For all screenwriters moan about how mobile phones and social media have made certain traditional thriller plots obsolete, the internet has also opened up new possibilities for suspense cinema. For example, future books about horror subgenres will have to include a section on “AirBnB horror”, as recent films like Barbarian, […]
Movies & Documentaries
It Lives Inside (2023): comfortingly uncomfortable horror with a twist (Review)
Spare a thought for the horror pseuds, folks like me who live to make strained sociopolitical interpretations of horror trends. The 21st century started off well for us, with the zombie revival and the torture wave mapping neatly onto post-9/11 anxieties. Why, though, is everything about exorcisms and possession all […]
Night of the Hunted (2023) – Sniper Terror Butts Heads with Political Bluntness (Review)
Shudder is the premium horror streaming service – for now – and you’d expect their acquisitions and original movies to reflect that status. If a Shudder Original isn’t a horror movie, it will at least have some tangential connection. Not to be confused with the Jean Rollin movie of the […]
The Dead Mother (1993) Dark Spanish Thriller with a Super Daring Twist (Review)
Spanish language genre cinema might be incredible as far as the UK is concerned, but we don’t know as so little makes it over to these shores. Of the few names that have appeared on our radars, the most well-known are directors like Guillermo Del Toro and Álex de la […]
Give Me An A (Grimmfest 2023)(Review)
Few things could be more horrific than the loss of bodily autonomy, but in June 2022 millions of women across the USA lost theirs when the landmark case Roe V Wade was overturned, removing the right to abortion. Since then, many cases and protests have arisen, as well as various […]
The Puppetman (2023) Lost in a Year of Great Possession Horror (Review)
Directed by Brandon Christensen (Z, Superhost, Still/Born), and written by Ryan Christensen, The Puppetman follows Michal (Alyson Gorske) – a young woman haunted by her childhood and the murder of her mother by her father, who is now awaiting his fate on death row. Opening with the gruesome murder of […]
V/H/S 85 (2023) Found Footage Icon Continues its Rise (Review)
Since it’s inception in 2012, the V/H/S franchise has been a welcome edition to the world of both found footage and anthology horror. The popularity, and budget, has increased over the years, which has led to this bombastic, and at times more humorous entry, V/H/S 85. Always a tricky one […]
The House by the Cemetery (1981) The Odd Duck of the Gates of Hell Trilogy (Review)
Few people are as vital to the development of post-WW2 European horror as Italy’s Lucio Fulci, and although his films are not as beloved as Dario Argento’s or as critically acclaimed as Mario Bava’s biggest hits, his mixed oeuvre (which ranges from giallos to fantasy to westerns), is full of […]
Cry, the Beloved Country (1951) Korda’s Surprising Anti-Apartheid Movie (Review)
The above quotes are from Paul Robeson in relation to a 1935 picture he made for the filmmaker Zoltan Korda titled Sanders of the River. Based on the stories of Edgar Wallace, the film was set in Colonial Nigeria and the Hungarian-born Korda (brother of director, producer and writer Alexander […]
Twentieth Century (1934)- An Underrated Screwball Comedy (Review)
Howard Hawks is, in my opinion, one of the best filmmakers to come out of Hollywood. He could easily switch between genres, cranking out comedies and dramas that both audiences and critics loved. His filmography includes Scarface (1932), Bringing Up Baby (1938), Only Angels Have Wings (1939), His Girl Friday […]