If you are stuck for something to watch this Christmas you won’t go far wrong with Václav Vorlícek’s delightful Three Wishes for Cinderella (Tři oříšky pro Popelku, 1973). The film has just been released in time for the holidays, in ...
Read More »The Vampire Lovers (German Blu-Ray Review)
Regardless of how you feel about the film, there is no denying The Vampire Lovers marked an important change in direction for Hammer; the film being one of the first to usher in a fresh, sexually charged era for the ...
Read More »The Miskatonic Institute Of Horror Studies: London Unveils Spring 2017 Lineup and Announces New Scholarship Program
After successfully closing out the fall season with author Maura McHugh’s class investigating codes and signs in David Lynch’s TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME (complete with complimentary doughnuts!), The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies – London returns to the ...
Read More »Slasher Double Bill: The Burning (1981) and The Initiation (1984) (Blu-ray reviews)
1981 was a cracking year for the slasher. The foundations started in forerunners Halloween (1978) and Friday the 13th (1980)— incidentally both films saw their first sequels issued in ‘81—started to catch light, resulting in an outpouring of sub genre ...
Read More »Sin, Sex and Shamanism: Wicked Witchcraft, Delusional Wives in Suddenly in the Dark (Blu-Ray Review)
At the beginning of Kim Ki-young’s seminal The Housemaid (1960), the grim narrative that unfolds is foreshadowed by a simple conversation at the kitchen table between a husband and wife, while their two children play quietly in the background. One ...
Read More »Conjuring Sublime Shadows: Mario Bava’s Planet of the Vampires
One word that is often synonymous with “Gothic”, especially when it comes to the literary form of the tradition, is the “sublime”. Writers such as Ann Radcliffe established this concept early on, introducing readers to the idea of overwhelming, breath-taking ...
Read More »Musical Séance and the Sublime Art of Darkness: Pianist, Singer, Performance Artist Jill Tracy Interviewed
Resembling the lovechild of H.H. Holmes and a silent era siren, when it comes to dark music there is only one Jill Tracy. As a singer, pianist, and performer, she conjures a timeless netherworld that opens up the portals to ...
Read More »Flesh and Excess: Author Jack Sargeant on Trangression and Visceral Bodies in Film
Writer, programmer, academic, Jack Sargeant has a solid history when it comes to covering all the weird and wonderful sharp corners of cult and underground film. His previous books include Deathtripping: The Extreme Underground, Naked Lens: Beat Cinema, and Cinema ...
Read More »So Greasy it’s Smooth: Jim Hosking’s Absurdist Shock Comedy Horror, The Greasy Strangler
Big Ronnie is not the Greasy Strangler. Or so he says. Either way, someone is, and someone is a bullshit artist. Big Ronnie might be smooth, but his son Big Brayden suspects his father is the Greasy Strangler. Brayden loves ...
Read More »Dance of the Firebird: Freedom, Femininity, Power and Paganism in Miklós Jancsó’s Electra, My Love
Truth speaks, and law Accursed be every tyrant and blessed every man who resists tyranny. Blessed be every man whom a tyrant destroys. Its conclusion provides its testament to the firebird: Brighter than the sun, More lovely than a ...
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