From being the “other” member of the Monty Python troupe largely tasked with playing grotesque bit parts and interspersing sketches with anarchic animated segments, Terry Gilliam graduated to feature film direction and carved out his own unique path in both the British and Hollywood film industries. Gilliam never compromises on his vision and has paid for it multiple times over his career, some projects taking years to get off the ground or eventually arriving compromised in one way or another. 

In The Film Magazine’s latest Ranked list of a director’s entire body of work, we are looking at the mischievous animator, satirist and once Python who is sometimes prone to get completely lost in his own imagination. These are all 13 Terry Gilliam directed features ranked. 

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13. The Brothers Grimm (2005)

Conman brothers (Heath Ledger and Matt Damon) arrive in a town under the shadow of a terrible curse and must become reluctant heroes.

Adapting the lives of the famous German author siblings into a story not that far removed from their own macabre fairy tale-spinning sensibilities, The Brothers Grimm sounded like a fascinating prospect on the page at least.

The final film is fine, but it has a tone problem and takes too much time to settle on what it is trying to be. Even the combined charm of Ledger and Damon as the titular siblings can’t save it from being a bit muddy and samey.

Recommended for you: 10 Best Matt Damon Performances

12. The Zero Theorem (2013)

In a dystopian future, a reclusive programmer (Christoph Waltz) is ordered by his shadowy overlords to prove that life, the universe and everything is meaningless.

Terry Gilliam’s long-awaited return to steampunk science fiction 18 years after Twelve Monkeys and 28 years after Brazil was probably never going to meet sky-high expectations.

This definitely has the right look and feel to make it of a piece with Gilliam’s 80s and 90s classics but, despite the best efforts of a thoroughly weird Waltz leading an ensemble of entertaining character actors, this leaves you feeling oddly cold and disconnected.

Over 15 years and 33 films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has thrown countless seemingly insurmountable obstacles and more than a few apocalyptic events at their line-up of superheroes trying to save the world, the universe and reality itself. Their villains are at the head of all of this; crazed scientists, treacherous government agents, brutal alien warlords, amoral industrialists, gods and monsters and everything in between, an MCU villain can be so many things. Some were unfortunately the weakest elements in the movies they appeared in, being either generic, poorly served by the script or misjudged in their performances, while others ended up being memorable highlights even above the title costumed characters. 

There are often multiple antagonists in these superhero stories so we’ve tried to stick to one villain per MCU film. This is except where it’s the same antagonist carried over into a sequel film, and in cases where there’s more than one threat to our heroes. In these instances, we’ve focussed on the most active baddies or the masterminds of the various diabolical plots.

This ranking will be based on the level of threat the various bad guys pose to our supremely skilled and miraculously superpowered heroes, the diabolical creativity of their respective master plans and the sheer evilness of their actions. Spoilers ahead!

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31. Malekith – Thor: The Dark World (2013)

“Look upon my legacy, Algrim. I can barely remember a time before the light.” 

A dark elf conqueror with a vendetta against Asgard for a defeat in ancient times, Malekith is reawakened and plots to snuff out the light across the universe (because his kind really like the darkness of the void).

A hugely distinct and memorable villain from the comics became one of the most boring to ever antagonise a superhero movie. Whatever Christopher Eccleston was trying to do with his performance after undergoing many uncomfortable hours in the makeup chair was lost in a brutally hacked film edit and an all-round po-faced determination to live up to the “dark” of the title.

Note: dark is not the same as interesting. 

30. Ivan Vanko/Whiplash – Iron Man 2 (2010)

“You come from a family of thieves and butchers, and like all guilty men, you try to rewrite your history.”

Whiplash is a Stark-hating, parrot-loving nuclear physicist/inventor with arc reactor-powered whips and an army of drones to carry out his revenge.

Mickey Rourke got a lot of jobs in quick succession as various shades of tough guy in this period. The Wrestler this is not, and he doesn’t exactly stretch himself as Ivan, offering a barely passable Russian accent and playing with a toothpick as a poor substitute for a more intricate characterisation as he plots vaguely defined Cold War-fuelled vengeance on Tony Stark and the American Military Industrial Complex.

