By Svetlana Fedotov Werewolves are a pretty safe bet when it comes to whipping out a scary story. Like vampires and zombies, they already come with their own set of rules, mythology, and an image ready to be penned into the “enter-scary-creature” blank space on the horror tax form. In fact, I probably wouldn’t even […]
Review by Tristan Bishop If there’s one thing we Brits excel at, it’s a good ghost story. From MR James (arguably the master of the form) to the 1945 Ealing studios spooky portmanteau tale Dead Of Night, to the blockbusting Woman In Black, we’ve got the restless dead covered. The reasons for this are debatable, […]
Review by Quin I have always believed that it’s not always the way the movie ends that matters, it’s how you get there. While it’s true that many a bad ending have ruined films for me in the past, it isn’t always the case. Of course it’s ideal that the viewer be left in the […]
By Svetlana Fedotov Classic works get revived all the time; smarter, sassier, and sexier with each version. Look at Sherlock Holmes, with its Robert Downey Jr.s and Benedict Cumberbatchs sexying the classic detective up, or the new Exodus movie, which frankly just seems unnecessary. A tried and true story is always solid for adaption and […]
Review by Ben Bussey Asami: a relatively common name in Japan so I understand, and yet to fans of contemporary Japanese exploitation cinema it can only mean one person. While she generally appears in supporting roles, the porno/pinku veteran has pretty much become the Linnea Quigley of J-sploitation: the mere sight of her face (not […]
By Matt Harries Editor’s Note: for the first part of Matt’s special feature, click here. So, Australia’s Outback can inflict lethal damage on the unwary. What, though, about the most dangerous beast of all? What happens to the man who lives there, far from the reach of the western world and its focus on ease […]
Review by Tristan Bishop The advance word on Noboru Iguchi’s Live, which received its UK premiere at this year’s Abertoir Horror Festival, was that the scatalogically-obsessed manchild of Japanese cinema was toning it down a bit – unsurprising really, as it might prove a little difficult to top the excesses of Dead Sushi (2012) and […]
Review by Karolina Gruschka Takashi Miike is a Japanese auteur known for his strange films: take Visitor Q (2001), for instance, a bizarre movie about a highly dysfunctional family or the surreal zombie musical The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001). However, Miike is probably most (in)famous for the disturbing Audition (1999) and the ultraviolent Ichi […]
By Matt Harries For a country which has often courted an image of a roguish bonhomie and raffish conviviality, Australia seems also to possess a dark heart, which lies perhaps in the great vastness of the continent away from the densely populated coastal regions and their cosmopolitan modernity. Since being sighted by Dutch explorer Willem […]
By Keri O’Shea Now here’s a novel idea. We’re all familiar with the anthology – sometimes called ‘portmanteau’ movie, which typically consists of three interlinked stories, or at least three stories with an overarching framework. Why three? Three definitely still seems to be the magic number in storytelling, as it has been in an abundance […]
By Ben Bussey and Keri O’Shea After seeing Kevin Smith’s Tusk at Abertoir Horror Festival 2014, your illustrious editors reflect on the experience. In case you haven’t heard about it, in a nutshell it’s about sleazy podcaster Wallace Bryton (Justin Long) who goes to interview wacky old seafarer Howard Howe (Michael Parks) about his life […]