One of the most depressing films ever made. In a good way...?

Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang, 1945) Eddie G is pitiful and Dan Duryea is superbly sleazy in this wonderful noir from Lang. The desperation in Chris Cross’ bond with crook Kitty is palpable. The way this acts as the catalyst for his already miserable life to fall completely apart is wrenching.

La marge / The Streetwalker (Walerian Borowczyk, 1976) Sex is, and in fact all relationships are, transactional in this richly textured film from Borowczyk. La marge has all the attention to mise-en-scène that defines Borowczyk’s cinema, and a strong indictment of the way in which ...

House by the River (Fritz Lang, 1950) Haunting gothic noir in which a failed writer, with a sense of entitlement a mile wide, murders the housemaid after whom he has lusted, before dragging his innocent brother into the deadly mix. Beautifully directed, with a marvelous sense of place.

"Did you come to that conclusion out of patriotism or just greed?" - Lew Harper (Paul Newman), THE DROWNING POOL (Stuart Rosenberg, 1975)

As a now-middle aged man with two teenage sons, lately I find myself thinking a lot about that final "goodbye" to Harry Dean Stanton's character in John Milius's RED DAWN (1984)... www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSGD...

btw Avati directed THE greatest horrorfilm of the 90s as well, LA ARCANO INCANTATORE

DOVE COMINCIA LA NOTTE / WHERE THE NIGHT BEGINS, 1991 - Pupi Avati's extremely subdued ghost story is one of the great horrorfilms of the 90s - if you don't pay close enough attention, you won't even be able to tell it's a ghost story. Sublime, amazing.

Drinking old-fashioneds and watching Phil Karlson's super #filmnoir 99 RIVER STREET (1953). That's exactly how a Friday evening should be spent, am I right?

the way the monster comes to life in 1910's Frankenstein is exactly the same as they have resurrected Frank in HELLRAISER :) youtu.be/w-fM9meqfQ4?...

Really pleased to see my article about #JoseRamonLarraz's DEVIATION (1971) in the new (third) issue of the General Witchfinders @generalwitch.bsky.social 'zine, alongside excellent articles, stories, and artworks from other fine folk. Buy your copy here: ko-fi.com/s/c3f2c05f87

Huge thanks to everyone who contributed to our latest Samhain issue of the General Witchfinders zine. We honestly couldn’t have done it without you. A terrifyingly talented bunch, one and all. Go follow them, check out their work, and tell them we sent you #GeneralWitchfinders #Zine #BritishHorror 🧵

"I didn't sell out: I bought in." #NowWatching James Merendino's SLC PUNK (1998)

Clumsy day today. Enjoying my morning coffee so much I spilt it down my shirt, and experiencing typos galore whilst trying to type on the world's smallest wireless keyboard 😆

Happy to see the book chapter I cowrote about 1980s/1990s Hong Kong films about goeng-si available online. "Spooky Encounters with Stiff Corpses: Hong Kong's Cinema of the Undead" will published in print in THE PALGRAVE HANDBOOK OF THE ZOMBIE. link.springer.com/rwe/10.1007/...

GOOD BOY (Ben Leonberg 2025). CInema visit on Saturday night. Really liked this. Remined me of GREYFRIARS BOBBY w/a supernatural twist. As a dog owner, its exploration of grief through lens of the human/dog relationship struck chords. Effects work is shonky but the film has heart.

SCREAM (Wes Craven 1996). Saw this at the cinema in '96. As a Craven fan, I always felt lukewarm to it, for a variety of reasons. However revisiting it on the big screen on Friday I was struck by how brutal it is + how well some of the humour lands when viewed w/a cinema audience.

Currently watching the Big Fry Man converse with Mr Morton.

🚨 Win a Criterion Blu-ray bundle of TWIN PEAKS : FIRE WALK WITH ME, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE & ALTERED STATES! To enter email: [email protected] & tell us: What is your favourite David Cronenberg film? Winner must collect prize from cinema within 6 weeks

Sadly, this German Blu-ray release of FACE seems to be an upscale. The original source seems to be a print with a fair amount of damage. That said, it still looks better than the DVD I have (and the streaming versions, which are presented in 4:3).

Interesting new German Blu-ray release of Antonia Bird‘s excellent 1997 film FACE. Will post more when I’ve watched the whole thing.

"It ain't like it used to be, but it'll do." #SamPeckinpah #TheWildBunch

Just signed a contract for a short story of mine to be published. Always a good feeling. More details to come but at the moment, it's all off the record, on the QT and very, very hush-hush.

Monday night. Why the heck not? Love this film. Plus, I've been hankering after a release of #TexasChainsawMassacre2 with the #BreakfastClub artwork since picking up a bootleg of the Dutch VHS release (w/Dutch subs) w/that artwork at my local comic book store in the early 90s @arrowvideo.bsky.social

Workspace set up for winter. (Pardon the tatty walls. Need to repaint those.)

