Rear Window (1954)
The Temperature’s Rising: Being confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg during a heatwave is a pretty miserable situation, especially when you live in a block of flats. So it’s understandable that photographer L.B. Jefferies (James Stewart) takes his entertainment where he can get it: by peering through his neighbours’ open windows.
Sweatiness Rating: 6/10
Jeff just needed more TV channels, really.
247F (2011)
The Temperature’s Rising: When a group of friends decides to head up to a remote cabin to party, they’re delighted to discover there’s a sauna out by the lake. That delight soon evaporates, though, when they get trapped inside the sauna, which is getting hotter by the minute.
Sweatiness Rating: 6/10
What are the odds of getting accidentally stuck in a faulty sauna with no help in earshot?
The Bone Snatcher (2003)
The Temperature’s Rising : A team of scientists is dispatched to find out why diamond miners are mysteriously disappearing from a site in the Namib Desert. What they find is either a horrifying creature… or heatstroke.
Sweatiness Rating: 6/10
Deserts can get cold overnight, after all.
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998)
The Temperature’s Rising: The survivors of the first I Know What You Did Last Summer movie jet off to the Bahamas for the sequel, after winning an all-expenses-paid holiday in a radio competition. The catch? The holiday was arranged by the vengeful son of the fisherman from the first movie. And he only booked one-way tickets.
Sweatiness Rating: 6/10
How many serial killers are thoughtful enough to book their victims beach holidays before getting their murder on?
Hatchet (2006)
The Temperature’s Rising: Taking a cut-price tour of the New Orleans swamps turns out to be the worst idea ever for this group of tourists. If you’re going to find out terrifying urban legends are true, you want your guide to actually know where to run away to.
Sweatiness Rating: 7/10
It’s not the heat that gets you, it’s the humidity. And the serial killers.
Rubber (2010)
The Temperature’s Rising: Out in the California desert, a group of cinemagoers gathers to watch as a tyre gains sentience and goes on a killing spree. It’s all very post-modern and strange, and it’s another one that probably makes more sense if you’re suffering from heat-induced delirium.
Sweatiness Rating: 7/10
Why? No reason.
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
The Temperature’s Rising: Seeking refuge from the Mexican heat at a sleazy strip club, the Gecko Brothers (George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino) get more than they bargained for when it turns out the club caters to very specific interests.
Sweatiness Rating: 7/10
Wait, can vampires sweat?
Wolf Creek (2005)
The Temperature’s Rising: Backpacking through the Australian outback is thirsty work - temperatures can reach 50°C - but when a trio of tourists find themselves stranded after their car breaks down, an offer of help from creepy local Mick Taylor (John Jarratt) turns out to be more trouble than it’s worth.
Sweatiness Rating: 7/10
At least it’s easier to outrun a knife than the sun.
I Walked With A Zombie (1943)
The Temperature’s Rising: If you can squint past the voodoo and Caribbean heat, I Walked With A Zombie is a sort of adaptation of Jane Eyre. But you’d really have to squint, because so much of the film’s ambience comes from the oppressive climate and elaborate rituals.
Sweatiness Rating: 8/10
Wandering cornfields at night might sound like a great way to cool off, but it’s worth checking for voodoo temples first.
Who Can Kill A Child? (1976)
The Temperature’s Rising: A married British couple head to sunny Spain for a holiday before the birth of their child – and end up stuck on a sweltering island populated entirely by murderous children. A bit like accidentally going to Alton Towers on the hottest day of the school holidays.
Sweatiness Rating: 8/10
There’s not much scarier than evil kids.
