Too many horror movies collapse under the weight of their own strong premises. They start out confidently with an intriguing idea and a good set up, only to veer off somewhere in the middle, leaving you to wonder what went…
In a Q&A session after the screening at Monster Fest 2016 ended, director Julia Ducournau explained that Raw was a film about becoming human. Horror films, she said, often allow us to express taboo desires and hidden fears, whether it…
British director Ben Wheatley’s last film High Rise, adapted from J.G. Ballard’s last novel with his screenwriting partner Amy Jump, divided fans and critics alike. Some saw it as a pretentious, pseudo-profound mess while others lauded it for its originality….
2016’s Monster Fest is for the real horror film fanatics. Instead of lukewarm poltergeist flicks where furniture moves around on its own, every scare is a jump scare (I’m looking at you, Conjuring series). This is a festival full of…
It should be enough of a recommendation to say that before I saw the premiere of the film Nocturnal Animals at Backlot Studios, I’d worked a nine-hour shift and been up since 5am, yet I couldn’t have dozed off if I’d…
Leslie’s Journey Marcos Nine’s film is a peculiar kind of experiment. Neither a film nor a documentary, Leslie’s Journey is a meditation on a person’s life. Depending on the periods of history through which they lived, the film shows how…
The ouija board, pronounced ‘wee-ji’, is often mistakenly thought of as a mystic and mysterious was of talking to spirits. In reality the board was manufactured by the children’s games and toy brand Hasbro. Yes the same people who brought…
The Russian Resurrection Film Festival returns to Melbourne from 10 November for its 13th year, presenting a diverse selection of old and new films. Horror thrillers, action-adventure, romantic comedies, and retrospectives on Russian leaders — there is something here to suit…
November is when the days are becoming longer, the weather is getting warmer and the holiday season is getting closer. It is also the month when The Sunset Cinema will be running on every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. With…
When you let your characters tell the story, you can end up with a story which takes off in directions you might never have expected it to. This could be said for the way Benjamin Lear handles his debut feature,…