Megalomaniac ★★★ THE Belgian film Megalomaniac is an unusual exercise in presenting a tale of real-life horror. During the 1990s a serial killer dubbed the Butcher of Mons was responsible for several murders, leaving the remains of his victims in plastic bags along roadsides. The film is set years later […]

Belgian horror a disturbing exercise

Baghead ★★½ MANY debut horror films are based on a short film previously made by the same writer/director. One of the latest in this vein is Alberto Corredor’s Baghead, a feature length expansion of his 2017 short film. The cast, which includes veterans Peter Mullan and Ned Dennehy, is fine […]

Baghead a little too empty

Bob Marley: One Love ★★★ BOB Marley probably deserves a little better in his memory than the American biopic Bob Marley: One Love delivers. The Jamaican wasn’t just a good singer and songwriter; he was an inspirational figure to a generation and beacon for societal change in his native Jamaica […]

Marley biopic lacks depth

Madame Webb ★★½ I’M going to say it…Madame Web isn’t that bad. Yes, if you’re an MCU enthusiast or comic book film fan, this movie will be pretty forgettable. It provides backstory for some B-list superheroes, whom nobody really cares about anyway, and doesn’t progress the overall franchise narrative one […]

Madame Webb isn’t awful

Sexy Beast ★★★★ DON Logan is one of the greatest villains in film history. As played by Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast, Logan is a force of nature at its most ferocious and chaotic. Even though you don’t see Logan carry out much violence, the constant threat is absolutely palpable. […]

Kingsley’s villain an agent of chaos

Dead Snow ★★★★ A MEDICAL student scared of the sight of blood is forced to defend himself with a chainsaw in a fight to the death against Nazi zombies. How good is the 2009 Norwegian horror comedy Dead Snow? Bloody good. This is one of my favourite horror films released […]

The best Nazi zombie film bar none

In the Land of Saints and Sinners  ★★★½ LIAM Neeson is a good actor, but he usually seems to be just coasting along.. For the best part of a decade now, when he should be picking and choosing some great roles, he’s happy to have the B-grade venegeful father/husband character […]

Neeson back in a decent saddle

Flesh + Blood ★★★ BAT SHIT crazy is one way to describe Paul Verhoeven’s 1985 adventure film Flesh + Blood. I’m not sure what the Dutch enfant terrible of international cinema had in mind, but it’s a bizarrely messy and violent medieval tale set in 1501 that includes Australia’s Jack […]

Early look into Verhoeven madness

The Zone of Interest ★★★★½ WHAT a year it’s been for Sandra Huller, giving terrific performances in two of the best films of 2023. The German actress played the lead role in Anatomy of a Fall and one of the two main characters in Jonathan Glazer’s brilliant The Zone of […]

Unique take on the banality of evil

Argylle ★★½ IT HAD to happen eventually…British director Matthew Vaughan has made a bad film. Well, not necessarily a bad film, just nowhere near as good as the other seven he has made since debuting with Layer Cake in 2004. Vaughan is best known for his three Kingsman films which […]

Argylle is Vaughan’s first blemish

May/December ★★★½ ONE of the biggest omissions from the recent Academy Awards’ nominees was Todd Haynes’ May/December. At the least I would have placed it above both Barbie and Maestro and given nods to Natalie Portman and Charles Melton over Annette Benning in Nyad and Ryan Gosling in Barbie. Before […]

May/December has lingering impact

Manhunter ★★★★ ANTHONY Hopkins’ portrayal of Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs is one of the most chilling supporting performances ever in a horror film. Some critics would have you believe that Brian Cox’s portrayal of the same character three years earlier in Michael Mann’s Manhunter is better. They’re […]

Lector still shades Lektor