Subgenre Sampler
Black Comedy: 499 Films to Buy & Rent
Heathers (1989)
- Dir. Michael Lehmann
Feat. Winona Ryder, Christian Slater, Shannen Doherty
- 'Heathers' are an elite group of glamourous, stuck–up brat–girls who gradually meet their maker courtesy of a rebel Heather (Winona…
High Hopes (1989)
- Dir. Mike Leigh
Feat. Phillip Davis, Ruth Sheen
- Mike Leigh's excruciating portrait of a dysfunctional yet typical working–class family surviving in Thatcher's England. The blistering social…
How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989)
- Dir. Bruce Robinson
Feat. Richard E. Grant, Rachel Ward
- Richard E. Grant encores for the director of WITHNAIL AND I to play a manic genius ad–man whose conscience rears its ugly head while he…
Just Me and Mario (1989)
- Dir. Greg Stitt
Feat. Mark Hadlow
- Mark Hadlow portrays a repressed individual obsessed with the music and life of Mario Lanza. It's a surreal, blackly comic take on suburban angst.
Parents (1989)
- Dir. Bob Balaban
Feat. Randy Quaid, Mary Beth Hurt, Sandy Dennis
- Frightening piece of horror kitsch about a boy who suspects his parents are cannibals. Splendid, stylised direction and set design make this a…
Trop Belle Pour Toi (Too Beautiful For You) (1989)
- Dir. Bertrand Blier
Feat. Gerard Depardieu, Josiane Balasko, Carole Bouquet
- Car salesman Gerard Depardieu has a beautiful wife, but becomes infatuated with his plain yet passionate receptionist. Insightful, melancholy comedy.
Beetlejuice (1988)
- Dir. Tim Burton
Feat. Michael Keaton, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin…
- A deceased couple return as ghosts and discover their home has been occupied by an obnoxious family, so decide to enlist the services of…
Brain Damage (1988)
- Dir. Frank Henenlotter
Feat. Rick Hearst, Gordon MacDonald, Jennifer Lowry
- Outrageous splatter comedy doubles as a drug–addiction parable about a parasitic monster that feeds off the acquaintances of its human host.…
Child's Play (1988)
- Dir. Tom Holland
Feat. Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent…
- 'Chucky', the possessed cabbage–patch kid, goes on a murderous rampage in this clever consumerist parable. Tightly scripted and imaginatively…
Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
- Dir. Stephen Frears
Feat. Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer
- Classic tale of an unscrupulous French countess who creates royal havoc by challenging her former lover to the sexual conquest of a virginal…