Reviews
My Soul to Take
Though Scream 4 was Wes Craven’s final film before his death in 2015, My Soul to Take was the last film he wrote, directed, and produced. Much derided on release this overstuffed slasher takes us on a messy thematic tour of Craven’s hits and, whilst not as clean-cut as the Scream film which came after […]
The Substance
The Substance is, by any stretch, a batshit sophomore step for Coralie Fargeat and without a doubt the most nuts thing on Demi Moore’s CV. Where Fargeat’s 2017 debut Revenge offered a vibrant visceral update of the rape-revenge sub-genre, The Substance is a stylish, sexy, and all together horrifying new chapter in body horror. Moore stars […]
Longlegs
It feels like ages since the first posters for Longlegs dropped and even longer since horror fans had such a potent buzz eruption. The mystery around Oz Perkins’ fourth feature film has been a singular ride for horror hounds, fermented by mysterious posters, Satanic riddles, and the cautious withholding of Nicolas Cage’s visage from marketing. […]
Infested
When we talk about spider horror movies we talk about Arachnophobia, Eight Legged Freaks (for my money Big Ass Spider is the better daft B-Movie), and maybe that bit in The Mist. Hold on though, because there’s fresh phobia-instigation for a whole new generation. From now on Infested will be a staple of those lists and conversations. The […]
The Pope’s Exorcist
At first glance, The Pope’s Exorcist is another tired venture into spiritual warfare led by another vaguely daft late-stage Russell Crowe performance. Yet, under the lazy scares and formulaic structure, there’s the beating heart of a genuinely fun B-Movie and the groundwork for a demonically daft franchise. Its 1987 and Father Gabriel Amorth (Russell Crowe), […]
Top 10 2023
Writing the yearly Top 10 is always tough. Thousands of films released, hundreds of films hitting the big screen, even more hitting the small screen. Then there’s straight-to-DVD and the film festival circuit. The more you watch, the more films you discover. It’s a treadmill. Film lovers are faced every year with the quandary of […]
Suitable Flesh
After wowing crowds at Fantastia Fest and Frightfest hype for Joe Lynch’s latest film Suitable Flesh has been high. Adapted from Lovecraft’s ‘The Thing on the Doorstep’ by Dennis Paoli (the man behind Stuart Gordon’s iconic 80’s Lovecraft adaptations) Suitable Flesh is a camp creeping tale of spiritual terror and body swapping led by two […]
Saltburn
Saltburn, the sophomore film from Promising Young Woman writer/director Emerald Fennell, quickly became one of the most talked-about films of 2023. For some the cutthroat class parable was relatively vanilla, for others it was rampant filth. Debates about its High-Brow or Low-Brow aspirations became mind-numbing whilst contrarian arguments blossomed from the fertile grounds of shock, […]
Dark Harvest
Its criminal that David Slade’s creature feature Dark Harvest wasn’t a bigger deal this Halloween. Based on the lauded novel by Norman Partridge and delayed twice due to Covid 19 and studio reshuffles, the much-anticipated adaptation has just slid, rather unceremoniously, onto Amazon Prime. Every Halloween, in an isolated midwestern farm town, a monstrous entity […]
Sisu
Sisu is the long-awaited latest from Finnish director Jalmari Helander, director of Christmas horror Rare Exports and pulpy presidential adventure Big Game. Since Big Game in 2014, Helander hasn’t had a feature film and, whatever the reason, it’s great to see him back swinging with such an explosive, beautifully shot, and timely reintroduction. Aatami (a […]
