Reviews

A strict catholic upbringing leaves shy Thelma (Eli Harboe) feeling like an outsider as she embarks on her University education in Joachim Trier’s sensitively handled supernatural Nordic chiller. Trier stamps his own nuanced spin on female coming-of-age horror by introducing a refreshing and richly drawn gay character struggling with her sexuality that strikes a similar
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Rafe Spall turns in an emotionally engaging performance in this loose adaptation of Adam Nevill’s horror novel directed by David Bruckner and written by Joe Barton. Spall really makes you feel his character, Luke’s pain, fear and grief during and after he witnesses the brutal murder of a close friend at an off-licence. The swift
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Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan saw Natalie Portman’s character struggle to maintain her identity and sanity in her own manic pursuit of perfection. Similar concepts rear their head in mother! too; only it examines control being taken rather than being lost, creating something much more harrowing. Charismatic duo Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem offer up powerhouse
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While there was a conspicuous dearth of female filmmakers represented in FrightFest’s feature programme (of the 65 films that screened, only Natasha Kermani’s Imitation Girl, Tini Tüllmann’s Freddy/Eddy and Caroline Labrèche and Steeve Léonard’s Radius could boast female directors), the short films showcase went a considerable way to redressing this imbalance. Programmed by Shelagh Rowan-Legg, it
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Tightrope walker Hoshiko is a star. Graceful and beautiful, she’s the main attraction of the glittering Cirque, her daring antics captivating audiences everywhere. She’s also a prisoner, forced to perform to a crowd that wants nothing more than to see her fall to her death. In Hayley Barker’s dystopian YA novel, Britain has torn itself
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Basket Case and Frankenhooker filmmaker and schlock cinema legend Frank Henenlotter’s controversial, deeply icky Brain Damage is presented in beautiful 1080p so we can all enjoy this giddy VHS cult favourite in striking high definition. For the uninitiated, Brain Damage fits very neatly into the Henenlotter back catalogue with a sweaty young man trying desperately
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Some 75 years after her creation, after god knows how many Batman and Superman big screen adventures, Wonder Woman finally gets her solo silver screen debut. To say that the film has to carry the weight of expectation is somewhat of an understatement. This film is all expectation. We’re expecting to be stunned into silence
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Unless you have been living in Outer Mongolia, no doubt you will have heard talk of a popular little animated movie called Frozen. Cleverly jumping on the bandwagon, Elly Blake has a ready-made audience for her new, YA series, Frostblood. Ramping up the raunch factor and adding some gladiator action, it is time for Frozen
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If horror movies are anything to go by, you had to be really careful about booking a place to stay back in 1960. This proto-Amicus spookfest, released in the same year as Psycho, features a hotel no less deadly than Bates Motel: the Raven’s Inn, in Whitewood, Massachusetts. Built on the very spot where, some
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A house swap goes horribly wrong in this latest chiller from SL Grey (aka excellent South African authors Sarah Lotz and Louis Greenberg). Having explored shopping malls and underground bunkers, the duo are back with a tale of grief, insanity and the dangers of taking a chance on unrated Air BNB users. Literature professor Mark
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