The Thursday List, Episode 7

"Quigley Down Under" (1990)

This is one of my favorite post-1960s westerns. It's a solid, entertaining yet often overlooked film. It has aged far better than most of its more popular cinema contemporaries and is just as well written, acted, and directed as most of them. It has action, humor, and drama, and instead of relying on flash and cool it is plainly a good story told well, which is better than flash and cool and many other superficialities every time. Recommended.

"The Exorcist III" (1990)

Once again we have a case of an often overlooked solid, entertaining film that has aged better than many of its contemporaries. This chapter of the "Exorcist" cycle more than makes up for its diabolically hodgepodge (and often unintentionally quite funny) predecessor. It's an effective detective/horror film that really only gets over the top at the end, though it still works well. Script, direction, and cast are excellent, and the film effortlessly moves between darkly funny humor and delivering atmosphere and chills. Again, good story and well told. Recommended.

"The Return of the Living Dead" (1985)

This is probably the second most legendary zombie movie of them all, and despite its title was in no way associated with George Romero's 1968 film. (See this Wikipedia article for that story.) It's a zombie film with an excellent atmosphere of dread, a good cast, and a very effective balance of laughs and scares that keeps the film's pace moving at a steady clip. Above all, it's fun to watch, either alone or with friends. Highly recommended.