THE MOOR **** UK 2023 Dir: Chris Cronin. 122 mins The feature debut for director Chris Cronin and writer Paul Thomas is a chilly, atmospheric exploration of a community haunted by a series of past child disappearances, carrying with it unavoidable echoes of the infamous Moors murders. It opens as it means to go on, with a low-key sense of menace and dread. In Yorkshire in 1996, young Claire and her best friend bond over Opal Fruits and Dib-Dabs while the camera lingers ominously around a seemingly empty, darkened alleyway. The boy vanishes and never returns. The title sequence captures…
Author: Steven West
FAILURE! *** USA / Mexico 2023 Dir: Alex Kahuam. 87 mins Long-time (and long-suffering) supporting player Ted Raimi is the best thing about writer-director Kahuam’s admirable but ultimately underwhelming one-take thriller. He’s terrific as a heavily indebted businessman under immense pressure – the story unfolding in real time at his luxury but crumbling abode as life and work fall apart all around. James (Raimi) is about to sell his late father’s struggling plastics factory. He’s behind on bank payments, pressured by his ex-wife about their daughter’s upcoming, very expensive wedding and threatened / troubled by various other parties – including…
IT LIVES INSIDE **** USA / Canada 2023 Dir: Bishal Dutta. 99 mins Co-writer / director Dutta’s feature debut gives us a fairly familiar American teen / demon scenario with a refreshing perspective. The opening glimpses of Indian-American protagonist Samidha (Megan Suri) (who’s appealing and authentic) reveals her shaving her arms, using phone filters to lighten her skin colour and being patronised at school by peers who “mean well”. While Dutta crafts a convincing, loving family at the core, we’re introduced to Tamira (Mohana Krishnan), formerly a close friend of Samidha’s, but now leading an alienated existence. While Samidha strove…
HERE FOR BLOOD **** Canada 2022 Dir: Daniel Turres. 100 mins Likeable characters and energetic nods to vintage Sam Raimi / Peter Jackson splatter comedies keep this eager-to-please gore movie consistently engaging. Phoebe (Joelle Farrow) is working three jobs and studying for exams, while her pumped-up, pro wrestler boyfriend Tom (Shawn Roberts) earns just $20 a fight. She convinces him to swap her babysitter duties so she can revise – and his reluctant stand-in efforts happen to coincide with our cutaway glimpses of a barrel-chested, masked, leather-clad maniac. Pretty soon, not only is Tom looking after young Grace (Maya Misaljevic),…
MINORE **** Greece 2023 Dir: Konstantinos Koutsoliotas. 111 mins Konstantinos Koutsoliotas, who directed and co-wrote (with Elizabeth E. Schuch) this Athens-set mesh of Greek mythology and JAWS / John Carpenter-infused monster movie, has an extensive background in visual effects, having worked on blockbusters including GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and Guillermo Del Toro’s anthology series CABINET OF CURIOSITIES. His feature-films to date, notably THE FEAR OF LOOKING UP, displayed a fondness for cosmic horror and dark humour – and MINORE continues in that vein, albeit on a more ambitious level. It smartly takes its time getting to the creature feature stuff…