Douglas Norton selects his five essential films of Sam Raimi…. After a four-year hiatus from feature films, director Sam Raimi is back in cinemas with the fantasy spectacle Oz the Great and Powerful. Raimi began making films at age ten, armed with a Super-8 camera and a fascination with the slapstick comedy of the Three […]

Dracula (a.k.a. Horror of Dracula), 1958. Directed by Terence Fisher.Starring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling, John Van Eyssen and Carol Marsh. SYNOPSIS: After the death of his friend Jonathan Harker at the hands Dracula, Dr. Van Helsing pursues the evil Count to London, where the vampire intends to make Harker’s fiancée Lucy […]

Now that the first trailer for The Wolverine has been confirmed as dropping alongside G.I. Joe: Retaliation on Wednesday, March 27th, it seems that 20th Century Fox are about to lift the publicity blackout on the upcoming solo sequel. Speaking to Total Film (via CBM), star Hugh Jackman offered up some thoughts on his latest […]

Amour, 2012 Written and Directed by Michael Haneke.Starring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Emmanuelle Riva and Isabelle Huppert SYNOPSIS: An elderly couple’s bond of love is severely tested after one of them suffers a stroke. Simple, tragic, at times beautiful and others overly long. That is the easiest way to sum up Michael Haneke’s Oscar winning Amour. One […]

247°F, 2011. Directed by Levan Bakhia and Beqa Jguburia.Starring Scout Taylor-Compton, Christina Ulloa, Travis Van Winkle, Michael Copon and Tyler Mane. SYNOPSIS: A bunch of vacationing twenty-something’s get locked in a sauna. Trapped, scared and facing soaring temperatures, will they survive? I got a DVD through the post last week, alongside a press release I […]

The Bay, 2012. Directed by Barry Levinson.Starring Will Rogers, Kristen Connolly, Kether Donohue, Stephen Nunken, Frank Deal, Christopher Denham and Nansi Aluka. SYNOPSIS: Chaos breaks out in the small seaside town of Chesapeake Bay when a deadly plague is unleashed, turning the residents into hosts for a mutant breed of parasites. If you’ve watched the Paranormal […]

Much like vinyl of the 70s, VHS are becoming a nostalgic commodity within today’s society – and none more so than for Dale Lloyd of Viva VHS. Luke Owen sits down to have a chat with him… I’m sure you get asked this all the time and I apologise for being so cliché, but how […]

End of Watch, 2012. Directed by David Ayer.Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Pena, Natalie Martinez, Anna Kendrick, David Harbour, Frank Grillo, Maurice Compte and America Ferrera. SYNOPSIS: A pair of Los Angeles cops uncover the workings of a human-trafficking operation and attract the untoward attention of a Mexican Cartel. The police get a hard time in […]

Fun Size, 2012. Directed by Josh Schwartz. Starring Victoria Justice, Jane Levy, Thomas McDonell, Thomas Mann, Osric Chau, Chelsea Handler, Thomas Middleditch, Jackson Nicoll, Josh Pence and Johnny Knoxville. SYNOPSIS: Wren’s Halloween plans go awry when she’s made to babysit her brother, who disappears into a sea of trick-or-treaters. With her best friend and two […]

The Place Beyond the Pines, 2012. Directed by Derek Cianfrance.Starring Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Rose Byrne, Dane DeHaan, Ray Liotta, Bruce Greenwood and Ben Mendelsohn. SYNOPSIS: A motorcycle stunt rider turns to robbing banks as a way to provide for his lover and their newborn child, a decision that puts him on a […]