Nemesis (1992)

Nemesis (1992) is VHS-era low budget cyperpunk sci-fi action that rides off the energy of France’s ‘cinema du look’ and Hong Kong action cinema. It’s all people in shades firing two weapons at one another as they jump out of windows from abandoned buildings out in the middle of picturesque wastelands. Directed by Albert Pyun, […]

Lord Of lllusions (1995)

Occult neo-noir is a sub-sub genre that has few big screen entries and Clive Barker’s Lord Of Illusions (1995) has always intrigued me, even though it has a mixed reputation with some defenders. Much like the loopy people in the Mojave desert, where this film opens, who pledge their sanity to a man named Nix […]

Massacre At Central High (1976)

Reading about Massacre At Central High (1976) in Danny Peary’s Cult Movies 2 when I was in high school, leafing through the copy in the school library, really disturbed me. The details of its plot and its accompanying photos made me think of it as a low budget sicko movie about teens killing each other […]

Time And Tide (2000)

After recently enjoying Hong Kong director Tsui Hark’s collaborations with Jean-Claude Van Damme, Double Team and Knock Off, for their visual kinetic energy and their “what the fuck” madcap action, it was a welcome surprise to discover his return to Hong Kong action cinema, Time and Tide (2000), was available on Netflix in Australia. Now […]

Love Streams (1984)

I really love revisiting John Cassavetes’ films – often, it feels like you have to acclimatise to the tones. The characters aren’t asking you to love them: they are tough to take. Love Streams (1984) I only saw for the first time a couple of years back and was always keen to revisit. While it’s […]