In Review

In Review: Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan on Blu-ray

by Kezia Tooby 16 April 2013

For anyone into stop-motion animation or special effects design, the name Ray Harryhausen will be an extremely familiar one. Even those with passing interest in film will more than likely have come across the name, whether in relation to his early work with pioneering Willis O’Brien on Mighty Joe Young (1949) or the terrifying skeleton [...]

Read the full article →

In Review: Love Is All You Need

by Martyn Conterio 15 April 2013

Middle-aged relationship woes and romance are themes barely touched by film-makers and writers. Oscar-winner Susanne Bier tackles the subject matter head-on in a sunny bilingual comedy starring Pierce Brosnan.

Read the full article →

In Review: Evil Dead II on Blu-ray

by Simon Williams 15 April 2013

Watching Sam Raimi’s sequel to his 1981 horror movie The Evil Dead, you can’t help but think this was the film he wanted to make the first time around. While the original is certainly creative (it had to be, given the shoestring budget), Evil Dead II does the same thing with a bigger budget, slicker [...]

Read the full article →

In Review: Oblivion

by Maryann O'Connor 12 April 2013

Based on the first ten minutes of Oblivion, you might think you were in for a two hour long combination of Wall-E and Top Gun. Jack (Tom Cruise) has a penchant for puny plants in makeshift containers and doesn’t want to leave Earth even though it is now a mostly barren wasteland with a shattered [...]

Read the full article →

In Review: Evil Dead (2013)

by Mark Searby 11 April 2013

This hugely anticipated remake of 1981 cult-horror film The Evil Dead sees five twenty-something friends (Jane Levy, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, Jessica Lucas and Elizabeth Blackmore) decide to vacation at a remote cabin. But when they discover a Book Of The Dead, they unwittingly summon up demons living in the surrounding woods.

Read the full article →

In Review: The ABCs of Death

by Matthew Hammond 10 April 2013

It might be argued the power of horror cinema has waned since the glorious heyday of the 1970s and 80s. However, occasionally, a film arrives that captures and embraces the spirit of retro exploitation cinema while also being modern and dynamic. The ABCs of Death is such a work and the sheer level of freedom [...]

Read the full article →

In Review: Simon Killer

by Alex Beattie 9 April 2013

Antonio Campos’ directorial follow up to his critically lauded picture Afterschool delves deep inside the mind of the sociopathic Simon (a haunting Brady Corbet), cast adrift in Paris, ostensibly to get over the breakup of a long term relationship.

Read the full article →

In Review: Billy Liar on DVD

by Neil Mitchell 8 April 2013

John Schlesinger’s adaptation of Keith Waterhouse’s 1959 novel Billy Liar celebrates its fiftieth birthday this year, commemorated by a 50 th anniversary Blu-ray/DVD release by StudioCanal.

Read the full article →

In Review: The Place Beyond the Pines

by Vicki Cole 5 April 2013

‘The Place Beyond the Pines’ is an exploration of the relationships between fathers and sons, both absent and present, and the legacy of past mistakes on future generations. When motorcycle rider Luke (Ryan Gosling) is thrust into the world of fatherhood, he resorts to extreme measures to support his new family, causing his path to [...]

Read the full article →

Films That Time Forgot: Hard Rain (1998)

by Helen Cox 4 April 2013

Multiply a heist film by a disaster flick, divide by Christian Slater (and Morgan Freeman in brackets) and what’s your answer? Hard Rain. When this formula was floated around the office, studio execs would be forgiven for assuming that it would all add up to pots of cash. For reasons that are not entirely clear, [...]

Read the full article →

In Review: Spring Breakers

by Martyn Conterio 4 April 2013

Harmony Korine’s latest feature is a hymn to hedonism and the joys of doing nothing much at all except getting hammered and hanging with friends. It fits neatly into his oeuvre.

Read the full article →