Dystopian stories come in a variety of different forms, and we’ve been treated to many examples of them in recent years. There’s the YA dystopias such as The Hunger Games and Maze Runner that explore systemic oppression in fantastical societies, the more relatable urban dystopias such as Daniel Kaluuya and […]
Reviews
You’ll Never Find Me (2024): Visually Ambitious Slow-Burn Aussie Horror (Review)
After receiving a lot of buzz from festival circuit, You’ll Never Find Me, the debut feature from Josiah Allen and Indianna Bell arrives on Shudder. It’s a natural home for an indie horror with big ambitions and promising great things in the future for the directing duo. Set almost entirely […]
Possessor (2020): Prestige Treatment for Gory Modern Classic (Review)
Hearing Brandon Cronenberg and various crew members discuss the production process of Possessor across the numerous features on this release, it is a miracle that the film got made and that the final result is so memorably weird and unique. Its release in 2020 during the height of Covid lockdowns […]
The Origin of Evil (2022) Two Thirds of a Fascinating Familial Thriller (Review)
We open with a steady tracking shot that moves through a room of women changing, until the camera settles on one of them. From this deliberate opening, director Sébastien Marnier maintains a careful delivery of information, guiding the viewer through a handsomely staged and often twisty thriller. These twists and reveals make […]
Swordsman of all Swordsmen (1968) Essential Viewing for Fans of East Asian Action (Review)
It cannot be understated just how dominant the Shaw Brothers studio was in the late 60s and early 70s. If you wanted to have any traction in the Chinese market then you had to go through Run Run Shaw and his studio. They had a stranglehold on the theatres (due […]
Three films by Jerzy Skolimowski: Walkover, Barrier and Dialogue 20-40-60 (1965-68) (Blu-Ray Review)
Jerzy Skolimowski’s film Barrier, the second in this Blu-Ray set of three early features from Second Run, begins with a manifesto. A youthful man is complaining that the young are always expected to make sacrifices while the old simply accumulate wealth, and questions why it can’t be him in the […]
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951): Comedy Gold from Ealing Studios (Review)
Returning to cinemas on 29th March, ahead of its 4K UHD Collector’s Edition and digital download release from Studio Canal’s Vintage Classics label on 22nd April, is the Ealing Studios’ 1951 classic and one of British cinema’s most beloved comedies, The Lavender Hill Mob. Directed by Charles Crichton, from a […]
The Comedy Man (1964) The Kitchen Sink of an England Long Gone (Review)
There’s a famous idiom that, in simple terms, states that comedy is simply tragedy plus time, but is the reverse also true? Recently released on Blu-ray by Studio Canal, Alvin Rakoff’s The Comedy Man (1964), is a satirical take on the kitchen sink dramas that were popular during that period, […]
Happy End (1967): the kind of film that could spark a lifelong obsession with Czech comedy (Review)
A quote from Søren Kierkegaard – don’t worry, this gets funny soon – kept coming to mind as I watched Oldřich Lipský’s Happy End, now released on Blu-Ray for the first time by Second Run. The Danish philosopher said “It is really true what philosophy tells us, that life must […]
Tony Arzenta (1973): A Hitman’s Revenge (Review)
Radiance continues its reliable run of ’70s Italian cinema with the release this week of 1973’s Tony Arzenta (aka Big Guns, aka No Way Out) an action packed and dour crime thriller from director Duccio Tessari (A Pistol for Ringo, The Return of Ringo) and starring Alain Delon, who also […]