29. Emil Blonsky/Abomination – The Incredible Hulk (2008)

“If I took what I had now, and put it in a body that I had ten years ago, that would be someone I wouldn’t want to fight.”

Abomination is an unstable British Black Ops asset who volunteers for a series of dangerous experimental super soldier treatments in order to capture the Hulk.

The Incredible Hulk worked best when it was Marvel’s answer to a Universal Monster movie, but one of its weakest elements was having Blonsky as its villain. Roth is fine, but he just wasn’t all that threatening, the character thinly sketched as a violent jerk with a superiority complex. When he finally transforms into his bony green alter ego Abomination for a CG smashathon in Harlem, it becomes almost impossible to care.

Recommended for you: Once More with Feeling – 10 More of the Best Remakes

28. Dar-Benn – The Marvels (2023)

“I always come back.”

Continuing what Ronan the Accuser started, Kree warrior Dar-Benn seeks to unite the two powerful Cosmic Bands in order to open portals across the galaxy to pillage resources from countless worlds to restore her dying planet of Hala and reassert her species’ dominance in the galaxy.

The problem with Dar-Benn is not her evil-for-the-right-reasons master plan or her relative threat level to our heroes (which is considerable considering that with space-magical enhancement she can hold her own against three formidable supes at once), it’s that there’s nothing else to her.

We needed more time for layers to come though Zawe Ashton’s broad, pantomimey performance and she too often feels like a retread of the kinds of villains we’ve seen in the MCU many times before, just a means to an end.

27. Ava Starr/Ghost – Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

“It hurts. It always hurts.”

The Marvels Review

A scientist’s daughter with an unnatural condition that causes her to painfully phase in and out of the physical realm, Ghost resorts to stealing Pymtech to survive.

Ghost is an admirable attempt to make something interesting out of a gimmicky physics-based villain. The character is let down not by Hannah John-Kamen’s engaging and tortured performance but by her essential irrelevance to the film’s main plot and lack of enough meaningful screen time. It’s almost like they only decided late in the day that Ant-Man and the Wasp should have an antagonist at all, and that may have been the wrong decision for this particular movie. 

26. Ronan – Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

“I don’t recall killing your family. I doubt I’ll remember killing you either.”

Ronan is a Kree fanatic who courts war and is gathering enough power to wipe the planet Xandar from the galaxy.

Ronan, with his war paint, samurai helmet and big hammer has a strong look, and thanks to Lee Pace he is given an imposing presence and a rumbling voice. But you’d struggle to claim he had much in the way of depth as a character. He wants a weapon to destroy a planet because because he’s from a war-like race and that’s about it, though Pace’s affronted expression and confused “what are you doing?” as Star-Lord dances in front of him as he’s trying to trigger an apocalypse is pretty memorable.

25. Darren Cross/Yellowjacket – Ant-Man (2015)

“Did you think you could stop the future with a heist?”

Ant-Man Review

Hank Pym’s protégé, ouster and successor at his company, Yellowjacket seeks to weaponise and sell Pym’s shrinking technology to the highest bidder.

Marvel has a lot of evil CEOs in its rogues gallery and Corey Stoll brings plenty of punchable arrogance to his performance as Darren Cross. He murders rivals and exterminates animal test subjects without second thought, seemingly motivated by Pym not trusting him with the secrets of his technology (though really it’s because he enjoys doing it). 

Cross does have probably the most gruesome villain death in the MCU so far, and it’s no more than he deserves.

“There was an idea…”

Said idea was different to almost every version of the big screen superhero seen previously. Rather than each costumed hero existing in their own sealed-off vivariums, what if they could all share one interconnected universe containing a single ever-evolving and expansive story?

Once the idea gained traction, billions of dollars, and many “phases” of franchise continuity, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) became the envy of every studio with a lucrative intellectual property to siphon and thus many attempts were made to replicate the success of the “Marvel Formula”.

