This is an electrifying and unforgettable film, a psychological thriller that morphs seamlessly into gut-wrenching horror. Its physical monster shocks and inescapable mind terrors equally frightening and equally believable – as college student Luke is haunted by his childhood imaginary friend Daniel, now fully grown and keen to play. Daniel (an excellent Patrick Schwarzenegger) is… Daniel Isn’t Real Read More
Stardog & Turbocat 3 stars
This movie certainly understands cats and dogs, made up as it is of frenetic activity interspersed with longer periods when not much happens. Then the last 25 minutes really crank up the excitement, like that half hour starting at 6pm when cats go nuts and start running round the living room chasing their tails. Still,… Stardog & Turbocat Read More
Invasion Planet Earth 2 stars
It never rains but it pours as we like to say in weather-obsessed Britain, and that’s certainly true of Invasion Planet Earth. Not literally. This isn’t Geostorm. But our planet, already on the brink of a world war, is faced with an alien invasion. Simon Cox’s feature (he directed, produced and co-wrote the screenplay) has been… Invasion Planet Earth Read More
Vivarium (London Film Festival 2019) 4 stars
A young couple looking for the perfect home find themselves trapped in a mysterious labyrinth-like neighborhood of identical houses. *** Read my interview with Vivarium director Lorcan Finnegan *** Everyone has their own line in the sand which they will not cross when it comes to settling down. Mine is those massive white canvasses with… Vivarium (London Film Festival 2019) Read More
Mickey And The Bear 4 stars
Hank, a veteran of the Iraq War, now spend his days looking for ways to dull the pain of PTSD and his painkiller addiction. His daughter Mickey, nearly 18, looks after him, their parent-child relationship turned on its head in too many ways. A coming-of-age drama about trying to escape when others are trying to… Mickey And The Bear Read More
Tales From The Lodge 3 stars
Arranging reunion weekends with ex-university housemates is a bit like trying to get tickets to Hamilton. At 30, you fall at the first organising hurdle when it turns out no one’s free on the same weekend for the next two years. By 40, you arrange it anyway because you know those two years will go… Tales From The Lodge Read More
Curse Of Buckout Road 3 stars
America’s long roads seem to have more spooks than GCHQ, every journey down them offering a potential encounter with a ghoul, zombie, werewolf or reanimated, stinky pet cat. Buckout Road, in Westchester County in New York State, is the latest to make you wish you’d stayed at home with a good horror film (perhaps this… Curse Of Buckout Road Read More
Trick Or Treat 3 stars
I loved the characters in Halloween crime thriller Trick Or Treat, particularly new dad and ex-criminal Greg – who moans so much about the dullness of life with a wife and new baby he doesn’t even let up while driving round with brutal henchman Clarence in a quest to find his ne’er-do-well brother Dan, and… Trick Or Treat Read More
INTERVIEW: “Harpoon” director Rob Grant on his bloody brilliant lost-at-sea horror comedy
Writer-director Rob Grant’s viciously funny horror comedy Harpoon, about three “friends” marooned on a drifting yacht with no food or water, explores the toxic relationships between the wealthy Richie, his girlfriend Sasha, and their friend Jonah. With a dispassionate narrator to push the story forward, the film’s characters are both relatable and authors of their own… INTERVIEW: “Harpoon” director Rob Grant on his bloody brilliant lost-at-sea horror comedy Read More
Peanut Butter Falcon (London Film Festival 2019) 5 stars
Zak runs away from his care home to make his dream of becoming a wrestler come true. The Peanut Butter Falcon infuses its message of autonomy and risk-taking with a sense of magic – as Zak, a young man with Down Syndrome, escapes his dreary, constricting care home for freedom and adventure. As Zak (Zack Gottsagen)… Peanut Butter Falcon (London Film Festival 2019) Read More
Director Mark Jenkin on Bait, his black and white Cornish classic-in-the-making
“There are shots in the film that I know were taken from rolls of film that I must have been processing when I was wearing a woolly jumper, because I can see the little bits of fibres.” Mark Jenkin on his film-making process. Bait, Jenkin’s beautiful and jolting film, looks at the gentrification of a… Director Mark Jenkin on Bait, his black and white Cornish classic-in-the-making Read More
Bait 4.5 stars
Martin is a fisherman without a boat, his brother Steven having re-purposed it as a tourist tripper. With their childhood home now a get-away for London money, Martin is displaced to the estate above the harbour. Despite its tough subject matter, there’s a magic saturating writer-director Mark Jenkin’s film, shot on a vintage 16mm camera… Bait Read More
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