Film, Henry Northmore

The Hot 100 2008

11 Dec 2008

It’s been a helluva year. 2008 has been a time of significant global change, socially, politically and culturally, with Scotland no exception. So here, for your delectation, is The List’s pick of the 100 people, places and things that rocked our world…

Postal

13 Nov 2008

(18) 99min Uwe Boll doesn’t have the best pedigree in movies; he’s an oft-reviled director with a penchant for videogame adaptations. But one thing you can’t dismiss is that the man has balls, and Postal is flat-out in-your-face nutzoid entertainment…

Horror DVD round-up

24 Oct 2008

It’s Halloween, so lets fire up the DVD for some seasonal scares. We start with a trio from the Masters of Cinema series (all bundled up with substantial booklets and extras). The very roots of modern horror can be seen in silent masterpiece Nosferatu…

Halloween Special - Horror Movies

16 Oct 2008

It’s Halloween, so it must be time for the latest instalment in the most extreme survival horror series out there: Saw V. More than a simple gorefest, there’s a cruel intelligence at play with its villain, Jigsaw, the latest in a long line of horror…

BloodRayne II: Deliverance

18 Sep 2008

The name Uwe Boll may well strike fear into many a gamer’s heart. The German director is famed for his videogame adaptations, with his myriad of delights to date, including House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege…

DVD roundup

4 Sep 2008

We start this horror round-up with a trio of box sets. The John Carpenter Collection, The Roger Corman Collection, Blacula

Never Back Down

7 Aug 2008

ACTION (15) 108min (Momentum DVD retail/rental) Never Back Down isn’t meant for high analysis, it’s basically a film of hot young teens punching each other. The plot to string these acts of violence together is so basic it hardly warrants a mention…

Batman: Gotham Knight

DVD Review

17 Jul 2008

Intended to fill the gaps between Batman Begins and Dark Knight, Gotham Knights offers us six animated shorts, much in the same way as The Animatrix did for The Matrix. Each story is self-contained and created by a different writer (including Greg…

Bloodbath at the House of Death

17 Jul 2008

HORROR COMEDY (15) 88min (Nucleus DVD retail) Out of print for over 20 years, Kenny Everett’s one and only feature film has been unearthed. This horror spoof features a group of monks bumping off anyone who dares enter Headstone Manor, and stars…

Shiver (Eskalofrio)

Edinburgh International Film Festival

19 Jun 2008

(Isidro Ortiz, Spain) 91min Once again Spain is proving to be a breeding ground for newly discovered horror talent. Isidro Ortiz puts in his most satisfying feature yet as paranoia and the old staple of something lurking in the woods are brought into…

Hammer on the web

8 May 2008

The internet has irrevocably changed the way we consume media. ‘Instant’ has become standard and even institutions like the BBC have taken to OnDemand in a big way. Access to downloadable films old and new is increasing and, of course, piracy and…

DVD Round-Up

24 Apr 2008

Horror has to be one of the most prolific genres, particularly on the direct to DVD market, so as per usual there’s plenty to get through this issue. For the true aficionado Mother of Tears (Optimum) ••• (pictured) is the sequel you’ve been waiting 28…

High Tech Soul

24 Apr 2008

DOCUMENTARY (E) 64 min Subtitled the ‘Creation of Techno Music’ this documentary sets out to detail just that very subject, going back to the roots of the Detroit scene, the birthplace of techno as we know it today. The film aims to position the…

I’m A Cyborg, But That’s Ok

24 Apr 2008

SCI-FI (15) 105 min Korean director Park Chan-wook burst onto the international film scene with the ferocious Oldboy in 2003. The bleak and violent study of revenge was very publicly championed by Quentin Tarantino. However, after the unrelenting…

Profile - Park Chan-wook

24 Apr 2008

Name Park Chan-wook Born 23 August, 1963, Jecheon, South Korea Background While studying philosophy at Sogang University in Seoul Park started a ‘cine-club’ showing films to the students. Then, one day he played Vertigo and it all fell into…

The Invincible Iron Man

24 Apr 2008

DVD (12) 80 mins (Lionsgate) The new big budget feature isn’t the first Iron Man movie as this 2007 animated feature from Marvel proves. The film revisits Iron Man’s first showdown with the Mandarin. The animation is fine but overall the film…

[REC]

10 Apr 2008

HORROR (18) 85 min Pan’s Labyrinth and The Orphanage have proved that Spain is a hotbed of horror talent whose filmmakers can strike a chord overseas. [REC] easily joins these ranks (it already has an American remake, Quarantine, scheduled). Yet…

Ghost Game

28 Feb 2008

HORROR (15) 100min (Showbox/Cine-Asia DVD retail/rental) While the recent glut of J-horror shares similar imagery and folklore, this Thai entry is more Big Brother-meets-The Evil Dead as 11 young gameshow contestants are sent to a haunted prison camp…

Teenage Hooker Became A Killing Machine

28 Feb 2008

SCI-FI/HORROR (18) 60min (Third Window DVD rental/retail) This low budget Korean entry is certainly an oddity, and has to garner bonus points as one of the most garishly outrageous film titles in many a year. The teenage hooker of the title is hacked…

Doctor Strange

14 Feb 2008

DVD (12) 74min (Lionsgate) This is the latest instalment in Marvel’s series of animated features. One of Marvel’s more out-there characters with more than a hint of 60s psychedelia about him, Doctor Strange is the world’s master of the occult and…

Masters of Horror Series 2: Volume 2

14 Feb 2008

HORROR (18) 360min (Anchor Bay DVD rental/retail) It’s a concept that should have horror fans rubbing their hands with fiendish glee. Masters of Horror gathers iconic horror directors from through the years (previous instalments have included John…

Witchblade Volume 1

14 Feb 2008

DVD (15) 100min (MVM Entertainment) The Witchblade is a mysterious ancient artefact, a weapon of immense destructive power that binds itself to the flesh of a living female host. Here the Top Cow comics series is given the anime treatment as the…

Day Watch: Director's Cut - DVD review

Fantasy/horror

31 Jan 2008

The second instalment in director Timur Bekmambetov’s Russian fantasy horror trilogy (based on the books of Segei Lukyanenko) focuses on a murky world where vampires, wizards and demons are locked in the eternal battle of good vs evil. The truce is once…

I Know Who Killed Me - DVD review

Thrilller/horror

31 Jan 2008

Direct to DVD and topping this year’s Razzie’s with nine nominations, the latest Lindsay Lohan vehicle doesn’t have a great pedigree. While it’s far from a cinematic masterpiece it doesn’t quite deserve all the flack it’s been attracting. Lohan plays…

Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (Extreme Edition) - DVD review

Horror

31 Jan 2008

‘Direct to DVD’ is the kiss of death in most genres, but as any self-respecting horror-phile knows, it can offer bizarre and twisted gems that would never find a cinema audience. Wrong Turn 2 fits nicely into this natural habitat. A group of wannabe…