Reviews in a nutshell
The thing that kept the tension wound tight in The Purge (2013) was everything being contained within a comfortable four walls, feeding on our deepest fears of being under siege in a safe environment; our home. Returning writer-director James DeMonaco now taps into the other fear that the first film triggers: What would happen if …
Gone is the usual 24-hour period that most of his films are set in, as filmmaker Richard Linklater achieves his finest work yet with Boyhood, a deeply affecting chronicle of one boy’s life, filmed over a decade using the same actor. It will naturally resonate most with parents who are changing nappies one minute to …
Imagine a night where any crime is legal, including murder. Who would you ‘purge’ given half a chance? Writer-director James DeMonaco’s The Purge is more frightening in concept than conception, though it’s still a solid and watchable affair. It doesn’t offer any new chills that other under siege-style horrors haven’t already. It’s also not as …
Its blood-splattered poster, complete with promises of ‘genuinely scaring the hell out of you’ depends on your previous encounters with spooky goings-on in condemned houses. Sinister by The Exorcism of Emily Rose creator Scott Derrickson, in summary, certainly puts the ‘creepy’ back into four domestic walls, but the horror tick boxes of bumps in the …
Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski‘s first film since 2004’s acclaimed My Summer Of Love is set in Paris and combines art-house values with supernatural thriller tendencies that keep things emotive and disorientating. Based on a novel by Douglas Kennedy, The Woman In The Fifth also serves as a haunting insight into one man’s struggle to rediscover …
Big cities worldwide draw all walks of life, and therefore, provide absorbing material for film-makers trying to discover another angle in the way they live, breathe and connect their inhabitants. There are some potentially intriguing and original storylines to indulge in, in this collection of 11 intriguing snapshots of life in the Big Apple, but …
