The Black Cat first published by Little White Lies, as entry 125 in my Cinema Psychotronicum column Central to Edgar G. Ulmer‘s The Black Cat is a house built over an ancient graveyard. It is a classic gothic set-up, yet the house, far from conforming to the usual stones, firebrands and cobwebs of Universal Pictures’…
The White Reindeer (Valkoinen peura) first published by Little White Lies, as the 79th instalment in my Cinema Psychotrunicum column. “A lot goes on here that southerners don’t understand,” a local informs an outsider who fancies that the single white reindeer currently plaguing the village’s male populace can be stopped simply with a modern rifle….
Escape From New York first published by Little White Lies, as the 70th instalment of my Cinema Psychotronicum column In the mid-1970s, when John Carpenter wrote Escape From New York in response to the Watergate scandal, 1997 was a distant – but not too distant – future in which all manner of contemporary concerns could…
The Burden of Guilt and the Long View of God: Kim Ki-duk’s Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter… and Spring first published by Little White Lies, as part of a series of short responses to the question ‘Can films change the world?’. In the centre of a remote lake surrounded by mountains, there is a floating world:…
When horror came to the Glasgow Film Festival 2018 published in a shorter version at Little White Lies If sex sells, then so does genre – and festival organisers have got wise to the idea that seasoning even the most prestigious or outré of globalised arthouse programmes with some science fiction, fantasy or horror can…
Chaw first published by Little White Lies Forget the cutesy porkers of Babe (1995) or Charlotte’s Web (2006) – there is nothing quite like a really big pig to remind us of our place on the food chain. The first porcine nature’s revenger, Razorback (1984), was also the runt of the litter, but at least it…
Outside(r) favourites: twenty great films by Takashi Miike first published, in a shorter version (15 films, I think), by Little White Lies upon the release of the director’s 100th feature, Blade of the Immortal (2017), at the London Film Festival (and subsequently in UK cinemas in December 2017) Outsider. Maverick. Outlaw. Punk. These terms are regularly applied not…
Torso first published by Little White Lies, as part 40 of my Cinema Psychotronicum column “What you see on the screen is not a product of expressionist art. What you have here are fragments of cloth found under the fingernails of one of your companions who was barbarously murdered just one week ago.” Addressing a room…
The Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth: analysis of a still first published in the 50th Edition of Little White Lies (Nov/Dec 2013). The remit was to focus on a single image from a film made in 2006. Some film images exist merely for their singularity, drawing attention to the unique, immediate vision created by a happy, at…
First published by Little White Lies Since its tenth-anniversary move to Leicester Square’s Empire last year, FrightFest has become two festivals in one. This year, there were the 25 features (as well as short film showcases, panel discussions, Q&As, quizzes, special previews, etc.) that made up the Main Programme in Empire 1 – but…
First published by Little White Lies Diary – Day 2, Friday 27th August Day Two is also Day Tobe, as Mr Hooper visited the UK for the first time in 18 years to grace the Festival with his presence as the inaugural Total Icon – an idea inspired by the popular (and vocal) appearance last…