The Shootist is an uneven, elegiac tribute to a great career. The script leaves a lot to be desired, but is compensated for by some fine performances (especially Wayne's), Bruce Surtees' poignant cinematography, and Don Siegel's carefully paced direction.

Although not so clever or original as its predecessor, Futureworld is effective.

For a De Palma film, Obsession has much more suspense than violence, even if much of the premise and motivations are shamelessly culled from Hitchcock's Vertigo, as is composer Bernard Herrmann. The lack of originality, however, doesn't make Obsession any less effective, and the film has been generally overlooked in the spotty De Palma canon.

Beautifully photographed in locations from Bavaria to London to the English countryside, and including some excellent special effects from Les Bowie, TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER deteriorates a bit in its relatively ludicrous ending. The film does, however, boast some truly frightening images of black magic rituals, a gruesome birth scene, and a very immodest Kinski.

It's a one-joke film that's stretched well beyond its welcome.

A sensitive, thought-provoking story involving a man forced to look at himself as youth gives way to middle age. Elliott is outstanding as the title character, an old-timer in the profession at age 30.

Predictable but pleasant fluff.

Far from Bartel's best exploitation work but worth a look for low-budget cult fanatics.

Cronenberg's brand of body horror isn't to everyone's taste, but to call him a reactionary anti-sensualist who metes out grotesque punishment for sins of the flesh -- as detractors have -- is to miss the point.

A must-see for Beatles buffs and anyone interested in how the '60s looked as they were happening (rather than in slick, retrospective recreations); others might want to take a pass.

A cautiously optimistic epic, deeply rooted in American history. Bolstered by Surtees's magnificent cinematography, Fielding's fine score and an excellent supporting cast highlighted by the scene-stealing dry wit of Chief Dan George, Josey Wales affirms life and community with bracing conviction.

Technically, The Tenant is superb, with stunning camerawork by Sven Nykvist, an eerie score by Philippe Sarde, and thoroughly convincing performances from the entire cast. (Review of original release)

This silly and bloody, but at times very effective, horror film takes The Exorcist one step further by concentrating, not on possession by the Devil, but on the Antichrist himself.

Paul Newman gives one of his best comic performances in Robert Altman's underrated BUFFALO BILL AND THE INDIANS, OR SITTING BULL'S HISTORY LESSON, an irreverent western satire that portrays American history as pure showbiz sham and "nothing more than disrespect for the dead," as Sitting Bull claims.

Hit-and-miss.

This spoof of the great fictional-film detectives offers consistently funny scenes sparked by Falk, Niven, Sellers, and Guinness.

Despite a crowded cast of famous actors, this WW II adventure falls flat because of its claustrophobic sets, cliche dialog, and hackneyed story.

Performances are weak all around, and Gordon hits his nadir in his cinematic vision of irregularly sized creatures.

A series of heavily telegraphed, desperately played and incredibly unfunny sight gags, Silent Movie is truly a maddeningly insulting salute to the golden age of film comedy.

Argento here presents a stylish and compelling film that boasts remarkable visuals and an inventive use of sound effects and music.

The cast gives believable and realistic performances, with script and direction contributing a sleekness, although the underlying messages receive undue emphasis.

The whole thing, script, acting, and especially Penn's heavy-handed direction, is bizarre. Yet there's a perverse joy in watching Brando and Nicholson try to compete with each other in mugging, switching accents, and mannerisms that could only be found elsewhere in institutions like the Bellevue Insane Asylum.

Film Ventures International (FVI) specialized in turning out cheap imitations of big blockbusters. When The Exorcist came out, FVI followed it with Beyond the Door; while Jaws was a number one money-grosser, FVI came out with this film, replacing the shark with a 15-foot bear.

This picture never moves past dull, sitcom humor.

Basically, the feeling one gets is that there was so much musical material left from THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT! that they just threw the rest into PART II, and then decided to expand on it with comedy and drama in order to be able to show The Marx Brothers, Greta Garbo, and others.

Filled with interesting characters and strong performances, Stay Hungry not only makes its point about class prejudice, but presents a detailed portrait of southern country club culture and the bodybuilding milieu that would be so deftly captured in Schwarzenegger's next film, the fine documentary Pumping Iron.

The film features a host of fine character portrayals and a compelling climax that compensates for its length.

The performances are first-rate (finally free of the casting constraints, Hitchcock displayed--in 1972's Frenzy as well--a deliciously offbeat taste in performers) and the screenplay by Ernest Lehman (North By Northwest) is a witty model of construction. The humor is more obvious and subversive than any of Hitchcock's films since The Trouble With Harry.