Horror
Halloween Ends Review
Is Halloween Ends a return to form or does the film continue the downward spiral that began with Kills? It is both. There, I said it. Once again, David Gordon Green and Danny McBride subvert the tropes this iconic series founded, attempting to pull the franchise in a different direction. But much like Halloween Kills, Ends feels like a (not a Halloween) movie, within a Halloween movie. In the eyes...
The Retaliators Review
THE RETALIATORS is a completely gratuitous blood-fest of gore and violence. And I absolutely adored it. THE RETALIATORS tells the story of a handsome young Preacher and 100% Good Dad, whose eldest daughter is horribly murdered. The Preacher falls apart, and seems destined to destroy himself. Until the cop investigating the murder offers him the chance to take revenge on his daughter’s killer. Hone...
Bodies Bodies Bodies Review
I’m not really too sure what I went in expecting from Bodies Bodies Bodies, the much anticipated new film from director Halina Reijn and A24 Films, but it wasn’t quite this. Billed as a horror-comedy, reviews ran that this painfully Gen-z slasher was going to herald a new wave of woke, self-reflective, gore filled romps; and while it is all of things, it leaves a lot to be desired. Beginning in a...
Nope Review
Below is a somewhat spoiler-y (though not as spoiler-y as its three minute trailer) review of Nope. I’m still not entirely sure where I land on the film, so please take the following appraisal as a first impression left on the stove for a few days and only just remembered. Nope stands for Not Of Planet Earth and may describe the state of Jordan Peele’s mind as he dreamed up his third feature ̵...
The Black Phone Review
Based on a short story by Joe Hill, Scott Derrickson’s The Black Phone is a well paced thriller that successfully crosses genre boundaries. Subverting expectations along the way is nice, but unfortunately the story telegraphs its main punches a mile off. This review contains spoilers, so if you wish to view The Black Phone impartially scroll straight to the last two paragraphs. Denver, 1978; A mas...
Men Review
Alex Garland brings two of the most talented actors of modern cinema and theatre together, stacks the odds against one of them and gaslights an entire viewership in the process in Men, a gorgeously absurd new film that ponders the question: if a strange bloke turns up naked at your house but doesn’t actually get inside, has any harm been done? Garland takes a different approach at highlighting the...
Hatching Review
Hatching is a festival award-winning Finnish horror film directed by a woman (Hanna Bergholm) who’d never made a full-length feature before. Appropriately titled Egō in the festival’s host country and Pahanhautoja (which the ever trustworthy Google Translate claims to mean ‘evil graves’) in its native tongue, the film contains an outer membrane of gooey unpleasantness and a delicious yolk full o...
La Casa del Caracol (The House of Snails) Review
There’s two things you need to know going into the Spanish horror film LA CASA DEL CARACOL (THE HOUSE OF SNAILS). There is a severe lack of snails The dog doesn’t die The dog shows up early on, standing on the side of the road like a pointy eared hitchhiker. Author and main character Antonio (Javier Rey) picks him up on his way to the isolated town in the mountains. Suffering writer’s block, Anton...
Morbius Review
I’m not entirely sure what goes on at those culty gatherings hosted on MarsIsland (perhaps an Elizabeth Báthory approach to skincare) but it seems to work for probable real-life vampire Jared Leto, whose inability to age is, at this point, slightly concerning. It’s a shame, then, that his dedication to acting is not given the same priority as his quest for eternal youth. Known for going way too ha...
Scream Review
Twenty-five years ago, the small town of Woodsboro, California, became infamous for a series of teen murders. The culprits were also teens, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) and Stu Macher. Billy was the disturbed leader, but although he killed for what he thought were justifiable personal reasons, he saw his actions as though he were the villain in a slasher movie. His obsession with the genre dictated...
Titane Review
Below is my review of this year’s Palme d’Or-winning film Titane – the sophomore feature from one of the most exciting directors in the infancy of her career, Julia Ducournau. It is impossible to review this film without spoiling it, so if you want to go in blind then it’s probably best to stop here. In 2017 Ducournau directed her first feature-length film Raw, a coming-of-age story about a ...
Last Night in Soho Review
Edgar Wright’s love for vintage music has been more apparent than ever from his last few films, more recently in his documentary The Sparks Brothers and prior to that, the thumpingly cool caper Baby Driver. But music is also put to expert use in his earlier comedies. I’m sure many (like myself) still associate Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” with Shaun of the Dead and his new film, Last Night In Soho,...