Much like the James Bond series in the decades before it, the MCU is primarily a producer-led franchise, the ultimate mastermind behind the project being Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, though distinct directors like Jon Favreau, Joss Whedon and Taika Waititi have certainly left their mark on their respective entries in the ongoing series.

What keeps us (and wider box office audiences) coming back, aside from the ever-increasing levels of superhero spectacle and long-form storytelling borrowing liberally from 80-plus years of comic books, is the time you’re afforded to grow to love the characters and their relationships with each other, especially in the ambitious team-up Avengers movies.

In this edition of Ranked we at The Film Magazine are assessing every entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and because fans have very different opinions on the best, the worst and everything in between regarding this series, we’ve attempted to find a balance between average critical consensus and general audience reception, as well as genre innovation and the lasting impact on popular culture, to order all of them definitively from worst to best.

Ladies and gentlemen, for your consideration… Every MCU Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie Ranked.

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33. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

“A guy dressed like a bee tried to kill me when I was six. I’ve never had a normal life.”

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Review

The Ant-Man films are probably the most inconstant sub-series in the MCU, quality wise, but because the final chapter of their trilogy tries to go both big and small, it well and truly overreaches itself.

Pitting the Lang/Van Dyne family against Kang the Conqueror in the Quantum Realm, force of nature Jonathan Majors playing a fascinating villain isn’t quite enough to save Peyton Reed’s threequel from being just an eye-catching jumble of mismatched, tonally confusing ideas.

For Kang’s first, less maniacal appearance and the start of this whole Multiverse Saga, make sure to watch Season 1 of ‘Loki’.

32. Eternals (2021)

“We have loved these people since the day we arrived. When you love something, you protect it.”

Eternals Review

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) is a great director, no doubt, but she was just not a good fit for the MCU in this story of space gods guiding humanity’s progress. Considering the usually grounded and singular vision of her work, this was a particularly crushing disappointment for most audiences.

The ambition and epic millennia-spanning scope of Eternals sadly did not pay off in this jarring, misjudged slog of a final product that couldn’t even be saved by a stellar and diverse cast. 

31. The Marvels (2023)

“Listen to me, you are chosen for a greater purpose. So you must go. But I will never let you go.”

The Marvels Review

The Marvels smartly builds a lot of its appeal around its central team-up of Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan as their power usage causes them to swap places across the universe, but their found family warmth and oodles of charisma can’t overcome all the film’s flaws.

This needed more purposeful storytelling, a villain that doesn’t feel like a retread of what came before and more direct confrontation of the darker implications of the story. The musical elements will likely make an already decisive movie more so, but the MCU overall could do with some more audacious imagery like what Nia DaCosta does with alien cats.

Watching ‘Wandavision’ and ‘Ms Marvel’ through beforehand will certainly help you connect with two of the three leads that bit quicker.

30. Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)

“Whosoever holds these weapons, and believes in getting home, if they be true of heart is therefore worthy, and shall possess… for limited time only, the power… of Thor!”

Thor: Love and Thunder Review

Taika Waititi is the kind of distinct voice that gave the MCU a jolt in the arm when it was most needed, and he was vital in reinvigorating the Thor series, but the tonal balance and technical polish certainly felt off in 2022 release Thor: Love and Thunder.

Good performances from Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Christian Bale, and some memorable set pieces aside, Thor’s latest adventure battling a god-killer with his now superpowered ex-girlfriend Jane Foster at his side feels like too many mismatched stories smashed together.

Recommended for you: Taika Waititi Films Ranked

29. Thor: The Dark World (2013)

“One son who wanted the throne too much, and other who will not take it. Is this my legacy?”

The God of Thunder’s third film appearance tries to live up to its title with a story of dark elves trying to snuff out all light in the universe. Sadly, a late change in director – Alan Taylor taking over from would-be Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins – and extensive Loki-centric reshoots didn’t help an already disjointed film feel any less so.

Thor’s dynamic with his Earthbound friends is still funny and more Loki (shoehorned in or not) is always a good thing with Tom Hiddleston in the role, but the storytelling is inconsistent at best and Christopher Eccleston under heavy prosthetics as Malekith may be the most boring villain in the MCU so far.

