By Matt Harries Reader advisory: Moderate spoilers ahead. For a spoiler-free appraisal of Starry Eyes, see Ben’s review from Celluloid Screams 2014. We live in an era obsessed with viral fame and hollow glory. The overwhelming desire to be seen, to be watched and admired by approving peers, is seemingly universal. Fame, or some reduction […]
By Quin Early in The Cabining, a group of people are critiquing screenplays. Writing partners and friends, Todd and Bruce, are there to get feedback on the horror movie they are writing. The consensus in the group is that it sucks. One woman chimes in with, “Just because you chose a forgiving genre, doesn’t make […]
By Keri O’Shea Feeling secure in one’s home is, for most people, absolutely essential – particularly, I’d imagine, if you have a family, and need to feel that you have a safe space for them, somewhere they can rely on as intrinsically secure, intrinsically theirs. This feeling of security is also a source of anxiety, […]
By Ben Bussey In a curious kind of way, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers is a film that has no need to exist. Now, don’t take that the wrong way; it’s an enormously entertaining bargain basement B-movie that still holds up 27 years on. What I mean to say is, the film itself is largely peripheral to its […]
By Svetlana Fedotov As I’m sure most of you realize, the comics I review are but a small percentage of the comics I actually read. I read a LOT of comics, all kinds too! Superhero, horror, fantasy, love manga , indie comics about sad dudes in France, comics FROM France, what have you. So, my […]
By Keri O’Shea I always make it a point never to read reviews of new films I’m about to review: some people may be better than I am at filtering out the opinions of others before forming one of their own, but it’s not so for me. I find it virtually impossible not to carry […]
By Quin Damn this movie – from the setup that doesn’t matter at all to the downbeat ending that is almost good, but carries the story just a little too long. The Damned is one of those glossy looking movies with the production values of a good movie, but it never does what it’s trying […]
By Quin Allow me to pull back the curtain just a little on film criticism. It’s been my experience writing film reviews for a website such as this – since we love the genre so much – most of what we review are things we seek out ourselves. For me, I would have seen these […]
By Ben Bussey A movie with Danny Trejo and volcanic zombies was only ever going to go one of two ways. It might have been a cross between Dante’s Peak and the Dawn of the Dead remake, with epic lava FX and full-on zombie attack sequences – or, it could have been yet another half-arsed […]
By Svetlana Fedotov The concept of Hell has been around for as long as humans have needed a reason to punish each other. Ancient Egypt had a lake of fire, the Greek had Hades, and we, in the more modern times, have the Christian Hell of eternal suffering and even a Buddhist Hell called The […]
By Keri O’Shea Last year, I had my first experience of Lovecraftian theatre at the Abertoir film festival – and let me tell you, it was something of a revelation; not a revelation along the lines of those suffered by Lovecraft’s tortured protagonists, mind, but more of a lesson in how Lovecraft’s tales can jump […]