Released in 1991 and turning Sir Anthony Hopkins into a household name, The Silence of the Lambs remains a cultural landmark of filmmaking with an influence that’s lasted decades. Houselights starts its 1990s Demme retrospective with the essential question: Does it still resonate, or is it a great work “for its time”?

​500 years after Christopher Columbus helmed a famous voyage to the "New World," studios saw the potential for boffo box office by releasing movies to re-memorialize the anniversary. One of two competing films to flop spectacularly, does 1492 sail away with our respect as a work, or does it sink under the weight of its own pretensions?

​2021’s The Last Duel was Ridley Scott’s star-studded foray back into historical epics and it was greeted with general acclaim by critics. But theatrical releases still finding their way out of lockdowns and mixed-up marketing hurt its chances to find an audience. Houselights examines this Medieval tale to see if a new release is in order, or if some battles are best left to the past.

Originally receiving mixed reviews, 2005’s Kingdom of Heaven found new life with a 2006 Director’s Cut. Orlando Bloom anchors this tale set during the 12th Century Crusades exploring the ethical paradoxes which faith and duty sometimes pose. Houselights revisits the director’s cut and asks, were audiences cheated with the original release...or spared?

Loosely inspired by Rome at the end of the Pax Romana, 2000’s seminal crowd-pleaser Gladiator defined Russell Crowe’s career and remains a benchmark for sword-and-sandal epics. Audiences cheered the heroism of a reluctant hero challenging a mad ruler, but does this film echo in eternity or fade with the passage of time?

​Using state-of-the-art visual effects and 3-D immersion, Ridley Scott brings new life to the story of defiant leader Moses as he rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II, setting 600,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrible cycle of deadly plagues.

​Houselights missed one! 

Joe Dante directed "The Howling" in 1981 and so his first film of the 80s is our last. This movie was a financial success and spawned several sequels. But does this connect with the modern audience?

Joe Dante closed out the 1980s with "The 'Burbs," a sendup of suburban life and sensibilities with Tom Hanks still in his comic acting phase, starring as an average man pushed to the brink by suspicions about his new neighbors. With three filmed endings, and an all-star cast, is The ‘Burbs a cult classic or a misfire?

Featuring the charm of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, and the comedy stylings of Martin Short, Joe Dante’s sci-fi comedy Inner Space spins the concept of Fantastic Voyage into a caper about secret government technology. More than 3 decades later, is it sill fun to inject this romp into the Blu-Ray player?

One year after Gremlins, Joe Dante delivered a loving homage to the spirit of invention and imagination with the decidedly kid-friendly Explorers. Starring the up-and-coming Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix, does its loving homage to 1950s sci-fi still resonate?