Film Reviews by NP

This plays as a Polish fusion of David Lynch and Guillermo del Toro; it starts weird and stays there. The ending succeeds in being quite touching despite the bizarre run of events leading up to it, but the one-note eccentricities and the endless musical pieces soon become a series of more of the same unorthodox story-telling – although the soundtrack is very good.

Robert Bolesto’s plot is adult fairy-tale and wafer-thin, but as is the way with art films of this nature, the visuals and the direction are key; Agnieszka Smoczynska ensures the production looks lavish and epic throughout. Set in the 1980’s, it’s a real case of style over content – events rarely draw you in, but are pleasing on a superficial scale. My score is 6 out of 10.

Very much in the style of its time, this 1972 production – very much in the style of a TV Movie although it did have a cinematic release – features Patty Duke as Francesca, a very appealing lead and Rosemary Murphy as the dreaded mother-in-law. Richard Thomas, famous as John-Boy from wholesome American TV series ‘The Waltons’ is effective as Kenny. Completing the quartet of central actors is familiar ‘70s television actor Sian Barbara Allen as Kathleen. What a family they turn out to be.

The story is a somewhat silly one, and it’s difficult to explain why without including spoilers. That Francesca is heavily pregnant from the outset is a strong indicator that a baby will feature somewhere in this story. It’s the infant’s implausibly exemplary behaviour that allows the tale to roll on and remains a major stumbling point in going along with it.

But it’s worth your time. The acting is terrific, and the production displays much of the style of television drama we really don’t see these days. My score is 7 out of 10.

You may think your Blu-ray has skipped to the halfway mark of this zippy and atmospheric Mexican horror film, for the first scene dives headlong into a sea of horrors involving a blank-eyed woman and her violent ward who set upon a group of travellers. After the credits have rolled, we only then focus on the origins of the characters, all shot in splendidly stark monochrome.

The story is simple. Married couple Amelia (Rosita Arenas) and Jaime (Abel Salazar) travel to a vast country house owned by Selma (Rita Macedo), Amelia’s aunt. Selma is a witch who uses the couple to resurrect ‘la Llorona’ (the crying woman). That’s all you need to know.

This is a good, solid, spooky film, very carefully made and impressive, especially for its time. Horror and destruction come to an impressively realised head toward the climactic moments, and director Rafael Baledón is in no rush to spare the audience a moment. My score is 7 out of 10.

This 1970 film is one of many from that period I have only just got around to seeing. On reflection, there’s a chance I might have watched it a few years ago and put it out of my mind. It’s a meandering, overlong, frequently incomprehensible, disjointed jumble with one saving grace – Alfred Marks as Detective Supt. Bellaver.

Apparently, Marks added a few ad-libs throughout many of his scenes, raising the interest level with his witticisms. Probably better remembered as a comedian, he steals the show here, his character providing the glue that brings the many varied set pieces together. Despite this, it’s near impossible to get swept up in this.

Securing the talents of Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and various other well-known faces, the characters they play only feature sporadically, as if they were only available for a day or so for shooting.

Although it has its moments, I can’t really recommend this. It’s a time-filler rather than delivering the goods and puts me in mind of the hastily made ‘Doctor Phibes Rises Again’ from a couple of years later. The thread running through this barely qualifies as a storyline and, despite Marks, seems to last a lot longer than its 95-minute runtime.

Olivia (played by Holly Kenney, who also wrote this) and her friends go on vacation, mainly to allow Olivia some respite after an apparent suicide attempt. They’re a fairly likeable bunch, although liable to be annoying from time to time, but they mean well. The problem is, that although her friends think she tried to end her own life, Olivia believes someone attacked her.

This is a fairly low-budget venture. It doesn’t try to revolutionise cinema as we know it. It does, however, present a solid and mainly well-played thriller/horror, with some convincing moments of jeopardy and a nice, subtly signposted twist at the end. Kenney is talented both as a writer and an actress; Adam Newacheck impresses as director too – there are some nice scene-setting flourishes and the tension is certainly ramped up.

Once again, there are several online reviews attacking this film for not being a higher-budgeted venture, which is a depressingly common occurrence. I’m not sure what some people want from a film that hasn’t had multi-million dollars spent on it. I had a great time with ‘Stranger in the Woods’, and my score is 7 out of 10.

