Film posts
I've posted reviews of films off and on for years, but it only became regular when I attempted the 2020 #31DaysofHorror film challenge. I discovered I loved having a structure around watching films, and making myself write a few paragraphs embedded the film a little more in my brain. That led to watching the films of David Lynch in chronological order in 2021, and then Dario Argento in 2024.
I find it hard to choose what to watch these days because almost everything is available at any point in time. A film challenge is a form of curation. It helps me start and provides guide ropes as I go. I still like to post a review when I fancy though.
June 19 2024, 06:15
Four Flies on Grey Velvet
Roberto, an American drummer in a band recording in Milan, chases a man who has been following him and accidentally kills him. A masked figure takes photographs and begins to torment Roberto, but what is their motive?
June 16 2024, 10:34
The Cat O’ Nine Tails
A blind ex-journalist overhears a conversation about blackmail outside his apartment. A newspaper reporter investigates a burglary in a nearby laboratory. As people at the lab start to die, the two men join forces to uncover the story.
June 08 2024, 13:10
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
In Panico, Dario Argento describes himself as being of two halves — the contented person at home, and the person who is compelled to investigate the darkness inside himself through making films.
April 13 2024, 10:29
Ligeia
Ligeia, by Edgar Allan Poe, is a six-thousand-word hallucinatory tale about an intense marriage that survives beyond death. The narrator is looking back, remembering his wife, Ligeia, who he idolised.
October 31 2023, 19:21
Halloween (1978)
It has a purity that other slashers don’t have — the crisp cinematography, Laurie’s naive, nerdy charm, the simple (perfect) motif of the score. I can’t fully explain it.
October 30 2023, 05:40
Enemy (2013)
My favourite discovery of the month. Barely ninety minutes, looks beautiful, has a startling final image, and I’m still thinking about it a day later.
October 29 2023, 05:36
Cloverfield (2008)
Feeling insignificant in the face of a fictional disaster, whether natural or alien, has its psychological comforts. Sometimes you just want something big to fuck shit up.
October 28 2023, 06:53
You're Next (2011)
It’s bleak fun with some good twists. Everyone apart from Erin, our survivalist heroine, is awful. Is this where the current trend of violent final girls began?
October 27 2023, 06:10
Duel (1971)
I watched Duel dozens of time on television as a kid, as well as it’s rip-off cousin The Car, so it was a treat to revisit it. I didn’t remember the crisis of masculinity.
October 26 2023, 06:10
Return of the Living Dead (1985)
The gang of punks hanging out in the graveyard are everything I wish I’d been as a teen — vibrant, trashy, horny, loud, and sometimes naked in public.
October 25 2023, 06:02
Evil Dead 2 (1987)
A man who wanted to have a romantic weekend in the woods with his girlfriend is instead made to fight for his life against demon-possessed corpses.
October 24 2023, 05:57
Invaders From Mars (1986)
A pastiche of black and white science-fiction films, but subverting them by having the aliens turn people into conformist fifties stereotypes instead of communists.
October 23 2023, 08:00
Lifeforce (1985)
Naked space vampires hidden in Halley‘s Comet, you say? I’m in! Plays on a much bigger canvas than I expected and owes a debt to Quatermass.
October 22 2023, 05:59
Infinity Pool (2023)
A man pays dearly to escape his writer’s block when he accepts the malign attention of a woman who wants to test him to destruction.
October 21 2023, 05:55
Crimes of the Future (2023)
Graphic body mutilation, big ideas and knowing performances that lead to some surreal laugh-out-loud moments. A raised eyebrow at all that he has made before.
October 20 2023, 06:09
Messiah of Evil (1973)
People bleed from the eyes. An artist’s studio is painted with staring faces. The citizens of Point Dune dress respectably but do terrible things. The four protagonists share a bed. (Groovy.)
October 19 2023, 05:58
Don’t Look Now (1973)
A masterpiece — ghost story, sort of, psychological thriller and family drama, certainly — a magical exploration of a marriage under the strain of a tragic loss.
October 18 2023, 06:02
The Lair of the White Worm (1988)
Camp horror fun with a nasty edge. Ken Russell was a genius. I taped this off the TV back in the day and watched certain bits over and over... naked nuns and Amanda Donohoe.
October 17 2023, 06:01
Slugs (1988)
It’s silly — it’s called Slugs! — but as lots of these cheap 70s and 80s horrors were, it’s creative, fun and weirdly sexy.
October 16 2023, 06:29
Death Ship (1980)
Keeps a steady pace as a ghost story, making the most of the spectacular empty ship as a location. The final act really dials up the horror. Also - KINDERTRAUMA!
October 15 2023, 18:33
Scream VI (2023)
The surviving friends from Scream 5 go to college as a pack, and in New York the franchise finds some fresh energy.<< < Previous | Next > >>