Norway is a remarkable country, beautiful and foreboding all at once. The mountains and fjords speak of a wild landscape, while the universal health care and welcoming cities indicate a peak of civilisation. It is a country with a strong religious history, with over 60% identifying as Christian and only […]
Vincent Gaine
Mother Superior (Glasgow Frightfest 2023)(Review)
A young nurse comes to a spooky house in the middle of nowhere to care for an old woman, with a crusty groundskeeper – the only other company for either of them. Within this house, strange things happen, and the nurse starts to wonder how much she is actually seeing, […]
The Owl Service (1969) Unsettling atmosphere, and echoes of folklore in this iconic 60s TV Show (TV Review)
The Owl Service is a notable curio in the history of British genre television. Originally broadcast on Sunday afternoons in 1969, the eight episodes of this adaptation of Alan Garner’s 1967 novel is ostensibly a children’s show in the vein of Swallows and Amazons, a 1967 adaptation of The Lion, […]
Jane (2023) When Teen Drama morphs into Psychological Teen Horror (Review)
Teenage suicide and cyber-bullying. Handle these tough subjects in a way that is crass or exploitative, and your film will leave a bad taste in the mouth. Handle it with delicacy and nuance and you might produce something impressive. Sabrina Jaglom’s Jane falls into the latter category, approaching these topics […]
Yes Madam! (1985) Enjoyably inconsistent Hong Kong Action with Michelle Yeoh & Cynthia Rothrock (Review)
Michelle Yeoh is a badass. This is evident to anyone who has seen Tomorrow Never Dies, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, her Oscar-nominated turn in Everything Everywhere All At Once, and even the misfortune that is The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. What western audiences are perhaps less aware of […]
The Lair (2022)A return to form for Neil Marshall, this is not (Review)
Buried deep within Neil Marshall’s The Lair is a stripped-down, claustrophobic and frightening monster thriller. An intense journey of lean storytelling where tough characters clash with malevolent adversaries in dark spaces, with eruptions of gruesome violence and lacings of dark humour. Or if you like, Marshall’s previous film Dog Soldiers […]
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) Unbalanced and Unwieldy, if still Enthralling and Spectacular
As the sequel to the biggest box office success of all time, Avatar, a return to the big screen by director James Cameron after a(nother) long absence, and a return to the ground-breaking and awe-inspiring world of Pandora, The Way of Water comes with multiple expectations. Laser projection 3D and […]
Savage Justice (2022) Justice has been served, I guess? (Review)
There is a scene in Richard Donner’s Lethal Weapon 2 when Danny Glover’s Roger Murtaugh dispatches some hoods with a nail gun, after which he quips ‘Nailed them both’. This scene contains more wit, drama, tension and filmmaking competence than the entire 101 minutes of Savage Justice, which is also […]
Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes (2021) Surrealist, Classical Euro Horror reinvents itself (Cinema Review)
A knowing film can be a tricky thing. Make the knowing winks too subtle and it can go over the viewers’ heads. Be too obvious and the nudges become as distracting and irritating as actual elbows in the ribs. This does not stop many a filmmaker from tipping their hat […]
Infernal Affairs Trilogy (2002/3) A Significant if flawed Film Trilogy (Blu-Ray Review)
In 2002, the producing-writing-directing team Andrew Lau Wai-Keung and Alan Mak released Infernal Affairs, a distinctive crime thriller that exploded across Hong Kong cinemas and had a worldwide impact. The film garnered multiple awards including Best Film at the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards and Film of Merit at the […]