John Le Care’s not-so-simple love story concerns washed-up writer/publisher Barley Blair and Russian book editor Katya Orlova, set amidst a backdrop of political types falling over themselves to double-cross each other. When you have a cast of this calibre, it’s difficult initially to separate well-known actors such as Sean Connery and Michele Pfeiffer from the characters – but the performances ensure that doesn’t last long.

Fred Schepisi’s adaption is a languid affair. There could be more tension here, but ultimately, the story shines through. What emerges is a gradually heart-warming production set amidst magnificent but grey surroundings. It’s impossible to resist the two leads, and the ever-flustered officials tracking their every move (including Roy Scheider, Ken Russell, Martin Clunes and John Mahoney) are compelling in lesser roles. Two disheartened human beings amid the machinations of cold manipulation – irresistible.

Pfeiffer has a scene – possibly a contractual obligation – where she is in full glamorous make-up and looks customarily stunning; for me, she works better when Orlova is dressed down and unassuming, because the character is more real, and it is easier to appreciate her actual acting.

My previous and first experience of this story is a 1995 audio version, produced for BBC Radio 4, starring Tom Baker and Valentina Yakunina, which is excellent. Of the two (different) endings, I prefer this filmed version. My score is 9 out of 10.

This sumptuous film has received mixed reviews. The grievances viewers have is that it is set up as a horror film and fails to deliver. I’d respectfully disagree. I think it delivers in spades, but not in jump scares or special effects, but in atmosphere, and the crushing desperation of loneliness.

I can understand why some have been frustrated by this – the location, atmosphere, and superbly cold direction have all the hallmarks of a horror film, but it’s much more about the relationship between a mother and daughter, both played by the wonderful Tilda Swindon. I adored this.

I’ll go further - so low-key is the production, I almost feel as if the twist at the end is too obvious. But it’s beautifully done, and again, the acting shines.

The small cast is laden with superlative performances, especially from Carly-Sophia Davies as the abrasive and apparently tactless unnamed Hotel Receptionist. Louis the dog is top-billed Tilda Swinton’s dog.

A lot is happening in this Jess Franco film. Set in an unnamed vicinity, Dennis Price (in his final film for Franco, and looking sun-burnt but looking healthier than he had in Franco’s two recent Frankenstein films) plays lawyer L'avocat Linsday, who – describing himself as aged and alcoholic – discovers that a young couple has been unfairly convicted of murder. He is told of this injustice by former governor Mendoza (Jean Guedes); travelling to the austere and corrupt institution in which they are being held, he attempts to sort the matter out.

Although this is primarily a ‘women in prison’ drama, the incarceration element only makes up part of the story. Naturally, such scenes are wonderfully bleak and adorned with much wailing and sobbing. Apart from Price, other Franco regulars on hand are a suitably cruel-looking Luis Barboo as Lenz, the always brilliant Howard Vernon as Colonel Ford, and Anne Libert, who had been so effective as bizarre bird-woman Melisa in ‘The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein’ is reduced to an unnamed thumb-sucking peripheral prisoner. I believe this is also her final film for Franco.

Usual humiliations, often involving fighting, torture and cruelty ensue. Raymond (Andrés Resino) and Beatriz (Geneviève Robert), the two lovers of the title, are each led to believe their partner is dead. Beatriz’s naïve goodness puts her at loggerheads with the other inmates, whereas Raymond flirts with exhaustion and near death as his work pattern becomes intolerable. There’s a pretty twisted love angle involving Raymond’s affair with his godmother Emilia (Danielle Godet), which fuels her vendetta against Beatriz, whom Governor Mendoza desires. Have you got all that?

Having established Raymond and Beatriz’s incarceration as a cruel injustice, Franco’s script doesn’t seem concerned with any urgency regarding Lindsay’s mission in getting them released. Instead, we dwell more on the actions and interactions of the characters, which exploits the various layers of occasionally pantomime sadism that is part of the routine (incongruously involving a laser gun at one point). The finale is as low-key as you could imagine and appallingly effective. The last shot we see is of Price’s face, crumpled with disgust as he turns and walks away. Price, who died the year this film was released, is in fine form here. His performances in Franco’s more bizarre films were heightened accordingly, but here, he reminds us he still has the talent that made him one of the most popular performers at the earlier stage of his career. Here’s to you, Dennis.

