Surrealism has a history stretching back as long as cinema itself, and while it currently seems to be in a long‑tenured lull, it always dips in and out of popularity. The best place to pick up on new voices working in this space is the festival circuit, and with Fantasia […]
Pop Culture
Godhead (Fantasia International Film Festival 2026)
I haven’t seen Mark H. Rapaport’s debut feature Hippo, but I’m familiar enough with its story (“an adopted Hungarian teenager who desperately wants a baby from her mentally‑ill stepbrother with a God complex”), to know he gravitates toward difficult, uncomfortable territories. Godhead, which received its world premiere at Fantasia 2026, […]
Nightborn (Fantasia Film Festival 2026)
We kick off our Fantasia 2026 coverage with the return of the director behind one of our favourite recent genre debuts. Hanna Bergholm’s name may not leap off the page, but her feature debut Hatching certainly did, striking a blend of body horror and coming‑of‑age allegory centred on a young […]
Our Picks for Frightfest 2026
Forget “Summerween” – every long-time U.K. horror fan knows that FrightFest is the place to go if you’re looking for midsummer monsters and seasonal scares. This August, the beloved London-based genre film festival returns for its 26th year running for five days and nights of cinematic terror, both unseen and […]
Dance Freak (Fantasia International Film Festival 2026)
I’m pretty sure you haven’t seen a movie like Dance Freak – I know I haven’t. Let’s rewind a little to the process of picking movies to cover for this year’s Fantasia. I tend to be ruled by my immediate gut reaction when choosing what appeals to me, and sometimes […]
Attack On Paradise (Fantasia Film Festival 2026)
I think enough time has passed in pop culture for us to stop claiming one movie has utter dominion over a single plot idea or structure, a case in point being Gareth Evans’ The Raid, which isn’t unique enough for the community to claim preferential placement. The World Premiere of […]
You Are The Film (Fantasia Film Festival 2026)
Makoto Ueda is a name that may not leap off the page within the community of Japanese movie lovers, but his work certainly does as he’s the scriptwriter behind two of the most wholesome sci‑fi movies of the past five years – River (2023), and Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes […]
Doctor Who A-Z #129: The Five Doctors (1983)
When I’ve told fellow Doctor Who fans that the next story I’m reviewing is The Five Doctors, there’s generally been a knowing laugh. Not, to be clear, a mocking laugh – nothing like the “ha ha, you poor sod” response I got when it was The Underwater Menace. No, it’s […]
Outside the Blue Box: The Legend of Hell House (1973)
This article contains spoilers for the bizarre twist ending to The Legend of Hell House (1973). If you have not yet seen the film and wish to remain unspoiled, please watch it before reading further. What is the first thing you think of when you hear the name Doctor Who? […]
The Curse (2025) Energetic love letter to the ’90s Japanese Horror Boom
Long wanting to catch Kenichi Ugana’s work, it wasn’t until we caught the inimitable punk fever of last year’s The Gesouidoz (at London Fanta) that we finally caught up with the eclectic director making a name for himself on the international festival circuit. When his name popped up again for […]