FLUX GOURMET *** UK / Hungary / USA 2022 Dir: Peter Strickland. 111 mins Another Dark Dukes showing at The Dukes Lancaster. Having seen In Fabric, I was intrigued to see another of Peter Strickland’s films. Full of superb dialogue, the slow-burning Flux Gourmet is typical of Peter Strickland. He has injected plenty of comedy via his brilliant cast. The cast are the reason this film works as well as it does. They have the perfect comedic timing with dead-pan dialogue. The entire cast were fantastic, with Gwendoline Christie, Asa Butterfield and Makis Papadimitriou deserving a special mention. The film…
Author: Poppy Blundell
VIRUS: 32 *** Argentina / Uruguay 2022 Dir: Gustavo Hernández. 90 mins An Argentinian zombie horror, Virus-32 finds the population battling a zombie infection outbreak. Similar to most zombie horrors, this is full of typical clichés, yet one unique aspect of this film is the plot. Zombies have to pause and rest for 32 seconds to recover their strength. The storytelling is competent but doesn’t add enough individuality to an overdone sub genre. So much so that it felt a lot like 28 Days Later (2002). Even with it feeling all too familiar, I really enjoyed this film. A straight…
THE LODGER *** France 2020 Dir: Baptiste Drapeau. 90 mins Student Julie (Alice Isaaz) moves into a woman’s home as a lodger and helper. Soon, Julie realises things are a little strange in this house. Elizabeth (Jacqueline Bisset) is still trying to keep her husband’s memory alive, twenty years after his death. Isaaz and Bisset have some brilliant chemistry and both have great talent for acting. Drapeau creates a creepy atmosphere with visual effects, lighting and camera angles. These draw you in and make you feel far more of the story. I went into this blind, expecting similar to THE…
EXPIRED *** Australia 2022 Dir: Ivan Sen. 102 mins Of course anything involving Ryan Kwanten gets my attention due to his great talent. EXPIRED was thankfully no different thanks to the level of commitment and effort, as well as how diverse he is as an actor. Writer Director Ivan Sen takes us to a futuristic world where Jack (Ryan Kwanten) is a demotivated assassin who wants more from life when he meets April (Jillian Nguyen). Strange things begin happening to Jack, leading him to contact Dr Bergman (Hugo Weaving). Whilst this had a relatively low budget, it was very effective.…
PREY FOR THE DEVIL *** USA 2022 Dir: Daniel Stamm. 93 mins Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers) wants to use her past experiences to perform exorcisms, but the Catholic church is against women becoming exorcists. She then comes face to face with a demon entity from her past. This was certainly well cast with Byers and Christian Navarro having some great chemistry as well as talent. They carried this film through a very typical supernatural / religious horror film. A special mention must go to young actress Posy Taylor who’s breakout role shows just how talented she is. I was blown…