The Vourdalak (2023)

When a film starts with a grand, Gothic peal of thunder, it had better mean it. It had better not be suggesting something it can’t deliver. Well, thankfully, The Vourdalak (2023) very much delivers: it’s a gloomy folktale made even gloomier by writers Adrien Beau and Hadrien Bouvier, and it’s an intimate, though always dreamlike […]

30 Years of Stage Fright

Note: this feature contains spoilers! In a small US theatre, the cast of avant-garde performance The Night Owl are readying themselves for their big opening night. In true Stanislavsky style, the director wants everyone locked in, so that they can really get into their roles. This is a health and safety disaster waiting to happen […]

UK DVD Review: A Bay of Blood

A Bay of Blood (AKA Twitch of the Death Nerve/Reazione a Catena/Carnage/Bloodbath/Many, many more…) (1971) Distributor: Arrow Video DVD/Blu-Ray Release Date (UK): 13th December 2010 Directed by: Mario Bava Starring: Claudine Auger, Luigi Pustilli, Claudio Camaso, Anna Maria Rosati Review by: Ben Bussey Deep in an idyllic wilderness lies a serene, unspoiled bay. Amongst all […]