Author: VHS Tracking

  • The Prowler (1951)

    The Prowler (1951)

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    When I was in my adolescent phase of loving James Ellroy novels (not so much a fan anymore), I remember the crime author mentioning The Prowler (1951) as one of his favourite classic film noirs. Considering Ellroy’s past as a degenerate substance-addicted peeper before he became a writer (which he talks about in the documentary… Read.

  • Issue 25: Special Effects

    Issue 25: Special Effects

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    “This thing doesn’t want to show itself, it wants to hide inside an imitation.”VHS Tracking is a zine of movie recommendations, and Issue 25 holds the theme of Special Effects. A variety of writers examine the glory days of practical effects, from stop-motion skeletons to gloop-covered bodies, dated CGI animation and traumatic freeway crashes, and… Read.

  • Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014)

    Black Coal, Thin Ice (2014)

    I really loved Chinese director Diao Yinan’s neo-noir The Wild Goose Lake. I’ve seen it twice now, and it is definitely style over substance, in that I remember most fondly the images and sequences rather than the story itself. Purple neon hotel lighting engulfing a room where three thieves talk shop. A motorbike at night,… Read.

  • Gun Crazy (1950)

    Gun Crazy (1950)

    Always gratifying to hear about a film for a long time that’s considered a classic, like Gun Crazy (1950) is considered a classic of film noir, and when you finally watch it, it’s so clear and apparent how great the movie is. Yes, this is a classic. Why did it take me so long to… Read.

  • Theatre Of Blood (1973)

    Theatre Of Blood (1973)

    Vincent Price playing a hammy theatre actor, delivering Shakespeare monologues, right before taking revenge on a critic who’s wronged him, played by a gallery of great British character actors (Harry Andrews, Robert Morley, Jack Hawkins), and the bloody murder has some thematic tie to a Shakespeare play. And then you have Diana Rigg playing Price’s… Read.