Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch head to war as a couple whose seemingly perfect marriage slowly unravels into a chaotic, darkly funny divorce.

Ivy is a rising chef stealing the spotlight while her husband Theo, an architect, flounders after losing his job. Their witty banter soon mutates into sharp-edged pranks, stinging digs, and mischievous one-upmanship, turning domestic life into a battlefield of absurd delights.

Director Jay Roach hits the sweet spot between laughs and real emotional stakes, while Tony McNamara’s script, inspired by the 1989 original, revels in the ways couples drive each other crazy over decades. Colman and Cumberbatch, equally skilled in drama and comedy, sparkle as they navigate outrageous scenarios with mischievous precision, turning love, ambition, and jealousy into riotously relatable fun.

Supporting players Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon, Allison Janney, and Ncuti Gatwa add extra chaos and comic spark, keeping the energy buzzing. This is a film that savours the unpredictable, messy side of love, showing just how quickly affection can veer into rivalry and how, even in the middle of a domestic war, outwitting and outplaying each other can be endlessly hilarious.

The incredibly successful Conjuring franchise reaches its final installment, as our intrepid ghost hunters, The Warrens, take on a very personal case.

It’s 1964, a young Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) prepare for the birth of their first child. But Lorraine’s labour comes on suddenly when she’s confronted with an evil mirror, and it threatens disaster. Cut to 22 years later, when their adult daughter Judy (Mia Tomlinson) brings home her boyfriend Tony (Ben Hardy) and both mother and daughter start to experience strange and terrifying visions. They seem to have something to do with the Smurl family in Pennsylvania, who are experiencing a haunting that also, whaddaya know, follows the arrival of an antique mirror in their home; spooky antics are, of course, abound.

Wilson and Farmiga remain solidly incarnate throughout, like paranormal super-heroes, capable of enlivening even speculative spiritual dialogue. Being the (supposed) final film, there are callbacks to the previous entries to tie everything together neatly at the end. It’s sinister fun, just don’t watch it before attempting to enter the loft and pantry.

Everyone’s favourite felons return in this bigger, bolder sequel from DreamWorks Animation, packed with action, humour, and a fresh criminal twist.

The reformed Bad Guys – suave pickpocket Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), grumpy safe cracker Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), master of disguise Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), fiery Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), and expert hacker Ms. Tarantula aka Webs (Awkwafina) – are trying their best to stay on the right side of the law. But when a new team of slick criminals known as The Bad Girls hijacks their plans, they are pulled into a globe trotting heist with stakes higher than ever.

This time Wolf struggles with his new role as a “good guy,” questioning his place in a society that still sees him as a villain. If the first film was about redemption, this is about reinsertion, learning how to fit in after changing who you are.

New characters add fresh energy, including a dry sarcastic raven (Natasha Lyonne) and a wild boar with childish enthusiasm (Maria Bakalova). With thrilling action sequences, playful humour, and striking animation, this is a confident sequel that is bigger, better, and badder in all the right ways.

The Naked Gun

Liam Neeson’s gleefully bonkers Naked Gun reboot is one of the stupidest films ever made. And that’s a compliment.

Neeson plays the son of Leslie Nielsen’s Frank Drebin. He’s an oblivious detective for the LAPD and he has a knack for barely noticing when all hell breaks loose around him.

The “plot” involves Drebin looking into the seemingly routine death of an engineer. Frank suspects foul play. But his blunt-edged lack of self-awareness gets him taken off the case. Neeson makes a meal out of Frank’s defiance of authority, so it doesn’t take long for him to go rogue and keep sniffing around after hours. The trail leads him to Richard Cane (Danny Huston), a villainous tech entrepreneur who employed the victim. Along the way, he also joins forces (and more, nudge wink) with the victim’s sister, Beth (Pamela Anderson).

The puns are often so bad they’re great and you can see most of the mayhem coming from a mile away. But even though some jokes elicit a groan rather than a genuine chuckle, the hit-to-miss ratio is impressively high. It’s a worthy successor. Frank Sr. would be proud.

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Materialists

Sick of Hinge, Bumble, or Tinder? Then maybe try Materialists. It’s not a dating app but it is one of the slickest, sharpest looks at modern matchmaking you’ll ever see.

