In cinemas tomorrow through Blue Finch Films is 2021’s Wild Men, the sophomore film from Thomas Daneskov – following his 2015 debut, the Elite. Rasmus Bjerg is Martin, and he’s had enough of modern life, so he decides to vanish from his native Denmark and live off the land as […]
Reviews
Twisting the Knife: Nightcap (2000) & The Flower of Evil (2003)(Review)
We are back on the Chabrol wagon for the 4th time (1, 2, & 3) in a few short months, following Arrow Video’s release of two boxsets, Lies & Deceit, and the recent Twisting the Knife. On Nightcap’s disc, there’s a visual essay by film critic, Scout Tafoya, called “When […]
Twisting the Knife: The Swindle (1997) and The Colour of Lies (1999)(Review)
Following on from February’s Lies and Deceit, Arrow have returned to the films of Claude Chabrol for their new box set Twisting the Knife. Twisting the Knife has a slightly different remit to Lies and Deceit; the former box set selected various films Chabrol directed between 1985 and 1994 but […]
Knockabout (1979) Lame Comedy pathing the way to Action Greatness (Review)
The first time I tried to watch Sammo Hung’s 1979 film, Knockabout, it was through a ratty, almost unwatchable print I loaned from Lovefilm. Remember them? I bring that up as it’s an almost poetic change of fate for martial arts cinema fans, post-Hong Kong Legends. To think that after […]
The Big Racket (1976) & Heroin Busters (1977): two films by Enzo G Castellari (Review)
Enzo G Castellari is now best-known not for a film he directed but for a film he inspired: Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, which lifts its title from his 1978 war film The Inglorious Bastards. A more direct impact he had on movie history would be Keoma, the 1976 film he […]
Dreadnaught (1981) Dragon Dance Majesty from Yuen Woo-Ping (Review)
Even for the most ardent fans, martial arts cinema can get very samey. It’s not a criticism far from it; the same realisation happens with fans of other formally strict genres – like the western, slasher or fantasy movies. All-time classics are the DNA from which repetition and formulaic plotting […]
Onoda: 10,000 Nights in the Jungle (2021) (Cinema Review)
When is a World War II epic not a World War II epic? When it’s Onoda: 10,000 Nights in Jungle, a story that is all the more unbelievable when you consider it is 100% true. Or as close as possible, with creative embellishments to make it palatable as a big-screen […]
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (4K)(1994) De Niro & the Ego Monster (Blu-ray Review)
Who is Kenneth Brannagh? To look at him now, he is a multi-award-winning director adding his take to the canon of successful awards bait turned moustache receptacle. Earlier in 2022, he had two movies playing in cinemas – simultaneously. Go back a bit further, and he was involved in the […]
Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) A deeply unnerving character study (Review)
Disturbing films were in abundance throughout the late 70s and early 80s. With films such as Driller Killer, Cannibal Holocaust, The Last House on the Left and many more being branded “Video Nasties” and essentially blacklisted by the BBFC. Most of the shocking value of these films comes from grotesque […]
You Are Not My Mother (2022) Folk Horror Terror in Working Class Ireland (VOD Review)
Irish eyes are certainly not smiling in this tale of domestic horror as ancient Irish folklore creeps its way into the twenty-first century. You are not My Mother’s first time director & writer Kate Dolan delivers a fantastically creepy story, aided by wonderfully strong leading women and a subtlety rarely […]