Achieving its UK Blu-ray debut this week courtesy of Eureka Entertainment’s “Masters of Cinema” series is G.W. Pabst’s 1929 classic Pandora’s Box. Arguably one of Weimer German cinema’s – if not silent cinema in general’s – greatest masterpieces, Pandora’s Box is the film that catapulted the Kansas-born, twenty-two-year-old, one-time chorus […]
Mark Cunliffe
Senior Contributor Mark's first cinematic experience was watching the Cannon and Ball vehicle, The Boys in Blue. He hasn't looked back since. Hailing from St Helens, he is an occasional contributor to Arrow DVD, writing booklet inlay essays on a variety of titles, including Children of Men and The Great Escape. He is a reviewer with IndieMDB and has also written a chapter for Ste Brotherstone and Dave Lawrence's book, Scarred For Life Vol II. Other sites he has written for include We Are Cult, Horrified, and America's left-leaning news outlet ZNetwork. Publications he has written articles for include Stat Magazine and the fanzine Undefined Boundary: The Journal of Psychick Albion. He is also a regular contributor to the Geek Show's podcasts, including Pop Screen and the Uncut series, and he can be found on Letterboxd.
Birchall’s Pints (2023) A Six-Part Amazon Prime Comedy Series from Liverpool (Review)
As my recent reviews for the likes of Michael J. Long’s Baby Brother and Jack McLoughlin’s Kate & Jake prove, when it comes to indie filmmaking talent there’s definitely something in the water in Liverpool – or should that be something in the ale? Birchall’s Pints, a new comedy series […]
Pearls of the Deep (1966) Manifesto of the Czech New Wave (Review)
Anthology and portmanteau movies are often something of a curate’s egg, and never more so than when those films feature the work of several directors. Released by Second Run this week, Pearls of the Deep was a 1966 showcase for young Czechoslovakian filmmakers. It was subsequently heralded as the manifesto […]
Cry, the Beloved Country (1951) Korda’s Surprising Anti-Apartheid Movie (Review)
The above quotes are from Paul Robeson in relation to a 1935 picture he made for the filmmaker Zoltan Korda titled Sanders of the River. Based on the stories of Edgar Wallace, the film was set in Colonial Nigeria and the Hungarian-born Korda (brother of director, producer and writer Alexander […]
Mind-Set (2023) A Bittersweet Observation of Modern Love (Review)
Released on demand and in select cinemas tomorrow, Mind-Set is the feature-length directorial debut of Scottish filmmaker, academic and festival programmer Mikey Murray, who also wrote the screenplay. The film is a story for our time, concerning a couple played by American actor Eilis Cahill (Mad), and Steve Oram (Sightseers), […]
Blood and Black Lace (1964) Style Over Substance in Vignettes of Violence (Review)
Newly restored from its original negative and presented in its original uncut form, Mario Bava’s classic 1964 giallo Blood and Black Lace has recently been released by the good people at Arrow Films. Starring Cameron Mitchell and Eva Bartok, this stylish slasher concerns a series of murders centring around Rome’s […]
Scream and Scream Again (1970) The Most Peculiar Portmanteau from Amicus (Review)
This week, the excellent Radiance Films continues its commitment to the classic and the cult by raiding the crypt of Amicus to deliver unto us one of the strangest portmanteau horrors Hammer’s biggest rival ever produced – 1970’s Scream and Scream Again. The title may sound like the catchphrase of […]
Dead Man’s Shoes (2004) Cult Brit Revenge Fantasy Returns (Review)
Dead Man’s Shoes is a 2004 film from This is England and The Gallows Pole director Shane Meadows that stars Paddy Considine, Toby Kebbell, and former British middleweight boxing champion Gary Stretch. It tells the story of parachute regiment veteran, Richard (Considine), who returns to the semi-rural/semi-urban Midlands town he […]
Andrzej Żuławski: Three Films (1971-1988): A Triptych of Trauma (Review)
Making their UK Blu-ray debut last week as part of Eureka’s Masters of Cinema label was a set of three landmark films from Polish auteur Andrzej Żuławski. The first is his 1971 debut feature The Third Part of the Night, and the second is his controversial 1972 movie The Devil, […]
Commedia all’italiana: Three Films by Dino Risi (1959-1962) (Review)
Commedia all’italiana, or Italian-style comedy, was a genre of Italian cinema that achieved considerable success from the 1950s through to the 1970s. These films, though farcical and/or satirical, placed a greater emphasis than before on realism, shooting on location and creating believable, three dimensional characters. They were united by the […]