Celluloid Screams Review: Darling
As Festival Director Rob Nevitt says the secret film is always a bit of a gamble, and Darling left many of the audience bemused or angry. It wasn’t helped by being in the late night slot after a fair amount of alcohol had been consumed during the day. Whilst Mickey Keating’s film wears its influences …
DVD Review: Slow West
Westerns can often be formulaic and follow very similar paths. Traditionally this has been the case but with the resurgence of the genre in the last few years they’ve evolved into different kinds of parables. In John Maclean’s debut film, Slow West, he takes an offbeat approach to the subject. What on the face of …
Film Festival Review: Celluloid Screams 2015
As Celluloid Screams comes to an end for another year it’s time to take stock on what has been a great weekend of films. Yet again it seems to have been more popular than every before, and in terms of the fare on offer, another very strong year. Screening The Witch was undoubtedly a coup, …
DVD Review: Howl
Werewolves are a perennial favourite with horror fans. By far and away the greatest lycanthrope film is An American Werewolf in London. However, this area of horror has also produced Ginger Snaps, Dog Soldiers, The Howling and, erm, Teen Wolf. Fans often obsess about ‘the change’, which is something Paul Hyett manages to successfully solve …
Incoming: Spectre
In Spectre, a cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind Spectre. Spectre is out in cinemas today.
Film Review: They Will Have To Kill Us First
Mali has been a rich and relatively unknown hotbed of music for some time now. The northern tribes, in particular, have their own individual rich musical traditions. Things have changed in recent times due to the heightened exposure for African music triggered by African Express and also the conflict taking place in the North between …
Incoming: The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is the first feature length documentary to explore the Black Panther Party, its significance to the broader American culture, its cultural and political awakening for black people, and the painful lessons wrought when a movement derails. The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution is out in cinemas on …
Film Review: Tales of Halloween
Horror anthologies are a bit of a mixed bag and toyed with extinction when the popularity of genre films dissipated after the boom of the ’80s. In recent years they’ve made somewhat of a comeback with the success of V/H/S and the ABCs of Death, but it’s Trick ‘r Treat which really set the standard. …
DVD Review: Seconds (Masters of Cinema)
Even as far back as 1966 Americans were suffering from the boredom of suburban normality. Whether as a result of a hangover from the war or a general malaise through the burgeoning middle classes, there was a growing shifting of priorities towards material goods and the breaking down of the traditional family unit. John Frankenheimer …
DVD Review: The Naked Prey (Masters of Cinema)
Whilst the rise of the British Empire and European colonialism may have been profitable for rich white men, it certainly was no fun for the natives. Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness paints the picture of the nightmarish side of Africa but for the most part it was a continent raped of its natural resources and …