Despite being very divisive Michael Mann’s globetrotting techno thriller Blackhat has found its fair share of dedicated fans (so large that the decision to include the director’s cut was made by large scale demand) who act as a solid rebuttal to the tepid critical reception it got on its initial […]
Oliver Parker
The House by the Cemetery (1981) The Odd Duck of the Gates of Hell Trilogy (Review)
Jean Rollin – The Shiver of the Vampires (1971) & Two Orphan Vampires (1997) (Review)
Few directors like Jean Rollin exist in the annuls of film history. A French director who remained almost entirely in obscurity his entire career, despite his work being more readily available he remains perpetually overlooked. Due to the lack of financial success his films achieved; he eventually began directing pornographic […]
Imitation of Life (1934) Thematically poignant pre-code romance succumbs to padding (Review)
America’s cinematic landscape drastically changed in 1934 with the introduction of the oppressive and controlling Hays Code, a set of strict censorship rules that dictated what studio films could show on-screen. The code enforced traditional catholic family values, reduced sexually explicit content and, amongst many other things, always ensured the […]
The Driver (1978) Walter Hill’s influential, minimalist crime classic (Blu-Ray Review)
Even though it’s only Walter Hill’s second feature, The Driver feels like it was made by someone with decades of experience. Hill takes tropes from old-school Westerns and Noirs and strips them back to their most primitive forms, although it retains a revisionist approach to the genres where no character […]
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) One of the earliest and purest examples of cinematic dread (4K Blu-Ray Review)
Few cinematic movements have been as influential to the formation and development of cinema as German Expressionism. Its intricate and fantastical set design, emphasis on close-ups and fantastic use of dynamic lighting to craft deep shadows have gone on to influence a wide range of Hollywood genres from gothic horror […]
Nobuhiko Obayashi’s 80’s Kadokawa Years (Blu-Ray Review)
Frightfest 2022: Orchestrator of Storms (Festival Review)
Man without a Star (1955)The Most Brutal Western in the Old Studio System? (Blu-Ray Review)
Many Classical Hollywood directors have fallen victim to the passage of time. For every revered director like Alfred Hitchcock or Howard Hawks, there is an Edgar G. Ulmer or Jacques Tourneur. Like the latter, King Vidor has become less and less talked about over time despite being quite a successful […]