Released in 1986, The Hitcher was the brainchild of writer Eric Red (Near Dark, Blue Steel) that was directed by Robert Harmon. Between the paltry box-office takings and criticisms regarding the film’s “sadistic” violence (including zero star reviews from Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel), it was an unappreciated work that […]
Reviews
Home Sweet Home: Where Evil Lives (2023) Transgenerational Guilt Haunts this House (Review)
Out now from Blue Finch Films is the rarest of rarities for the modern horror fan, a German genre title – Home Sweet Home: Where Evil Lives. Aside from the halcyon days of Expressionism and the Euro Horror boom there are only a handful of titles from Germany and Austria […]
We Still Kill the Old Way (1967) An Enigmatic Tale of Crime and Corruption (Review)
Released on Blu-ray by Radiance is yet another slice of classic crime drama from Italian cinema – Elio Petri’s 1967 movie We Still Kill the Old Way, starring Gian Maria Volonté and Irene Papas. The film is an adaptation by Ugo Pirro of the 1966 novel To Each His Own […]
Megalopolis (2024) It’s A Lot, And A Lot Of It Is Not Good
At the age of 85, Francis Ford Coppola has literally nothing to prove as a director, and whatever the reception was to his small-scale films throughout the 1990s and 2000s, they managed to coast by due to the fact that the filmmaker behind them made the first two Godfather films […]
The Valley of the Bees (1968) Brutal Middle Ages yarn with a sting in its tail
It’s easy to think about history in black and white. We’re not just talking about absolute morality here, oh no; some of the best period cinema of all time is defined by its monochromatic stylings, reducing the imaginative colour of times past down to stark impressionism. The leaders of Eastern […]
The Albino’s Trees (2016) Eiko Ishibashi Scored Killing of a Sacred Deer (Review)
This modest, low budget drama aims high as a Japanese take on Greek tragedy that’s lightly based on the two millennia-old story of Agamemnon’s sacrifice (and also beating Yorgos Lanthimos to the punch by a year). A film by Masakazu Kaneko, who serves as director, writer, producer, editor, and cinematographer, […]
Vital (2004) Signs of life in a tale of death and decomposition (Review)
There’s something thrilling about a director zigging when you expect them to zag. The best in the biz operate under a distinct style that can be modulated to suit different stories; whatever they’re saying, you can always tell it’s them saying it. Japanese punk auteur Shin’ya Tsukamoto is one such […]
Michael Powell: Early Works (1931-1944) Discover the Early Works of One of Our Best Ever Filmmakers (Review)
I have previously written the profound impact the films of Powell and Pressburger have had on me. Michael Powell is the filmmaker I most think of most as a magician, using tricks and sleight of hand to create rich worlds and transport his audiences to wondrous places. With their brand […]
Greedy People (2024) Himesh Patel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have been Bad Boys
“And for what? For a little bit of money? There’s more to life than a little bit of money ya know.” Despite the works of the Coen brothers spawning their own massively popular sub-genre of comedy crime caper shenanigans, nobody ever surmised the absurdity and the nonsensical allure of the […]
Hellboy: The Crooked Man (2024) Faithful adaptation preaches to the converted, forgets to shepherd a new flock (Review)
The clue should be in the name: there are fewer franchises more cursed than Hellboy. The first two outings for Mike Mignola’s gentle red giant fared well enough, with Guillermo del Toro’s luscious vision and Ron Perlman’s career-defining take on the character proving to be a leftfield refreshment in the […]