There are many enticing puns a film like Dogman can provoke. The waft of a “dog’s dinner” is a tempting angle to take if the film is a complete mess, and if it’s just plain poor, a reviewer could do a This is Spinal Tap-style Shark Sandwich/”Shit Sandwich” quip and […]
Movies & Documentaries
Doppelganger. The Double (2023) (Kinoteka 2024)
Here’s useful viewing for anyone wondering what the attitude of the Polish public towards the USSR might be almost forty five years on from the forming of Solidarity. Doppelganger. The Double is a new thriller from film-maker Jan Holoubek that’s set between the late-seventies and mid-eighties, and is currently showing […]
Birdeater (SXSW 2024)(Review)
In spite of what its title and country of origin might suggest, not a single spider appears in Birdeater (2023), the feature debut of Australian directing duo Jack Clark and Jim Weir; the webs of predatory entrapment that its characters become tangled in are of the metaphorical variety, constructed using […]
Mom (Glasgow Frightfest 2024)(Review)
Fresh from the birth of their son, Meredith (Emily Hampshire) and Jared (Francois Arnaud), come home to settle in to life as a family, but a restless force has its eyes on the new parents, and the latest addition. Introducing Mom, the feature length debut from Adam O’Brien, getting its World […]
One Percenter (2023): Japanese Fall Guy delivers eighty-five minutes of mayhem (Review)
For some people, films about film-making are insufferable exercises in navel-gazing, nothing more than a way for self-absorbed artistes to force us to experience their creative angst. Yet there is a long history of this kind of meta-film within that least pretentious of genres, action. There’s a pretty simple reason […]
The Well (Glasgow Frightfest 2024)(Review)
In the Well, sent on behalf of her father to restore a classic painting following a fire, budding art restorer Lisa (Lauren LaVera) becomes entangled in a centuries-old ritual involving murder, sacrifice, and dark magic. Fresh off the worldwide success of Terrifier 2, Lauren LaVera takes the lead in this […]
The Funeral (Glasgow Frightfest 2024) (Review)
One question that will never receive a positive answer is “how was the funeral?” Sure, they can be pleasant experiences that celebrate the life of a loved one, but they’re always sad, potentially traumatic days. Enter The Funeral from Turkish director Ocrun Behram, which played at 2024’s Glasgow Frightfest the weekend just […]
Wake Up (Glasgow Frightfest 2024)(Review)
If the name “RKSS” sounds familiar to you, it’s likely because they were the French-Canadian trio responsible for 2015’s quirky post-apocalyptic gore-fest Turbo Kid – likely the stand-out title of the kids-on-bikes-sploitation wave that sprung up around the mid-2010s, when the world was caught in the grip of Stranger Things […]
Padre Pio (2022) Hollywood pariah plays pious friar in pandering prayer for pity (Review)
Tales of redemption can come in many forms. The Bible is full of them, from Noah to Moses, depicting flawed individuals picking themselves up and striding into the divine light of the Lord. Hollywood redemption stories are a different kettle of fish. Since 2017, the culture has changed, and victims […]
Custom (2024): Sexual Power Dynamics Blurred in Unsettling Debut (Glasgow Frightfest 2024)(Review)
With a tantalising teaser played during last year’s London Frightfest, Tiago Teixeira’s feature debut Custom makes its world premiere at the Glasgow edition. It centres on Harriet (Abigail Hardingham, also an associate producer) and Jasper (Rowan Polonski), a couple who have struggled to get success with their art and have […]