Robot Jox (1989)

In a post-WWIII society war is outlawed. Grievances between warring countries are instead settled by two men in giant fighting robots.
America made a Mecha movie 25 years ago?! The Japanese have nothing to fear, because it's terrible. It’s too graphic to be a children’s movie and too empty to be of interest to most adults. The one thing that makes it fun is the stop motion scenes that even at their worst shit on Bayformers.

2 differentials out of 5

The Pit and the Pendulum (1991)

Having grossed us out with Lovecraft more than once, Stuart Gordon moved onto Edgar Allan Poe. Keeping it faithful to the period meant he could present the Spanish Inquisition in all its terrible glory.
Lance Henriksen’s Grand Inquisitor Torquemada is a lecherous, masochistic bundle of moral and religious contradictions that embodies well the kind of obsessional traits that haunt many of Poe’s literary characters. His fascination with the beautiful Maria (Rona De Ricci) will leave no one in any doubt where the film is headed, but it pendulums (*ahem) in quality.
If you like it, Gordon’s Masters of Horror episode, The Black Cat (2007), saw him return to Poe, along with Jeffrey Combs.

3 nipples for Satan out of 5

From Beyond (1986)

The same creative team that gave us Re-Animator (1985) knocked out another classic B movie that’s simultaneously gut-busting hilarious and bowel-churning gross, again based on an H. P. Lovecraft tale. It even called back some of the same cast, including the wonderful Jeffrey Combs as a dangerously obsessed scientist. He and a fellow dabbler build a device that enables them to see the unseen, and consequently invite a whole new world of sexy depravity and icky shit to their door.

3½ disturbances out of 5

Dolls (1987)

The cover art and the director’s name (Stuart Gordon) tell you all you need to know about this flick. The only real surprise is how funny it is. It takes a while for the murderous dolls to wake, but once they do there’s lightning, blood, stalker camera angles and Harryhausen-esqe stop motion. If the budget had allowed for it, more deadly Doll action would've been most welcome because it’s crazy good fun.

2½ little people out of 5

Re-Animator (1985)

The film that made Jeffrey Combs a household name amongst the weird kids you knew back in high school.
A vial of green glowing stuff brings back the dead, but they don’t say thanks with flowers.
With a similar black comedy-shock styling as Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead (1981), it's extra-crispy, deep-fried fun. A horror film from the decade when horror films were good.

3½ dead cat backpacks out of 5