UK Tag Archive
Frenzy
Frenzy, the penultimate film from Alfred Hitchcock, is a far cry from the director’s classics. Hitch had, after all, held a strangle hold on Hollywood for most of the 60’s. He defined cinematic espionage, the psychological thriller, even helped legitimize and popularize the horror film. But Frenzy offers a different kind of Hitchcock. It feels […]
Madhouse (1974)
Though perhaps not as technically or visually impressive as their Hammer counterparts, Amicus Productions’ slew of late-60s/early 70s horror output is often savvier and timelier. Aside from their superb anthology films, nothing in the Amicus catalogue proves this more than Jim Clark’s 1974 film Madhouse. Paul Toombs is a horror icon who has made […]
Corruption (1968)
Of the old guard horror icons, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, John Carradine, Vincent Price, none is perhaps more enjoyable to watch in a role of villainy than Cushing. Of course, Lee was a fantastic Dracula and Price brings a delectable campery to his villains, but its Cushing who perhaps delivers the best surprises in roles […]
In the Earth
Hands up if you went into 2020 thinking we’d spend a year dodging in and out of lockdowns as a viral pandemic swept across the world like something out of a movie? In the Earth is, for all intents and purposes, a pandemic horror film and one of the first of its kind. The latest […]
Await Further Instructions
It’s almost impossible for British Horror to deal with class and racism now and not feel coloured by Brexit. Johnny Kevorkian’s second feature film, Await Further Instructions, doesn’t namecheck the political shambles, but
The Most Assassinated Woman in the World – EIFF 2018 Review
For horror enthusiasts, Franck Ribiere’s The Most Assassinated Woman in the World, a film centred around Paris’ infamously depraved Grand Guignol theatre, is an absolute treat. Part biopic, part period thriller,
Terminal – EIFF 2018 Review
Set in an unnamed futuristic city, Vaughn Stein’s debut feature Terminal is an eccentric but troubled neo-noir thriller. On paper the film sounds pretty intriguing: Margot Robbie as a dangerously ambitious assassin, Simon
Pilgrimage – EIFF 2017
Whilst most of the praised Irish produce of the past few years has been horror, Brendan Muldowney’s Pilgrimage provides an unforgiving trip into the rarer realm of British swords ‘n’ sandals adventure. The film follows a group of priests who leave the rural confines of their secluded abbey to escort a holy relic on a […]
K-Shop – DbD 2016
Horror films, like most films, can really benefit from acidic social commentary and Dan Pringle’s K-Shop is one acidic film. The UK’s relationship with booze has always been a problematic one and Pringle turns on the debate with feverish zeal, presenting a bleak glimpse at one town’s struggle with a perilous drinking culture.
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.
