The Invisible Man (1933, James Whale), based on a story by HG Wells, was one of the early horror films that helped establish Universal as the go-to studio for chilling fare. They were, at the time, locked in a battle ...
Read More »Female Prisoner Scorpion: The Complete Collection
For a variety of reasons, revenge films with female protagonists have long been a favorite subgenre of mine: titles ranging from arthouse fare like Clouzot’s Les diaboliques (1955) and Truffaut’s The Bride Wore Black (1968); more classic exploitation titles like ...
Read More »Vengeance is Mine (US Blu-ray review)
Japanese director Shohei Imamura has an interesting career trajectory. Beginning as an assistant to the, now, legendary director Yasujiro Ozu, Imamura soon grew tired of Ozu’s depiction of Japanese life. Despite the praise for Ozu’s authentic Japanese cinematic style, Imamura ...
Read More »The Hidden Fortress (US Blu-Ray Review)
In 1958, Akira Kurosawa needed a commercial hit. Four years had passed since his last success, Seven Samurai (1954), which was Toho’s most expensive and profitable production to date. Kurosawa’s subsequent three films—I Live in Fear (1955), Throne of Blood ...
Read More »Episode No. 23: Akira Kurosawa’s Throne of Blood (1957)
On this episode of the Diabolique Webcast, film professor David Kleiler and film critic Brett Michel join Steve to discuss Akira Kurosawa’s 1957 rethinking of Shakespeare’s Macbeth; Throne of Blood, which has recently been released on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
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