Film Review: Pyewacket
Witchcraft and the occult have proved a powerful attraction to thousands of dissatisfied, lonely and disenfranchised teens for generations. Whilst Wiccans and practitioners of witchcraft have been stigmatised, demonised and persecuted for centuries. A Pyewacket is a witch’s familiar spirit. They’ve occasionally appeared in popular culture, most notably in Richard Quine’s 1958 film Bell, Book …
Film Review: Hondros
As Western consumers, our knowledge and understanding of far flung wars is driven by coverage from war correspondents. However, in a world riddled with conflict and overflowing with professional and amateur reportage, it’s often the images which stay with us the most. Chris Hombros was one of the most celebrated and highly-respected war photographers of …
Incoming: A Fantastic Woman
Marina Vidal is a young singer whose life is thrown into turmoil following the sudden death of her partner, Orlando. Met with suspicion from the police and contempt from her lover’s relatives, Marina finds herself placed under intense scrutiny, with no regard for her privacy, or her grief. As tensions rise between Marina and Orlando’s …
Film Review: The Valley
When different traditions and societies collide, it’s normally a recipe for tension and instability. It’s a familiar story for many immigrants. The first-generation struggle to forge a new life, bringing their own culture and customs with them. Their children grow up in completely different surroundings, faced with a new set of challenges and values; with …
Incoming: Game Night
Max and Annie’s weekly couples game night gets kicked up a notch when Max’s charismatic brother, Brooks (Chandler), arranges a murder mystery party, complete with fake thugs and faux federal agents. So when Brooks gets kidnapped, it’s all part of the game…right? But as the six uber-competitive gamers set out to solve the case and …
Film Review: Erase and Forget
I can’t think of any country in the world which has the same kind of fascination with the ‘all-action hero’ as the United States of America. Whilst Action Man may have started out as a toy, during the 1980s there was an obsession with one-man killing machines. Whilst Arnie, Chuck Norris and Bruce Willis may …
Incoming: Red Sparrow
Dominika Egorova (Jennifer Lawrence) is drafted against her will to become a “sparrow,” a trained seductress in the Russian security service. Dominika learns to use her body as a weapon, but struggles to maintain her sense of self during the dehumanizing training process. Finding her power in an unfair system, she emerges as one of …
Blu-Ray Review: Silence and Cry
The period following the turn of the century until the end of the Second World War was tumultuous throughout Europe. The end of World War I left a vacuum in much of Central and Eastern Europe. Into this space stumbled a plethora of competing ideologies and nationalism, widespread violence, poverty, disease and unemployment. Choosing sides …
Incoming: Finding Your Feet
When ‘Lady’ Sandra Abbott (Imelda Staunton) discovers that her husband of forty years is having an affair with her best friend, she seeks refuge with her estranged, bohemian, older sister Bif (Celia Imrie). Sandra couldn’t be more different to her outspoken, serial dating, free spirited sibling. But it turns out different is just what Sandra …
Blu-Ray Review: Jigsaw
The days of horror franchises (regardless if the films are any good or not) are back and the blame/credit should probably go to Saw. In 2004, director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell introduced the world to The Jigsaw Killer and his deadly torture challenges. Six sequels, of varying quality followed, but the release of …