By 1962 the Technicolor horror boom was in full swing – it was 5 years since Hammer Films had flushed new blood through the veins of Frankenstein’s monster et al and the cinema-going public showed clearly that there was to be no letting up on the blood-letting for their sake. Following the old maxim that nothing succeeds like excess, the second feature producers soon cottoned on to this taste for blood and followed suit in a similar fashion. The major problem for the ‘B’ features was that blood … [Read more...]

Somewhere betwixt British horror, the arthouse thriller and the grand old school drama lurks a strange netherworld that still remains as yet unrecognised and unappraised by the orthodoxies of film criticism - the boarding school mystery. Principally a British genre with its roots in the literary works of Lord Dunsany and suchlike (although one of the greatest entries in its canon, Sydney Lumet’s superlative CHILD’S PLAY (1972) originates from the US) it taps into the memories and mindsets of a … [Read more...]

As both fan and critic, I have oft deliberated on how the definition of the British Horror movie can be stretched: this film, for those of you out there lucky enough to have seen it (I would hazard that totals less than a hundred) is as fine an example as any of the kind of title liable to provoke such debate. The years 1967 - 73, as we know, saw the breaking of many cinematic boundaries and genres, normally with a little help from our old friend Dr. Ugs, and the redefinition of the aims of both … [Read more...]

Those unfamiliar with David Leans 1948 version of the story of Oliver Twist, written by Charles Dickens in 1837, may ask what makes this version different from all other productions of the same name. The answer is that it is the most haunting of all versions with dark dingy lodgings as worn out as the characters themselves. It shows Victorian poverty at its worse, it emphasises a cut throat society through wretched characters that literally stand in the shadows, conniving and waiting for … [Read more...]

“Climbing High” is a delightful comedy by Carol Reed, made during the World War 2 years when audiences looked forward to viewing uplifting movies. While this is not one of Reed's better known films, it provides a vehicle for Jessie Matthews to display her talents on the screen. “Climbing High” explores mistaken identity in a love affair along with a critical look at social expectations of marriage in the 1930's. The film opens with a scene in Canada, with giant sequoias decorating the sky, a … [Read more...]

Somewhere between the Technicolor explosion of Hammer Gothic circa 1957 and the murkier, browner depths of ‘exploitation’ (a term not in common usage this side of the pond until at least 1966) lurks a half-forgotten monochrome netherworld. And in this financially constrained yet aesthetically striking place, ‘mongst scattered Butchers thrillers, lurid Poe adaptations and all sorts of unclassifiable nonsense (a lot of it starring Michael Gough) dwells The Hands of Orlac. Largely unseen, even … [Read more...]