Wednesday 9 December
Angel Heart
8:30pm, SBS 2Watch now at SBS On Demand
MA15+
USA, 1987
Director: Alan Parker
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet, Charlotte Rampling
What's it about?
This sexy nightmare from multi-genre director Alan Parker (Midnight Express, Fame) follows down-and-out private detective Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke), who is commissioned by a mysterious man named Louis Cyphre (get it?), played by Robert De Niro, to go find a missing person. His investigation sees him cross paths with the priestess of a mysterious cult (the sensuous Lisa Bonet, fresh from her good girl stint as Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show) and before long, he's on a supernatural journey into his soul. Don't miss De Niro's hellishly good performance in this underrated '80s gem.
Rosemary's Baby
10:45pm, SBS 2
M
USA, 1968
Director: Roman Polanski
Starring: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon
What's it about?This brilliant adaptation of Ira Levin's best-selling novel by Roman Polanski is the story of a loving young New York City couple who are expecting their first child. Like most first-time mothers, Rosemary (Mia Farrow and that iconic pixie haircut) experiences confusion and fear. Soon, unusual events leads her to harbour some suspicions that her doting neighbours, an old couple, have un-neighbourly intentions for both she and her unborn child. But her husband (John Cassavetes), an ambitious but unsuccessful actor, brushes off her fears. A horror classic, which has lost nothing of its terrifying impact.
Wednesday 16 December
Drag Me to Hell
8:30pm, SBS 2Watch now at SBS On Demand
MA15+
USA, 2009
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Alison Lohman, Justin Long, Lorna Raver
What's it about?
This recent frightening effort by Evil Dead cult director Sam Raimi bears his trademark campy humour. Loan officer Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is asked by her boss to prove herself by evicting an old Hungarian woman from her home. Eager for a promotion, she reluctantly agrees, but the eviction doesn't go as planned and she winds up as the recipient of a supernatural curse, which turns her life into a living hell. Desperate, she and her boyfriend Clay (Justin Long) turn to a fortune teller to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point.
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Starry Eyes
10:20pm, SBS 2Watch now at SBS On Demand
MA15+
USA, 2014
Director: Kevin Kolsch, Dennis Widmyer
Starring: Alex Essoe, Amanda Fuller, Noah Segan, Fabianne Therese, Pat Healy
What's it about?
This indie gem, which premiered at the 2014 South by Southwest festival, is a terrifying tale about the price of fame. Wannabe actress Sarah Walker spends her days working a dead-end job, enduring petty friendships and going on countless casting calls in hopes of catching her big break. After a series of strange auditions, Sarah lands the leading role in a new film from a mysterious production company. But with this opportunity comes bizarre ramifications that will transform her both mentally and physically into something beautiful... and altogether terrifying.
Wednesday 23 December
Prince of Darkness
8:30pm, SBS 2
MA15+
USA, 1987
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Donald Pleasence, Lisa Blount, Victor Wong
What's it about?
Prince of Darkness is the second instalment in horror master John Carpenter's "Apocalypse Trilogy", which started in 1982 with The Thing. Father Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is a priest who discovers a strange object in a church basement - a canister filled with a volatile green substance. With the help of physics Professor Birack (Victor Wong) and his students, Loomis finds that it is in fact nothing less than the spirit of Satan. Gory special effects, which are still impressive, a dark atmosphere and a fantastic soundtrack contribute to the general creepiness of this underrated gem. (Look out for a zombie cameo by rock star Alice Cooper, who wrote a song for the movie).
Crossroads
10:25pm, SBS 2
M
USA, 1986
Director: Walter Hill
Starring: Ralph Macchio, Joe Seneca, Jami Gertz
What's it about?This Walter Hill movie was inspired by blues legend Robert Johnson and his mythical encounter with the Devil, to whom he sold both his soul and a lost song. Ralph Macchio (The Karate Kid) stars as Eugene Martone, a classic guitar student obsessed with blues. He tracks down a blues legend, Willie Brown, who tells him he'll help him find the famous song, in exchange of getting Brown out of his nursing home. The deal is done, and the master and his apprentice embark on a journey across the Mississipi Delta. A lovely fable, with a killer soundtrack.
Wednesday 30 December
Knights of Badassdom
8:30pm, SBS 2Available after broadcast at SBS On Demand
M
USA, 2014
Director: Joe Lynch
Starring: Peter Dinklage, Ryan Kwanten, Summer Glau, Steve Zahn
What's it about?
Game of Thrones' favourite Lannister Peter Dinklage, our own Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) and Steve Zahn (Dallas Buyers Club) star in this geeky horror comedy. Three best friends and dedicated roleplayers go the woods to reenact a Dungeons & Dragons-like scenario as a live action role-playing game, and get more than they bargained for when a prop spellbook purchased from the internet ends up being a genuine grimoire and they unwittingly conjure up a blood-lusting succubus from hell. Don't you hate it when that happens?
Watch documentary: 'Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope'
Army of Darkness
10:05pm, SBS 2
M
USA, 1992
Director: Sam Raimi
Starring: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert
What's it about?
This is the outrageous, spectacular final instalment of Raimi's Evil Dead franchise, which was recently rebooted as a TV series Ash vs Evil Dead. Ash, the hapless housewares clerk is time-warped back to the Dark Ages by the demonic power of the Necronomicon. Now armed with only a '73 Oldsmobile, his trusty chainsaw and a 12-gauge double-barreled S-Mart shotgun, our knuckleheaded hero must battle vicious she-witches, a diabolical Evil Ash and the relentless hordes of the medieval dead.
Watch the original Movie Show review
