For almost twenty years South Korean cinema has been on a prolonged run of bleak, emotionally challenging thrillers about wounded middle-aged men seeking revenge or hiding secrets – often both. Many have seen commercial success, some internationally, but they have … Continue reading REVIEW: Seven Years of Night (2018)
On a flight from Tokyo to Paris, one first-class passenger surreptitiously drugs the water of another. When that drugged business executive begins to pass out at the airport, she is picked up by two men who throw her into the … Continue reading REVIEW: Demonlover (2002)
In 1979 Paris, Anne (Vanessa Paradis) runs an independent film studio making gay pornography. When a masked assailant begins stalking the city’s gay community, violently murdering Anne’s actors one by one, she is drawn into tracking the killer down before … Continue reading REVIEW: Knife + Heart (2018)
After making a suicide attempt, Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara) – whose husband (Channing Tatum) has just returned home from a four-year prison term – falls under the care of psychiatrist Jon Banks (Jude Law). Banks prescribes a new type of … Continue reading REVIEW: Side Effects (2013)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: four men board a New York subway train before revealing automatic weapons and taking the passengers hostage. Their leader (John Travolta) demands a ten million dollar ransom, to be delivered within one … Continue reading REVIEW: The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)
Four men board a New York subway train before revealing automatic rifles and taking the passengers hostage. Their leader (Robert Shaw) demands a one million dollar ransom, to be delivered within one hour. At the other end of the radio … Continue reading REVIEW: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
I have always been fascinated by Disney’s ‘dark’ period, which commenced with The Black Hole in 1979 and wound up with the catastrophic failure of The Black Cauldron in 1985. Disney has always leavened its family films with elements of … Continue reading REVIEW: Night Crossing (1982)
Nikki Ferris (Hayley Mills) travels with her musicologist aunt (Joan Greenwood) to the Greek island of Crete. There she meets the charming stranger Mark Camford (Peter McEnery), and gets pulled into a life-or-death adventure against a murderous thief (Eli Wallach). … Continue reading REVIEW: The Moon-Spinners (1964)
There are plot revelations during Angel Heart (1997) that bear some discussion, but of course will reveal things best experienced the first time by watching the actual film. If you have never seen the film before, note that next two paragraphs are … Continue reading REVIEW: Angel Heart (1987)
Chanteraide (François Civil) is a sonar specialist assigned to a French submarine. After a near-contact reveals an unidentified submarine of Russian design, he risks his career and criminal arrest in an attempt to properly identify the new vehicle. Meanwhile Russian … Continue reading REVIEW: The Wolf’s Call (2019)
