With its very modern sensibilities and a certain level of artistic ambition, Those Who Walk Away has a few decent moments. Then again, the pitfalls of ambition over substance are written all over this (ostensibly) haunted house movie, with the main effect being that, despite some strong visuals and moments of atmosphere, it labours under […]
Whilst Slapface (2021) starts out with very broad strokes – literally showing us big brother Tom (Mike Manning) and Lucas (August Maturo) taking turns to slap each other as some sort of proxy household meeting – it soon becomes something if not altogether subtle, then certainly altogether more considered. Likewise, the opening credits, with their […]
It’s a crime thriller, but Below The Fold starts with what could easily be a horror film opening. It’s an ominous take where it seems something sudden and shocking has happened: the TV is left on, showing nothing but dead air, a telephone receiver lies abandoned. What is this? We’re not told immediately – we’re […]
There have been a fair few gloomy period pieces floating around over the last few years, and though it’s somewhat beyond the scope of this review, it would be interesting to ponder why: what is it about oppressive religious belief and isolated family groups which has such ready appeal for writers? We can’t possibly hand […]
“What am I doing here?” – it’s a simple line, but this early line in Nocturna: Side A sums up the terror and disorientation of old age, particularly when old age is accompanied by dementia – something which the film excels at. When you are losing even the merest anchors of your identity, right down […]
Most of the time, when a film engages with the theme of time travel, it tends to be a bit po-faced. Sure, it can be epic, but the basis of that is usually dystopian futures, mercenaries, world-ending wars and glimpses of horrific alternatives – and no, I swear I’m not just thinking of Terminator. It […]
Whilst depictions of loneliness are not rare in genre cinema, on odd occasions a film comes along which treats the subject with a level of sophistication and subtlety which is both compelling, and difficult to do justice in words. Saint Maud (2019) definitely fits into this category. Having some similarities to Lucky McGee’s May (2002) […]
The (almost total) demise of the anthology film is a crying shame: despite a minor, if noteworthy comeback with some notable entrants into the genre such as the ABCs of Death or Dead Girls over the past decade or so, it’s still a format which just doesn’t seem to attract the interest it once did, […]
Perhaps it’s to be entirely expected that the number of social media-related horrors continue to grow and grow. Alongside the likes of Tragedy Girls, Assassination Nation and Making Monsters, we can now count The Cleansing Hour, though quite unlike those others, this most recent film melds the premise of a successful social media channel with […]
It was with no mean amount of anticipation that I went in to Robert Eggers’ newest film; his last film – and his first ever feature – The Witch (2015) blended just enough ambiguity with its supernatural content, leading to a film which kept its mysteries without sacrificing its scares, but perhaps most of all, […]
Anyone who’s been paying close attention to the changing face of horror in the 21st century should hopefully be well aware of filmmaker Johannes Roberts. In some respects the British writer-director always seems to be just one big film away from really breaking through into the popular consciousness, yet at the same time he’s quietly […]