Nobody is Crazy (2019)

“The future is as irreversible as the rigid yesterday,” says the Borges quote that opens the fantasy coming-of-age journey Nobody is Crazy, directed by Federico J. Arioni – who penned this wild script and also stars as one of its leads. Exploring mental illness, growing up and time travel through our main character’s battle with […]

Lovely, Dark, and Deep (2024)

“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul,” says the quote that opens this feature, promising to take us deep into the woods and test our psychological mettle. Written and directed by the capable hands of Teresa Sutherland (The Wind, Midnight Mass) we plunge into the wilderness for a […]

Cold Meat (2023)

It’s the run-up to Christmas and, somewhere in a remote corner of Colorado, a lone traveller is off on a road trip, despite the treacherous conditions. He stops his car at a roadside café, but it seems that something is unfolding there: as the last customers depart for the day, leaving only our traveller – […]

Devil’s Advocates: I Walked with a Zombie by Clive Dawson

Ah, it’s been a while since I reviewed a Devil’s Advocates title. For anyone not currently in the know about this series of books: they’re each focused on an influential horror film, each book has a different author, and offers different kinds of focus and perspectives, but without fail you can expect a detailed, academic-lite […]

A Wolfpack Called Ernesto (2023)

When you so much as glimpse the subject matter of A Wolfpack Called Ernesto (Una jauría llamada Ernesto), you may come away with certain expectations, so this review will start by explaining what Wolfpack is not. Despite being about Mexican cartel-linked violence and its impact on communities, this is not an ultraviolent, deliberately shocking, ‘hail […]

Geronimo (2022)

Arcade music and flashing lights cut through the title screen which displays Geronimo, alerting us straight away that the weird world of ‘amusements’ will figure here. But, it’s a film of contrasts, and we get that straight away, too. We first meet the arcade owner Peter (Ged McKenna) navigating his way through everyday life, which […]

Arrow Films: Sharp Shorts

It’s really encouraging that more and more short films are being picked up for general release of late. Hopefully gone are the days when someone’s groundbreaking project, full of blood, sweat and tears, could only ever disappear from sight after its festival run. So it’s great that Arrow – so often the benchmark for cult […]

Dagr (2024)

Dagr (2024) is quite clear on what it is and what it’s all about from the very opening credits: this is found footage, brought right up to date. We get some on-screen text telling us about two social media stars, Thea and Louise, who had amassed a serious following by 2021 for their particular shtick, […]