Tom Jolliffe looks back at three milestones in Wes Craven’s career, A Nightmare on Elm Street, New Nightmare and Scream… In cinema there are plenty of great films. There are examples of exceptional filmmaking and populist films which become a cultural phenomenon. Some directors might be fortunate enough to create a groundbreaking film. These could […]
Garish Colour, Prog Rock, Masked Killers and a Glass Fetish: Dario Argento’s Glory Years
With his new giallo Dark Glasses coming to Shudder in October, Tom Jolliffe looks back at the defining films of Dario Argento… Looking back over his peak years, whilst Dario Argento may not have been the first pioneer of Giallo horror, he followed in the footsteps of the great Mario Bava and popularised Italian horror […]
The Essential Don “The Dragon” Wilson Movies
Tom Jolliffe on the essential films of Don “The Dragon” Wilson… The wondrous lure of the video rental store. Slightly sticky carpets with weathered fibres in the horror and/or erotica sections. Many a lumbering boot had trod before the shelf where the latest Shannon Tweed films were housed. I’d spend ages perusing and taking in […]
Ten Essential Film4 Films
Tom Jolliffe with ten essential films from Film4… Film4, under the Channel 4 banner, has championed great cinema for nearly 40 years. Whether producing independently or co-producing (often with indie studios or European production houses), there’s a stamp of quality that comes associated with the mark of Film4 (or Channel 4 films). For the most […]
Harry Potter and the Newfound Appreciation
Tom Jolliffe picks up a Nimbus 2000 to take a trip back to Hogwarts for a newfound appreciation of the Harry Potter franchise… When Harry Potter first came out, it felt like a shallow breath of fresh air. I’d grown up as a fan of fantasy films. My childhood was defined by Labyrinth, Willow, Krull, […]
Great Films From the Past Four Years That You Might Have Missed
Tom Jolliffe looks back at 15 recent films which you might have missed… The last few years seems to have bought an upturn in interesting and engaging cinema. Even as conventional blockbuster fare, which can feel interchangeable, rules the roost, indie and world cinema is beginning to find a place and more acknowledgement. At the […]
Melissa Fumero and Luka Jones get into a Bar Fight! in trailer for new comedy
Ahead of its digital release later this month, a poster, trailer and images have arrived online for writer-director Jim Mahoney’s upcoming comedy Bar Fight! The film follows Nina (Melissa Fumero) and Allen (Luka Jones) as they take each other on in a turf war for their local watering hole following their recent break up. Check […]
The Must Watch School-Set Movies
Summer is over and it’s back to class with our must-watch school-set movies… Hands up if you’re a parent of school-aged kids? Have you counted the minutes until your little cherubs return to school? Is that lazy and moody teenager making you go crazy? Have you spent an absolute fortune? Then don’t worry, as we […]
The Maestros of 80s Action Movie Music
Tom Jolliffe looks at a golden period in action movie scores and some of the maestros who composed them… What is the golden age of action movies? This is of course a rhetorical question. It’s undoubtedly the 1980s. A time of such unique flair and style. Big, bold, brash, silly, sometimes ironic. It was a […]
The Essential Jackie Chan Movies
Tom Jolliffe offers up ten essential Jackie Chan films… Jackie Chan is the master of physical action comedy. His popularity has spread across the world from Hong Kong and China, to the west (even after early false starts to launch him as a star in the States). In the mid-80’s he was part of a […]
