The transformation of the haunted-house subgenre began in Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, where the house, rather than just the ghosts within it, demonstrated paranormal abilities. In his essay ‘Supernatural Horror’ H.P. Lovecraft argued that the point of Poe’s story was to show that the house […]
Search Results for: twin peaks
Daughters of the Dust (1991) recalls Tarkovsky, Resnais or any other sanctified European arthouse auteur you might care to name (Review)
Julie Dash’s debut film turned 25 last year, but even without the anniversary, this sumptuous BFI restoration would still probably exist. In the late 2010s, the film has become more relevant than ever. It is an inspiration for a new generation of African-American directors – Ava DuVernay has repeatedly cited […]
Mulholland Drive (2001) It’s no wonder David Lynch’s work inspires such devotion (Review)
“Nah, you’re not thinkin’. You’re too busy being a smart-alec to be thinkin’” The Cowboy If you’ve never seen David Lynch’s 2001 Cannes Best Director winner Mulholland Drive, it’s probably worth stopping reading and buying Studio Canal’s new Blu-Ray restoration right now. That’s normally the kind of recommendation critics save […]
Chainsaws Were Singing (Fantastic Fest 2024)
I mean what more can you say? If you hadn’t guessed already, Chainsaws Were Singing is a madcap comedy splatterfest from the country that brought you… anyone else seen November? That’s a good one, and in fact is also a certifiably odd film and yet it doesn’t come close to […]
The Changeling 4K (1980) One of the 80s Definitive Haunted House Movies, wrinkles and All (Review)
You could argue that Don’t Look Now and The Changeling are treatments of the same story. The protagonists are both men (George C. Scott in The Changeling) who suffer tragic deaths in their families and in their struggle to find a coping mechanism – they find spooky architectural pursuits. Here, Scott plays a composer who rents […]
The Power (2021) Female Solidarity & a Fear of the Dark (Review)
Acorn Media are doing great work, bringing movies previously locked away on Shudder, presenting them to the home video market. Corinna Faith’s The Power isn’t the first to receive this treatment, but it is the latest. And before launching in to what the movie is and my feelings on it, you need to present […]
And Soon the Darkness (1970): the horror of language barriers? (Review)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Two young English girls, Jane (Pamela Franklin) and Cathy (Michele Dotrice) have gone on a biking holiday to France, and not the parts of France you’d normally holiday, this is the back end of beyond with nothing for miles but fields and […]
Phantom Thread (2017) the mother of all complexes (Review)
The expectation that goes with the release of a new Paul Thomas Anderson movie gets bigger and bigger every time. Ever since the acclamations for There Will Be Blood, the director has often found himself being touted (alongside one or two others) as the next heir to Kubrick. And it’s probably […]
The Levelling (2016) An incredible, sympathetic film to the plight of the modern farmer (Review)
It would be wrong to say British film hasn’t dealt with the countryside, but it certainly hasn’t dealt with it in any depth. For the first half-century or so of British cinema it might as well have been a painted backdrop, just some pretty, quintessentially British scenery against which melodramas […]
Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959) Rarely been bettered in the 57 years since (Review)
Forgive the sentimentality, but one of your correspondent’s all-time idols has just died unexpectedly (you know who it is- it’s not Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart) and it is hard to review a film about loss, pain and memory without wondering about all these obituaries, and who they are for. Perhaps a […]