Brazen, bouncy and hugely entertaining, this is part fairytale and part Punch and Judy origins story – and like many fairytales it has become sanitised in its journey to what we know as a Punch and Judy show today. Our modern Mr Punch, by now fading even as a children’s entertainment, is *only* a wife… Judy & Punch Read More
The Witches 4 stars
Its nearly three decades since this film came out. Watching it now – and yes I know that viewing old films through modern eyes can be as problematic as the “issues” that have, in the intervening years, become so glaringly obvious we can’t believe we missed them – it does seem to have it in… The Witches Read More
The Witches (kids’ review!) 5 stars
I don’t believe in witches and I don’t believe in ghosts. The Tooth Fairy is real though. People say she uses the children’s teeth to build a castle of teeth but I don’t think that. The witches in this film have horrible toes so they have to wear horrible shoes and they are bald with… The Witches (kids’ review!) Read More
Suspiria (2018) (London Film Festival) 3.5 stars
*** Read my review of the 1977 Suspiria *** Suspiria is a feminist film, if you use the 1970s definition that it’s a movement dedicated to the liberation of women – a dance academy, run entirely by women (the often ignored older women, to boot), with only female students, its roots going back to prehistory. Though… Suspiria (2018) (London Film Festival) Read More
Witch, The 4 stars
A missing baby, an evil woman lurking in the woods… as a straight-up horror film about witchcraft The Witch is frighteningly effective; though it’s also about the descent into psychological warfare within a previously loving family. Even with its living breathing monsters, it can still be interpreted as solely an allegory birthed from over-fertile imaginations; though whichever view… Witch, The Read More