Childhood memories always seem uniquely potent. Inhabiting a dim space in the distant past, they appear irrevocably estranged from the conscious mind. At the same time, however, when evoked — by the smell of freshly-cut grass, the taste of a ...

*In memory of French film actress Edith Scob Although often referred to as a dark, gothic fairy tale, Georges Franju’s 1960 film Eyes Without a Face (Les Yeux Sans Visage) is perhaps more aptly described as a frozen, static fairy ...

The Last Unicorn (1982) is a strange, melancholic and deeply unsettling film. Despite its often-vivid colour palate, bold lines and frames busy with marvellous detail, it is at its heart a story of loss and disillusionment. Based on a 1968 ...

Over the last few months multiplatform distributor 88 Films has added two memorable, and potentially controversial, horror sequels to its expanding range of new releases. The first of these, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh was Bill Condon’s divisive follow-up to ...

Witchcraft is an amorphous category, and the witch, as a figure, contains infinite possibilities. In many ways, her greatest power is the power of transformation. She is certainly prone to literal metamorphosises: she may turn herself into a cat, a ...

February is drawing to a close. The calendar is racing towards spring and the days are growing milder. In a hail of red crepe paper and discarded heart-shaped trinkets, we have left Valentine’s Day behind. Chocolates have been eaten, hearts ...

Modern audiences tend to associate extreme, spectacular, and sadistic violence with contemporary cinematic phenomena such as “torture porn” and the infamous “video nasties” of the 1980s. For many of us, the uncomfortable visual spectacle of watching bodies rent asunder and ...

Ira Levin might just be one of the most quietly influential figures in the history of horror and science fiction. Mention of his name often leaves people blank, grasping for some connection, trying to place the vague sense of familiarity ...

The Clown Murders is a title that excites the senses and promises a carnivalesque display of technicolour gore. A Canadian production filmed in 1976 and directed by Martyn Burke, the film seems as though it should be a product of ...

As a little girl, an older and wiser neighbour – a worldly preteen to my naïveprimary-school child – promised me that at night, once I had fallen asleep, my toys would come to life and have secret, thrilling adventures in ...