A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Lesley Manning, “Ghostwatch” (1992) Subject of a post on Adam Curtis’s BBC blog, this BBC hoax drama is quite a laugh to watch. Hard to believe…
Pedro Almodóvar, “The Skin I Live In / La Piel Que Habito” (2011) Georges Franju’s sci-fi horror classic “Eyes without a Face” was overdue for a remake…
Lars von Trier, “Antichrist” (2009) Highly controversial for its depiction of sexual violence and mutilation, “Antichrist” was made when von Trier was suffering depression and the…
French and French-language Films
Georges Franju, “Le sang des bêtes” / “Blood of the Beasts” (1949) An amazing if very graphic realist film documentary of the work done in abbatoirs…
David Wojnarowicz and Tommy Turner, “Where Evil Dwells” (1985) Loosely based on an actual American court case in which 17 year old youth Ricky Kasso killed…
Kenneth Anger, “Rabbit’s Moon” (started 1950: long version 1972, short version 1979) Based on a Japanese myth about a rabbit on the moon, this film comes…
Edmund Elias Merhige, “Din of Celestial Birds” (2006) Astonishing little film – it’s just 10 minutes long – about evolution and the development of consciousness, “Din…
Craig Murray, “Amalgam” (2007) Using just a handycam and his own home as set to make a black-and-white film on next-to-no budget starring himself and a few…
Edmund Elias Merhige, “Begotten” (1989) A remarkable student film that explores Christian and pre-Christian creation / fertility / life cycle myths, “Begotten” was inspired by a…
Charlie Deaux, “Zoetrope” (1999) Based on my favourite Franz Kafka short story “In the Penal Colony”, this is a stunning-looking short piece about a man’s last…