Author: VHS Tracking
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Winter Kills (1979)
Winter Kills (1979) is the absurdist extension of the conspiracy thriller in vogue during the 1970s. Imagine The Parallax View, a riff on imagined counter narratives to the official record of the JFK assassination, but exaggerated with a strange comedy, not quite spoof or parody. Each scene in Winter Kills is eventually marked by a… Read.
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The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (1984)
While I have not seen every Shaw Brothers movie, The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (1984) might be my favourite movie of the studio, so far. Directed by the legendary choreographer Lau Kar-leung who made the 36th Chamber Of Shaolin, and plenty of other Shaw Brothers classics currently available to stream on Mubi. Set in feudal… Read.
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The Decline Of Western Civilisation III (1998)
Scene report: crust-punks in the 1990s. I dragged my feet watching the third entry into Penelope Spheeris’ Decline of Western Civilisation trilogy. The second has the blockbuster marquee appeal with its Metal Years bone-head hilarity, and the first is a witness to the LA punk scene as it happens. In the back half of the… Read.
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Flesh + Blood (1985)
Flesh + Blood (1985) as a title has always felt like the best summary of Paul Verhoeven as a director. This is what marks his greatness, a keen study of “flesh and blood,” all the ways it can be shown and conceptualised. How moments can stick in your mind through the filmmaker’s capacity to make… Read.
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Issue 26: Dreams
“…the Internet and dreams are similar. They’re areas where the repressed conscious mind escapes” – Paprika (2006) A new VHS Tracking zine emerges from the collective subconscious. For Issue 26, VHS Tracking explores the topic of dreams from all cinematic angles! From movies about dreams to movies with dream sequences in them and finally to… Read.
