary beauty.

Racing fans should love Le Mans' dazzling documentary-like photography, including actual footage from the 1969 and 1970 races, but those who are more interested in an involving story may be disappointed.

A good example of the now-neglected caper genre.

This film was a feeble attempt by Hammer to bring some freshness to its series of Frankenstein films by introducing black humor. The jokes are told in such a straightforward, dry manner, however, that you're never sure whether they're supposed to be taken seriously. 

There are some genuinely chilling scenes, but it is still a made-for-TV-ish ROSEMARY'S BABY rip-off.

A strange movie that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. Sentimental, biting, satirical, whimsical, and self-righteous, it begins with a romp at high speed, then goes straight into a hole from which it never emerges.

O'Hara looks like she's just doing Wayne a favor, and Pat Wayne and singer Vinton just don't have much screen presence. These weaknesses plus a mediocre script add up to a very weak Wayne outing.

Former actor Don Taylor directs smoothly and efficiently and elicits fine performances from the cast, highlighted by the warm relationship between Zira, (a touching Kim Hunter) and Cornelius, knowingly played by Roddy McDowall, who returns in the role after being replaced in the first sequel because he was directing a movie (TAM-LIN) at the time.

The film's standout moments include a photographer's (Vittorio Congia) death in front of a moving train; a car chase the streets of Rome; a sequence involving poisoned milk (a clear tip of the black leather gloves to Alfred Hitchcock's 1941 Suspician); and a final rooftop battle between Giordani and the elusive killer. Morricone's music fits tightly into this sophomore suspenser by Italian giallo specialist Dario Argento.

Some good gags and expert comedy performances.

The material played upon all the best aspects of the socially conscious movements of the 1960s, and then perverted them by preaching that violence is indeed the solution to problems as long as it's for the right cause.

Although some of the humor falls flat in this Allen comedy, his satire of revolutions and revolutionaries is perpetually topical.

A landmark in Black filmmaking in the U.S., this angry, extravagant, loud, belligerent movie reaches a high pitch early on and stays there.

People who actually recall 1942 will more greatly appreciate the waves of nostalgia that bathe this affectionate coming-of-age drama, set on a tiny island off New England.

Skillfully written by Bloch and boasting an excellent cast, this omnibus is a bit better than most and was the feature debut of television director Peter Duffell.

It's funny when it shouldn't be, sentimental to a fault and has one of the goriest scenes ever shot.

Grim, violent, and stylishly directed, Get Carter is an interesting film that brings some freshness to British crime cinema.

This is a very funny satire of television.

A fairly interesting, but somewhat muddled, road movie starring Newman as an ex-cop who now drives cars from Denver to San Francisco for a living.

An intriguing, suspenseful story is somewhat hampered by a dull cast.

Good direction and fine performances keep the pace of this lengthy film moving and prevent the material's descent into maudlin sentimentality.

One of the most cynical and bitterly funny westerns ever made.

An enjoyable mix of fine animation, catchy songs, and outstanding voice characterizations.