It’s not instantly clear what you’re looking at as Body Odyssey (2023) begins: perhaps led by the title, my first guess was an Inner Space type scenario, which turns out not to be the case. In a way, this is a very fitting opening for such a strange, unsettling but highly rewarding film: disorientation is […]
Cat Call (2023) is essentially a rom-com, though it starts by subverting a few expectations and – to do it justice – it sticks with this odd, if easy-going approach throughout. We’re introduced to our main character, a young woman called Fáni (Franciska Töröcsik) sauntering through – a cemetery. And yet, her laidback demeanour and […]
Property (2022) is a film of mighty complexities and great heart, and as such, it outstrips a whole host of films which have tried and failed to sustain a similar balance. If some of its reasoning and momentum dissipate at certain points, then it’s never at the expense of the film’s involving, invoking, grim and […]
With a rather unwieldy title, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) starts at – a little girl’s birthday party. The little girl, Sasha, surprises her close-knit family group with her innate ability to play the keyboard she’s given as a gift – something which they puzzle over while she plays. […]
How do you signal to your audience that things are going to head south pretty fast – other than by titling your film A Most Atrocious Thing, that is? Turns out it’s by showing us almost instantly a sign reading Danger! Contaminated Water! Then a deer drinking from this water, before cutting straight to some […]
A searing indictment of exploiting the proletariat for political and financial gain, this short film is essential viewing for anyone interested in the history of…nah, come on, look at what it’s called. It’s about a girl with a haunted vagina, the very idea of which will cause amusing pearl clutching by those who think we […]
Sideshow performers Maggie (Toby Poser), Eve (Zelda Adams) and Seven (John Adams) travel around Depression-era America with a carnival which has lost most of its sparkle. As the crowds dwindle, there’s one particular attraction which continues to hold a grim fascination for those gathered – Mr. Tibbs, who cuts off his fingers with scissors. As […]
Are we sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin. Lady Terminator opens with The Queen Of The South Sea, an all-powerful sex goddess, luring some poor unfortunate into her boudoir and devouring the bloke’s penis with her vagina dwelling serpent – just out of shot – in a slice of horror erotica that’s neither horrific nor erotic. […]
Welcome to a world in which zombies roam. What, another one? Yes, but this time there’s a major difference. These folks are not driven by the desire to chow down on human flesh. In fact, uttering the z-word has become something of a societal taboo, with campaigners pushing hard for the rights of the country’s […]
US Border Patrol Agent Angel Waters (Roberto Urbina) heads to the scene of what looks like a crossing gone tragically wrong, discovering what he believes to be the watery Rio Grande grave of a mystery man. Almost immediately, things go south as the corpse suddenly turns out to be very much alive, then very much […]
Bangladeshi horror cinema is all but unknown to me, so the chance to see a Bangladeshi anthology film was too good to pass up. Pett Kata Shaw (2023) contains four distinct stories – in fact, these are compiled together here after a four-part TV series, meaning there isn’t really an overarching framing narrative, and as […]