A crisis of belief besets a West African village in Mami Wata, as corruption and greed sweep in behind it. A dark, often cruel story unfolds, painting a devastating picture of the repercussions of change. The film does this without being overly simplistic, and it does it without any chiding, even if its message is […]
We get some on-screen preamble before the events of The Lair (2022) unfold before us. Locating the film in conflict-ridden Afghanistan in 2017, we’re told that a US bomb strike on a certain province, intended to destroy an insurgent stronghold, occurred after alleged ‘disturbing activity’ in the area. So there we have it: we’re going […]
By guest contributor Darren Gaskell Following an energy-sapping battle against an evil giant turtle, five superheroes known as the Tobacco Force are instructed by Didier, their chief, to head for a rural retreat in order to work on their cohesion as a team. Soon after they reach their swanky recovery pad, bickering and uncertainty among […]
With on-screen text which tells us that events in the film genuinely took place in Brisbane, Australia in 1997, Bliss of Evil avowedly sets itself up as something other than the more typical supernatural set-up we often get when music – particularly rock music – is concerned. And indeed, the opening scene is very grisly, […]
You know that bit at the start of There Will Be Blood (2007), where a silent, grizzled man is digging into the earth – eventually striking oil? Okay, good. Now, let’s shift things to WWII-era Finland; here’s another grizzled, silent prospector, wandering the landscape alone – only this guy is looking for gold, not oil, […]
Sight Extended (2023) starts out looking like a space-set sci-fi; it’s only when you look closer that you realise you’re looking at a much more familiar, convex shape – a lens, specially-adapted to allow a person to access all of their push notifications, calls, maps, you name it, with a mere, literal blink of an […]
Invoking Yell (2023) is clearly a film that likes to layer its influences, giving us a grab-bag of themes and styles. These chiefly being: found footage; 90s-style analogue cameras; the EVP phenomenon and the film’s biggest, boldest theme – 90s black metal. By way of some on-screen text at the start, the film explains that, […]
Roadkill (2022) has the good sense to let its outback shooting location figure highly throughout its running time, almost making the hostile environment one of its one of its core characters. In fact, it makes more sense as a character than some of the actual characters on offer. The film overstretches itself in its plot […]
Have you noticed that people are getting tied to chairs, or tormented with household tools etc. a lot less frequently in horror nowadays? You could be forgiven for assuming that gratuitous ultraviolence is dead – or at least taking a break. That’s not so in The Wrath of Becky (2023) however: whilst the tone is […]
Review by Darren Gaskell As we’re introduced to Beau Wasserman (Joaquin Phoenix), he’s attending what seems to be an all-too regular therapy session and the talk soon turns to a forthcoming journey to his hometown, where his formidable-sounding mother lies in wait. Beau’s building trepidation about the trip results in an updated prescription, but those […]
There have been, in recent years, a number of imaginative explorations of the role of technology in our lives. It’s a diverse topic, ripe for horror: the increasing levels of control we afford to tech, as well as the importance we attach to apps and platforms, have made for some great films – some scary, […]