I've always been fascinated by the writing of, and indeed, the legend of playwright Joe Orton. It was so refreshing to discover someone who was, shock horror, a confident homosexual in the 60s rather than some simpering, guilt-ridden closet case. I remember when I arrived in London to study film, a friend told me about …
Continue reading Meathook Cinema Hall of Fame- Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
I was brought up in Yorkshire and still live here (I just got lucky, I guess...) but even I have a problem with the Barnsley accents in Ken Loach's masterpiece, Kes. Thank God for subtitles and online Yorkshire dialect translators. Billy Caspar is a 15-year-old youth who is due to leave school soon. He is …
Sam Bowden is a lawyer who finds that a criminal, Max Cady who he prosecuted resulting in him going to jail (he had attacked a young woman) has been released from prison. Cady starts a harassment campaign against Bowden and his family and is seemingly hellbent on making Sam suffer for his incarceration. I knew …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 12- Cape Fear (1962)
History is the ultimate judge of everything and film is no exception. One director whose work history has been very kind to is British director Pete Walker. Walker was actually the son of music hall star Syd Walker. His first job was as a comedian at a strip joint in Soho (!) He also made …
Even though her husband popped his clogs some ten years before, Mrs Taggart still makes an occasion of her wedding anniversary to him by making sure that her sons join her at the family home so they can celebrate together. The build up to the event sees her sons describing her as akin to a …
This early Fassbinder film concerns a group of dissatisfied and directionless young people who turn their attentions away from themselves and the relationships within their inner circle when a young Greek man arrives looking for work and lodging. Soon the group rumour mill goes into overdrive as they perceive the young man as an outsider …
A mother and daughter in law (named in the credits as 'older woman' and 'younger woman' respectively) are waiting for their son/husband to return from the war he's fighting in. A soldier named Hachi who fought alongside him comes back to tell them that in fact he saw him killed. He then starts having a …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 31- Onibaba (1964)
A teenage drag race goes dreadfully wrong with one car being forced off a bridge and into a river. From the car a woman, Mary manages to escape and clamber ashore. However, Mary's life after that isn't the same. She seems to see ghostly figures when she seemingly disassociates herself with everyday life that is …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 29- Carnival of Souls (1962)
As soon as I saw that this 1965 Amicus film was directed by Freddie Francis I knew that the direction and photography would be beautiful. And I was right! I was also excited as I knew that this was a horror anthology film and starred two heavyweights of the genre, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 28- Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1965)
A sequel to Village of the Damned which is less a continuation of the plot and instead like a film containing characters who possess the same powers as the children in the original but under different circumstances. Whereas the original took part in a countryside idyll, the action within this film is based in London. …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 18- Children of the Damned (1964)
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