The Bed-Sitting Room (1969)
This little-seen post-apocalyptic satire from the pen of
Spike Milligan and
John Antrobus is mostly concerned with satirising British post-war institutions and with people like
Sir Ralph Richardson turning into inanimate objects. But in its final scenes, where the disparate groups of characters come together for a collective nervous breakdown, the second coming is both invoked and subverted, as
Peter Cook descends from his police blimp and tells the crowds to keep moving and that everything will be alright.
The Book of Eli (2010)
Another relatively little-seen effort from the
Hughes Brothers, who previously made Dead Presidents, From Hell and Menace II Society. This post-apocalyptic tale finds
Denzel Washington as the keeper of the worlds last copy of the Bible, journeying across a wasteland America to deliver its message. Mixing Mad Max-like visuals with Matrix-esque action scenes, the film is about how the power of language is greater than any amount of weaponry, not only in defeating evil but in instilling fear and reverence.
The Clonus Horror (1979)
Robert S. Fivesons B-movie was unofficially remade as The Island by Michael Bay, and as per usual Bays version was the one lacking in intelligence. Alongside moral concerns about cloning and human identity which seem increasingly pertinent in our society, The Clonus Horror compares the present-day role of scientists to that of priests in mediaeval times. On the one hand, they are at the cutting-edge of technology, interceding between the people and power they cannot understand; on the other hand, the computerised confessionals drape a veil of ignorance over proceedings.
The Lion King (1994)
Another unsurprising inclusion, considering its messianic qualities and its roots in William Shakespeares Hamlet. On the one hand, the film is a New Testament allegory along the lines of Narnia, splitting the character/ device of Aslan into Mufasa and Simba, with the latters return from the wilderness substituting for a literal resurrection. On the other hand, Simba is like the Old Testament characters of Moses or Elijah, being brought out of the wilderness to defeat an evil oppressor and lead his people to a new life.
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Nicolas Roegs finest film may not be the most coherent piece of cinema around, but it is definitely one of the most thought-provoking. Twelve years before The Last Temptation of Christ focussed entirely on the human aspects of Christ, the films central irony (a man sent in search of water becomes a drunk) becomes a commentary on the corrosive nature of our society.
David Bowie in his finest screen role plays the messianic Thomas Jerome Newton, whose arrives on Earth intending to save his planet but eventually loses all compassion and wanders the Earth forever as a jaded shell.