We’re in Manhattan where Lucy (Dakota Johnson) is a matchmaker, arranging dates and introductions for professionals who want to get married. Yet her own permanently-on-ice romantic life is thrown into turmoil at one of her organised weddings. First, she meets financier Harry (Pedro Pascal), brother to the groom. He’s every woman’s dream: tall, dark, handsome, and of course, filthy rich. But then, by chance, she runs into her ex-boyfriend John (Chris Evans), a cater-waiter still acting in off-off Broadway shows, hoping to kickstart his so-far faltering career.

Who will she pick? The poor ex or the rich newbie? Needless to say, the course of true love does not run smooth, especially when Harry continues to relentlessly pursue Lucy.

Celine Song crafts a film that, on the surface, looks like another fluffy rom-com that’ll go down well with a bottle of Chardonnay, is in fact a much deeper critique on love, connection, and commitment; not exactly a surprise coming from the director of the masterful Past Lives.

Mike Flanagan transforms Stephen King’s novella into a heartfelt, reverse-told drama that swaps supernatural chills for a tender meditation on memory, joy, and the moments that define us.

Perhaps best known for Netflix shows Midnight Mass and The Haunting of Hill House, Flanagan applies his gift for intimate character work to a more reflective, human story. Set across three chapters that play in reverse order, the film begins in a world on the brink, where teacher Marty (Chiwetel Ejiofor) turns to ex-wife Felicia (Karen Gillan) for comfort as mysterious ads for Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) appear everywhere. The middle act finds Chuck embracing life in a drum-infused, street-side dance, joined by strangers drawn to his energy, while the closing chapter rewinds to his childhood with loving grandparents (Mark Hamill, Sara Flanagan) and the quiet discoveries that shaped him.

The structure flirts with gimmickry, but Flanagan’s warmth, paired with magnetic performances from Ejiofor, Gillan, Hiddleston, and a career-best Hamill, keeps things emotionally grounded. Bittersweet, playful, and quietly profound, it’s a film that finds beauty in the chaos of a life fully lived.

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When a film comes along with a title like A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, it promises a certain level of emotional adventure. The latest film from Kogonada, director of After Yang, intends to deliver on that promise.

This fantasy-tinged romantic yarn follows Sarah (Margot Robbie) and David (Colin Farrell), two lonely, single drifters whose lives collide when they meet at a mutual friend’s wedding, and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present… and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures. The nature of this journey is a cosmic, spiritual odyssey; think A Christmas Carol for the dating scene.

This sweeping saga is really about reckoning with your past in order to find the possibility of love in the present. What do you have to reckon with in order to truly connect with other people? As you get older, you realise your past has everything to do with how you understand love in the present.

Cord Jefferson’s terrific take on societal pretences in the face of political correctness.

University professor Thelonious "Monk" Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) escapes his fragile, easily offended students to visit his family in Boston. However, he soon finds himself thrown into the middle of family issues with sister Lisa, combative newly single brother Cliff and their mother Agnes. When his publisher asks him to write an obviously "Black" novel like hotshot author Sintara, whose new book is titled We's Lives in Da Ghetto, Monk crafts a faux, cliched urban novel in frustration that inadvertently becomes a sensation.

Grounding its humour in earthy emotion and wryly honest performances, Jefferson’s stinging commentary highlights the arrogance of those with financial power, critiquing the dumbing down of society through art deemed overly important by critics. Wright's brilliant portrayal of Monk is an obvious stand out but both Sterling K. Brown Brown and Tracee Ellis Ross respectively deserve huge credit as the delightfully disruptive Cliff and feisty Lisa.

In a narrative that cleverly exposes clichés, media missteps and Hollywood's superficial nods to black culture, American Fiction ultimately asks whether such works challenge or perpetuate stereotypes, all while emphasising that black artists speak to broader audiences

The beloved motorsport gets the Top Gun: Maverick treatment (even bringing over its director), in this exhilarating drama.

No other film has embedded itself into the sport quite like this one. Officially backed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (or FIA, it’s easier to pronounce), the film will, of-course, excite petrol heads, but there is a perfectly functioning underdog drama — a story about a determined, but washed out racer brought back into the fold years later as a co-driver to a younger, fresher face. Think Rocky on wheels.

Brad Pitt stars as said wash out, Sonny Hayes. In the 1990s, Hayes was Formula 1's most promising driver until an accident on the track nearly ended his career.

