FIlm Review
Film Review: The Banishing
The haunted house is a perennial favourite of genre cinema. As anyone who has stayed in a really old building will know, they seem to have a life and personality of their own. Strange noises are common, as are unexplained occurrences. They have provided the atmospheric setting for many of the best horror films, including …
Film Review: Malmkrog
Spearheading the Romanian new wave and one of the most intriguing, interesting and confounding of his countrymen, Cristi Puiu has an eye for the epic. Whether it’s his hilariously obtuse The Death of Mr Lazarescu, oddly engaging Sieranevada or the pleasantly baffling Aurora, he can never be accused of not making his audience work for …
Film Review: After the Murder of Albert Lima
The death of a parent is almost always devastating. Whether they’re taken suddenly after a long and fulfilling life or following a long illness, the grief and trauma can be impossible to cope with. Their absence a constant shadow. It can take months and even years for children to be able to move on with …
Film Review: Slaxx
The ‘villain’ in horror cinema comes in many shapes and sizes, including strange mythical creatures, supernatural terrors, terrifying children or simply just a human who has gone very, very bad. The one thing they usually have in common is that they’re living, breathing, intelligent entities. But that’s not always the case. We’ve been tormented by …
Film Review: My Father And Me
Nick Broomfield has been an ever-present on the documentary circuit since the late 1970s. He is considered to be, inside and outside of the industry, one of the greatest factual filmmakers of his generation. His work is a mix of investigative reportage into difficult subjects and profiles of some of the most influential names within …
Film Review: The Winter Lake
There’s nothing as queer as folk, and the smaller the community, the stranger its denizens. Small isolated villages and towns are often a law unto themselves, with unwritten rules and taboos silently governing the strangest things. If you’ve ever lived in one of these places you will know just how quickly gossip spreads and how …
Film Review: Verdict
On the face of it, The Philippines is a surprisingly progressive country when it comes to women’s rights. Indeed, in the Global Gender Gap Index for the World Economic Forum the county currently places impressively at sixteenth in the world. In reality though, whilst there has been significant progress, there are worryingly high levels of …
Film Review: Come True
Anyone who has ever suffered from sleep-related problems, such as insomnia, sleep apnoea or night terrors, knows just how precious sleep is. However, we have all, at one time or another, experienced dreams which are all too vivid. These can take a darker turn when they become nightmares. We’re often haunted by recurring images, themes …
Film Review: The Final Stand
As 1941 rolled on, it looked almost inevitable that Hitler’s seemingly inexorable march eastwards would ensure victory over the Western part of the Soviet Union. By October, the Wehrmacht had its sights trained squarely on Moscow. This battle would eventually change the course of World War II and the Red Army’s defence was desperate. With …
Film Review: Keep an Eye Out
When Quentin Dupieux made Rubber, he created one of the most unusual, unlikely and offbeat horror films the world has ever seen. It seemed incomprehensible that he could out-strange a film about a serial-killing tyre, but he continues to make uniquely off-the-wall cinema. Whether it’s a man obsessed by a jacket, men trying to domesticate …