France Tag Archive
Hatchet for the Honeymoon
Mario Bava, best known for his Giallo-instigating film Blood and Black Lace, is perhaps one of the most influential, original directors of the 20th century. The horror genre is still working with, and trying to deviate from, a blueprint he crafted half a Century ago. Whilst Hatchet for the Honeymoon is by no means Bava’s finest […]
Knife + Heart
With queer retro slasher Knife + Heart, Yann Gonzalez takes us on an evocative, dangerous, journey through the sensual underbelly of Paris’s sex industry, circa 1979. It’s a world of underground nightclubs, porn theatres, cruising areas, baroque porn sets, and rain-spattered sidewalks, all populated with gorgeous queers and drenched in lurid primary colours. The attention […]
Hostile
Whenever Xavier Gens’ name pops up in the opening credits of a film, I wonder what awful shit I’m about to be subjected to. Not that he’s a bad director, or the quality of his stuff is ever awful, it’s just that he has a habit of dispensing, or putting his name to, films which dispense […]
All the Gods in the Sky – DbD 2019
Tous les Dieux du Ciel (All the Gods in the Sky), from French director Quarxxx, is an incredibly bold piece of genre filmmaking and a spellbinding debut to boot. Nodding carefully to the surrealist likes of David Lynch, the body horror of David Cronenberg, the unfathomable terror of Lovecraft, and the stark realism of the […]
Couple in a Hole – GFF 2016
Only Tom Geen’s second feature film (after 2009’s Menteur) Couple in a Hole is a bold and startlingly pained microstudy. The film follows an apparently well-to-do Scottish couple, played by Kate Dickie (The Witch) and Paul Higgins (The Thick of It), live like savages deep in the heart of a forest in Provincial France.
Rapture – Blu-ray Review 29/7/14
Until now, John Guillermin’s coming-of-age story Rapture has perhaps been side-lined amidst his bigger budget productions.
Cannibal – TIFF 2013
Considering its title, it may be hard to accept that Manuel Martin Cuenca’s Cannibal was one of the most subtle and endearing features at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.
Leviathan – EIFF 2013
One of the most intriguing films of this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival is the experimental documentary piece Leviathan; an abstract look at the relationship between man and nature. It won’t be for everyone, in fact it will probably appeal to a smaller part of the audience who have the patience to endure its 87 […]
Livid – DVD Review
Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo have already made a sound debut in the form of 2007’s Inside, so their second feature, Livid, is due to cause some excitement amongst horror fans. The pair’s second film is an atmospheric and visually inventive take on the ‘old haunted house story’ and among other things probably one of […]