"It feels like times have changed." "Times, maybe... Not me."

Afternoon off work vibes #SamPeckinpah #TheKillerElite

One week left to get your submissions in for the next ‘zine general-witchfinders.teemill.com/blog/call-fo...

"I'm talking about friendship, I'm talking about character, [...] I'm talking about ethics."

Revisiting VILLAIN (Michael Tuchner 1971). Long been a fan of this one. Clement & La Frenais' ear for dialogue is astounding. My son and I quote lines from the film often. I used to own the tie-in publication of James Barlow's source novel. Not sure if I still have it somewhere.

Oh, crikey. Can't listen to this because I hate the sound of my own voice :D But it was great fun to chat to @amicushere.bsky.social about this wonderful film (Amicus' THE MIND OF MR SOAMES w/Terence Stamp).

Never thought I’d see the day when I could watch #BrunoMattei films in 4k on a large OLED telly 😆 Currently enjoying @88films.bsky.social’s new release of RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR, which is an old fave of mine from the days of VHS.

best punisher by far.

I was raised on a diet of #LucioFulci films on VHS, and to see #TheBeyond get a release like @grindhousefilm.bsky.social's new 6-disc 4k/Blu-ray set is inarguably a long-held dream come true. From watching the Vampix VHS release in the 1980s to this seems like a long journey. #Horror #Eurohorror

Hugely pleased with @vinsyn.bsky.social's excellent 4k release of #WilliamFriedkin's JADE (1995). Saw this at the cinema on 1st release + imported the US VHS release of the DC. I can ditch that tape now as VinSyn's great release contains sparkling presentations of both the TC and DC.

Friday afternoon off work with @funcityeditions.bsky.social’s release of Lynne Ramsay’s MORVERN CALLAR (2002). Sad to say I missed this at the cinema on first release despite being a huge fan of RATCATCHER.

As someone who can vividly remember his appearances on Pebble Mill and The Little and Large Show, etc, discovering the current discourse about the late comedian Roy Jay - that he's an AI-generated phenomenon - made me laugh so hard yesterday that I "spooked" all the way to work.

I gave up flying nine years ago, and I wrote about it in this new essay on Substack. Give it a read and a share. I think I've managed to not sound too self-righteous ;) kristiedegaris.substack.com/p/grounded-w... #Environment #Scotland #Writing #Books #Climate #Sustainable #Article #Essay

Really impressed with the new #Criterion 4K release of #StephenFrears’ superb #neonoir THE GRIFTERS (1990), the presentation of which mimics the bleach bypass aesthetic of the 35mm prints. Hugely different to the home video presentations I’ve seen previously. #JimThompson

Not the Dogs of War but the Doggos of Luxury and Relaxation.

My essay '“We Invent Memories for Each Other”: #JeanRollin and the French #Zombie Film' is included in The Palgrave Handbook of the Zombie: link.springer.com/referencewor... (A small piece of shameless self-promotion for a Tuesday afternoon :D.)

Thanks to @indicator.bsky.social's marvelous new 4k/Blu-ray release of the #JeanRollin film JEUNES FILLES IMPUDIQUES (1973), I am able to identify the book Martini-swilling hood Fred is reading whilst relaxing in the abandoned villa: John Godey's NEVER PUT OFF TILL TOMORROW WHAT YOU CAN KILL TODAY.

My review of @ArrowFilmsVideo's excellent new Blu-ray release of Sergio Leone's A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964) is now live at @dvdcompare: www.dvdcompare.net/review.php?r... #SergioLeone #SpaghettiWestern #WesternAllItaliana

1964: "John Schlesinger and Patrick Wymark walk into a bar in Grimsby.." No, it's not a shaggy dog story ( @krycekfacility.bsky.social might enjoy it though) wymark.org.uk/wymarkbarsto...

Having just finished reading #TedLewis's JACK CARTER'S LAW, my 13 year old son has raided my bookshelves + helped himself to my @valancourtbooks.bsky.social imprint of Mendal Johnson's LET'S GO PLAY AT THE ADAMS'. He's also asked to raid my Raymond Chandler + Jim Thompson shelves. #ProudParent

I’ve never seen Eiichi Kudo’s YOKOHAMA BJ BLUES (1981). Excited to dig into @filmsradiance.bsky.social’s Blu-ray release of this one.

The new 4k release of Clint Eastwood's THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES is stupendously good, and with the original audio mix (and foley) to boot! Just had to say it.

Going to spend my afternoon off work watching Fukasaku movies.

I have an article in this 2nd issue of @generalwitch.bsky.social's zine, abt Fred Burnley's 1972 film adapation of Gordon Honeycombe's novel NEITHER THE SEA NOR THE SAND, a film that has haunted me for years. (It's been released on Blu-ray fairly recently by @vinsyn.bsky.social.) Check. It. Out.