Tremors (1990)

Sometimes no matter how low the budget or silly the concept, everything in a film gels and the final product is more than the sum of its parts. Add Tremors to that list. It’s one of my favourite B-Movies.
It takes place in a small town in Nevada called Perfection. The town doesn't quite live up to its name when something big and hungry turns up unexpectedly and starts devouring the citizens. Among the townspeople are two happy-go-lucky friends who help keep the film rolling at all times.
Extra praise for Michael Gross as the gun-happy Burt. You’d maybe not want Burt on your friends list, but in a crisis I'd have him on speed dial.

4 jobs for intelligent men out of 5

Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) has a wardrobe full of action jeans and hero vests; with jeans tightly buttoned he drives his truck into Chinatown and ends up helping a friend rescue a girl from a trio of Mortal Kombat-esque outcasts and a two-thousand-year-old evil sorcerer. Cue lightning, green flame, mythical beasts and an old man that stands seven-foot tall.
Oddly, Russell plays it mostly straight while all around him is a smorgasbord of awesome, and it works. Big Trouble in Little China is without a doubt the most successful and entertaining Chinese style action comedy made in the West that I've ever seen. (If you're interested, Carpenter was inspired by Tsui Harks Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983)).

5 problems with your face out of 5

Prince of Darkness (1987)

Inside a container, deep in a vault beneath an unused Church, sits something old and evil that's almost ready to make an unwelcome comeback.
Prince of Darkness is kind of silly; it's got some Carpenter stock actors and his usual directorial flair, but the script, essentially his version of Quatermass and the Pit (1967), doesn't hold up under scrutiny. The characters have no background; they're students, called in to assess the ultimate evil, not exactly believable. It's plodding, has poor humour and a number of inconsistencies.
So why watch it?  It's held together by an accomplished film technique, by actors Donald Pleasence and Victor Wong, and a great musical score. If that's enough to sustain your interest, you'll maybe like it, too.

3 green cocktails out of 5