Blood Feast (1963)

Herschell Gordon Lewis is a name I’ve often heard about but never really been keen to explore; the archetypal still from one of his 1960s-era movies in my mind’s eye is a leering sadist at a table where a nubile woman is submerged in shiny guts and paint-thick blood. Much like Troma cinema, I’m happy […]

Spartan (2004)

Spartan (2004) has a Tom Clancy type espionage potboiler story: The President’s Daughter Is Missing. Yet it’s another example in good storytelling not being about the what, but the how – it’s all given purpose and style through director-writer David Mamet’s distinct way with dialogue and plotting. Even in comparison to other spy thrillers at […]

Nightmare Alley (1947)

All I really knew about Nightmare Alley (1947) was that it was a classic film noir, it’s currently being remade by Guillermo Del Toro and it’s another film I’d not seen that was covered in Danny Peary’s Cult Movies 2. That, and it had something to do with carny life. This is definitely a case […]

Redbelt (2008)

I love Redbelt (2008) in spite of myself. Writer-director David Mamet has a way with words, but despite all his pretensions, he’s in love with macho bullshit as any other blockbuster action type. The movie is set in the world of Mixed Martial Arts competitions and has an eclectic cast that mixes Mamet regulars like […]

Bay Of Angels (1963)

From the very first shot I knew I’d made the right decision to watch Bay Of Angels (1963; La baie des anges): it’s a shot of glamorous Jeanne Moreau standing in a street near the water at Monte Carlo, the camera immediately pulling away and racing backwards down the street. Directed by Jacques Demy, his […]