Somewhere between Dirty Harry and Lethal Weapon is a man called Marion Cobretti, aka Cobra. Released in 1986, at the height of Hollywood hard bodies action cinema, Cobra re-teams writer-star Sylvester Stallone with Rambo: First Blood Part Two director George P. Cosmatos. Like that film, Cobra features much violence, one […]
Vincent Gaine
Lethal Weapon (1987) Melancholia, Balance & Brotherhood in this 1980s Cop Action Classic
When approaching movies from prior decades, there is always the question of whether they will hold up. Sometimes this concern relates to outdated attitudes or forms of representation, and other times it relates to more recent discoveries about the people involved. In the case of Lethal Weapon, there is a […]
Dressed to Kill (1980) Dressed to Thrill, or Dressed to Disappoint?
Brian De Palma has garnered significant levels of criticism for being sexist over the years, and this is at its most relevant in the ways he likes to film women in the shower, as seen in the opening of both Carrie and Dressed to Kill, De Palma also includes shower […]
Psyche (Glasgow Frightfest 2025)
Take Alex Garland’s Annihilation with a smidgen of the budget and far fewer trees. Blend this with Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal and filter the result through Terrence Malick. That is a reductive description of Psyche, a discordant but striking journey through landscapes and mindscapes alike that received its UK […]
Demolition Man 4K (1993) Shrewder, Clever and Much More than the three Seashells
Cinematic visions of the future often lean towards the grim and dystopian. From Blade Runner to Total Recall to Equilibrium, a dark future allows for social tensions to inform character dynamics and visual design. In the case of 1993’s Demolition Man, decisions were made to create a weird movie to […]
Godzilla Minus One (2023) Community, Camaraderie, and Godzilla at his most Terrifying
In 1954, a giant creature entered the frame of a Japanese monster movie. A name (with two forms) echoed around the world like a deafening ‘Skreeonk,’ and this name has continued to echo for 70 years. Gojira/Godzilla is one of the most iconic and recognisable figures in popular culture, perpetuated […]
Watership Down (1978) The Crown Prince of Kindertrauma
Since its original release in 1978, several generations, especially in the United Kingdom, Watership Down has been synonymous with trauma. Following subsequent television broadcasts, Martin Rosen’s adaptation of Richard Adams’ novel has secured its place in animated film history, not least because of the controversy provoked by its brutal violence […]
Apartment 7A (Fantastic Fest 2024)
The horror genre is often characterised by ongoing sequels, as filmmakers devise ever more convoluted ways to bring back the threat. In recent years, the legacy sequel has become popular, from Scream V (and VI) to Halloween (2018 and its sequels) to The Exorcist: Believer. Amongst these continuations, there have […]
The Power of the Dog (2021) A Film that gets Under the Skin and Into the Mind (Review)
At the 2022 BAFTA awards, Benedict Cumberbatch had the dubious honour of being nominated, but rather than winning, he instead collected the Best Director award on behalf of Jane Campion for The Power Of The Dog – which would also go on to collect Best Film. It received twelve nominations […]
THE DAEMON (Frightfest 2024) Review
It can be argued that film doesn’t work for someone not because of what it’s about, but how it’s done. Familiar, and even cliched features can receive imaginative and effective treatment that provoke emotions in people and draw us closer to the characters. The Daemon features many familiar tropes, but […]