House Of Wax (2005)

House Of Wax (2005) is a remake in name only, from what I gather of the Vincent Price original (which I have not seen), and seems more inspired by another horror film (that I have seen), Tourist Trap, with a similar plot about a group of teenagers finding themselves in a deserted town off the […]

Cure (1997)

Most horror films shout at you. Cure (1997), directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, never raises its voice. It maintains a steady whisper and is all the more unnerving for it. A Japanese horror film that was part of the ‘J-horror’ wave of the late 1990s, Cure almost stands outside of it by its ordinary, beige-brown palette […]

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser is obviously a horror classic, and it was something I only experienced for the first time during last year’s Halloween. With a horror icon in Pinhead (Doug Bradley), whatever dated effects are to be found in there are made up for by the film’s perverse, sadomasochistic fervour; this wasn’t just a slasher, […]

Eaten Alive (1976)

Look, I really liked Ti West’s 1970s horror throwback X, but when you catch up with something like Tobe Hooper’s Eaten Alive (1976; also known as Death Trap), I couldn’t help but think a little less of X. No doubt Eaten Alive is an acknowledged influence, but when it comes to exploitation hicksville horror, there’s […]

Alligator (1980)

It’s difficult to know what’s more ferocious in the movie Alligator (1980): the hormone growth accelerated sewer-dwelling alligator with an insatiable appetite or the string of wise-cracks people make about Robert Forster’s male pattern baldness? Yes, Forster is sporting some fresh plugs, but give the guy a break! He plays a cop investigating body parts […]