How come I didn't get the memo about Shudder?! I was looking for the Giallo movie Bay of Blood to watch on Netflix but it wasn't there anymore. I looked online and discovered the horror movie streaming site Shudder. This site is amazing- its like Netflix for horror fans. Plenty of new films, old classics …
I've just watched This Movie Is Not Yet Rated. What a brilliant documentary this is. An examination of the MPAA- an organisation wherein the raters aren't identified, the criteria for classifying a movie aren't clear and where studio films receive feedback but independent films don't. Corrupt, fascist, archaic. And I thought us Brits had it …
My love of horror films started when I was young. As I wasn't old enough to see these films at my local cinema I took to gazing endlessly at the posters and lobby cards for them outside my local Odeon as I basked in their depictions of fear, terror and sadism. I was lucky enough …
I first saw Leigh Bowery in the late 80s. I was at the cinema when a commercial for Pepe Jeans was played featuring Leigh. This advert which only lasted about 2 minutes left such an indelible impression. I first saw the documentary The Legend of Leigh Bowery about five years ago and again was gobsmacked. …
It's amazing when a TV programme or a film conveys a message that is so powerful that it faces strong and vicious opposition from the higher echelons of the day who seek to suppress it. Play For Today was a BBC1 drama anthology series that ran from 1970 until 1984. Alan Clarke directed an episode …
***SPOILER ALERT*** Don't read this unless you've seen 'Cruising'. I remember the first time I saw the film Cruising (1980). It was 1996 and I was studying Film at Brunel University in London- a newly 'out' 20-year-old gay man who was completely comfortable with his sexuality. I had come out on moving to London from …
Continue reading ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’-Friedkin’s ‘Cruising’ (1980)
***CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!*** I haven't seen this since I was a kid and I loved it. Would this film still be as enthralling now that I was a world weary and cynical adult? The film was made in 1958 and concerns a mysterious meteor that crash lands on Earth and releases a gelatinous type living organism …
It surprised me to learn that fans of the Halloween series of films harshly judge Halloween 3: Season of the Witch as the runt of the litter. Yes, the film isn't centred around Michael Myers, but is it really worthy of the scorn poured on it by fans of the rest of the franchise? I …
Continue reading Final Processing-Why Everyone Should Love Halloween 3: Season of the Witch
I love it when I discover another gem on YouTube. Here is one such example- an daytime audience discussion show from 1985 on the effects of violent films on their audiences. https://youtu.be/dSf2kfpkKMg On one side was Michael Winner and on the other Mary Whitehouse. As we now know the whole 'monkey see, monkey do' theory …
I first saw this amazing piece of nighttime New York craziness on VHS, like many other cult cinema fans. The first video releases here in the UK were the kind of films that were supposed to appeal to a young demographic and, so action, horror and sexy coming-of-age comedies were all widely available and marketed …
Continue reading Meathook Cinema Hall of Fame- ‘The Warriors’ (1979)
