Deep Water ★★★  THE 1980s and ‘90s were full of so-called erotic thrillers or dramas…films like Basic Instinct, Body Double, Jade and Colour of Night. English director Adrian Lyne made a bunch of others, including Nine ½ Weeks, Indecent Proposal and a remake of Lolita. Two decades after his last […]

Couple in deep water

X  ★★★★ TI WEST roars back into horror with X, one of the best entries for the genre so far in 2022. The young American director made a half-dozen horror films between 2005 and 2013, including the very well regarded House of the Devil and The Innkeepers, and was being […]

X marks a great spot

Hellbender  ★★½ A COUPLE of years ago a low budget film called The Deeper You Dig attracted attention. Despite being made on a micro-budget, by many accounts it transcended these limitations to result in a decent horror film. But more interesting was the fact it was wholly made by a […]

All in the Adams family

Bunny the Killer Thing  ★½ RIGHT now I’m struggling to think of what to write about Bunny the Killer Thing. If the urge hits you to watch a horror film made in Finland, make sure it’s Rare Exports from 2010 as opposed to this 2015 slasher/comedy. It’s the first film […]

Boil this bunny

The Unforgivable  ★★★ SANDRA Bullock is a favourite of mine. She always has a red-hot go at tackling any role and in interviews seems less of a jerk than many of her Hollywood colleagues. From reluctant action star in Speed to the dramas of 28 Days, Crash and The Blind […]

Bullock flexes talents

Don’t Look Up  ★★★½ WITH his last few films and the television series Succession, American writer/director Adam McKay has re-invented himself. He came out of Saturday Night Live to make mainstream comedies like Anchorman and Step Brothers but 2015’s The Big Short proved he could successfully combine comedy, drama and […]

McKay takes aim at naysayers

Studio 666 ★★½ IF YOU love the Foo Fighters but don’t like horror films, Studio 666 will present a dilemma. The American band and their charismatic front-man Dave Grohl aren’t just bit players in this comedy horror; they play themselves and feature throughout. In fact Grohl not only plays the […]

Dave Grohl has some fun

The Killing of Two Lovers  ★★★½ KEEP an eye out for Robert Machoian. He’s an American independent film-maker who has written directed, produced and edited three features to date, all of which have been well-reviewed but little-seen. The exception is his third film, 2021’s The Killing of Two Lovers, which […]

Independent voice making a mark

Kimi  ★★★ AMERICAN director Steven Soderbergh is one of the most consistent film-makers of the past few decades. In fact you could argue that he has never made a bad film, starting with his 1989 debut, Sex, Lies and Videotape, and has had success in almost every genre and across […]

Soderbergh stays true to form

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)  ★★½ THE latest instalment in the loose Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise offers a mixed result. On the one hand it has some excellent gore that will satisfy plenty of horror fans and a few decent jump scares. There are two standout sequences – in a police […]

Hooper’s legacy is safe

The Batman  ★★★★ THE Batman takes the caped crusader on his darkest cinematic outing to date. Director Matt Reeves gives us more crime and corruption thriller than comic book action for most of the almost three-hour running time. Robert Pattison’s Batman is a tortured, gothic soul, Paul Dano’s Riddler is […]

The darkest knight

Cyrano  ★★★½ THE latest screen version of Cyrano de Bergerac really crept up on me. It wasn’t on my radar and I didn’t realise this new version was based on a musical until just before it started. But English director Joe Wright’s Cyrano is a pleasant surprise and a thoroughly […]

Dinklage shines as Cyrano