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Reviews & Commentary by Adam Groves
INFRA-MAN
This 1975 Hong Kong outrage is a classic of sorts, and a prime example of accidental surrealism
THE LAST SPARK OF HOPE
Apocalyptic sci-fi that looks good despite being a short film conflated to feature length
THE STRAIGHT STORY
Yes, this is it: the G-rated Disney movie by David Lynch
ERASERHEAD
One of the world’s premiere examples of abstract filmmaking
THE GRANDMOTHER
A crucial entry in the filmography of the young David Lynch
THE FUNGUS
London is destroyed yet again in this 1980s example of “Nasties” horror writing
HALLOWEEN HORRORS
A 1980s collection that’s become a classic in its field
AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS
Almost certainly the finest-ever graphic interpretation of this particular story
THE AMULET
The very definition of a “Paperback from Hell”
THE ELEMENTALS
Haunting and atmospheric haunted house scares from the late Michael McDowell
BARRY SONNENFELD, CALL YOUR MOTHER: MEMOIRS OF A NEUROTIC FILMMAKER
Barry Sonnenfeld is a cinematographer-turned-director whose defining trait, it seems, is self-deprecation.
THE BIG GOODBYE: CHINATOWN AND THE LAST YEARS OF HOLLYWOOD
This book is ostensibly about the making of CHINATOWN (1974), but its true concerns are Hollywood in the early 1970s and one of that milieu’s most contentious figures: one Roman Polanski
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: THE STORY OF NASTASSJA AND KLAUS KINSKI
With this self-published book author W.A. Harbinson has hit upon a topic of unquestioned dramatic intensity: the story of actor Klaus Kinski and his daughter Nastassja
THE MAGIC: THE STORY OF A FILM
First off, this is not, as is misleadingly proclaimed, “the book of” Christopher Nolan’s THE PRESTIGE. Rather, it’s a book about that film.
FEAR
This is the long awaited autobiography by Dario Argento, and (for once) it doesn’t disappoint
LISZTOMANIA, Ken Russell, Genius and Madness
LISZTOMANIA is not a widely admired film, but I say it deserves a reappraisal
TV Flashback: THE BOY WITH TWO HEADS
Here’s proof of something I’ve long believed: children’s programming is the weirdest that exists
9/11 and The Media
9/11 in the media: the (amost) good, the (mostly) bad and (extremely) ugly
Funnybook Flashback: The Grant Morrison DOOM PATROL
Not his best work, but certainly among his most representative
1980: The Year in Bedlam
In this Year in Bedlam overview, highlighting 30 lesser-known and/or underappreciated film releases, I’ll be exploring 1980