Stars: Maika Monroe, Maggie Grace, Will Patton, Mark Webber, Brad Carter, Bonnie Bedelia, Logan Miller, Justin Chatwin, Aaron Poole, Kassia Conway | Written by Jeff Robison, Casey Twenter | Directed by Blake Robbins Directed by Blake Robbins, and based on a New York Times bestselling novel by Nancy Pickard, The Scent of Rain and Lightning tells the story of […]
Stars: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis | Written by Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole | Directed by Ryan Coogler Marvel’s directorial choices continue to pay huge dividends with Black Panther, the 18th film in the Marvel Cinematic […]
CHASING THE DRAGON Stars: Donnie Yen, Andy Lau, Philip Keung, Wilfred Lau, Wilfred Lau, Kent Cheng, Bryan Larkin, Ben Ng, Ken Tong, Niki Chow, Michelle Hu, Wai-Man Chan, Lawrence Chou, Wong Chun, Jai Day | Written and Directed by Wong Jing Crippled Ho, an illegal immigrant from mainland China sneaks into British-colonized Hong Kong in […]
Stars: Mark Steven Grove, Sara Salazar, Lauren Melone, Trygve Lode, Sam Del Rio, Michelle Grove, Justin McQueede, Brian D. Cahill, Debra McMichael, Kristie Griever, Martin Kove, Christopher Atkins, Gary Sirchia | Written and Directed by Mark Steven Grove In the mystical realm of Ryntia, the forces of the underworld are aligning to unleash a plague […]
Stars: Jamie Bernadette, Katie Carpenter, Gema Calero, Karishma Lakhani, Sharron Calvin | Written and Directed by Lou Simon Writer/director Lou Simon has made quite a name for herself in the horror community within what is, at least in cinematic terms, a very short space of time. Her 2012 feature HazMat sold in record time and […]
Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Peter Stormare, Maria Conchita Alonso, Autumn Resser, Daniel Bernhardt, Kris Van Damme, Mila Kaladjurdjevic, Paul Sampson, Kieran Gallagher, Peter Organ, Eddie Matthews | Written by Jesse Cilio, Brian Smolensky, Craig Stewart | Directed by Peter Malota After a massive shootout, a mysterious stranger (Van Damme) arrives at a local hospital on […]
The Horror-on- Sea Festival is Southend’s annual horror event, which showcases the talents of Independent filmmakers, through shorts and features over two weekends. This is the 6th year it has been running and this is my review of the festivals second weekend Day 1: Friday 26th January – Double Feature 19:00pm Feature – Mortuary Massacre […]
Stars: Andy Gates, Tamzin Brown, Dave Vescio, Michael O’Hare, Jonathan Eisley | Written and Directed by Patrick O’Bell The Polaris Society is set to free their earthly bodies and travel the stars. Their leader, Elyon, promises eternity and all everyone has to do is die. Cult members, Spencer and Ursa are having none of that […]
Stars: Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith, Ray Liotta, Dana Preu, Margaret Colin | Written by E. Max Frye | Directed by Jonathan Demme Jonathan Demme was one of the great names of cinema lost in the terrible artistic purge of 2017. His last film of note might have been the forgettable Ricki and the Flash, but […]
Stars: Sally Hawkins, Doug Jones, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Octavia Spencer | Written by Guillermo Del Toro, Vanessa Taylor | Directed by Guillermo Del Toro After A Cure for Wellness, here’s another heavily production-designed sci-fi with horror elements to give us the BioShock feels, from the austere early-‘60s setting right down to individual sound effects. […]
Stars: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Chris O’Dowd, Daniel Brühl, David Oyelowo, Elizabeth Debicki, Ziyi Zhang, Roger Davies, Aksel Hennie | Written by Oren Uziel, Doug Jung | Directed by Julius Onah Cloverfield movies are becoming something of an event for film fans. While the first film was an okay found footage style monster movie full of mystery, it […]
Stars: Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, Sarah Snook, Angus Sampson, Laura Brent, Tyler Coppin, Eamon Farren, Thor Carlsson, Emm Wiseman | Written by Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig, Tom Vaughan | Directed by Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig Helen Mirren and Jason Clarke star in this haunted house horror that’s based on the true story of The Winchester […]
Stars: Masataka Kubota, Fumika Shimizu, Nobuyuki Suzuki, Hiyori Sakurada, Yu Aoi, Shoko Aida, Kenta Hamano, Kunio Murai | Written by Ichiro Kusuno | Directed by Kentaro Hagiwara Live-action anime adaptions have an interesting history to say the least. They can be great (Death Note, the Japanese movies) but some have been rather problematic (Dragonball Evolution). […]
Stars: Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Dawn Olivieri, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Evan Jones, Cooper Andrews, Lewis Tan, Maurice Compte, Mo McRae | Written by Christian Gudegast, Paul Scheuring | Directed by Christian Gudegast Gerard Butler and Pablo Schreiber star in this off-the-boil Heat knock-off from writer-director Christian Gudegast, the screenwriter of London […]
Stars: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, Graham Greene, Jon Bernthal, Julia Jones, Kelsey Asbille, James Jordan | Written and Directed by Taylor Sheridan Avengers co-stars Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen headline this snowbound mystery thriller from Taylor Sheridan, the writer of Sicario and Hell or High Water. Gripping and moving in equal measure, […]
Stars: Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman, Keith Wayne, Russell Streiner | Written by George A. Romero, John A. Russo | Directed by George A. Romero For many of us, Night of the Living Dead is a film we first experienced on late-night TV – some grizzled old print squashed onto a tiny CRT. Now, […]
Stars: Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Julianne Moore, Keith Allen, Michael Gambon, Pedro Pascal, Channing Tatum, Halle Berry, Elton John, Jeff Bridges | Written by Matthew Vaughan, Jane Goldman | Directed by Matthew Vaughan The rags-to-refinement tale of young council estate Eggsy, the spy’s apprentice, was one of 2014’s most charming blockbusters. Yes, even with […]
Stars: Nikolay Burlyaev, Evgeniy Zharikov, Valentin Zubkov, Valentina Malyavina | Written by Vladimir Bogomolov, Mikhail Papava | Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky If Solaris was Andrei Tarkovsky’s answer to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey then Ivan’s Childhood could be his answer to Kubrick’s Fear and Desire. Both were feature debuts concerning war-haunted soldiers waxing philosophical […]
Stars: Emma Booth, Ashleigh Cummings, Stephen Curry, Susie Porter, Damian de Montemas, Harrison Gilbertson | Written and Directed by Ben Young It’s 1987, it’s Perth in Western Australia, and seventeen year old Vicki Maloney is randomly abducted from a suburban street by John and Evelyn, a disturbed serial-killing couple. As she observes the dynamic between […]
