It’s hard to deny its cultural import of Deep Throat, a porno that managed to achieve the kind of cultural saturation normally reserved for towering icons like The Godfather or Citizen Kane – by which I mean it’s been referenced and parodied so many times, you don’t need to have seen it to be familiar…
Horror sequels make a habit of ramping things up to the point of ridiculousness: compare the simplicity of Wrong Turn to the excess of its sequel, or how Prom Night shifts from a garden-variety slasher to a supernatural romp. The Collection is a sequel to the almost-plausible The Collector, which began by carefully establishing character…
Manhunter has much to recommend it; as the first adaptation of Thomas Harris’s books, it hasn’t had the same cultural impact of the superior Silence of the Lambs, but it benefits from Harris’s richly considered world, falling somewhere between fantasy and realism. Even without knowledge of Harris’s canon, the characters feel fully-developed, even in minor…
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is an immensely influential film; ever since that steel door swung closed, Leatherface’s hulking descendants have descended upon foolhardy teenagers venturing into the woods and cabins and campsites therein. If only its influence were more widely felt in modern horror, though! It’s a rare slasher that can boast sound design that…
Before Midnight is arguably the best third instalment of a film series of all time, and a damn good contender for best film of 2013 so far while we’re at it. Its predecessors, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, set a perilously high standard and it’s cleared comfortably. It’s of a piece with those two films…
It’s astounding how effortless Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise and Before Sunset feel. Each captures a miraculous authenticity that could be derailed by a moment of artifice: a clunky line of dialogue here, an unconvincing line-reading there, even a showy shot that draws attention to itself could scuttle the film’s immersive realism, the unbroken illusion that…
This is the End isn’t the greatest comedy I’ve ever seen. There are funnier comedies, smarter comedies, comedies that will reward rewatching – something this comedic take on the apocalypse is less likely to do, reliant as it is on surprises. But, dammit, it’s been a long, long time since I’ve walked out of a…
The Conjuring feels very old-fashioned. That’s not surprising, given the 1971 setting and accompanying huge sideburns, but (aside from some obvious J-horror influences) this is a film that could have been produced decades ago, with the personality and pacing of classic horror. Director James Wan has commendable patience, slowly developing an ominous atmosphere before breaking…
The Place Beyond the Pines is a difficult film to rate; it’s undeniably exciting and innovative, but its reach often exceeds its grasp. The film is a significant departure from Derek Cianfrance’s last film, Blue Valentine, which was an intensely intimate experience filmed in a grubby, shaky vérité style. His new film is more expansive,…
Watch the first half hour of Orphan, and you could be forgiven for thinking you’re watching a family film about a mother overcoming a miscarriage through the adoption of a nine year-old orphan girl. Early scenes are brightly light, full of primary colours. The titular orphan, Esther, seems perfect – bright, talented, friendly – if…
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