Once upon a time, the Giallo as a sub-genre was primarily lost to obscurity – available only to those engaged in the tape trading scene. Even during the DVD boom era, this ever-sleazy wave of Italian murder mysteries never managed to break through. It has only been during the blu-ray […]
Rob Simpson
Chief Editor
Host of the Uncut Network. With a love of movies kicked off by Hong Kong Action and Claymation Monsters, Rob has forever been cradled in the bosom of Cinema. Rob has his hands in many a pie, including no budget film making. Filthy
Tremors 4K (1990) Electric Paced Creature Feature & ‘Modern’ Classic (Blu-ray Review)
Tremors, Ron Underwood’s 1990 creature feature & ode to the classics made in the 50s, is there any movie that is served worse by the franchise it spawned? Based on the fact that it has gone out of control, spanning a further 23 films – at the time of writing […]
Edge of Sanity (1989) Jekyll, Hyde & Jack the Ripper in thinly-spread Erotic Horror (Review)
Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) is one of the more regularly adapted and reimagined texts in science fiction literature, up there with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Whilst based on historical fact, conspiracy and theory, Jack the Ripper has enjoyed just as many takes throughout […]
The Shaolin Plot (1977) Sammo has always been a Win (Blu-Ray Review)
It does need to be said: Eureka is doing a wonderful thing for all of us Hong Kong Action fans. From the stone-cold classics of Police Story to adjacent obscurities like Joseph Kuo, Hong Kong Legends is alive and well through Masters of Cinema parent company (and 88 films). A […]
The Righteous (2021) Neo-Gothic Religious Chamber Horror Inside (Review)
It’s always a curious proposition when a known actor steps behind the camera: what is it about “this project”, in particular, that made them want to make the leap? Some see it as the next step in the evolution of their career, while others have passion projects up their sleeve, […]
Dobermann (1997) 25th Anniversary Re-Release (Review)
The 90s was a wild decade. Outside of the mainstream, pop culture was going through an era where more meant more, an MO at its most frenzied with 1997’s Dobermann, directed by Jan Kounen and written by Joël Houssin. Both at the time and now, many equated this to the […]
Wild Men (2021) Absurd Danish Comedy Drama with one plot too many (Cinema Review)
In cinemas tomorrow through Blue Finch Films is 2021’s Wild Men, the sophomore film from Thomas Daneskov – following his 2015 debut, the Elite. Rasmus Bjerg is Martin, and he’s had enough of modern life, so he decides to vanish from his native Denmark and live off the land as […]
Twisting the Knife: Nightcap (2000) & The Flower of Evil (2003)(Review)
We are back on the Chabrol wagon for the 4th time (1, 2, & 3) in a few short months, following Arrow Video’s release of two boxsets, Lies & Deceit, and the recent Twisting the Knife. On Nightcap’s disc, there’s a visual essay by film critic, Scout Tafoya, called “When […]
Knockabout (1979) Lame Comedy pathing the way to Action Greatness (Review)
The first time I tried to watch Sammo Hung’s 1979 film, Knockabout, it was through a ratty, almost unwatchable print I loaned from Lovefilm. Remember them? I bring that up as it’s an almost poetic change of fate for martial arts cinema fans, post-Hong Kong Legends. To think that after […]
Dreadnaught (1981) Dragon Dance Majesty from Yuen Woo-Ping (Review)
Even for the most ardent fans, martial arts cinema can get very samey. It’s not a criticism far from it; the same realisation happens with fans of other formally strict genres – like the western, slasher or fantasy movies. All-time classics are the DNA from which repetition and formulaic plotting […]