Starring: Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Madeline Kahn, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman, Mel Brooks

In this satirical take on Westerns, crafty railroad worker Bart (Cleavon Little) becomes the first black sheriff of Rock Ridge, a frontier town about to be destroyed in order to make way for a new railroad. Initially, the people of Rock Ridge harbor a racial bias toward their new leader. However, they warm to him after realizing that Bart and his perpetually drunk gunfighter friend (Gene Wilder) are the only defense against a wave of thugs sent to rid the town of its population.

Starring: Yvette Yzon, Alvin Anson, Paul Holmes, James Gregory Paolleli, BB Johnson

An evil corporation sends a team of marines led by the sole survivor of a previous attack on a rescue mission to a remote Pacific Island following a zombie outbreak stemming from nefarious scientific experiments. It all goes bad really fast.

Plot sound familiar? It should, as this is the final film from legendary Italian horror director Bruno Mattei (Hell of the Living Dead, Zombie 3, Rats: Night of Terror) who made a career of high energy knock offs of Hollywood hits featuring his unique splatter signature.

In the final years of his career, Mattei made several shot-on-video movies for the international market, and this was one of the best of them – featuring the plot lifted from James Cameron’s Aliens, mixed with elements of his own 1980 knock off of Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. What follows is a third world acid trip from hell, with Grand Guignol gore, high-caliber weapons, mutated rugrats and goopy tentacles all colliding in a Calabrian casserole of spaghetti sauce-slathered greatness.

Starring: Kinder Hunt, Maegen, Jesse Lizarraga, Jeff Burr, Scott Pierce, Judith Montgomery

They are creatures created by the evils of men!

In this sick and slimy SOV monster anthology, a man’s mistress is trapped by his gun-wielding wife, who subjects her to two tales as a twisted form of revenge. In the first, a would-be brothel owner and crew face off against a puritanical mayor with a mysterious box housing an ancient creature he uses as punishment. In the second, a woman’s nightmares about her abusive husband slowly come to life as she tries to escape the real monster growing inside him.

From prolific indie producer David S. Sterling (Camp Blood, Demonicus, Witchcraft) and directed by Jay Woelfel (Beyond Dream’s Door), Dennis Devine (Fatal Images), and Eugene James (Dead Girls), Things spares no exploitation trope or gross-out practical effect in telling it’s tawdry and oozy tales of inhumanity in all its analog glory.

Starring: Toni Collette, Bill Hunter, Rachel Griffiths, Jeanie Drynan, Gennie Nevinson, Daniel Lapaine

Print courtesy of The Library of Congress

Socially awkward Muriel Heslop (Toni Collette) wants nothing more than to get married. Unfortunately, due to her oppressive politician father (Bill Hunter), Muriel has never even been on a date. Ostracized by her more socially adept friends, Muriel runs into fellow outcast Rhonda Epinstalk (Rachel Griffiths), and the two move from their small Australian town to the big city of Sydney, where Muriel changes her name and begins the arduous task of redesigning her life to match her fantasies.

Starring: Freddie Prinze Jr., Rachael Leigh Cook, Matthew Lillard, Paul Walker, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Kevin Pollak

High school hotshot Zach Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr.) is the envy of his peers. But his popularity declines sharply when his cheerleader girlfriend, Taylor (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe), leaves him for sleazy reality-television star Brock Hudson (Matthew Lillard). Desperate to revive his fading reputation, Siler agrees to a seemingly impossible challenge. He has six weeks to gain the trust of nerdy outcast Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook) — and help her to become the school’s next prom queen.

Starring: Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett, Philip Bosco, M. Emmet Walsh

Childhood friends Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts) and Michael O’Neal (Dermot Mulroney) had a deal to marry each other if they were still single by age 28. Now, four days before her 28th birthday, O’Neil announces that he’s marrying a gorgeous 20-year-old named Kimberly (Cameron Diaz). Suddenly realizing that she’s actually in love with him, Julianne vows to stop the wedding at all costs. However, when she is appointed maid of honor, things get even more complex.

Starring: Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, Kristin Scott Thomas, Simon Callow, Rowan Atkinson, James Fleet

Lovable Englishman Charles (Hugh Grant) and his group of friends seem to be unlucky in love. When Charles meets a beautiful American named Carrie (Andie MacDowell) at a wedding, he thinks his luck may have changed. But, after one magical night, Carrie returns to the States, ending what might have been. As Charles and Carrie’s paths continue to cross — over a handful of nuptials and one funeral — he comes to believe they are meant to be together, even if their timing always seems to be off.

Starring: Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, James Fleet, Harriet Walter

When Elinor Dashwood’s (Emma Thompson) father dies, her family’s finances are crippled. After the Dashwoods move to a cottage in Devonshire, Elinor’s sister Marianne (Kate Winslet) is torn between the handsome John Willoughby (Greg Wise) and the older Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman). Meanwhile, Elinor’s romantic hopes with Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant) are hindered due to his prior engagement. Both Elinor and Marianne strive for love while the circumstances in their lives constantly change.

Starring: Simone Simon, Kent Smith, Ann Carter, Jane Randolph, Elizabeth Russell

Archival print courtesy of the Library of Congress

A loose sequel to the 1942 Cat People, The Curse of the Cat People forgoes any actual feline-human hybrids in favor of portraying a child’s fascination with a woman only she can see. Amy, a young dreamer who would believe birthday invitations can be delivered by magic via a hollow tree, finds she inadvertently causes trouble for her father Oliver. Vowing to please him as a wish on her sixth birthday, she does just the opposite when she starts to see Irena in the yard – Irena being her father’s deceased first wife (and the would-be Cat Person of the original). Captivated by stories of the Headless Horseman (she lives in Tarrytown, of Sleepy Hollow fame), Amy drifts further into her own world.

Lauded producer Val Lewton drew from his own childhood for this film which effectively portrays the unparalleled loneliness one can experience as a child.

Starring: Lea Thompson, Jeffrey Jones, Tim Robbins, Paul Guilfoyle

In this film based on the comic book character, Howard the Duck is suddenly beamed from Duckworld, a planet of intelligent ducks with arms and legs, to Earth, where he lands in Cleveland. There he saves rocker Beverly (Lea Thompson) from thugs and forms a friendship with her. She introduces him to Phil (Tim Robbins), who works at a lab with scientist Dr. Jenning (Jeffrey Jones). When the doctor attempts to return Howard to his world, Jenning instead transfers an evil spirit into his own body.