21st Century Horror: the First Twenty Years (Part 2)

For the first part of Keri’s article, please click here. ‘Keep Filming…’ It would be borderline impossible to write about the horror of the first two decades of this century without mentioning a phenomenon which, like ‘torture porn’ cinema, has been rather divisive. I’m talking about the found footage craze – and I think ‘craze’ […]

21st Century Horror: the First Twenty Years (Part 1)

It’s hard to believe that two decades of the new millennium have already passed. It seems like only yesterday that we were complaining about ticket prices for Millennium Eve, whilst simultaneously fearing a computer glitch which would potentially mean the end of the world as we know it. Well, it didn’t quite happen that way […]

The Mind is a Labyrinth: Hellraiser II at 30

By Matt Harries If ever there was a horror franchise that elicited an equal sense of both joy and frustration, it is surely the Hellraiser franchise. How many films have managed to nail (sorry) such a heady blend of slasher flick and (to paraphrase Doug Bradley) ‘Gothic Ibsen’? The first film, Hellraiser, established a template […]

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994): a Retrospective

As this is a detailed examination of the film, it contains spoilers. Seldom has the sole creation of one person travelled so far and changed so many times as the story of Frankenstein (1818). Sure, horror is populated with multiple vampires, mummies and zombies, but even the best-known stories have often been woven out of […]

Hocus Pocus, Mumbo-Jumbo, Black Magic: The Devil Rides Out (1968)

By Matt Harries We often exclaim, or hear others exclaim, ‘They don’t make ‘em like that any more!’ Call it sentimentality, rose-tinted spectacles, or plain old nostalgia; whatever you call it, the audience for stories refracted through the lens of retro-appreciation is huge these days. Listing various works of the small or big screen that […]

‘Nasty, Brutish and Short’: Damien Leone’s Terrifier (2016)

By Matt Harries Nowadays there is a kind of movement or at least prevailing school of thought that seems to be infusing through certain echelons of horror filmmaking. A school of thought that would prefer to see the genre transcend its lowly place as a parade of predictable distractions, to instead be regarded as the […]

From Terra to Terror: Alien at 40

By guest contributor Matt Harries Back in 1979, the late John Hurt almost certainly had no inkling whatsoever of his coming place within cinematic history. In this brief role among many in a storied career, he acted out one of the silver screen’s most iconic deaths. The gruesome demise of Executive Officer Kane of the […]

Dans Ma Peau (In My Skin): a Retrospective

It’s been nearly fifteen years since Dans ma Peau (2004) was released, duly taking its place in the canon of New French Extremity, and garnering a great deal of justifiable praise for its transgressive nature and clarity of vision. These features alone – both the film’s age and its reputation – give us good enough […]

In Conversation: Ben & Keri’s Favourite Films From 2018

2018’s as good as over, so it’s end of year review time. Having gone through this old routine a good few times already, Warped Perspective’s editors Ben Bussey and Keri O’Shea decided to take a different approach this year and get together for a virtual discussion of their favourite films of the year; and for […]

Russ Meyer’s Vixen at 50

Fifty years ago this week, the 16th feature film from American writer-director Russ Meyer – and the very first US production to be given the X-rating – had its premiere screening. Although, as with Meyer’s entire body of work, Vixen is now generally classed as a cult film, it was on release an unprecedented commercial […]

30 Years of Men Behind the Sun

Editor’s note: this discussion of Men Behind the Sun contains spoilers. The Chinese film Men Behind the Sun (1988) is not altogether well known in the West, and has yet to enjoy the kind of lavish DVD or indeed Blu-Ray release which has usually happened for even the most censor-baiting movies by thirty years after […]