Interestingly, the other version of this film, known as ‘Quarter des femmes’ rejects the flashback sequences and inserts instead scenes of extra sex and cruelty, in which Libert enjoys her most substantial scene. It also adds a little extra to Lindsay’s final departure, which ends this version of the film less abruptly than the version more widely available.

It’s a familiar story. Not this tale of Tony, who is apparently mentally handicapped, and his mother Mudi (Maud de Belleroche) and friends’ attempts to rid him of his virginity, amidst exotic, sun-kissed locations. I mean the story of a film with a certain reputation presumed lost – or woefully incomplete – found and meticulously reconstructed, proving to be … mostly unspectacular.

Not since Godzilla trudged out of the water to confront a shabby Japanese King Kong back in 1962 have two more mighty icons shared screen time. Seeing two giants of giallo films – Rosalba Neri (Paola) and Edwige Fenech (Ulla) – appearing together is an almost surreal scene, and it is this pairing that probably ensures interest in ‘Top Sensation’. The result spends vast amounts of its running time exploring the tremendous environment and the equally tremendous star players.

Visually, it is great. The locations are incredible and lend themselves entirely to the casual paradise in which these rich layabouts live their lives. Fenech and Neri are masters of their craft: naturally beautiful and exuding casual confidence and a sense of presence, it is a pity this is the only time they are billed together. There’s a scene featuring Fenech and a goat that is as mind-boggling as it sounds.

Mudi is pretty fixated on her son’s plight, going to the lengths of implanting hidden cameras in the yacht and copping off with Paola’s husband Aldo (Maurizio Bonuglia). The stinger here is that Tony, despite being surrounded by such wanton temptation, falls for uncorrupted local farm girl Beba (Ewa Thulin). Only then do events turn particularly strange and nasty, and the shift from mild sex-romp to drama becomes apparent. This interesting development almost feels tacked on, it arrives so late but is still very effective and unexpected.

The final scene leaves things open-ended but fairly gloomy, which is a good contrast to the sunny, carefree hi-jinks earlier on.

This remains a curious horror piece. After watching, it impresses as a fairly gruelling, mean-spirited showcase from director/writer Brian Bertino – but when you are actually watching, it is apparent that not a lot happens.

Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman play Kristen and James, an inexplicably annoying couple who are both awkward and unhappy when we first meet them (Kristen has just turned down James’ wedding proposal). A small group of nameless masked characters invade their home and subject them to torture. That fills the 85-minute runtime.

Locations are all bathed in a uniform washed-out beige throughout, making the film a rather bland affair visually. Kristen is sullen and needy, while James does everything with a swagger, and I found it hard to warm to them. His friend, equally self-assured Mike (Glenn Howerton) joins the luckless ensemble for a time.

We get to know nothing about the aggressors, which is fine, not even what they really look like. “Next time will be easier,” they say toward the climax, and that’s as much explanation as we get.

Thinking back over the film as the final credits roll, I found that I quite enjoyed ‘The Strangers’, and I can’t quite work out why. It’s slickly made and features some moderately gory moments, but doesn’t do anything other home invasion films haven’t done. It became a sleeper hit and earned a sequel ‘Prey at Night’ ten years later and a film trilogy that began in 2024.

I’m going to roll out my regular observation that there were so many horror films released in the early ‘70s that I am still seeing some for the first time over fifty years later. What a time to be alive for a genre fan.

The story is loosely based on Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy's novel ‘The Family of the Vourdalak.’ Almost ten years before this film’s release, the tale was adapted as part of Mario Bava’s excellent ‘Black Sabbath’ anthology. Here, though, the story is explored further, the characters become more familiar to us, and the scares are more plentiful.

And what scares they are! Aside from the wonderfully grisly special effects, many of which the camera cannot help but return to time and again (courtesy of artist Carlo Rambaldi who went on to work on ‘Alien’ and ‘ET’ among many others), there’s a thick sense of foreboding atmosphere that hasn’t been diminished by Raro Video’s (a label to keep an eye on) excellent clean-up job.

The story unfolds slowly, which may not appeal to some, but is highly rewarding and becomes truly unsettling on more than one occasion. If you like horror and you’re unfamiliar with this jewel, it is highly recommended. 9 out of 10.

