Much imitated but never equalled, this is the definitive space nightmare. The crew of a commercial spacecraft are stalked by a stowaway, mutating monster of veracious appetite. Weaver puts in a splendidly believable performance as the resourceful Ripley. Taut script and awesome special FX. find out more...

Dr Frankenstein and his monster both turn out to be alive, not killed as previously believed. Dr Frankenstein wants to get out of the evil experiment business, but when a mad scientist, Dr Pretorius, kidnaps his wife, Dr Frankenstein agrees to help him create a new creature, a woman, to be the companion of the monster. What distinguishes the film is less its horror content, which is admittedly low, than the macabre humour and sense of parody. Strong on atmosphere, Gothic sets and expressionist c find out more...

Phyllis Dietrichson is trapped in a loveless marriage to a man who inspires in her nothing but contempt, but rather than leave him Phyllis decides to kill him and collect on the insurance policy she's had set up with the help of her lover, and naive partner in crime, insurance salesman Walter Neff. The only flaws in their plan are the company's reluctance to pay out so much, the diligence of Neff's increasingly suspicious colleague, (and his 'little man'), and the exemplary ruthlessness of Ph find out more...

The classic version of Frankenstein, often imitated but its stunning style has rarely been bettered. For the unfamiliar, Frankenstein tells the story of a maverick doctor's attempts to create life from the body parts of the deceased. His creation (Frankenstein's Monster...) is the tragic embodiment of goodness. More human than those around him, the monster finds himself needing friendship more and more, before embarking on a doomed relationship with a small girl who takes pity on him. Needless t find out more...

Guillermo Del Toro's blockbusting tale of a young girl struggling to make sense of the violent world around her was a big 2006 arthouse hit. Continuing his exploration of the impact of the Spanish Civil War on his generation (it was also the backdrop for his excellent ghost story, The Devil's Backbone) Del Toro's fantasy mixes strong horror with fairytale-style aesthetics to great effect, making Ofelia's escape into an imaginary realm a poignant response to the cruel realities of her existence. find out more...

Shaun is a man about to get very familiar with his thirties and he's not pleased, a crap dead end job, a social life that revolves in its entirety around his local, a girlfriend, who's beginning to realise he's as tragic as he knows he is, and a best mate who's the only person in his insular universe who, comparatively, makes him look like he's got his act sorted. What Shaun needs is an outbreak of flesh eating zombies to get his priorities in perspective and, as a luck would have it, his neck o find out more...

A classic take on the monster myth, as Mary Shelley's epic is given a comic make-over with a generational follow-up. find out more...