Long before FX departments started relying on computers to supply their more weird and wonderful characters, Jim Henson was using good ol' fashioned puppetry (or should that be 'muppetry'?) to bring his fantastical tales to life.
While that inevitably means parts of this 1986 fairy-tale adventure have aged better than others, the ambitious Terry Jones-scripted “Labyrinth” remains as enjoyable as ever. Jennifer Connelly plays Sarah, the tantrum-throwing teen whose baby brother Toby gets on her nerves once too often during another night's babysitting. If truth be told she's a bit of a weirdo, hence her decision to wish for goblins to come and take her bothersome sibling away. Of course, when her wish comes true she lives to regret it, and what's worse is she only has 13 hours to retrieve the squealing tot before the goblins get official custody (which would surely never stand up in court).
Helping and occasionally hindering Sarah as she fights her way through goblins, caverns and even the Bog of Eternal Stench (hold your nose for that one) are fairy-hating midget Hoggle, gentle giant Ludo, and a talking dog named Sir Didymus.
David Bowie dons an uncomfortably-tight set of leggings and a Kajagoogoo-style spiky mullet for the role of Jareth the Goblin King, who it has to be said has a slightly unhealthy interest in our 15-year-old heroine. Thankfully, she's having far too tough a time making her way through the maze outside the Goblin Castle to take any notice of Jareth's increasingly desperate advances. Perhaps he should consider getting a nice haircut and a new wardrobe?