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 […]

Séance (2000)

Kiyoshi Kurosawa knows how to make a ghost an eerie presence within a frame. Simple and effective in design. A blur where a face should be. An identifying colour in their clothing. Something that registers the eye eventually as they emerge from a shadow or appear in the visual dimension. They don’t seem aggressive in […]

Sunset Strip (1985)

Sunset Strip (1985) put me in mind of that transition period in video stores where DVDs were coming in, and old VHS stock was being sold off in $1 ex-rental bins. Uncovering and finding video boxes to films I’ve never heard with no recognisable actors, often only distinguished by an illustrated poster or a blown […]

Charisma (1999)

1999 is often discussed as a great year in cinema, and key to that is because it was 1999. All the celebrated and successful films of that year tend to share themes about the destruction of the old, the beginning of the new. Or are vibrating on end of the century, millennium anxieties – fear […]

Eyes Of The Spider (1998)

1997 was a busy year for Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Serpent’s Path and Eyes Of The Spider (1998) were two movies united by the same theme – revenge – and the same star – Sho Aikawa. They were low budget movies for the straight-to-video market and each apparently only had a two week shoot. In between, Kurosawa […]