Before watching this, I broke the cardinal rule and read a bunch of online reviews that generally labelled Lawrence Fowler’s project as ‘watchable but hardly outstanding or scary’. On the whole, I’d agree, although I did find the depiction of the titular character was pretty unnerving at times.

There have been several ‘demon in a box’ movies released in recent years, where the protagonists are at pains to destroy the villain before it completes some killing cycle or other, usually in an unspecified period of time until it hibernates for a while before beginning the pattern over again.

The acting is decent and keeps the viewer engaged. Ethan Taylor plays Casey, swapping his native UK accent for something approaching Canadian; Lucy-Jane Quinlan, allowed to keep her native British accent, is Lisa. Both are young museum curators and have the misfortune to stumble across a malevolent-looking doll that has a touch of Pennywise about him. Go on, you know the drill – ‘and then, bad things start happening.’

But don’t be put off by the familiar premise. This is a good ride, and occasionally ascends to the depths of real chills. My score is 7 out of 10.

An initially quiet and extraordinary film, which relies very much on its central performance. A true horror on all kinds of levels, bereft of special effects and spectacle. Made in 2006, but set 40 years earlier; Hans-Christian Schmid directs in a way that lets the actors do their thing, which allows us to soak up the chilly atmosphere both outside, and in the titular Michaela’s bleak family environment. You could spread the bleakness like butter. Michaela played by Sandra Hüller is an astonishing central performance.

Based on a true story, the names have been changed – and also the ending. [Spoiler]: whilst ‘Requiem’ ends in the middle of a scene, offering, until the end credits summarize her fate, an uncertain future for our heroine (in keeping with the non-judgemental style of the film throughout), in reality, the young student died of exhaustion and malnutrition as the result of – get ready for this – twice-daily exorcisms for a year: a more horrifying notion than anything presented even here. The resulting trial of her parents and priests formed, very loosely, the basis for ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’, a far more visceral and sensationalist recreation of events than here.

‘Requiem’ remains a tragic, heartbreaking, devastating story. We’re never entirely sure as to the nature of Michaela’s malady, although it seems a combination of mental instability, epilepsy, peer pressure, a truly monstrous mother (who does repent later) and the dangerously misplaced kindness of her father.

The no-frills nature of the production gives it a raw, emotional charge. We’re as concerned for the nervous onlookers during the exorcism as we are the unfortunate central figure, and the results are compellingly sad. My score is 9 out of 10.

Richard John Taylor is a prolific filmmaker of modestly budgeted films that seem to veer between gangster yarns and horror stories. They’re a mixed bag. That is to say, some I like, some I don’t so much.

Despite an arresting beginning, ‘A New Breed of Criminal’ is a bit of a mess; Steve Wraith’s story sprawls over its 88 minutes running time. It’s as if the project was filmed in chunks whenever actors became available, and veteran TV hardman Nicholas Ball has been drafted in to narrate throughout, in a bid to tie the many plot strands together.

Events just roll on and on and … lots of swearing, mixed acting, interesting direction, but no drama, a distinct lack of pace and too many characters and loose ends. My score is 4 out of 10.

Mike Flanagan partly raised the finance for this 2001 film via Kickstarter, and each contributor is name-checked in the end credits. Such commitment to a project should be applauded – Flanagan clearly has a passion for the story he chooses to tell. The results are low-key and doubly effective for that.

I love horror films that make the ordinary appear extraordinary. An underpass, much like those at the end of any street or town, slowly becomes foreboding; to be avoided – somewhere you’d choose not to walk down. This is due to the lighting, the direction, and of course, the eerie things that go on within those walls.

Courtney Bell, actually seven months pregnant during the shoot, plays Tricia, is coming to terms with the fact that her partner has disappeared and may not be coming back. Her sister Callie comes to visit. Both are ‘unreliable’ narrators when it comes to the strange happenings they claim are happening; Tricia is suffering from loss and we soon discover Callie was, until recently, a drug addict – indeed, we’re not convinced she’s truly kicked the habit. So when they claim to see shambling, half-dead people … should they be believed?

A familiar-sounding format this may be, but it isn’t long before Flanagan plays tricks with us. Our expectations are regularly confounded and the film morphs into something even more interesting than we may have been led to believe. With only a smattering of special effects, this moody piece becomes genuinely unsettling at times. My score is 8 out of 10.