In the distinguished lexicon of England’s J.G. Ballard (1930-2009) his 1975 novel HIGH-RISE looms large. A notably brutal yet staunchly intellectual thriller set in a London-based residential high rise whose tenants devolve into lawlessness and savagery,
ANOMALIES AND CURIOSITIES OF MEDICINE by George M. Gould and Walter L. Pyle is easily the most famous and widely read medical text of all time, and with good reason.
In today’s franchise-obsessed Hollywood sequels are all-important. Sequels, after all, are the easiest type of film to market (they have a built-in fan base), and can on occasion far out gross the original film.
It’s a fact that South Africa isn’t exactly known for quality cinema. The “best” South African film, after all, is widely reputed to be Jamie Uys’ patronizing and nonsensical comedy THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY. With that in mind it’s hardly a surprise that when choosing worthwhile South African horror flicks the pickings tend to be slim…
Brazil’s Walter Hugo Khouri’s (1929-2003) THE ANGEL OF THE NIGHT and DAUGHTERS OF FIRE are unquestioned genre standouts with David Lynch-worthy surrealism.
Right now we find ourselves in the midst of an important movie related thirty-year anniversary: the summer of 1986. No, that period was not, as some are claiming, “the Best Summer Movie Season Ever,” but it was seminal for popular filmmaking.
The Italian TV miniseries I GIOCHI DEL DIAVOLO: STORIE FANTASTICHE DELL’OTTOCENTO (THE DEVIL’S GAMES: FANTASTIC STORIES OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY) consists of six mini-films by varied directors. Each episode runs a little over an hour, and each is based on a 19th Century horror story.
HISTOIRES EXTRAORDINAIRES is the title of the first volume of Charles Baudelaire’s renowned French translations of the writings of Edgar Allan Poe. This volume, first published in 1856, is credited with inspiring Poe’s exalted reputation in Europe, so it makes sense that HISTOIRES EXTRAORDINAIRES was the name given to not one but two French-made compilations of Poe-adapted films.
The genesis of the following piece occurred upon seeing PREDATOR for the first time. That was back in 1987, and I, naïve though I was back then, couldn’t help but flash back to two then-recent hits: RAMBO from 1985 and the following year’s ALIENS
Everyone, it seems, loves grindhouse cinema