In the opening scene of documentary film Children of The Wicker Man, we see one of Robin Hardy’s sons taking receipt of some of his late father’s possessions – notably reels of film, papers and production notes related to the 1973 film. It’s this which prompts Justin to reach out to some of Hardy’s other […]
Hokum (2026) is all about the periphery of stories. Legends, tales within tales, rumours, fractured biographies. Feelings and memories, not linearity and convention – which works really well in this deliberately splintered, but always impactful horror. Even as the opening credits roll we start with a story within a story, given that our protagonist Ohm […]
In 1983, the Director Of Public Prosecutions published its first list of movies which were tagged with the tabloid-friendly label of Video Nasties. These cinematic outliers were deemed to have to power to deprave and corrupt and, if the title in question had been successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act of 1959, any dealer […]
‘Tell me a story’, says the therapist at the beginning of Touch Me (2025) – though specifying that it should be a fantastical kind of story. Swap out the details, she says, but find a way of telling me about something which has traumatised you. Well, boy does Joey (Olivia Taylor Dudley) oblige, offering up […]
In 1983, the Director Of Public Prosecutions published its first list of movies which were tagged with the tabloid-friendly label of Video Nasties. These cinematic outliers were deemed to have to power to deprave and corrupt and, if the title in question had been successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act of 1959, any dealer […]
In 1983, the Director Of Public Prosecutions published its first list of movies which were tagged with the tabloid-friendly label of Video Nasties. These cinematic outliers were deemed to have to power to deprave and corrupt and, if the title in question had been successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act of 1959, any dealer […]
In 1983, the Director Of Public Prosecutions published its first list of movies which were tagged with the tabloid-friendly label of Video Nasties. These cinematic outliers were deemed to have the power to deprave and corrupt and, if the title in question had been successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act of 1959, any dealer […]
The Whistler (2026) opens with some on-screen text introducing the María Lionza cult, a Venezuelan belief system which believes, amongst other things, that spirits live amongst us, ready to possess the living. This being established, we next see a fearful woman creeping in and out of a sugarcane field in the dark, trying to avoid […]
We start in a giallo-lit spin class as the opening credits of Thinestra (2025) run; the credits are rolling as if they’re on wheels, too. It’s a neat statement of visual intent for a film which takes beauty norms, particularly around weight, as a central theme, playing with aesthetics and style as it goes. In […]
Editor’s note: please be aware that this special feature discusses Sinners and Beloved in detail, so be mindful of potential spoilers. Perhaps, on first pass, it might not feel like the most obvious move to write about both Ryan Cooglan’s smash hit horror Sinners and the more oblique, though no less devastating horrors of Toni […]
Not short on ideas but perhaps short on ways to finally unite them all, I Know Exactly How You Die (2026) finds a place in that small but dedicated subgenre of horror which takes a fantastical look at the creative process. We start with an incredibly grisly, attention-grabbing start (as is customary, as filmmakers tend […]