Film

The Minion

A 1998 genre mashup where Dolph Lundgren plays a Templar warrior sent to New York on New Year's Eve to stop a demonic parasite possessing an archaeologist. It's pulpy, earnest action-horror that swings wildly between martial arts sequences and supernatural body-horror, with the confidence of something that knows exactly what it is and doesn't apologize.

TMDb rating2.3

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Hellboy2004

Same DNA: a righteous warrior confronting occult threats in a modern city with practical effects, monster design, and a director who treats absurdity as a feature, not a bug. Guillermo del Toro channels this exact energy.

But The CGI has aged in ways that matter more than in comparable films. Pacing drags in the middle act, and the charm doesn't always compensate.

Hellboy poster

Constantine2005

Keanu Reeves as an exorcist navigating Hell and Earth to stop demonic incursion. Same Vatican-versus-darkness framework, same willingness to be earnestly weird, better execution and a genuinely unsettling visual palette.

But Significantly darker and more bleak than The Minion. If you want fun with your dread, this might feel too grim.

Constantine poster

Highlander III: The Sorcerer1994

Another '90s Lundgren adjacent action-fantasy that commits to its mythology without winking. Mystical duels, practical stunts, a villain with genuine supernatural weight, and the same shambolic charm.

But The plot is genuinely confusing in ways that feel accidental. Requires patience and the willingness to roll with inconsistency.

Highlander III: The Sorcerer poster

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The Lair of the White Worm1988

Both feature ancient evil awakened in the modern world, warrior monks or priesthoods protecting against it, and body-horror elements played entirely straight. Russell does with $3M what The Minion does with $20M: create a world where the supernatural is law.

Ken Russell's adaptation of Bram Stoker finds cosmic horror in rural England: pagan rituals, serpent cults, a aristocratic villain with otherworldly connections. It's visually deranged in ways that make The Minion look conventional—a masterclass in committing to absurdity.

But Russell's direction is genuinely alienating. The tone whipsaws between erotic and horrific, between camp and grotesque. It's difficult and confrontational in ways designed to repel as many viewers as it attracts.

The Lair of the White Worm poster
More like this (8)

Underworld2003

Vampire-versus-werewolf action in a hidden supernatural world, with the same operatic seriousness about ancient bloodlines and hidden orders. Kate Beckinsale commits fully to the material.

But The sequels exist and they're terrible, which has poisoned the well. The original holds up much better than you'd expect, but you'll be aware you're watching a franchise incubator.

Underworld poster

Sleepy Hollow1999

Same year, same spirit: Tim Burton and Johnny Depp take Gothic horror seriously while maintaining a dream-logic tone. Practical creature effects, a protagonist out of his depth, a demonic threat that feels genuinely present.

But Visually sumptuous but glacially paced. If you're watching for action, you'll wait a long time between set pieces.

Sleepy Hollow poster

The Prophecy1995

Christopher Walken as a warrior angel. Enough said, but here's more: celestial beings, apocalyptic stakes, practical effects, and that same '90s willingness to treat cosmic horror as an action premise without irony.

But The sequels are a cautionary tale. The first one works, barely, on sheer weirdness and Walken's presence. Remove either and it collapses.

The Prophecy poster

The Shadow1994

Alec Baldwin as a pulp vigilante fighting mind-control and Eastern mysticism in Art Deco New York. It's ridiculous, technically proficient, and completely committed to its own mythology in a way few films dare.

But The comedy lands inconsistently and the tonal whiplash is severe. Some scenes feel like they're from different films entirely.

The Shadow poster

Judge Dredd1995

Stallone in a dystopian future where action sequences and world-building matter more than narrative coherence. Practical sets, practical effects, practical stunts. A film that knows what it wants to be and commits.

But The plot barely exists and the film seems aware of this. If you need character development or emotional stakes, you will be frustrated.

Judge Dredd poster

Mortal Kombat1995

Tournament-fighting-across-dimensions film that treats video game lore as genuine mythology. Practical martial arts, creature effects, a monk protecting the realm against otherworldly invasion. Same earnestness, lower budget.

But The acting ranges from committed to bewildering. The script treats exposition as plot. Both these things are significant problems for viewers who can't camp it up mentally.

Mortal Kombat poster

Army of Darkness1992

Both are action-horror hybrids where a warrior must cross unfamiliar terrain (medieval curse versus modern possession) to save someone they've just met. Both trust their effects and their lead's physicality over dialogue or plot mechanics.

Bruce Campbell in a medieval fantasy where a modern man must battle deadites and demonic forces with makeshift weapons and pure stubbornness. Practical effects, slapstick horror, genuine strangeness. Sam Raimi's willingness to be ridiculous without losing stakes.

But The tone is almost aggressively goofy. If you watch The Minion for dramatic weight rather than fun, this will feel like mockery instead of kinship.

Army of Darkness poster

Possession1981

Like The Minion, possession becomes literal and physical rather than metaphorical. Unlike it, Żuławski uses possession as a lens for marital dissolution and existential horror. Both treat the possessed body as a genuine battleground; Żuławski just brings more art-film severity and sexual dread.

Andrzej Żuławski's psychological-occult nightmare: a woman possessed during a marriage collapse, tentacle-creatures manifesting in Berlin, body-horror that predates most modern reference points. Isiah Larter gives a committed, unsettling performance; the film is genuinely unsettling.

But It's difficult, sexually explicit, and visually grotesque in ways that feel deliberately punishing. The plot is deliberately opaque. This is not entertainment, it's an ordeal you choose to undergo.

Possession poster

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