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 »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 »The Killing of America (1981) (US Blu-Ray review)
Early in its runtime The Killing of America shows a man with a pickaxe embedded in his face. Surprisingly, this gore is only for fun, part of a Halloween costume seen on 42nd Street. The camera pays special attention to ...
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 »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 ...
Read More »Still Waters Run Deep: Poetry, Sadness and Death in Hideo Nakata’s Dark Water
Potent and packed with emotional resonance, Hideo Nakata’s Dark Water (2002) is a film that remains just as compelling today as when it was first released, fourteen years ago. It is difficult to believe that if you take things back ...
Read More »Darwinism & Extraterrestrial Blood Thieves: Mardi Rustam’s Evils of the Night
There’s a certain cache, a type of thrill if you will, when you’re a monster kid edging firmly into your awkward teen years. Running on the rocket fuel of exhiliratingly frightening hormones, you still have held on to your love ...
Read More »Slugs (Blu-ray Review)
You have to hand it to Juan Piquer Simon, he certainly didn’t mess around when it came to his subject matter. If he was going to make a slasher, it was going to be one of the goriest and outrageous ...
Read More »Deathwheelers, Just Riding Free: On Don Sharp’s Psychomania.
There’s nothing, in my mind, that beats a good old biker flick for that special kind of wild ride. The possibilities for madness and mayhem seem endless.The Modern day counter-culture equivalent of the viking: raping, plundering and pillaging their way ...
Read More »Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (German Blu-Ray Review)
Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1973) has already seen two superlative blu-ray releases—one in Australia and one in England from Icon Home Entertainment, (with the UK release being the more comprehensive of the two, in terms of extra features). Now, ...
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