When a friendly, successful suburban teacher and father (James Mason, in one of his most striking roles) is prescribed cortisone for a painful, possibly fatal, affliction he grows dangerously addicted to the experimental drug. His transition from loving father to homicidal despot is depicted on a scale more akin to operatic tragedy than melodrama and, on top of the inestimable pleasures of Mason's performance, a narrative that explores society's use of drugs provides an unexpectedly prophetic di find out more...

Adapted from the classic, absurdist, anti-war novel by Joseph Heller. "Catch-22" is the story of Yossarian, a pilot who trys to opt out of flying bombing missions by being declared insane, the catch being that anyone trying to avoid bombing missions by being insane must be sane. This dark classic catches much of the flavour of the book, the insanity, the corruption and the absurdity of war. Think MASH, but non-linear - flawed but awesome. find out more...

An airline pilot, dumped by his girlfriend, pursues a baby-sitter in his hotel...and gradually realizes she's dangerous. An unusual role for Marilyn Monroe, who plays the babysitter with psychotic tendencies. Don't Bother To Knock is a compellingly creepy drama, thanks largely to Monroe playing so against type. find out more...

A double helping of transmogrification with two classic versions of Robert Louis Stevenson's tale of science run amok, in which an ambitious doctor's experiments on himself turn him into a raving homicidal beast. The 1932 expressionistic spine-tingler, which influenced generations of creature-features, with a more obvious Freudian interpretation of the doctor's schizophrenia is the better of the two. The 1941 star-studded epic helmed by the legendary Victor Fleming (‘Gone with the Wind' and ‘The find out more...

When a teenage girl gets pregnant, her parents force her to get an abortion then take her to a psychiatric hospital, where she undergoes nightmarish and brutal electroshock therapy and is left as little more than a shell of a human being. A verite style indictment of both the mental health care system and society at large. From those dark days, when your morals, views, etc were supposed to be carbon copies of your parents' or else....., and representive of the views of Laing and other freedom lo find out more...

The Hour of the Wolf is the hour between night and dawn, the hour when most people die and the hour when the sleepless are haunted by their deepest fears. Haunted by demons past and present, artist Johan Borg fights a losing battle to retain his sanity and maintain his artistic prowess. His wife Alma, desperate to help him, finds herself starting to share his hallucinations, but as Johan's mind continues to unravel, Alma is forced to choose between her love and her life. A brilliant gothic fanta find out more...

A mission deep into space in the year 2163 becomes a perilous struggle against insanity when the crew become infected by a malignant dark star. Jindrich Polák's pioneering and much-imitated feature is one of the cornerstones of contemporary sci-fi cinema. Adapted from Stanislaw Lem's 1955 novel The Magellanic Cloud, and predating Gene Rodenberry's Star Trek and Kubrick's 2001. Ikarie XB-1's influence can be seen on both and on almost every other science-fiction film that has followed.& find out more...

Michelangelo Antonioni's 'Red Desert' is an undeniable cinematic masterpiece which tells the story of Giuliana (Monica Vitti), a complicated and lonely woman, who is on the brink of having an affair. The film's harsh landscapes, remarkable colouring (this was Antonioni's first colour picture) and grating, industrial soundtrack are exemplary in their explication of the emotional isolation and mental illness from which Giuliana suffers. Aesthetically breathtaking, this is an absolute must-see. find out more...

When concert pianist Lissa Campbell learns that she has a serious heart problem. she vows to enjoy what time she has left. On taking her first holiday, she meets Kit Firth, a pilot on leave, because his future vision may disappear due to a bomb explosion while he was in active service. Kit Firth is searching for a rare mineral Britian needs in the war effort. When there is an explosion at the local tin mine, Kit and several others are trapped, but due to his knowledge of the mine workings, he find out more...

Madalenna is a married woman who leads a respectable, socially acceptable life. Except at certain intervals in that life, when a childhood trauma produces amnesia. She is no longer the respectable married woman, but a gypsy possessed by a wild, free-living spirit. This, supposedly true story, is the most bonkers of all the melodramas that Gainsborough produced. Madonna of the Seven Moons abandons the usual British historical setting in favour of a highly stylised Florence, nominally set in th find out more...