Three characters: a land girl, a US and a UK sergeant, all arrive on the same train in a small wartime Kent village and set out to catch the local malcontent, the 'glue man'. The three of them start to explore the area to discover and expose him but then they get engrossed in the history of the area and the tales of The Pilgrim's Way. The local magistrate is a regional historian, and a very mysterious character, who leads them further into the mystery. A superb depiction of the tensions that ari find out more...

The legend of Orpheus and Eurydice recreated in Rio de Janeiro with an all black cast. Orpheus (a tram conductor!) is pursued by Death as he and his beloved Eurydice weave through the carnival madness of Rio in full swing. Amazing energy and colour with superb direction. find out more...

This classic piece of early silent cinema is noted not merely for its dramatic camerawork and cast of thousands but also for its contribution as a cinematic template, particularly in the genre of horror. Set in 16th Century Prague, a monstrous creature of Jewish myth is unleashed by a Rabbi to save his people from anti-Semitic legislation; unfortunately for all concerned The Golem's taste for destruction is not sated by the demands of his master, and so begins an unstoppable rampage. find out more...

Cross-dressing club-kid Eddie vies with a rival drag-queen for the favours of drug-dealing cabaret-manager Gonda in this unflinching and often brutal portrayal of Japanese gay subculture. Matsumoto achieves a line between pathos and hilarity that makes Funeral Parade of Roses utterly unique; a feverish collision of avant-garde aesthetics and grind-house shocks (not to mention a direct influence on Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange). In addition this psychedelic era film is a gay play on the O find out more...

A version of the legendary "Gunfight at the OK Corral" in Tombstone, Arizona. Two opposing interest groups, Doc Holliday, Wyatt and his Earp family, the ones with the badges, came to a shoot-out with members of the Clanton cattle ranching and nefarious activities clan/gang. Classic stuff.

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The movie that confirmed Kurosawa's greatest strength, his innovative handling of genre. It's set amid the civil wars of 16th Century Japan, and concerns samurai Mifune escorting a princess and two oafish peasants through enemy territory. Kurosawa's treatment is part traditional (the plotting, the concept, the use of Noh theatre music), part eclectic (there are reminiscences of John Ford Westerns), and part truly idiosyncratic (the Shakespearean contracts between clowns and heroes). find out more...

The last in Pasolini's trilogy, after 'The Decameron' and 'The Canterbury Tales', is a series of interlinked tales from the ancient Middle Eastern classic. 'Arabian Nights' is a truly lush and lusty version of the original folk stories revolving around slaves, kings, demons, love, betrayal, loss and appeasement. find out more...

With no personal bias whatsoever you quite simply have to see this film. Fabulous special effects and superbly theatrical acting, this Greek myth is a hugely entertaining adventure romp, replete with multi-headed Hydras, warrior skeletons and bronze gods. Suspend disbelief and enjoy. find out more...

Cocteau's version of the famous fairytale which, with its fantastic set design, set standards never bettered. The love story between woman and beast, in a fantasy world inside his enchanted castle, is both erotic and tragic, and this bewilderingly, beautiful and mystifying film is often seen as an allegory for a wounded France recovering from the Nazi occupation. Pure genius. find out more...

Cocteau's last film is a personal and intimate trawl through his work, reprising the major themes and characters. He plays himself at the centre of the 'Orpheus' myth that he based his work upon, and self-consciously re-examines his own work and ideas. Strange fantasy, only for Cocteau afficionados. find out more...