A personal journal of film and documentary reviews, and reviews of anything else that intrigues me.
Australian and New Zealand Films, British Films
Paul Campion, “Night of the Hell Hamsters” (2005), “Eel Girl” (2008) Film shorts are a flexible medium for telling particular kinds of stories or expressing ideas…
Georgiy Kropachyov and Konstantin Yershov, “Viy” (1967) A rare 1960s Soviet film in the horror genre, “Viy” is more Gothic fairy tale than a straight horror…
Roman Polanski, “Repulsion” (1965) A good psychological character study of a young woman suffering mental illness and falling apart while alone and isolated in her sister’s apartment, “Repulsion”…
Tommy Wirkola, “Dead Snow” (2009) For laughs, gore and stunning mountain scenery you can’t go past zombie comedy flick “Dead Snow” but there isn’t much else…
David Lynch, “Eraserhead” (1977) Five years in the making from 1971 to 1976, “Eraserhead” was David Lynch’s full-length directing debut feature. Based on his experiences in…
Anders Banke, “Frostbiten” (2006) ‘Tis a Swedish vampire movie that begins with a shot of the night sky against which light snow is seen falling softly…
Benjamin Christensen, “Häxan: Witchcraft through the Ages” (1922) Intended as a study on how superstition and lack of knowledge about mental illness could have led to…
French and French-language Films
Georges Franju, “Eyes without a Face” / “Les yeux sans visage” (1959) Lean and elegant in narrative style, this film treats a pulpy mad-scientist horror story in…
Roger Corman, “Little Shop of Horrors” (1960) Here’s a cute comedy horror piece made on the cheap in just two days in 1960 that speaks to…
Australian and New Zealand Films
Peter Jackson, “Heavenly Creatures” (1994) Having made his reputation as purveyor of gory splatter horror comedy flicks to amuse teenagers and kidults, New Zealand director Peter…