The Mechanic (1972)

While funnily enough I’ve seen both of the Jason Statham remakes of The Mechanic (1972), I’ve never seen the original even though I’m a fan of Charles Bronson. Directed by Michael Winner, after they’d made Chato’s Land but before the box office smash success of the first Death Wish movie, this stars the granite faced […]

The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)

All I really knew about Peter Weir’s first film The Cars That Ate Paris (1974) was its memorable title and the iconic image of the VW bug covered in spikes, which was used a lot in the advertising that sold it as a genre horror film (and is even referenced in Mad Max: Fury Road). […]

The Hired Hand (1971)

From the beautiful first five minutes of shimmering water, silhouetted figures, dissolving and overlapping images, all made poetic by Bruce Langhorne’s score, I was very into Peter Fonda’s The Hired Hand (1971). Thankfully, everything after that made good on that opening’s promise. After the huge success of Easy Rider, Dennis Hopper went to make the […]

Wanda (1970)

I first found Wanda (1970) a bit difficult to get into. The opening is slow, observing workers and families in close proximity to a coal plant in rural Pennsylvania, which seems as depressing and barren as the industrial landscapes in Red Desert. Here, Wanda (Barbara Loden) wakes up on a friend’s couch and is late […]

Donkey Skin (1970)

Donkey Skin (1970; Peau d’âne) is directed by Jacques Demy and apparently was his most successful movie in France, a lavish fairytale starring Catherine Devenue. In contrast to modern fairytales that rely on CGI to create a world of fantasy, this is very old school in its approach, filmed exteriors at an actual castle and […]