The Red ★★ A GIANT zombie kangaroo terrorises a small town. That’s the premise of the Australian horror film The Red which basically delivers exactly what it says on the can, no more or no less. There is barely a mention of how the ‘zombification’ occurred or why only this […]

Zombie Red ain’t no Skippy

Mickey 17 ★★★ FOLLOWING the success of 2019’s Parasite the anticipation for Bong Joon Ho’s next film has been palpable. The eclectic social drama won the Oscar for Best Film, was a widespread critical hit and introduced more audiences to the South Korean film-maker. Mickey 17 is a little disappointing […]

Mickey 17 is a bit of a parasite

Squad 36 ★★★ OLIVIER Marchal is part of a tranche of French film directors who specialise in crime thrillers, usually involving police who walk a fine line between upholding and breaking the law. The characters are always tough, uncompromising and willing to do whatever it takes to put criminals in […]

French crime formula still working

Suspiria ★★★½ ITALIAN director Dario Argento is an extremely important figure in the history of horror cinema. Along with Alfred Hitchcock, Argento transformed the genre from the Hammer style to inspire a new generation of modern film-makers. It’s no exaggeration to suggest without these men we wouldn’t have got the […]

Italian master’s garish horror

Spit ★★½ IN 2003 a small independent Australian crime comedy was released called Gettin’ Square. In addition to introducing many people to Sam Worthington, it is best known for a great supporting performance by David Wenham as inept small-time drug dealer Johnny Spitieri. I still recall the hilarious sequence during […]

Spit not up to Gettin’ Square

Heart Eyes ★½ THE first quarter of each year is ‘bring out your dead time’ in the annual film release schedule. By that I mean the studios and distributors agree to have some pretty average fare in cinemas because the good stuff isn’t ready. Of course, there’s always the hope […]

Heart Eyes on by-pass

Smile 2 ★★★ SMILE was a sleeper hit in 2022 thanks to a slightly interesting premise and, more importantly, a clever viral marketing effort. The potentially disturbing nature of a smiling person isn’t new – it’s the premise of every scary clown – and neither is the idea of passing […]

Smile for the sequel

The Monkey ★★★ IF IT wasn’t for The Substance, Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs would likely have been my favourite horror film of 2024. The son of Anthony, returns this year with a more comedic approach in The Monkey, based on a Stephen King short story. Unless you thought Nic Cage’s performance […]

Monkeying around with Osgood

It’s a Wonderful Knife ★★ THE praise for It’s a Wonderful Knife mystifies me. The idea of a modern take on the much-loved 1946 Frank Capra film It’s a Wonderful Life is fine – I’m not precious about that. But in trying to merge horror, comedy and social commentary into […]

It’s not a wonderful film

Captain America: Brave New World ★★★ THE fourth instalment in the Captain America film series is the weakest. Captain America: Brave New World isn’t a bad film by any means; it’s pretty entertaining throughout and has some decent action. It also features a good performance from Harrison Ford whose on-screen […]

Cap bravely enters new world

Boundless ★★★ BOUNDLESS is the sixth film adaptation of the Department Q book series by Danish crime writer Jussi Adler-Olsen. I haven’t seen the last one, 2021’s The Marco Effect, but this latest effort is not as entertaining or suspenseful as the first three films. It has a new director, […]

Department Q loses key staff member

Black Bag ★★★½ IT’S not often that we see two films by the same director released in just over a month. But Steven Soderbergh has always marched to the beat of his own drum and, in these days of constant safe sequels and remakes, we should be thankful for that. […]

Old-school spy thriller from prolific Soderbergh