TOEI were at their height of their Yakuza related movie output when the early 70s came around. They also had arguably the biggest star on the block in Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba, star power that was only matched by his vast output (37 acting credits across TV and Film between 1970 […]
Movies & Documentaries
Deliver Us (2024): Antichrist horror sacrifices ambiguity for shock (Review)
I’m no expert on religious horror films, so it’s hard for me to gauge if there’s been a recent resurgence or there’s just a consistent stream of them. Either way, Lee Roy Kunz & Cru Ennis’s Deliver Us comes out in a relatively crowded market, though with recent blockbusters like […]
By A Man’s Face You Shall Know Him (1966) Harmony, Yakuza and the Rediscovery of Tai Kato (Review)
I’ve previously written at length about the joy of discovering new films and filmmakers through Radiance Films — one of which was I, The Executioner (1968), a brutal neo noir which introduced me to Akira Kurasawa’s former apprentice Tai Kato. Radiance are clearly passionate about restoring and celebrating his work, […]
Black Tight Killers (1966) a chic and funky throwback to simpler, stylish times (Review)
There can be a curse for any film with a great title. For every Hobo with a Shotgun, there is a Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death – i.e. a film that wholly delivers on its title’s promise versus a film that falls completely short of it. That’s […]
The Village Detective: A Song Cycle (2021) The Ocean Gives Up Its Mysteries (Review)
In 2016, a crew of Icelandic fishermen operating in the North Atlantic Ocean, dredged up something surprising from the seabed – four decaying reels of film, semi-preserved by the ocean’s natural resources of hydrogen sulphide, that set innovative documentarian Bill Morrison, of Dawson City: Frozen Time fame, on a fascinating […]
Allonsanfàn (1974) Mastroianni Dons The Mask of Anarchy (Review)
Once again, Radiance have uncovered another gem from 1970s Italian Cinema. They’ve dusted it down, smartened it up and packed it with extras and released it to Blu-ray this week. But this one isn’t a poliziotteschi or a giallo, this is Allonsanfàn, a classy period drama writer/director siblings Paulo and […]
Paths of Glory (1957) Kubrick’s Antiwar Masterpiece in 4K (Review)
Eureka’s Masters of Cinema series was formative in developing my knowledge and love of cinema. I glance over at my collection and think of how Eureka introduced me to F.W Murnau’s Tabu, Douglas Sirk’s The Tarnished Angels and a host of lesser seen Billy Wilder films. I associate that Masters […]
Bad Biology (2008) The basket case behind Basket Case does his rom-com (Review)
How far does the grungy spirit of 80s horror reach? There’s an argument to be made for retro-conscious thrillers like The Guest or It Follows slumping over their synthesisers and going great lengths to resurrect the straight-forward thrills of years past in a cool new chasis’s. Yet the spit and sawdust of the grindhouse […]
Nightmares in a Damaged Brain (1981) Formerly Banned Video Nasty launches Severin in the UK (Review)
The die-hard cult genre cinema fans that make up The Geek Show’s reader base will undoubtedly already be deeply familiar with the name Severin Films, but for those of you who aren’t, allow me to quickly introduce you to your latest obsession. Severin are a US-based physical media label renowned […]
Lone Star (1996) Lightning Paced Tour of John Sayles’s America (Review)
John Sayles, the Don of American independent cinema, has dedicated much of his career to examining and exploring buried and ‘unofficial’ histories. This fascination, this need to tell, has taken Sayles far, from the coal-mining hollers of West Virginia (Matewan) to the tundras of Alaska (Limbo) to Latin/Central America (Men with Guns) and out […]