There’s a scene in episode 5 of GLOW in which the director Sam Sylvia pitches the show to a network exec, explaining that it will be “deeper” than your average junk food TV, showcasing women “wrestling with their own female stereotypes, metaphorically,” arguing this will “really resonate with the female audiences.” And of the male […]
When we ‘see what’s on the slab’ in the horror genre, it tends to be a young woman. Some of the films in question are just plain gut-wrenchingly horrific (such as Nacho Cerda’s Aftermath), some are undoubtedly horrific, but all the same cleverer than many might give them credit for (Deadgirl) and then – there’s […]
Considering the calibre of the career that followed, it sometimes seems easy to overlook the sheer magnitude of Dario Argento’s game-changing debut as director. If Bava’s The Girl Who Knew Too Much and Blood and Black Lace lay the ground-work, it’s Argento’s debut that knocks it out the park. Lifting the best of Bava and […]
Pardon me for opening on what will sound like a splurge of smug self-congratulation, but… as a lifelong film enthusiast with a master’s degree in cult film and television, and almost a decade’s experience publishing horror reviews online, some part of me will occasionally feel I warrant being classed as a genre expert of some […]
Tackling films dubbed cinematic landmarks can sometimes feel a bit of a minefield. There are any number of worthy, ‘important’ films which can be argued to have demonstrably changed the face of cinema, but in many instances this doesn’t necessarily equate to the film in question still being enjoyable to watch in the 21st century. […]
By Nia Edwards-Behi Hong Kong martial arts films have always had an evident spiritual connection to the Western – similar narratives playing out in different settings and with different weapons: fists and feet instead of Colts and Winchesters. This connection is drawn to the surface to full effect in Benny Chan’s Call of Heroes, as […]
By Keri O’Shea Imagine a sequence of films, emanating from Japan over forty years ago, which melded – literally – riotously strong female characters with insurrection, violence, sexuality and even the odd dash of social commentary. ‘Women in prison’ films (for the most part) like no other, the Female Convict movies (or ‘Female Prisoner’, in […]
The Ninth Configuration is a film which, at a glance, appears to offer something radically different from what you actually get. Look at the cover art below: above the title we have the name of William Peter Blatty, writer of legendary horror movie The Exorcist; the title itself seems arcane and almost inscrutable; and we […]
By Keri O’Shea I’ll be the first to admit that I’m something of a fan of post-apocalyptic cinema: give me a filmmaker who can show us some unpalatable possibilities for humankind’s future via a dramatisation of just how frail our structures and norms are and, in an odd way, I’m happy. The opening scenes of […]
By Ben Bussey It can be an interesting business covering DVD and Blu-ray reissues of older movies. Sometimes we wind up with stuff we always meant to see but never got around to; sometimes they’re movies we’ve never even heard of before. But other times, they’re movies which really need no introduction at all – […]
By Guest Contributor Marc Lissenburg I daresay most of you reading this will have a unique personal evolution regarding your horror fandom. Born in 1972, I remember as a five year old in the mid-seventies being drawn to anything remotely to do with vampires. By my teens, driven hugely by the whole video nasty furore, […]