Monthly Film Bulletin

Richard Combs Monthly Film Bulletin Nov 2, 2026 More fancy footwork from Brian De Palma, who describes flamboyant circles around his subject while only engaging with it on the most superficial level. Go to Full Review Carrie (1976) 82% 77%

Richard Combs Monthly Film Bulletin Oct 20, 2026 More than anything, it's the self-reflexiveness of Full Metal Jacket that highlights its generic nature. Go to Full Review Full Metal Jacket (1987) 84% 94%

Tim Pulleine Monthly Film Bulletin Sep 30, 2026 Rather more polished than its predecessor, Part 2 is no less feeble in plot and dialogue. Go to Full Review Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) 27% 48%

Tim Pulleine Monthly Film Bulletin Sep 29, 2026 It is implausibly and uninventively worked out, and the result is shoddily dependent on simulating its gory murders with maximum relish. Go to Full Review Friday the 13th (1980) 49% 60%

Tim Pulleine Monthly Film Bulletin Sep 17, 2026 Part III is even slighter and more haphazardly constructed than the predecessors it slavishly seeks to recall. Go to Full Review Friday the 13th Part III (1982) 17% 42%

Nigel Floyd Monthly Film Bulletin Sep 11, 2026 Since no real suspense is ever generated, the only hint of a threat is contained in an open ending which holds out the depressing possibility of yet another sequel. Go to Full Review Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning (1985) 11% 26%

John Pym Monthly Film Bulletin Aug 13, 2026 The film is enhanced by uniformly careful casting in the secondary roles, and no one is allowed to run away with his tempting part. Go to Full Review An American Werewolf in London (1981) 80% 81%

John Pym Monthly Film Bulletin Jul 22, 2026 The killings are varied, judicious touches of humor added: value is, in a sense, given for money. But what it all adds up to is a dispassionately executed episodes in a successful serial; no one wants to rock the boat. Go to Full Review Halloween II (1981) 27% 63%

Richard Combs Monthly Film Bulletin Jun 4, 2026 The trouble is that Escape From New York has rather too much plot to set in motion. Go to Full Review Escape From New York (1981) 70% 77%

Richard Combs Monthly Film Bulletin Apr 8, 2026 Tends to become a full-blown and rather bland musical. Go to Full Review Victor/Victoria (1982) 85% 86%

Tom Milne Monthly Film Bulletin Mar 26, 2026 The Bad News Bears is miraculously funny and entirely delightful. Go to Full Review The Bad News Bears (1976) 90% 80%

Paul Taylor Monthly Film Bulletin Mar 18, 2026 Were it not for the gruesome efficacy of Rob Bottin's expert special make-up effects, the whole ironic edifice might be overbalanced by its in-joke knowingness. Go to Full Review The Howling (1981) 77% 60%

Philip Strick Monthly Film Bulletin Mar 5, 2026 This is no clean-cut morality tale from Gotham City, but a leering bloodbath, crude, contemptuous, and wildly entertaining. Go to Full Review RoboCop (1987) 84% 84%

Tim Pulleine Monthly Film Bulletin Jan 29, 2026 The film never overcomes its deadweight of contrivance. Go to Full Review My Bloody Valentine (1981) 39% 52%

Richard Combs Monthly Film Bulletin Jan 15, 2026 Both visually and dramatically the film is constantly receding, since Brooks seems to doubt that he can convey what he means except by making sleeve-tugging speeches. Go to Full Review Bite the Bullet (1975) 68% 55%

Anne Billson Monthly Film Bulletin Jan 7, 2026 Miraculously, and unlike other recent fantasies such as Legend, the film manages to get by with only the most rudimentary of special effects... Goldman and his director, Rob Reiner, concentrate instead on the characters, all of whom are well-rounded. Go to Full Review The Princess Bride (1987) 93% 94%

Richard Combs Monthly Film Bulletin Dec 22, 2025 Paul Bartel's comic conceits and the general parodying of the super hype and/hushed awe of sports commentating, are themselves too shakey to hold the movie together. Go to Full Review Death Race 2000 (1975) 80% 63%

Julian Petley Monthly Film Bulletin Nov 7, 2025 The Running Man is efficient enough as a violent action movie if hardly a very original addition to the already well-worn 'apocalyptic city' genre. Go to Full Review The Running Man (1987) 59% 61%

Kim Newman Monthly Film Bulletin Oct 16, 2025 This is a film whose excess is its most oddly charming quality. Go to Full Review Re-Animator (1985) 88% 82%

Philip Strick Monthly Film Bulletin Oct 6, 2025 For those who would have favoured less spectacle and more substance, the saving grace of Tron is its humour. Lisberger's script carries a mocking edge that trims away most of the pretensions and just leaves the fun. Go to Full Review Tron (1982) 61% 67%