Sex, drugs, and rock and roll through the prism of the vampire myth and late ’80s style, The Lost Boys remains a fun romp and arguably Schumacher’s best film. The late Corey Haim (that still pains to write that) stars as Sam, a teenager who moves to Santa Clara, California with his older brother Michael (Jason Patrick) and his mother (Diane Wiest). Blood wine, maggot-ridden Chinese food, and hippie names are all a part of this popcorn classic.

Pretty people in dire straits are the name of the game in this absurd but enjoyably stylish sci-fi thriller. Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, William Baldwin, and the scene-stealing Oliver Platt star as med students who have way too much time on their hands. How else to explain why they’d want to kill themselves to experience the dreamlike rush of what’s beyond death? As you can imagine, things don’t go exactly as planned.

L.A. traffic will make you crazy. That’s how we get into the world of William ‘D-FENS’ Foster (impeccably played by an unhinged Michael Douglas) as he leaves his car in a traffic jam and wreaks violent havoc all over the greater Los Angeles area. The uncharacteristically bleak drama was a nice change of pace for Schumacher, who made one of this best films working outside of his comfort zone.

The high-concept thriller from writer Larry Cohen (It’s Alive) stars Colin Farrell (working with Schumacher again after his breakthrough Tigerland) as a New York douchebag publicist who unfortunately picks up a ringing public phone that has a psychopath (Schumacher regular Kiefer Sutherland) on the other end who wants to play mind games and threatens to kill him if he moves. Farrell’s charisma keeps the film from imploding under the weight of an implausible concept.

Schumacher once again indulged his dark thriller fixation with this mystery starring an against-type Jim Carrey as a man who becomes obsessed with the number 23 after reading about it in a foreboding book. As his obsession grows, his mind goes, and you’d be best to check your own head before trying to watch this contrived and boring flick.

This is what happens when toy companies dictate how a film is made. Gotham City is turned into a garishly neon-lit, Dutch-angled mess filled with superheroes (George Clooney as Bruce Wayne/Batman) in nipple suits and villains (Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze) who spout nothing but quips. The movie killed the Batman franchise until Christopher Nolan saved it with Batman Begins. ‘Ice’ to know you, Batman & Robin!

The second feature film directed by Schumacher (after the Lily Tomlin vehicle The Incredible Shrinking Woman) is a bizarre “comedy” about a group of cabbies who band together in an attempt to keep their D.C. Cab company open. When that group includes Mr. T, Gary Busey, Adam Baldwin, and Irene Cara (Fame), you know you’re in for a movie that needs a few drinks to be fully appreciated.

This depressing romantic melodrama featured then rising star Julia Roberts as a live-in caretaker for hire who falls in love with her patient (Campbell Scott), who’s battling leukemia. The movie is notable for putting Scott on the map in a big way, but was too much of a downer for Roberts, who went too dramatic in a bid for respectability after crowd pleaser Pretty Woman and schlock thriller Sleeping with the Enemy.