Category: Giallo/Thriller

Despite its catchy but rather juvenile name ‘Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker’ (aka Night Warning) is a film somewhat ahead of its time with its challenging of social stereotypes and its inversion of the ‘final girl’ role. Despite it being somewhat swept aside given the tidal wave of early 80s slasher movies, there is a complexity […]

‘8 Found Dead’ is an interesting title, filled with great performances and a duo of antagonists who steal every scene they’re in – oddly are the ones you’re left routing for. The film’s timeline is not linear, chronologically at least, but essentially the film focusses on a remote rental property in the desert. With one […]

‘Painkillers’ is an original and well-put-together horror-thriller which sees a surgeon by the name of John Clarke (Adam Huss) develop a condition, triggered by his own guilt over the loss of his son, for which the only treatment is the continual ingestion of human blood. With John being something of a honest gent – the […]

Writer/Director Kristian A. Söderström delivers as much a love letter to the VHS video nasty era as he does a cult film in its own right. As endearing as the film is, it’s a tough one to categorise as the film’s obsession with Giallo videos, including several well executed ‘homage’ scenes executed in that style, […]

Dan Pringle’s debut feature K-Shop sees a modern take on Sweeney Todd, whilst using a far too common sight in today’s society – Booze Britain. Salah (Ziad Abaza) is a student in the midst of his dissertation, his father a kebab shop owner fresh out of hospital dies after an altercation with some local drunks. […]

Balaban’s 1989 film ‘Parents’ is an overlooked but somewhat effective psychological horror. Promoted, initially, and more recently through its release via Lionsgate’s increasingly prominent ‘Vestron’ label as a black comedy, this film has a lot more to offer than perhaps that sub-genre would suggest. The plot introduces 10-year-old Michel as the film’s protagonist, an awkward […]

‘The Lifechanger’ is a stylish ‘body horror’ from director Justin McConnel which sees us follow the survival exploits of an organism who must switch bodies to continue its survival. Despite the opportunities for gross out carnage (often associated with similar genre films), the plot of ‘The Lifechanger’ is a rather restraint love story. Whilst the […]

Any one out there know the official length of time a film has to endure before it is considered ‘cult’? I got to say, Aaron K. Carter’s killer anthology is already there, right out the gate. An anthology of 3 shorter unconnected films bookended by a gangster themed subplot, ‘An Hour to Kill’ mixes Tarantino […]

When people talk of ‘Opera’ most regard it as Argento’s last true masterpiece. Whilst of course this is completely subjective (and let’s be honest most of his more recent movies have been slated upon their initial release, only to develop some niche fans upon further releases) what people correctly refer to is that ‘Opera’ is […]