28. Iron Man 2 (2010)

“The suit and I are one. To turn over the Iron Man suit would be to turn over myself, which is tantamount to indentured servitude or prostitution, depending on what state you’re in.”

The MCU’s first direct sequel went bigger and darker with Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark fighting a vengeful Russian inventor, a rival industrialist and potentially fatal health problems. Unfortunately, this ended up being a much less focussed, overblown and not all that compelling movie.

Scarlet Johansson makes her debut as Black Widow here, though she’s just a generic sexy spy at this point and not yet given the dimensions other writers would later bestow. The action is decent enough, but you wouldn’t lose out on much of you skipped over Iron Man 2 on your next MCU rewatch.

27. The Incredible Hulk (2008)

“You know, I know a few techniques that could help you manage that anger effectively.”

Lacking the clear intentions and boldness of many subsequent MCU movies, The Incredible Hulk is stylistically old-fashioned but works slightly better if you view this as a big-budget tribute to sympathetic monster movies (this one was made by Universal, after all).

A movie filled with false starts and one-off appearances (most obviously Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner would be recast with Mark Ruffalo for The Avengers in 2012), very little was carried over to the wider franchise right up until Tim Roth’s reappearance in ‘She-Hulk’ fourteen years later.

This is generally uninspiring stuff, with its most interesting man-on-the-run elements cribbed from the 1970s ‘Incredible Hulk’ TV show.

Recommended for you: Where to Start with Universal Classic Monsters

David Fincher is one of the best and most accomplished filmmakers working in 21^st century Hollywood. He has received three Best Director nominations at the Academy Awards for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, and Mank (each of which also received Best Picture nominations), and a Palme d’Or nomination at Cannes for Zodiac. His projects are consistently well-funded, well-reviewed, and beloved by audiences.

Fincher represents a synthesis of filmmaking styles. He is a student of Stanley Kubrick’s cold observation and Steven Spielberg’s guiding composition, matching each director’s reputed attention to detail. His versatility working in genres from sci-fi to drama to psychological thriller demonstrate an ability to bring what’s needed to a film while maintaining a distinct aesthetic.

His textural style is marked by high-contrast lighting, visual distancing that highlights important close-ups, and focused montage – even when the color palette changes, or the camera incorporates new techniques based on momentary decision-making, Fincher’s tendencies can be identified throughout his work. Fincher is also associated with the advancement of visual effects in the film industry. Benjamin Button, The Social Network, and, to a lesser extent, Zodiac, contain specific digital effects that are notable for their quality – as in Benjamin Button, with the Winklevoss twins in The Social Network, and the CGI blood in Zodiac.

Fincher was also among the early pioneers of digital cinema on a large scale. Zodiac was the first film to be shot straight to a hard drive, and Mank was filmed on a black-and-white digital camera rather than converting color in post-production (as was the case with The Artist due to technological constraints). These choices are solutions to problems more so than aesthetic preference – the switch to digital improves workflow, costumes don’t need to be changed when the blood isn’t real, and why not cast Armie Hammer to “be” two people when you can just put his face on another actor’s body?

Fincher doesn’t write his own scripts, but he knows a good one when he sees it and is instrumental to shaping it through the development and production process. The narratives Fincher selects see their characters put through the wringer, often physically and emotionally. There’s often a sense of mystery that the audience explores alongside the characters, and we are left with a sense of clarity by the end, be it optimistic or dour. Perhaps most prolific are his serial killer procedurals, including the Netflix series ‘Mindhunter,’ where his characters work inside and outside the “system” to solve a case while losing themselves along the way.

David Fincher loathes the association with a brand, but how else can he be described? This article will rank Fincher’s films based on the image of a “David Fincher movie.” How do these films best embody the director known for his incredible work ethic, sweeping control that values collaboration, synthesizing of old and new, and dark stories presented in an unintrusive aesthetic?

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12. Alien 3 (1992)

“No one hated [Alien 3] more than me,” Fincher told The Guardian.

The third instalment of the Alien franchise follows Ripley after she crash lands on a prison planet inhabited by religious zealots who are outraged by the presence of a woman.

