Rebel Ridge ★★★ ACTION thriller Rebel Ridge is a bit of a departure for writer/director Jeremy Saulnier. The best known of his previous four films, 2013’s Blue Ruin and Green Room (2015), are hard-edged in look and execution and feature sudden scenes of strong violence. Rebel Ridge is a slightly […]

Saulnier tones down the violence

AfrAId ★★½ BE prepared for a growing number of horror films using the premise of a threat from Artificial Intelligence. The sequel to M3GAN is on the way and another entry, Subservience, is also out now, along with AfrAId from Blumhouse. Korean actor John Cho continues his interest in horror […]

Not much to be AfrAID of

Joika  ★★★ A KIWI making a Polish film about an American dancer in Russia. Sounds like a possible recipe for disaster but writer/director James Napier Robertson manages to give us a throughly interesting and entertaining film. It helps of course that Joika is based on the actual experience of ballerina Joy […]

Ballet drama mostly en pointe

The Yakuza ★★★ ROBERT Mitchum was one of Hollywood’s original hard men. Two stints in prison adds to that kind of reputation. Despite sometimes looking like he didn’t give a damn about his chosen profession, the laconic Mitchum was a star for 30-odd years. His under-stated but enigmatic acting style […]

Laconic Mitchum one of Hollywood’s hard men

Alien: Romulus ★★★ BEING handed the keys to the Alien franchise is a big deal. You will be working in the shadows of Ridley Scott, James Cameron and David Fincher so you better bring your A Game. Young Uraguayan writer/director Fede Alvarez knew his limitations when he started creating Alien: […]

Fede revels in Alien assignment

A Different Man ★★★½ AARON Schimberg’s A Different Man may not be the best film of 2024, but it is certainly one of the most interesting. Shot over just a few weeks in New York, it’s the sort of experimental film that you might have seen during the rich movie […]

A different type of film

In a Violent Nature ★★★ FULL marks to Canadian writer/director Chris Nash for trying something a little different with his slasher horror film In a Violent Nature. Nash presents most of the events through the perspective of the lumbering, mute killer, as opposed to the traditional eyes of the victims. We […]

Horror in a violent nature

The Exorcism ★★½ WHAT is Russell Crowe doing? He seems happy to take roles that don’t require too much effort. Recently his output has been decidedly B-grade fare, but he is always a strong presence and sometimes still the best aspect of the film. Maybe that’s his strategy – to […]

What possessed Crowe?

Longlegs ★★★★ TALK about weight of expectation. Your father created one of the greatest horror villains of all time and you decide to write and direct horror films. Osgood Perkins’ dad Anthony played Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic Psycho, creating the template for hundreds of disturbed cinematic murderers. […]

Longlegs one of 2024’s best horror entries

Friday the 13th Part III ★★★ THE Friday the 13th franchise was starting to gather some steam in 1982. For the second sequel, Friday the 13th Part III, the studio decided to give it the 3D treatment. This gimmick has mostly worked quite well for horror films due to the […]

Jason gets 3D treatment

Strange Darling ★★★ THERE aren’t many movies shot on 35mm film in these digital days. It’s worth seeing the American thriller Strange Darling for that alone, but let’s add the fact that the cinematographer is actor Giovanni Ribisi. This is an unusual route for an actor and, from my untrained […]

Strange Darling has look of early Coen films

Blink Twice ★★½ THE debut directorial effort from American actress Zoë Kravitz has attracted a lot of critical praise. Which is odd because Blink Twice gets more and more ludicrous in its execution as the film progresses. It’s a psychological thriller that starts with a lot of promise but is […]

Blink Twice and you won’t miss it