Kerry, on the surface, appears to be a normal, happy 10-year-old girl. But it's shown that her home life is massively dysfunctional with her parents having an extremely volatile relationship. Even more shocking than that is that they are abusing her. On studying the films on Taste of Cinema’s Shocking Films list, I was waiting …
Continue reading Shocking Cinema- Day 27- No Child of Mine (1997)
In a working-class London neighbourhood, Janet, a widow, has welcomed relatives into her home. In addition to her elderly mother, Kath and her son, Billy, Janet lives with her daughter, Valerie and Valerie's abusive, alcoholic husband, Ray. This mix proves explosive. I thought my family was dysfunctional. Nil By Mouth is brutal, violent and utterly …
Continue reading Shocking Cinema- Day 25- Nil By Mouth (1997)
The Heke family are Maori and live in modern-day Auckland, New Zealand. The family is led by the violent, fiercely patriarchal Jake. I first saw Once Were Warriors when I was living in Australia and it really opened my eyes! It unflinchingly deals with such weighty topics as domestic violence, dole culture, child abuse, alcoholism …
Continue reading Shocking Cinema- Day 24- Once Were Warriors (1994)
How the hell do I describe this film? Someone who looks like Leatherface stabs themself to death in the Evil Dead cabin. After this, we witness the birth of Mother Earth and the Son of Earth who then ‘journey across a dying world’ apparently. This scungy, lo-fi work by E. Elias Merhige features unknown actors …
In 1950s rural Idaho, eight-year-old Seth Dove lives at a lonely gas station with his brittle mother and withdrawn father. After a vile prank on the English widow next door, Dolphin Blue, he decides she is a vampire. Children start to vanish. Then his brother Cameron comes home from the Pacific, where he worked on …
Continue reading Shocking Cinema- Day 18- The Reflecting Skin (1990)
From IMDB- ‘A jazz musician who suspects his wife of infidelity gets framed for her murder. However, after he is sent to prison, he changes his identity and leads a new life as a car mechanic.’ This is a David Lynch movie and so expect the unexpected. Sometimes even trying to write a synopsis for …
Continue reading Shocking Cinema- Day 5- Lost Highway (1997)
Four students venture to Burkittsville, Maryland to investigate the myth of the Blair Witch. Things slowly start to unravel. I remember the hype surrounding The Blair Witch Project in 1999, with some saying this was a horror masterpiece that would be seen as a trailblazing entry into the genre. The marketing for the film reminded …
Continue reading Shocking Cinema- Day 1- The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Successful novelist, Thad Beaumont, tries to get rid of his literary alter ego, George Stark. However, it would appear that Stark becomes real and wants to take over Thad’s life at any cost. The Dark Half was Stephen King’s 1989 novel that was written as a reaction to himself being outed as writing books under …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 13- The Dark Half (1993)
From IMDB- ‘A duo of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations about a greedy wife's attempt to embezzle her dying husband's fortune, and a sleazy reporter's adoption of a strange black cat.’ An anthology film incorporating the directorial talents of not just Romero but also the one and only Dario Argento (the Italian maestro, of course, produced …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 12- Two Evil Eyes (1990)
I had heard such bad things about John Carpenter’s Vampires that I didn’t even see it when it was released theatrically in 1998. In fact, it was only yesterday that I saw it for the very first time. What’s 25 years to see a film though?! Is it a bad movie by Carpenter’s standards or, …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 19- Vampires (1998)