The special effects and drab, grungy mise-en-scene are most notable in this otherwise boring film with a senseless, meandering plot.

The Assembly Cut of Alien 3, the film’s redemption in its apologists’ eyes, was not constructed by Fincher, so it’s hard to even associate it with him even if his name is on the film.

Anyone who has the luxury of never having seen Alien 3 should stay in blissful ignorance. Pretend ‘Mindhunter’ is the eleventh Fincher film and watch that instead.

Recommended for you: Alien Movie Franchise Ranked

11. Panic Room (2002)

Films that take place in one location are tough to get right, especially when a significant amount of time has two characters in one small room.

Fincher’s camera uses every bit of space while keeping the sense of claustrophobia and fear. The script is clever, and the performances help carry the film through its near two-hour runtime.

It’s a solid film, but it feels hollow. It’s lacking a real thematic punch that is present in other Fincher movies – it’s effective, thrilling filmmaking that foregrounds women in action roles, and is certainly worth a watch.

Panic Room is the kind of movie that would make for a strong debut, but its context between Fight Club and Zodiac – two landmarks in Fincher’s career – keeps it on the lower end of this ranking.

Born November 27th, 1951, and raised in San Carlos, California, Kathryn Bigelow originally began life as a painter, earning a degree in Fine Arts in 1972. Eventually however, after some time working with renowned composer Philip Glass (who, amongst other classical works, wrote the score for Candyman (1990)), she turned to filmmaking, earning her Masters from Columbia. There is an irony in one of her professors being Andrew Sarris (one of the leading exponents of auteur theory), as this particular branch of film criticism has been attacked over the years for being very male-centric, and Bigelow is certainly a director to have done her part at taking down that idea.

Following her short film in 1978, The Set-Up, Bigelow would go on to direct her first feature a few years later. Ever since then, she hasn’t gone for more than six years without releasing a film. Her ten directorial features have attracted some of the biggest names in the business, including Jeremy Renner, Willem Dafoe, Jamie Lee Curtis, Keanu Reeves, John Boyega, Harrison Ford, Anthony Mackie (twice), and Jessica Chastain. In honour of her groundbreaking work, The Film Magazine ranks the trailblazer’s feature films from worst to best.

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10. The Loveless (1981)

The Loveless was Kathryn Bigelow’s debut (co-directed and co-written with Monty Montgomery), and a first leading role for everyone’s favourite Green Goblin, Willem Dafoe. A film of leather bikers, punk music, and small-town sensibilities, it sees Dafoe’s Vance riding into town with his small gang of riders, staying in this town in the middle of nowhere as one of them needs their bike fixed. He ends up involved with a diner owner’s daughter, and it’s always going to end only one way.

The Loveless shows many hallmarks of a directorial debut; a simple storyline, actors that aren’t always the best, a smaller budget, an actor who also writes the soundtrack for the film. Still, despite these limitations, Bigelow’s command of the camera is apparent. Everything is controlled, every movement determined and thought through. Whereas many low budget films are simple point-and-shoot affairs, this one is choreographed and planned.

It’s a slower paced film, with not much going on for much of the runtime, but it still nicely looks at small-town youth culture when the world was still riding the crest of leather and punk rebellion. A solemn, melancholy ending caps off the film nicely with a haunting denouement. Just which parts were purely Bigelow, purely Montgomery, or a combination between the two is impossible to tell, but the end result still shows off a director finding her feet with promise of a slumbering giant to come.

Recommended for you: Jane Campion Movies Ranked

9. The Weight of Water (2000)

Based on the novel of the same name by Anita Shreve, this half modern drama, half historical crime mystery, on the surface has a lot going for it. You’ve got serious talent behind it in names such as Sean Penn and Ciaran Hinds. You’ve got beautiful visuals from the combined powers of Bigelow’s direction and the cinematography of Adrian Biddle. It’s based off an existing property. There are murder mystery elements. Surely this should be a hit.