Thirty years later, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), the owner of a struggling team, convinces Sonny to return to racing and become the best in the world. Driving alongside the team's hotshot rookie, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), Sonny soon learns that the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone.

Fixing all sorts of fancy cameras to the cars, this is as real, and thrilling as on-screen racing gets. Strap in.

Back, for as long as it likes. From nowhere in 2006 A-list big man Liev Schreiber on a-day-off from tough-guy, turned in this extraordinarily beautiful piece of storytelling from script to made-look-easy directing. And what a timeless treasure it is.

Eugene Hutz’s perplexed Alex, our ‘guide’, his straight-faced story telling and of the haunting film-score is from him too, and his real-life band: ‘Gogol Bordello’ (they are at the train-station)

A heartstopping surprise from its first outing at the Rex 15 years ago, Jonathan Safran Foer’s real family tale and best-seller.

Geeky ‘Jonfen’ (Elijah Wood) travels from America in search of Augustine, whom he believes saved his grandfather during the Nazis razing of Trachimbrod a now lost, Ukranian town. It was wiped-out. Armed with a yellowing photograph, he begins his search with the unlikely Alex, his grandfather (Boris Leskin) and his ‘seeing-eye bitch’. Alex’s butchery of the English language and passion for all things American is a tragi-comic joy from the start. You will be glad to be in the presence of every word and gesture. It is as unexpected as it is beautiful. It will touch you now. Then, it will fill your hearts long after and for years to come…

This Australian documentary about the world porridge championships, held each year in a Scottish village, is as wholesome and nourishing as its oat-stirring subjects

There are just three ingredients required to make a perfect bowl of porridge: oats, water and salt. What makes the difference between a run-of-the-mill bowl of beige slop and a top-tier offering with a chance of carrying off the Golden Spurtle – the coveted top prize of the annual porridge-making competition held in the Scottish highland village of Carrbridge – is a subject of heated debate.

Early moments introduce places in and around Carrbridge – including a pub and a cemetery – before we meet competitors and people of note in the world of rolled oats. They include the Australian taco chef Toby Wilson, who packs up a portable kitchen and flies with it across the world, and is competing against the likes of Nick Barnard, the co-founder of a wholesome food company who is “burning with desire” to triumph after having made the finals several times.

It’s all very sweet and agreeable: a palate-pleasing celebration of the noble oat. Tuck in.

Reteaming with Small Things Like These director Tim Mielants, Cillian Murphy plays a desperate reform school teacher opposite a rowdy ensemble of totally convincing young actors.

Murphy is Steve, a stressed, troubled but passionately committed headteacher with a secret alcohol and substance abuse problem, in charge of a residential reform school for delinquent teenage boys. With his staff – deputy (Tracey Ullman), therapist-counsellor (Emily Watson) and a new teacher (Little Simz) – he has to somehow keep order in the permanent bedlam of fights and maybe even teach them something. Then there’s Shy (Jay Lycurgo), the quietest and smartest pupil.

Steve has invited a documentary film crew inside the controversial institution. There’s a sense of dread from the get-go, but these outsiders’ video cameras lend another level of verisimilitude to an unsentimental depiction of a dozen or so teens who could, it’s clear, rip one another to shreds. In parallel with this calamity, Shy gets a call from his mother and stepfather, saying that they wish to have nothing more to do with him.

Murphy – post Oppenheimer Oscar glory – continues to pick interesting, smaller, but no-less challenging roles. This is no different. A must-see.

A grieving Minnesota widow, played by Emma Thompson, stumbles into mortal peril in Brian Kirk's polished, icy suspense thriller.

With her recently deceased husband, Barb (Thompson) ran a fishing supplies store and like him was keen on ice-fishing. She’s about to make a pilgrimage with his ashes in a tackle box at his request.

Equipped with little more than a rugged pick-up  and a placid determination, Barb follows the trail to a cabin where, minutes before, she had stopped for directions. The bearded gentleman (Marc Menchaca) who answered her queries, is holding a teenage girl (Laurel Marsden) captive in his basement, but his gruff demeanor quickly belies a reluctance to proceed with whatever nefarious plan he’s signed up for. It’s his wife (Judy Greer), instead, who appears to call the shots.

