The public domain gold rush is alive and well from one side of the globe to another, with low-budget filmmakers picking away at the mummified remains of fresh ideas from nearly a century ago. The US seems content with pedalling out three cursed Popeye films in one year, as well […]
Simon Ramshaw
Transcending Dimensions (Frightfest 2025)
When did spirituality stop being cool? Our collective faith in faith seems to have taken a beating from the moment we stopped believing in religious middle-managers who got outed for the narcissists and manipulators they often were … but as a species and as individuals, does that cut us off […]
Hotspring Sharkattack (2024) Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the sauna…
For all its naff reputation, maybe Deep Blue Sea said it best: sharks really are “God’s oldest killers”. Many filmmakers have taken that idea as gospel, from Spielberg to Turtletaub, Anderson (Wes) to Wheatley (Ben), taking great glee in putting their characters in harm’s way via a ginormous aquatic beastie. Yet shark […]
Narc (2002) A granite-solid crime classic, as grim and gritty as they come
Who said buddy cop movies should be fun? Shane Black has a lot to answer for when it comes to making the fuzz funny, with his distinct brand of chalk-and-cheese banter inflecting the extrajudicial antics of those who serve and protect for decades after his heyday. Echoes of that can […]
The Invisible Swordsman (1970) Breezy and charming family fun featuring a rare unseen hero
There aren’t many invisible heroes as when a person is able to lurk unseen in the world and get away with almost anything, the tendency to be bad is so very tempting. From the original Invisible Man to his 2020 counterpart (and all the Hollow Mans in between), the stereotype is that in […]
In the Lost Lands (2025) A refreshingly middling blast from the past
Nostalgia can hit you when you least expect it. Just when you’re feeling a lull with the state of cinema, where long-running brands seem to be running shorter and shorter, when genres grow as tired as your heavy eyes, along can come a blast from the past to remind you […]
Andor Season 2 (2025) Round-up: Star Wars’ hard-to-swallow epic is just what fans needed
CONTAINS SPOILERS For once in their lives, Star Wars fans have a right to be upset. By the time any franchise devotees reach the end of Tony Gilroy’s ground-level Rebellion drama Andor, there’s a strong possibility they’ll feel more ashen than when they saw Princess Leia Mary Poppins herself back to safety in The […]
The End (2025) Opening night at the end of the world in barmy musical morality tale
It’s opening night at the end of the world, and rehearsals for the final curtain are getting shaky, much as they were in Joshua Oppenheimer’s unforgettably bold documentary features. His startling Indonesian genocide diptych (The Act of Killing and The Look of Silence) depicted some alarming remembrances of one of […]
A Samurai in Time (2023) (Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2025)
Is there such a thing as a timeless genre? The interest of an audience in a particular mode of storytelling always has a shelf life, fickly ebbing and flowing once a saturation point is reached. But what does that moment look like, where tastes change and affection for times gone […]
What Happened Was… (1994) Worst first date ever, or worst date EVER?
The hulking figure of Tom Noonan casts a deceptive shadow. The gangly character actor who found fame in films by Michaels Cimino and Mann (most notably the latter in Manhunter) is a distinctive yet understated presence, sizing up at an impressive 6ft 5in and possessing some memorably melancholy eyes; even from […]