The film, unfortunately, has an incredible issue in two timelines that never satisfactorily meet up. The historical side of proceedings is undoubtedly the more interesting of the two stories, the modern day events of a strained marriage whilst trying to uncover what truly happened back then more of a framing device which goes and sticks its nose into where it doesn’t belong. There are attempts to tie the two together but it never really holds water (pun intended), and one is left with the overall impression that there are deep structural issues which hold the film back from the page, before we shoot a single second of footage.

It looks gorgeous, it’s decently acted (even if the characters themselves are underwhelming) and it feels like there should be something there. The trouble is that there isn’t anything really interesting to work with or be remembered for.

The films range in quality, from absolutely abysmal to actually okay-ish and enjoyable. Here at The Film Magazine, we’ve saved you the effort of suffering through the unbearable ones. In this Movie List, we’re putting the Children of the Corn movies in order to establish which ones are worth checking out, which ones are probably a fun time for a “so bad it’s good” drunk horror marathons, and which ones you should ignore with every fibre of your being. You’re welcome.

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11. Children of the Corn 666: Isaac’s Return (1999)

Some films are cinematically void of anything intelligible, fun, or even salvageable. Isaac’s Return might just be one of those films.

Featuring Brian De Palma stalwart Nancy Allen, Isaac’s Return presents her character’s (Hannah’s) return to Gatlin, where she believes she’s from, to find her mother. However, Isaac, not seen since the first film, is secretly kept alive, comatose, and when Hannah comes home, Isaac returns.

John Franklin tries his best. So does Nancy Allen. Possibly. Her character is so devoid of sense, even for a horror movie heroine, that it’s hard to tell. She probably just did it for the paycheck, as Betsy Palmer did in Friday the 13th and apparently Ellen Burstyn did in The Exorcist: Believer. The direction is atrocious, the editing awful, the plot nonsensical. Isaac, despite now being in his thirties, isn’t immediately sacrificed (breaking the rules and entire point of the story, for some reason), everyone’s in on everything, and you just spend your time bashing your head against a wall.

Thankfully there’s absolutely nothing redeeming here, and the word thankfully is used because, if there was a nugget of quality, you might seek it out, enduring the horrors for some grain of cinematic interest that will only disappoint.

10. Children of the Corn (2009)

When remaking a cult classic from 25 years earlier, the place to do it in the late 2000s was Syfy.

This version is, for the most part, fairly similar to the original. Burt and Vicky hit a child with their car, go to Gatlin to get help, and find there’s nothing there but corpses, children, and a presence behind the rows.

There is perhaps one interesting idea in this, which occurs near the end, with Burt’s post-Vietnam PTSD causing him to hallucinate in the cornfields, like the jungles he fought in. However, his Vietnam veteran past is overdone to the point of driving you insane (as opposed to the character). The new Isaac can’t act, the couple squabble for most of the movie so you almost want them to die, and there’s simply nothing likeable here. The ending is awful, and though there’s more mystery around whether it is all just a cult or actual supernatural activity, it still lands like a dead husk of corn.

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In this edition of Ranked, we at The Film Magazine are taking a look at the five movies of the Evil Dead franchise, from Sam Raimi’s 1981 original The Evil Dead to 2023’s Evil Dead Rise, and ranking each movie from worst to best in terms of gore, catchphrases, and of course the quality of the films themselves.

Follow @thefilmagazine on X (Twitter).

5. Evil Dead (2013)

Fede Álvarez’s 2013 entry into the Evil Dead universe was met with mixed reviews from both fans and critics, and has continued to split audiences to this day. The more gritty, serious take on what is an overly camp, silly and over-the-top franchise was, predictably, jarring to fans of the series. Álvarez produced a blend of campy and overly serious that could be jarring at the best of times and laughable at the worst. 

Even so, the story revolving around a drug addict trying to get clean in the famous cabin of the original Evil Dead film was a brilliant idea, and Álvarez did deliver some truly disturbing moments that will make your stomach churn. 

Though Evil Dead (2013) is not a perfect addition to the Evil Dead series there are more than enough aspects within the movie to admire, even if they are sullied by the film’s not so great aspects. Evil Dead is definitely worth a watch, even if just to experience a more serious take on the famous story. 