So has Thompson’s widow chanced upon the local equivalent of psycho hillbillies? In fact, these people’s personalities and motivations are more complicated.  Thompson’s relatable presence and likability-aura make a very good solvent for the concentrated nastiness of Greer’s desperate villain and what she has in mind for her teen prisoner. There’s a distinct chill in the air.

The salty presence of Margaret Qualley as an old-school, small-town private investigator is the main draw of this low-key comedy noir whodunnit from Ethan Coen.

Part two of Coen and Tricia Cooke’s so-called “lesbian B-movie trilogy,” following 2024’s Drive-Away Dolls, Honey Don’t relocates hard-boiled mystery to the sunny streets of California. Qualley stars as Honey O’Donahue, a cynical, no-nonsense private eye drawn into the car-crash death of a woman tied to a cultish local church. Chris Evans plays the charismatic Reverend Drew Devlin, whose unusual methods of bringing his flock closer to God veer into the scandalous.

The film embraces its absurdity, a self-aware neo-noir that winds a bemused mystery around a core of cynicism and desire. It isn’t going to rewrite the crime genre, but it’s a showcase for Qualley’s magnetic screen presence. She carries the film with wit, cunning, and effortless charm, bending each and every scene to her rhythm.

Laced with satirical jabs at Middle American hypocrisy, Honey Don’t is throwaway fun with swagger. A breezy, entertaining excursion where Qualley proves herself impossible to ignore.

Julian Fellowes brings Downton to a cosy, affectionate close.

Set in 1930, this final chapter finds British high society adjusting to changing times while life at the Abbey bustles along in its familiar upstairs-downstairs rhythm. Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) faces scandal as a divorcee, while Carson (Jim Carter) and Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol) prepare for retirement. Lord and Lady Grantham (Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern) wrestle with financial strain, Uncle Harold (Paul Giamatti) turns up with a dashing advisor (Alessandro Nivola), and Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) hatches a plan to restore Mary’s standing with help from Noel Coward (Andrew Froushan). Alongside these threads, Lady Merton (Penelope Wilton) plans the county fair and Moseley (Kevin Doyle) finds comic relief in his screenwriting ambitions.

Fellowes juggles this sprawling cast with brisk pacing, weaving in witty banter and affectionate callbacks to 15 years of stories. While the drama feels gentler than in the show’s early years, the warmth of the ensemble keeps it engaging, with Dockery, McGovern, and Doyle shining in particular.

Light, funny, and steeped in nostalgia, it is less daring than Downton once was but perfectly content to wrap things up with comfort and charm.

A thrilling big-screen experience for fans of classic British sci-fi, this Thunderbirds double bill

brings together two of the most iconic episodes ever made: Trapped in the Sky and Terror in

New York City. Bursting with action, suspense, and Gerry Anderson’s groundbreaking

Supermarionation, these fan favourites showcase International Rescue at its very best—

combining daring rescues, stunning model work, and unforgettable characters.

Making their worldwide debut in stunning 4K UHD, both episodes have been meticulously

restored from the best surviving film elements in collaboration with award-winning restoration

experts. The result is the ultimate viewing experience—presented in glorious detail and with

audio options including the original mono and newly remixed 5.1 surround sound.

Sarah-Jane Potts effortlessly carries Joseph Millson’s muted drama with little more than her gaze.

She plays Anne, a woman in her 40s travelling alone to Lanzarote, dressed in black and silent among carefree holidaymakers. She is not deaf, as her notebook explains; she simply no longer speaks. Selective mutism has taken hold after a devastating loss, her grief visible in every glance and gesture. Iris Murdoch once wrote that “the bereaved cannot communicate with the unbereaved,” and Anne, fittingly, spends her days reading Murdoch’s The Sea, The Sea while keeping others at a distance.

The film avoids flashbacks, revealing her past only through the odd photograph, a business card, or the way she recoils from casual contact. Into this stillness steps Bill, a talkative Irishman holidaying after a messy divorce. Where Anne cannot speak, Bill cannot stop, and their awkward, funny exchanges bring flickers of light.

The result is an ambitious mix of raw drama and gentle optimism, a heartfelt debut that showcases a remarkable gift for emotionally resonant storytelling. With Millson and Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley joining us for a live Q&A, it’s a special opportunity to hear directly from two creative forces at the heart of the film.

