Here (2023)

Two characters walk through a Belgian forest on the outskirts of the city. A shot follows one of the characters as they move, and the sound design emphasises the ambience of nature. The leaves rustling, the wind, and cracking trees. We don’t hear the human footsteps as they trudge, and as we see between bushes, […]

Je Tu Il Elle (1974)

One haunting image from the film, Je Tu Il Elle (1974; I You He She), is when Julie, the young woman played by the director, Chantal Akerman, has shifted furniture out of her ground floor apartment, and has moved her bed against the wall. Sitting against an alcove in the corner of the room, near […]

Let The Corpses Tan (2017)

A leather glove tightened. Sweat dripping down a lined face. The snap of a firearm being loaded. The glow emanating from a gold bar. Let The Corpses Tan (2017; Laissez bronzer les cadavres) luxuriates in these details, fetishing them in close up and heightened sound design. As filmmakers, Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani have a […]

Daughters Of Darkness (1971)

Again, another film title I read about long ago in the school library copy of Danny Peary’s Cult Movies 2, its lurid photos already sordidly graffitied by school boys. Daughters Of Darkness (1971) is an English language Belgian erotic horror film, another cult title that lines up with the works of Jean Rollin and Jesus […]

Raw (2016)

After hearing my friend Janice Loreck recommend it to me, I finally sat down and watched Raw (2016), the French-Belgian cannibal horror drama following vegetarian Justine (Garance Marillier, excellent) and her first year at veterinarian school. Yes, not for the faint of heart – there were some sequences that made me feel very squeamish. Writer-director […]