Ghostwatch ★★★ FOUND footage is now a major sub-genre of horror cinema. If you think the origin is 1999’s The Blair Witch Project you’re nearly 20 years out. That honour belongs to the infamous and frequently banned Italian film Cannibal Holocaust released in 1980. What we don’t see as much are […]

Fake doco a found footage milestone

The Hitcher ★★★★ EVEN though he has had a prolific career in Hollywood for several decades, Dutch actor Rutger Hauer has never been able to fully replicate the enormous impact he made in 1982’s Blade Runner. He has appeared in a lot of semi-successful films, but one of the best […]

The Hitcher a stripped-back, nihilistic affair

Mute Witness ★★½ LOW-BUDGET British thriller Mute Witness is a surprisingly decent effort. Directed by Anthony Waller and released in 1995 it draws comparisons to better-known works by the likes of Brian de Palma, such as Dressed to Kill and Body Double. American special effects and makeup artist Billy Hughes […]

Mute Witness worth talking about

Last Night of Amore ★★★½ THERE are two main reasons to watch Italian crime thriller Last Night of Amore. Firstly, the lead role is played by the always interesting Pierfrancesco Favino and, secondly, it’s the third film from actor turned writer/director Andrea Di Stefano. Favino, the star of many a […]

Amore’s last night one to remember

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga ★★★★ THE latest and fifth entry in the Mad Max franchise, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, gives audiences one hell of a ride. Like its immediate predecessor, 2015’s Fury Road, it revels in incredible, fast-paced action set within a strangely realistic dystopian wasteland. This bleak […]

Strap yourself in for new Mad Max epic

The Wages of Fear (1953) ★★★★ Sorcerer (1977) ★★★★ The Wages of Fear (2024) ★★½ FOUR men transport nitroglycerine in trucks across treacherous roads. It’s a simple but brilliant premise devised by French author Georges Arnaud in his novel The Wages of Fear published in 1950. The premise has been depicted […]

The Wages of Fear – versions x 3

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ★★½ THE latest film in Universal’s so-called ‘MonsterVerse’ franchise is pretty standard fare. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is actually the 38th film to feature Godzilla and the 13th featuring King Kong. What all that means is that director Adam Wingard has his work […]

Little new in Godzilla x Kong

Love Lies Bleeding ★★★★ IT’s two from two for English writer/director Rose Glass. Her extremely well received debut film in 2019 was the psychological horror film Saint Maud. She has followed up five years later with an event better effort in the noir romantic thriller Love Lies Bleeding. This is […]

Love Lies Bleeding worth the wait

Wicked Little Letters ★★★ OLIVIA Colman and Jessie Buckley have great fun trading barbs in the British black comedy Wicked Little Letters. Jonny Sweet’s screenplay is based on little-known true events that occurred in a small seaside town in 1920s England. Unmarried Edith Swan (Colman), who lives with her devout Christian […]

Leads enjoy their Wicked Little Letters

The Fall Guy ★★★½ STUNTMAN turned director David Leitch follows up 2022’s Bullet Train with the even more entertaining The Fall Guy. Loosely based on an adventure TV series from the 1980s, the film features two charismatic performances from Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. The action sequences come thick and fast […]

Chemistry adds to Fall Guy action

Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey II ★★½ A YEAR ago I gave English slasher film Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey a one-and-a-half star review and labelled it one of the worst films of 2023. For two reasons that film made money  – it cost little too make and had a novelty value. […]

Owl and Tigger join the fun

Saint Maud ★★★½ ONE of the best horror film directing debuts of recent years is 2019’s Saint Maud. If you like your horror disturbing and psychological then Rose Glass’s first film is made for you. A nurse named Katie fails to save the life of a patient in her care. Racked […]

Saint Maud is heaven sent