28 Weeks Later (UK-Spain, 2007)

This is a genre film teeming with good ideas: it picks up on the theme of a rampaging virus from the original film (now very close to home – er, the whole world – with swine flu) and adds American military and its occupation of a foreign country. Of course, from a UK perspective, that [...]

Quatermass and the Pit (UK, 1967)

The image above might suggest a rather tacky, low budget SF-horror movie but this is a terrific example of Hammer horror. It’s not the Gothic remakes, featuring Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster, but Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass, a character who first (and last in 2005) appeared on TV. Whilst some of the characterisation, the paternal academics, has [...]

Eden Lake (UK, 2008)

Thrillers are meant to take us to places we don’t want to go in real life; horror movies should take us even further. So the best horror movies are ones that are showing us things we don’t want to see: this can be through ‘gross out’ or through the narrative. Eden Lake does both and [...]

Let the Right One In (Låt den rätte komma in, Sweden, 2008)

It’s a while since an ‘arthouse’ film has received such universal praise (covers on Electric Sheep and Little White Lies) and it’s a relief that it lives up to its reputation. The imdb rating also indicates high audience satisfaction so it is a film that, simply, must be seen. It is a vampire movie, without [...]

Donkey Punch (UK, 2008)

It’s good to see British genre movies competing with Hollywood; unfortunately they need to be better than this; imdb.com notes the film took £22 one weekend. What’s wrong with it? I’m not best placed to answer as it’s aimed at a younger demographic however I think, though it sets up the situation well, the denoument [...]

The Mist (US, 2007)

Coincidentally watching this the day after Blindness it was interesting to compare the different approaches to the disaster movie. Based on a Stephen King novella, and produced by Disney company Dimension, you’d expect this to be far more conventionally generic; which, for the most part, it is.
The film, and maybe the source material, is heavily [...]

The Orphanage (El Orfanato, Spain, 2007)

Boy or ghost?
WARNING: THIS IS FULL OF SPOILERS. This movie pinned me back in my seat in the cinema but, as it’s an example of the ‘fantastic’ – where everything might simply be a figment of the protagonist’s imagination – I wondered whether it would work on a second viewing: it does. The opening half [...]

Cloverfield (US, 2008)

American liberty has lost its head.

It’s taken 10 years for Blair Witch (1999) to get a proper sequel. Whilst Cloverfield is not as effective as its predecessor, it is a fascinating take on a (western) world at war on terror. It’s not just the camcorder aesthetic that is so effective, much of what is happening [...]

My Little Eye (UK, 2002)

Pretty good but I don’t think it delivered what it might’ve. The ’slasher’ ending didn’t convince but there are some effective scenes and nice questioning as to why people are interesting in reality TV (the sex?). (DVD, 2)
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Seed of Chucky (US, 2004)

Great first 20 mins but the joke does wear thin. (OAR) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387575/