With this new Frightfest Presents title, Dead Ant, the plight of the creature feature came to mind. They were responsible for an entire generation getting interested in things that plant their roots in the genre spectrum, I count myself among them. Being such a slave to trends as it is, […]
Reviews
John Woo: Last Hurrah for Chivalry & Hand of Death (Review)
Near the end of Hand of Death, a band of brothers come together and hatch a plan to finally defeat their adversary, a traitor to our hero’s Shaolin brotherhood. Playing the least substantial parts in this four-person crew are a young Jackie Chan and John Woo, self-inserted as a scholar […]
The Captor: True Crime a la Blumhouse (Review)
The last time Ethan Hawke played a role as flamboyantly as he does in Robert Budreau’s new film, he was playing a character named “Jolly the Pimp” in a Luc Besson space opera. Hawke’s Kaj Hansson is a stetsoned, Bob Dylan-obsessed ball of energy from the moment he walks into […]
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne: Rediscovering a Hidden Handmade Gem (Review)
Belfast-born Brian Moore’s novel The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne was published in 1955 after his relocation to Canada. The sympathetic, yet deeply unflinching study of a lonely middle-aged spinster succumbing to alcoholism, a loss of faith and a mental breakdown was not an easy sell; it was rejected by […]
In Fabric – horror-comedy in a stunning red dress (Review)
It’s the 1993 January sales, and Sheila, a bank clerk living in a Thames Valley town, needs a new dress for a date. She visits the local department store, where the persuasive shop assistant Miss Luckmoore sells her a red dress. It’s the only one of its kind ever made, […]
Cold Pursuit: A film that’s hard to warm to (Review)
When Cold Pursuit was released earlier this year you could hear the critics snickering up their sleeves (well, you could if you drowned out the furore that surrounded certain comments made by its leading man, Liam Neeson, during an interview promoting the film) at what they perceived to be the […]
Under Fire (1983) the exception to the white saviour row? (Review)
It’s perhaps interesting to watch Under Fire in the week that British charity Comic Relief has announced its plan to cut back on celebrity appeals in the wake of what has become known as the ‘white saviour’ row, promising (rightfully in my view) to “give voices to people” who actually […]
Terror of Hallow’s Eve (2019) passionate creature feature featuring a soulless epilogue (Review)
I don’t understand the 1980s. Sure, the ’80s and horror were very good to one another, many a classic and new voice climbed out of that decade. However, the films of that decade didn’t stylise themselves with kitschiness in mind, that’s merely the way that things were back then. Now, […]
Nightfall (1956): An Unsung Noir by one of the Great Unsung Directors (Review)
Jacques Tourneur is the kind of director that has been consigned to the history books, the RKO-man was well known for his many low-budget horror films (including the pre-Romero, I walked with a Zombie), he also did many noirs, westerns and epics. Filmmakers just aren’t allowed that level of liberation, […]
Level 16 (2019) how and how not to do low-budget Sci-Fi (Review)
Over the years, low budget movies have changed exponentially. In 2019, independent filmmakers are getting an awful lot more bang for their buck. Look at 1970s low budget film, for example, as excellent as those genre films could be, some elements of their production lacked. The audio was either weak […]