There’s a case for the poster for Horrors of Spider Island appearing under the dictionary definition of ‘exploitation film’, so perfectly does the movie encapsulate everything about the genre. On this basis, the only surprise about the new Severin blu-ray is why it has taken the label so long to release it, as perfect a […]
By pure chance, several of the most recent films I’ve watched have had elements in common: a certain kind of body-mod sci-fi has cropped up in films such as Parallax, with its riff on memory and mental states, and again in Peripheral, where one woman takes on futuristic tech in an attempt to maintain her […]
‘Koko-di koko-da’ – this is a tune sung by an oddly jaunty showman making his way through the woods with a group of equally odd companions, as the opening credits introduce us to this film. Koko-di Koko-da is an often challenging, if always creative watch which uses unorthodox means to explore very real experiences. Our […]
1BR, which I reviewed recently, was one of those great screeners which managed to surprise me whilst clearly also paying due respect to existing genre features. This is a skill which not everyone can demonstrate, much less in their debut feature, so I reached out to the director, David Marmor, to find out a little […]
Screenplay writer Nigel Kneale has a superb pedigree as a purveyor of the strange and the supernatural. Never is this made clearer than in his adaptation of the 1983 Susan Hill novella The Woman in Black. In fact, even mention this TV film to fans of a certain age and/or persuasion, and they will immediately […]
I’ve enjoyed following director Paul Hyett’s work to date: The Seasoning House and Howl both made great use of confined locations and escalating ordeals, whilst I had some misgivings with the latter film; we have something different altogether with Peripheral, however, as we delve into ‘tech terror’, combining age-old anxieties with the shock of the […]
In a world of Elevated Horror, Intelligent Horror, Woke Horror and horror that desperately wants to be ‘of the moment’, there’s a definite pleasure to be had from seeing a film that does not hold both the genre and its audience in thinly-veiled contempt. The joys of Mr Vampire are, for the most part, lightweight […]
A criticism often levelled at modern Western society is that our sense of community is gone. We’re all out for ourselves, unable to see the wider picture – and we would be so much happier, if only we could take the time to get to know our neighbours, or we could throw ourselves into a […]
Whilst it’s quite usual to hear of albums which are based on, or influenced by cinema or literature, it’s still a rarity to find albums which hinge entirely upon art. Neraterræ – the musical project of Alessio Antoni – has recently released an album which does just that, taking for its inspiration a range of […]
Writer Joe R. Lansdale has played an important part in both horror literature and later, film: without a doubt, his career to date is of interest to a wide range of fans. For my part, my first encounter with his fiction didn’t fill me with the instant enthusiasm shared by many of the contributors to […]
The second feature-length film by noted graphic designer Ryan Brookhart, Two Ways to Go West moves outside of the horror genre and endeavours to explore the big topics: personal demons, unspoken truths, repercussions. However, the style and approach it takes doesn’t really serve its themes; whilst visually sharp, it can feel tonally erratic, and badly […]