The mockumentary standard was probably set by Man Bites Dog in the early Nineties, and since then the basic format has changed very little. Surprisingly little, perhaps. There’s the renegade subject (usually a man) who forms a dangerous relationship with the film crew, then the loss of control over the creative project itself and an […]
In rural Texas, grown siblings Louise (Marin Ireland) and Michael (Michael Abbott Jr) have returned to the family farm, knowing that their father is close to death. Their arrival is, however, no cause for celebration and the reunion is strained; their mother tells them that they shouldn’t have come at all. Even so, and through […]
The death of a loved one is undoubtedly a difficult time, but just as undoubtedly, a lot of the difficulties stem not from straightforward grief, but from the suddenly pertinent issue of money. Only weddings kick up as much dirt. Whether settling debts, distributing legacies, or selling property – or more usually, arguing about all […]
Picture the scene. A fatal disease starts to spread across Britain, forcing the government into making difficult decisions that curtail civil liberties and also into relying on a team of scientists whose data crunching and knowledge is wheeled out to placate the public. Fear starts to take hold, which transmutes into anger, which transmutes into […]
Science fiction has become increasingly sombre of late. That’s not to say it hasn’t always explored the intricacies of human interaction in some pretty heavy ways, but it at least feels as though this more often happened against a backdrop of bigger-picture world building, rather than the more intimate films we see more now. Step […]
By guest contributor Chris Ward Every so often a movie breaks through the barriers of genre, dares you to question what you think you know and threatens to make you think differently about horror movies and how they can challenge and defy social norms. Road Head (2020) isn’t that movie, mainly because at its core […]
Our fascination, as film fans, with the extraordinary era of the ‘video nasty’ continues unabated. Perhaps then, it’s fully understandable that films and filmmakers themselves display the same fascination; the lure of the heady mix of frenetic output, myth-building, mass appeal, liberal ignition and the puritanical pushback of the 80s is irresistible. That goes for […]
2018’s A Quiet Place was an excellent film, emerging out of the minor trend for sensory deprivation horror – such as Pitch Black, Don’t Breathe, Birdbox – but using as the basis for its own horrors sound, rather than sight. Added to this, it placed the audience straight into a monster mythos, with no information […]
If society gets the kind of horror which reflects and distorts its worst nightmares, then it seems these days that we’re the monsters – isolated, repressed and sinking fast. Open Your Eyes (2021) certainly fits into this category, and does a lot with its minimal elements, despite a couple of lulls here and there. After […]
This is an opinion article about Army of the Dead which contains spoilers. Here in the UK, we’ve been under a pretty protracted Covid lockdown which is only just coming to an end. Somehow, I managed to get to a film festival last October, narrowly missing the all-out lockdown which was to follow, whilst having […]
Toxic female friendships have not infrequently come in for a good, hard, if specious look in cinema. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of these films have opted for the horror/thriller route, sometimes putting a spin on the home invasion idea (i.e. Single White Female) and sometimes going a step further, having a woman infiltrate the life of […]