By Ben Bussey Such is the contemporary horror scene’s fascination with all things 70s and 80s, it’s easy to forget that our current strain of gore-strewn cinema has roots dating back further than that. Yes, messrs Romero, Hooper, Craven and co took the cheapie drive-in scary movie by the short and curlies and dragged it […]
By Nia Edwards-Behi I know, I know, I’m lazy (editor’s note – no she bloody well isn’t, she’s written 11 full length reviews and another round-up in the past 10 days). But watching 21 films in five days inevitably means that my brain forgets a lot of the detail to some films, even when I […]
By Nia Edwards-Behi It’s the 1950s. Montse (Macarena Gomez) lives with her younger sister, Hermana (Nadia de Santiago), in a small apartment. Both their parents are dead, but their father (Luis Tosar) remains a spectral figure in the apartment for the burdened and fragile older woman. Hermana has just turned 18, and Montse struggles to […]
By Nia Edwards-Behi Sometimes a film experience comes along that’s difficult to review. One the one hand, I want to explain my experience of it, but on the other… it’s difficult not to provide a certain type of spoiler. I don’t plan on literally spoiling anything, but sometimes there are certain expectations of a film […]
By Keri O’Shea When I saw that The Haunting of Radcliffe House (formerly titled Altar) was set in Yorkshire, I asked for it purely on that basis. Having lived in Yorkshire for around half my life, I think it’s fair to feel a little pride in the place, and although the city I live in […]
By Keri O’Shea and Ben Bussey Given how Blumhouse Productions have come to more or less completely dominate theatrically released horror these last few years, and how frequently their output leans toward ghost stories and/or found footage, at a glance it’s easy to assume their latest release Unfriended might not offer anything new. However, your intrepid […]
By Nia Edwards-Behi Hideo Nakata’s most recent films have not had the glowing reception his reputation following Ringu and Dark Water might have set him up for. I quite like 2013’s The Complex, myself, which, although a bit cliched was certainly enjoyable and featured some effective chills. Monsterz seems to have failed to impress critics […]
By Keri O’Shea Explorations of unhinged femininity have long been archetypal in horror and exploitation cinema. It’s that whole ‘hall of mirrors’ effect: anxieties and fears regarding women make for overblown, engrossing movies, and the depiction of all facets of female behaviour and concerns – to include adolescence, relationships, sexuality, pregnancy, motherhood – have been […]
By Keri O’Shea The influence of the zombie – formerly, the ghoul – continues to rise and rise; we now see zombies in the upper eschelons of pop culture, in such various places as a vastly-popular TV franchise and even…in a teen romance film. Yep, the risen dead are clearly here to stay. But what […]
By Nia Edwards-Behi I have been excited about The Dead Lands since I first heard about it last year – a period martial arts film conducted entirely in a minority language? That ticks a lot of my boxes, that does. Hongi (James Rolleston) is something of the runt of the litter to his tribe. His […]
By Nia Edwards-Behi I’d seen the UK DVD release of Greatful Dead advertised quite a bit on the Third Window Films Facebook page, before seeing it in the line-up at BIFFF. It was a title I’d almost immediately added to my DVD wishlist, so the opportunity to see it on a big screen was extremely […]