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In her first feature, Nadia Fall delivers a gripping, conversation-stirring drama about teenage female friendship, loyalty, and risky choices.

Set in England in 2014, Brides follows Muna (Safiyya Ingar) and Doe (Ebada Hassan), two British Muslim best friends who flee their troubled home lives in search of a new start. At first, their giggles, milkshake-fuelled games, and playful banter suggest a carefree escapade. But it soon becomes clear that their journey has high stakes: they are heading toward Syria, with Istanbul as a fraught waypoint.

El-Bushra’s screenplay, energetic and incident-packed, carefully balances the girls’ joy and mischief with an undercurrent of tension, showing their motivations and vulnerabilities without sensationalising their choices. Hassan’s subtle restraint and Ingar’s radiant charisma capture the contrasting personalities that make their bond believable and urgent. Their loyalty, courage, and occasional recklessness feel lived-in, while Fall’s direction vividly conveys both the allure and the menace of unfamiliar cities and the unknown road ahead.

A tense, humane, and darkly witty study of adolescence, identity, and the unshakable pull of friendship at the edge of the world.

Edgar Wright’s pitch-perfect apocalyptic comedy.

Shaun, a North London loser, is a disappointment to his girlfriend, family, friends and flatmate. Only his mate Ed, an even bigger loser, looks up to him. Then flesh-eating zombies overrun the city and Shaun is forced to take responsibility for the survival of his corner of humanity.

Bordering on 20 years, this is still pretty much flawless. From the zombified mundane plodding through life before turning into flesh-eating monsters, to the cream of of British comedy descending into madness, it’s all here.

Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilton bolster a sensational supporting cast list while Simon Pegg and Nick Frost simply kill it in the leads. It’s one of those guilty pleasures that you can see over and over and over again.

Another two decades can run on but we’ll probably still be watching this. A product of post-9/11 anxiety initially, this is still Edgar Wright’s most loved, most enduring film, on both sides of the Atlantic.

The first and finest instalment in the Cornetto Trilogy, it simply cannot be missed.

Paul Thomas Anderson brilliant take on the American nightmare is packed with spectacle, laughter, and emotional depth.

Loosely adapted from Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, One Battle After Another follows Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio), a washed-up revolutionary surviving off-grid with his fiercely independent teenage daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti). When an old nemesis (Sean Penn) resurfaces and Willa disappears, Bob turns to former civil rights revolutionary Sensei Sergio (Benicio del Toro) and the two are thrust into a high-stakes scramble that blends absurdism, violence, and dark comedy.

It’s just great. Every encounter, from breathtaking car chases to remorseless shootouts, is infused with both danger and wit, creating a dizzying, unpredictable ride. Anderson teams once again with Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood, whose chaotic, thrilling score elevates every sequence with pounding piano riffs and swirling tension.

And performances. DiCaprio is captivating as conflicted antihero Bob, while Infiniti proves extraordinary in her ability to match his intensity. Right behind them is Sean Penn, who delivers one of his most audacious roles in years, injecting an unpredictably wild energy. It’s a gutsy, visually dazzling triumph, a film that reminds us why PTA remains one of American cinema’s most vital voices

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Valérie Bonneton leads this poignant French dramedy that blends heartfelt emotion with gentle humor, portraying a rarely explored subject: female alcoholism.

She plays Suzanne, a widowed mother of three whose life spirals out of control following a car accident that costs her custody. With no choice but to enter a rehab centre, Suzanne meets Alice, a young woman in denial about her drinking, and Diane, a washed-up actress estranged from her daughter. Clovis Cornillac plays Denis, a patient and encouraging instructor who brings the women together around a singular goal: participating in a gruelling rally through the Moroccan desert.

Director duo Elsa Bennett and Hippolyte Dard treat their characters with authenticity and warmth, highlighting the pain, resilience, and awkward humour of recovery. The women slowly learn to rebuild their lives, forging bonds of friendship and solidarity while confronting their pasts. Bonneton is superb, and the supporting cast, including Sabrina Ouazani and Michèle Laroque, adds depth and nuance.

Ignore the absolutely appalling poster. This is an uplifting, sensitive story of redemption and female solidarity, a celebration of courage, humour, and the small victories that make life worth fighting for.

Zach Cregger follows his breakout hit Barbarian with a confident, twisted blend of mystery, horror, and pitch-black comedy.

