Karel Kachyňa can be a hard director to pin down, which is probably for the best considering that, for a lot of his career, Czechoslovakia’s intelligence agencies were trying to do just that. Like a surprising amount of the country’s best directors, he did not flee after the Soviet invasion […]
Movies & Documentaries
The Invisible Half, The Hole, and Janur Ireng: Three New Asian Horror Films from EST N8
If you ask a horror fan what they think is the most interesting, entertaining, and frightening horror film from the past ten years, there’s a good chance that they’ll choose something by an Asian filmmaker. From Korean shockers like Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan (2016), Indonesian creep-shows like Joko Anwar’s […]
Redoubt (2026) Turning Video Art Into A Visually Compelling Feature
What film could be more appropriate to release in 2026 than a man building a fortified shelter in case of war? The topical irony of John Skoog’s narrative feature debut Redoubt was certainly not lost on me from the moment the film opens. A pamphlet showing what to do in […]
Haunters of the Silence (2025) A lo‑fi plunge into the uncanny space between dreaming and waking
When I was very young I used to experience nightmares where I felt as though I had “woken up” in my bed, but was still at the mercy of whatever dreamt-up horrors might lurk beyond the wall of sleep. Given how young I was at the time, as well as […]
Excalibur (1981) Boorman’s bold, mystical retelling of Arthurian legend
John Boorman’s Excalibur (1981) is an adaptation of one of the more well known stories of western mythology. There have been countless versions of the tale of King Arthur and his knights, but Excalibur remains one of if not the best one. My only other experience with a Boorman film […]
The Devil’s Hand (1943): A dark wartime parable
When France was occupied by Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1944 all aspects of life were affected, and cinema was no exception as the Germans set up Continental Films to provide the French populace with an escape from the horrors of real life. Most of films made were harmless escapism, […]
Dead Lover (2026): An Unhinged and Colourful Take on Frankenstein
Grace Glowicki and Ben Petrie are proving to be the horror power couple of 2026 after starring in Dead Lover and Honey Bunch, both of which were released this year after a successful tour of the festival circuit. Although both films use the horror genre to explore the demands of […]
Cutter’s Way (1981): Passer, paranoia and the *other* great Vietnam-vet vigilante movie
Asked about the ambiguous plot of his 1976 neo-noir Night Moves, Arthur Penn shrugged “We’re part of a generation that knows there are no solutions”. He didn’t reveal what was on his mind, but it’s pretty easy to guess. The generation who grew up in the 1960s and 70s were […]
The Birthday (2004) More Lost Oddity than Cult Classic for Feldman’s Formerly Lost Movie
Recently restored, The Birthday is a quirky little film. Taking place in a hotel that could rival the Overlook as far as bad visits go, this Corey Feldman film begins as a surrealist comedy that follows Norman Forrester, a painfully awkward man who is attending his posh girlfriend’s father’s birthday and […]
Special Effects (1984) New York sleaze with a Stern Gaze on Hollywood Power
Manhattan-born genre auteur Larry Cohen, best known for his slimy, effects-laden creature-features, is the brain behind such cult favourites as It’s Alive (1974), Q: The Winged Serpent (1982), and most famously, The Stuff (1985) – all of which have goopy gore and rubber monsters aplenty. When the late, great director […]