Recommended for you: 10 More of the Best Remakes

For obvious reasons, the TV show, despite being in the same timeline, is not included in this Ranked list from The Film Magazine, much like ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ wouldn’t be included in an Evil Dead franchise ranking. We’re looking at the six feature films only. These are The Exorcist Movies Ranked.

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6. Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

It is an incredible achievement to get this many big names together for what must be the most anticipated sequel in horror history at the time, only for it to go this catastrophically wrong. Linda Blair returns as Regan MacNeil, they brought back Max von Sydow for a few fleeting shots, Jason Miller’s Father Karras is replaced by the inimitable Richard Burton as Father Lamont, Louise Fletcher comes in two years after winning the Oscar for Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, James Earl Jones is in it the same year as voicing Darth Vader for the first time… it really beggars belief. And this, the sequel to the most profitable, infamous, and most critically acclaimed horror movie of all time, should surely ensure nothing could go wrong?

But this film, directed by Sir John Boorman (Deliverance), is an absolute mess.

With Regan in hypnotherapy to try and discover what happened that fateful night in the first film, and Burton in to try and find out the truth, there’s some strange Pazuzu telepathy, lots of locusts, trips to ‘Africa’, and James Earl Jones changing into a leopard – it’s just two hours of clutching your forehead and asking ‘why?’ There’s nothing interesting, nothing thrilling, nothing even remotely scary. Much of the acting is awful, with the principal cast trying seemingly to stop themselves from bursting out laughing.

Very simply, it’s amateurish and derivative even by 1977 standards. There wouldn’t be a sequel for thirteen years thanks to this film, and even then, when Exorcist III did come out, writer William Peter Blatty didn’t want it to be named ‘Exorcist’ for fear people would have flashbacks to this one. Rightly reviled, The Heretic is damned for all time.

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5. The Exorcist: Believer (2023)

Deciding if this should be fifth or fourth in this list is a toss-up, and could change depending on the weather, as this and the following instalment in the franchise are both dull. This one takes fifth spot for having the least in connection with the rest of the franchise, seemingly just a normal exorcism film they retroactively messed around with and shoved into the series to get some more bucks out of.

The first of Blumhouse’s run with the series, this time there are two children being possessed. Only one of them is of any interest or has much characterisation, however, because only one is the main character’s kid. The pacing is all wrong, the shocks aren’t shocking, the best ‘scares’ are fake jumps. If that’s the best you’re pumping out, you’re doing something wrong. The atmosphere is non-existent, the reverence for tone and feel gone out with the bathwater. Nothing has any kind of bite.

It feels like a cheap Conjuring Universe film (one of the bad ones, which is a decent amount of them) that they just shoved the Exorcist name on. It is distressing how badly a lot of intelligent filmmakers can misunderstand the franchise they’ve bought, and the result is something one might need an exorcist to help them forget.

Since this is a subjective list of the films I personally find great or important, I am limited by what I have and have not seen. Unfortunately, you will not find Lawrence of Arabia, On the Waterfront, or Jeanne Dielman on this list as I have yet to watch them (and I intend to).

You will find a few classics that I and dozens of other critics, academics, and audiences agree are cinematic masterpieces, as well as some beautiful, thought-provoking modern classics that I believe are worthy of sharing their company.

Without further ado, let’s dive into this list of the 10 Best Films of All Time.

10. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

The Grand Budapest Hotel Review

Wes Anderson is one of the most distinctive directors in history and The Grand Budapest Hotel is the crown jewel of his oeuvre. The film follows a legendary European hotel concierge, Monsieur Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes), and his loyal lobby boy, Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), who become embroiled in a scandalous art theft. The newfound friends must find a priceless painting while dodging persecution by the growing power of a fascist regime. The A-list cast of quirky characters includes Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, and more.

The film is Anderson’s magnum opus and a masterpiece of narrative storytelling. The auteur’s unique style is front and centre with his characteristic symmetrical framing, deadpan delivery, and whip pan transitions in collaboration with cinematographer Robert Yeoman. Adam Stockhausen’s production design and Milena Canonero’s costumes bring the film’s whimsical, visually stunning world to life. With an offbeat score by Alexandre Desplat and makeup and hair by Frances Cannon and Mark Coulier, this expert creative team earned the film four Academy Awards.

