If you haven’t heard anything about the latest “Shudder Original”, History of Evil (2024), prior to its recent arrival on the platform, then you’re not alone; seemingly little information was made public on the film prior to its release, aside from its cast list and a vague, one-sentence plot summary. […]
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.
High Tension (2003) Loved and Loathed in Equal Measure (Review)
Saw may have ushered in a new wave of gritty “torture-porn” horror in the States, but by the time that James Wan’s modern classic hit U.S. cinemas in late 2004, filmmakers in France were already two steps ahead of the curve. Characterised by bleak tones, grungy colour palettes, and extended […]
Femme (2023) An Engaging, Intelligent, and sometimes Shocking Experience (Review)
What if the true revenge was the friends we made along the way? 2023, whilst perhaps not the greatest year for LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream cinema, has certainly had its fair share of interesting titles. Queer cinema is all about breaking rules: the anarchic irreverence of Bottoms; the rebellious spirit […]
Satan Wants You (Soho Horror Fest 2023)(Review)
In November of 1980 a psychiatrist by the name of Dr. Lawrence Pazder from Victoria, British Columbia, wrote and published “Michelle Remembers” – an allegedly factual account of the childhood abuse of his patient, Michelle Smith, by a Satanic cult. Co-written by Smith herself, the book graphically describes how Michelle […]
Saint Drogo (Soho Horror Festival 2023)(Review)
In Catholicism, Drogo is considered to be the patron saint of the unsightly and the outcast, shepherding a flock made up of those who are exiled and shunned for their perceived ugliness. The Flemish martyr’s relevance to Provincetown, Massachusetts (a small holiday town on the New England coast), may not […]
The Horrible Dr Hichcock (1962) & The Night of the Devils (1972) Radiance Italian Gothic (Review)
It’s that time of year again. The nights are getting longer and darker, all the leaves are brown, and everywhere you go, jack-o’-lanterns and fake cobwebs adorn windows and doorways – the season of the witch is well and truly upon us. Brand-new Blu-Ray distribution label Radiance Films have had […]
The Psycho Collection (1983-1990) Rehabilitating the Most Unlikely of Horror Franchises (Review)
On June 16th 1960 New York cinemagoers saw Janet Leigh step into a shower, and the world was forever changed. Even 63 years later, Alfred Hitchcock’s classic suspense stunner Psycho (1960), is widely regarded to be one of the greatest films of all time – a statement which this reviewer […]
Trim Season (Frightfest 2023)(Review)
Cannabis and horror have a complicated relationship that should be no surprise considering that the drug has been the focus of conservative moral panic from the reefer madness of the ‘30s to the D.A.R.E. campaigns of Reagan’s America. The genre has a history of playing on and exploiting the cultural […]
T Blockers (Frightfest 2023)(Review)
Alice Maio Mackay is a horror phenomenon. At 18 years old she has already directed three genre features in the span of three years, with another two pictures in post-production at the time of writing. More importantly, she’s an out-and-proud transgender woman who isn’t afraid to let the world know […]
To Fire You Come at Last (Frightfest 2023)(Review)
Throughout the English countryside, there are roads built for the dead. Very few of these paths still exist in any easily detectable way, with many of them now overgrown and forgotten to time, but there was a time when these “corpse roads” were a necessity for remote rural communities, marking […]