The Intruder
A very different film from Corman’s crowd-pleasing Poe adaptations, The Intruder is a sharp dissection of racism in the American South at the time of desegregation. Political commentary disguised as exploitation film, it plays very differently to a modern audience – particularly in Britain – than it would have in 1962, when it barely found [...]
Sin Nombre
I have a horrible feeling that Van Diemen’s Land has effectively ruined me for any other film this festival – my perspective has been thoroughly distorted. For example, Sin Nombre features a sequence in which a young boy has to kill a member of rival gang as part of his initiation, and the victim is [...]
The Pit and the Pendulum
Which is what I want to call my pub. (Alas, I’m not the only one who’s thought of this.)
Honestly, I’m still recovering from Van Diemen’s Land. Still loving the Corman/Poe awesomeness, but don’t have much to add to that…
(Except possibly to say that at no point does any female character wear a negligee that flimsy [...]
An Unflinching Eye on the Past
Slow, and grim, and relentless, and horrifying, and desolate, and wholly remarkable.
High Life
“As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a lawyer”
House of Usher
(I was considering a bad punning title, but I’ve decided to spare you, just this once)
The EIFF’s Roger Corman retrospective kicked off with The Fall of the House of Usher, the first of his splendid Poe adaptations. It’s gloriously gothic stuff, in fabulous Color (not technically Technicolor, as that’s a trademark – the titles proudly [...]
I’m sorry (I’m so…)
Predictably, I’m behind on updating my reviews of the last EIFF films. I stayed overnight in Edinburgh at the weekend, so was away from my computer, and the backlog kept getting bigger and bigger…
Sleep Dealer
Rather good low-budget SF film from Mexico, the debut feature of Alex Rivera. It does show it’s budget in the CG effects (think mid-90s TV level), but for the most part makes the best of it.
Milky Way Liberation Front
Another strong contender for best title of the festival, this is a cute, funny little Korean film about a guy struggling to get his feature film debut made – or indeed, written.
Masters of their respective arts
Encounters with two very different geek icons today: Ray Harryhausen in person, and Harlan Ellison on film.