I had a strange sense of deja-vu several times when watching Robert Morgan’s first feature-length film, and the first of these is because I can never remember who anyone is or what they’ve done. So, when I first glimpsed Morgan’s very distinctive stop-motion style during the opening moments of this feature, I realised that I […]
Note: unusually for the site this review contains mild spoilers – words failed me else – so read on with caution. On first consideration, Julia Ducournau’s new film, Titane (2021) is quite unlike Raw (2016), her last feature and, for most people, the most familiar point of comparison. To put it mildly, Titane is an […]
There no other obvious way to start this review than by saying: Lamb is an odd one. Beautiful; sure. Evocative; yes. However, it only tantalises at the mythology or events which underpin the narrative, and as such the world it offers is a partial one. How forgiving you are of this will depend on how […]
By guest contributor Caitlyn Downs Twice delayed by the pandemic, Antlers has likely been on the radar for many horror fans for some time, thanks in no small part to the involvement of producer Guillermo del Toro and the promise of the kind of magic creature horror that he is so well known for. Those […]
A Banquet (2021) is an incredibly slow-burn, incredibly meticulous family drama with only a distant-feeling link to its more supernatural content – if that is the right way to even describe the direction it takes. As such, it may feel too remote and abstract for some audiences. However, at its heart it’s a story about […]
Don’t let the 2021 release date for Mad God fool you; this is a film which has been an incredible thirty years in the making. The reasons for the long hiatus between conception and completion encompass a few things – as you’d expect, given that time scale – but essentially, the big shift from practical […]
It’s always a pleasure to encounter filmmakers who are interested in Southern Gothic – a genre which is difficult to define, but easy to recognise in its effete communities, its crumbling facades, its bizarre characters and its mysterious landscapes. Offseason (2021) is one such film, a clever and often understated horror which wears its influences […]
One of the great things about film festivals is the sheer range of films you get, even though most of them might be loosely assembled in one particular genre or other. Horror in particular has a broad remit and can veer from terrifying in one incarnation to hilarious in another, without dropping any of the […]
If ever a film spoke to unpalatable truths, then it’s Jennifer Kent’s most recent film, The Nightingale. Where her previous feature The Babadook put a fantastical spin on mental trauma, The Nightingale strips back all varieties of artifice and fantasy, striving to represent a notoriously brutal period in Australia’s colonial past as realistically as possible. […]
UK horror festival season is once again in full swing, and one of our favourites, Sheffield’s Celluloid Screams, have just announced the films they have in store this year – and it’s looking like a very handsome line-up indeed, boasting many of the most eagerly anticipated genre titles of the year. Nor is it all […]
I’ve followed the careers of directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead with interest ever since I covered their challenging and innovative feature debut, Resolution, back in 2012. I loved the way that the film combined interesting characters, plausible dialogue and a type of slow-burn horror which was quite unlike anything else I’d seen. It’s rare […]