Review “You’re Next” (2011)

I want to start this review by saying I do not like slasher films. On the whole I find them pointless – usually involving mysterious guys in masks stomping around chopping people up in gory ways just because. That makes no sense to me. “You’re Next” was recommended to me as being not that kind…

Review “The Night of the Hunter” (1955)

“Night of the Hunter” is the only film legendary actor Charles Laughton ever directed. Unfortunately, it was a flop on release, and he never directed again. This is a shame, as this was a great film, if not without its flaws. Robert Mitchum plays Harry Powell, a self-styled reverend who cons and kills widows in…

Review “Images” (1972)

“Images” is a horror movie directed by Robert Altman and starring Susannah York. Horror is not a genre usually associated with Altman, but his foray into this field is effective. A children’s author, Cathryn, is experiencing hallucinations and delusions. Her husband (Rene Auberjonois) takes her away to a cottage in the country, which is where…

Better than you think – the films of Val Lewton

We’ve all heard of the so-called B movie, the low budget films, churned out at speed by studios, usually with pretty terrible plots and casts. Often that is quite true. Sometimes, however, these second-class films can produce something impressive, such as a selection of movies produced in the forties for RKO studios by Val Lewton.…

Favourite Science Fiction Films

There are a lot of debates about the definition of science fiction. There are many different opinions on good and bad movies, and a million ‘best of’ list articles on the internet. I won’t presume to call this a list of best films. This will be a list of science fiction films I have seen…

The Magic of Ray Harryhausen

When I was a kid I loved fairy-tales, fantasy, myths and legends. Movies that told fantastical adventures were watched and re-watched, and I was especially enthralled with the monsters and other fantastical creatures that appeared. I loved any stories which included magic and fantasy. A lot of these old movies would be shown on tv…

Review “Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte” (1964).

“Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte” is a psychological thriller surrounding a murder that happened many years before. It is directed by Robert Aldrich, and stars Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, and Joseph Cotten. The murder, in the end, becomes a side issue to the events of the film. The story starts in the 20s, at the…

Review “Get Out” (2017)

“Get Out” is a strongly satirical horror film about an African-American man who visits his white girlfriend’s parents for the weekend. She insists they are not racist, but he very quickly is met with firstly subtle racism of the try-hard type (‘I voted for Obama’) and then increasingly more overt racism. Added to this there…

Review “The 27th Day” (1957)

“The 27th Day” is a science fiction movie set during the Cold War. An alien visits Earth and abducts five people (temporarily) to his spaceship. He tells them he has chosen them as a representative sample of the various people of Earth and gives them each a small container which has capsules that can kill…

Review “The Skull” (1965)

Peter Cushing stars in this story concerning the ownership of the skull of the Marquis de Sade, and what happens to those who own it. There is a varied supporting cast, led by Christopher Lee and including Patrick Magee, Patrick Wymark, Michael Gough, and Frank Forsyth. After a prelude where a man digs up the…