Jesús “Jess” Franco was God’s favourite pervert. If Mario Bava was the father of European gothic cinema, then Franco is its weird uncle – a title I bestow upon him out of love and appreciation, of course. According to IMDb, the Spanish genre filmmaker directed a whopping 199 feature films […]
Robyn Adams
Robyn Adams is an actress from Stockport, Greater Manchester, who spends a lot of her time watching horror films, feeding the pigeons in her garden, and being annoying on Twitter. She has previously written for Ghouls Magazine, hosted a panel talk on LGBTQ+ representation in horror in partnership with Forward Stockport and Grimmfest, and been a guest on numerous genre film podcasts. Her friends don't trust her to pick films on movie nights anymore.
She’s the He (BFI London Film Festival 2025)
The past few years haven’t been an easy time to be transgender (if there ever truly has been an “easy” time to be trans), not least in the United States, so it’s not surprising that the majority of films by trans creatives in recent memory have been on the angstier […]
Dildo Heaven (2002) (Fantastic Fest 2025)
You’d think you would know what kind of film you’re in for when you decided to sit down and watch a movie called Dildo Heaven (2002), but no matter what your expectations might be, you’d only be half right. It’s a hell of a title, to say the least. For […]
Tie Man (Fantastic Fest 2025)
Every so often, a movie comes along which is so deeply committed to being sincerely odd that – regardless of my overall enjoyment of it – I can’t help but appreciate it on principle. Tie Man (2024) is one of those movies. Directed by Rémi Fréchette, best known for his […]
A Blind Bargain (Frightfest 2025)
In 1922, acclaimed silent filmmaker Wallace Worsley would release one of his most famous directorial efforts, A Blind Bargain – a tale of mad science and medical malpractice which starred horror legend Lon Chaney as both the sinister Doctor Lamb and his creation, “The Ape Man”. Worsley drove the censors […]
Outside the Blue Box (1970) The Vampire Lovers
WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the Doctor Who Series 15 two-part finale ‘Wish World / The Reality War’. Picture this: the year is 1970, and Hammer Films – at one point, the most iconic and beloved horror film studio in the world – are in a state of turmoil. Anthony Hinds, the […]
Mother of Flies (FrightFest 2025)
At the time of writing, it has been a week since I watched Mother of Flies, the latest film from ‘The Adams Family’, a filmmaking troupe composed of Toby Poser, John Adams, and their two daughters, Zelda and Lulu Adams – and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about […]
Blood Shine (Frightfest 2025)
Back in 2021, filmmakers Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks released their joint feature debut, a single-location psychological horror called Alone With You. That film, which follows a young woman’s descent into insanity after she becomes trapped alone in her apartment, was a creepier and more effective genre affair than many […]
Marshmallow (Frightfest 2025)
For many genre film enthusiasts in the UK, the mythic and beloved all-American horror setting of the summer camp is something akin to an alien world, and while similar experiences exist for young people here, they’re often provided through schools or organisations like the Scouts or Guides. This is why […]
The Banished (2024) Aussie Folk Horror a little lost amidst its stellar location & production design
The old ways are truly alive and well in the deep, dark corners of the Australian landscape – by which I mean, of course, the country’s great tradition of folkloric genre fare. The Banished, the new “folk horror” feature from Observance (2015) director Joseph Sims-Dennett, follows in the footsteps of […]