Set in a small town, the story begins when every child in a sixth-grade class vanishes from home at exactly 2:17am. Except for one. Teacher Justine (Julia Garner) quickly becomes the focus of suspicion, though she’s as baffled as anyone. Drawn into the search are the determined Archer (Josh Brolin), troubled cop Paul (Alden Ehrenreich), and drifter James (Abrams), as shifting perspectives slowly reveal unsettling truths.

Cregger masterfully balances gruesome shocks with eccentric character beats, keeping tension high while letting the absurdity breathe. Dreams bleed into reality, alliances form under pressure, and then a more humorous kick arrives with a seriously unhinged woman named Gladys (Madigan), who shifts everything up a gear, revealing secrets in ways that are both goofy and much, much scarier.

Garner anchors the chaos with a heartfelt performance, her bond with Brolin’s driven Archer giving the film emotional weight. Ehrenreich and Abrams add charm and unpredictability, while Madigan steals every scene she’s in. And beneath its inventive horror, Weapons carries sharp observations on the education system and the fear of ageing. It’s great.

Tim Burton’s long-imagined follow-up to his 1988 horror freak show revels in some gleefully silly moments, while avoiding that dated feeling.

Right from the ghostly title sequence and iconic Danny Elfman theme, you know exactly where all this is going. Formerly rebellious teen Lydia (Winona Ryder) is now the insecure, pill-popping host of a TV show about the supernatural. Her stepmother Delia (Catherine O’Hara) remains a pretentious conceptual artist. Her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega), meanwhile, is a schoolgirl at a posh boarding school where she is horribly bullied. Lydia is also being preyed upon by her sleazy business manager Rory (Justin Theroux), who is trying to push her into marriage.

Meanwhile, in the afterlife, Michael Keaton’s predatory Betelgeuse – think an inverse exorcist – is being relentlessly pursued by his vengeful ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci), who wants to steal his soul.

As Betelgeuse is called back into the land of the living once again, all hell breaks loose, and all bets are off. This is a horrific, yet horrifically fun romp with flashes of messy, B-movie brilliance. A real Halloween treat.

Just when the zombie sub-genre was shuffling back into the ground, hipster filmmaker Jim Jarmusch comes along and digs it up again.

Jarmusch stalwarts Bill Murray (Broken Flowers) and Adam Driver (Paterson) play Cliff and Ronnie, respectively. These two small town police officers banter amiably in their squad car and check in with their partner,  Mindy (Chloe Sevigny), back at Centerville HQ. Their wake-up call happens when the globe takes a spin on its axis, night never falls and in a forever daylight the dead rise from the cemetery, demanding what they wanted most in life: coffee, WiFi and “especially chardonnay.” Two zombies, played by Sara Driver  and Iggy Pop, make for stand out corpses.

The blood-filled carnage is good for business for the town’s undertaker, Zelda Winston, played by Tilda Swinton (Only Lovers Left Alive) in the film’s most outrageously entertaining performance as a samurai from outer space.

The ever increasing in-jokes, and the smug, self referential, not to mention overtly deadpan tone doesn’t exactly ease in non-Jarmusch enthusiasts Undead aside, this is a Jarmusch film, for better or worse. (Jack Whiting)

A curious youngster moves to Salem, where he struggles to fit in before awakening a trio of diabolical witches that were executed in the 17th century.

The then-unique, much-imitated horror-comedy hybrid built a cult following on its gnarly makeup effects, goofy sense of humour and discordant soundtrack of on-the-nose pop songs.

Well, portents of doom don't get much more on-the-nose than the first time we meet our young American backpackers, David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne). They've been given a ride by a local farmer in the back of a truck with all the other sheep. And as if that's not enough signposting, their first port of call is a pub called The Slaughtered Lamb.

The pub villagers know something but they still let the boys go anyway with a warning to stay on the road. The demonic howling begins. It doesn't take long before the boys have wandered off the road and Jack is killed by a beast of the night, leaving David mortally wounded. David wakes up in a hospital in London with nurse Price (Jenny Agutter) by his side.

It remains the creative peak of director John Landis’ career; it is a rip-roaring, neck-biting, often hilarious jaunt through our capital, and the perfect film to sink your teeth into on this Halloween evening.