The BBC and IndieWire have both named The Grand Budapest Hotel one of the best movies of the 21^st century, an important honour for a comedy, which is a genre that often goes overlooked by hard-hitting dramas.

Recommended for you: Wes Anderson Movies Ranked

9. Arrival (2016)

‘Arrival’ and the Language of Cinema

Canadian director Denis Villeneuve’s name has become synonymous with slow-burn science-fiction and there is no better example than his 2016 film, Arrival.

Starring Amy Adams as linguist Louise Banks and Jeremy Renner as physicist Ian Donnelly, the story follows their efforts to communicate with extraterrestrial beings who have arrived on Earth. This tale of contact with alien life forms forces us to re-examine our own human relationships with each other and our world, and challenges our perceptions of war, peace, space, and time.

There are several important science fiction films that could be included on this list, such as Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. However, until I see these critically acclaimed films for myself, Arrival remains one of the best films I have ever seen. It profoundly changed the way I think about my place in time and space.

The power of Villeneuve’s directorial style is his meditative pacing and sweeping visuals that force you to grapple with the challenges of what it means to be human. Critics and academics have also praised the film for its accurate representation of language and communication. The film was honoured with seven Academy Award nominations and one win for Best Sound Editing, no doubt in part for its genius use of silence.

Though he has tried his hand at many genres, Wheatley’s work, often produced in partnership with wife and co-screenwriter Amy Jump, can generally be summed up as thematically dark, bleak in outlook, violent and intense, but also typified by a self-aware mischievousness and a liberal use of gallows humour.

Wheatley’s versatility and graft as a filmmaker won him a place on our 10 Directors with 3 or More Great Films of the 2010s list, and now we at The Film Magazine have ranked Ben Wheatley’s eclectic directorial filmography to date, from worst to best, least to most batshit crazy.

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10. Meg 2: The Trench (2023)

Meg 2: The Trench Review

Diver and very literal eco warrior Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) returns with a largely disposable team to battle more megalodons as they break free from an underwater barrier damaged by illegal mining operations.

If your main criticism of The Meg was that it wasn’t silly enough, then its sequel definitely has you covered. Most of the characters are walking clichés ripe for some giant shark chomping, and some obvious twists and laboured setup to a truly ridiculous final act try your patience. But it’s got a certain visual dazzle, and when we eventually get to see Statham jet-ski-jousting a Meg with an explosive harpoon, and we get a surprise clash with another colossal sea creature, the amount you’re goofily grinning might be worth the loss of some brain cells you’re not using.

Meg 2 is at the bottom of this list not only for being the least good (though still not terrible) Ben Wheatley film to date, but also because it’s least recognisably Ben Wheatley. If big Hollywood paycheques help get his more esoteric and interesting films made then it’ll be worth it, but you do find yourself wishing more of his personality shone through.

9. Free Fire (2016)

A collective of incompetent hitmen, mercenaries and arms dealers have a fateful and messy meetup in a warehouse, the ensuing carnage that follows is documented with barely a pause for breath.

It’s impressive that they purpose-built a Boston warehouse in the UK and dressed it so convincingly with debris, not to mention how all the actors seem to be having fun playing broad 1970s stereotypes wearing garish threads and sporting bad hair. But aside from the love-to-hate entertainment value of Sharlto Copley’s Vern and the natural charm of Cillian Murphy’s Chris, the characters just aren’t interesting or memorable enough to be compelling.

It’s possible for a continuous action scene spanning an entire film to keep you engaged (just look at The Raid or Mad Max: Fury Road) but here the action rapidly becomes incomprehensible and quite monotonous too, as amusing as it is to see so many supposed tough guys hobbling around and failing to shoot straight. It doesn’t take long to lose track of where everyone is and how injured they are in the film’s one and only warehouse location, which is a problem, though it does make it funnier that the characters frequently shout out to get answers to the same questions.