Film Reviews by HW

Possibly the best-shot and edited ghost story I’ve seen on film, proving you don’t need CGI or gore to make a scary horror: just alarming sounds, jarring camera work, unbearable suspense and convincing terror from the performers. As well as being a good thrill and a masterpiece of horror-film technical wizardry, the film follows the plot and complexities of Shirley Jackson’s novel closely (while refining and streamlining some of the befuddling ambiguities). We don’t know exactly what’s haunting Hill House but we know it wants our heroine Eleanor and for how long can she resist its eerily appealing call?  

I’ve forgotten how spectacular this epic western is: ambitious sequences of cattle driving, Indian attacks and a sweeping plot of romance and revenge to match the majestic landscapes. The performances are all impressive, especially John Wayne in yet another example of the surprising range he had when he was younger. He plays the conflicted, tyrannical aged cattle baron Thomas Dunson; pushing his outfit on a seemingly impossible, desperate drive from Texas to Missouri. This leads to locking horns with his adopted son Matthew, played by a striking-looking Montgomery Clift. There’s also humour, mainly from Walter Brennan as yet another elderly, adorable sidekick. Coleen Gray gives an impressive range as the card-sharp female lead; from cool to passionate as she tries to calm the burning feud between Thomas and Matthew. In my book, ‘Red River’ certainly earns its place among the ranks of western classics. 

A plot so deceptively simple, you could show this as a classic example of the genre: Marshall Will Kane (Gary Cooper) has until noon to get help against the return of Frank Miller, a violent ruffian travelling from jail via train. What adds complexity to this masterpiece of real-time tension (all clocks in the film are counting down the minutes to noon) are all the varied, arguably cowardly reasons why the whole community refuse to help their marshal and a soap-opera level love triangle between the marshal, his new wife and an old flame. This classic western is also surprisingly cynical (almost on a ‘The Man who shot Liberty Valance’ level) and is arguably both a tribute to and criticism of heroic masculinity. Will Kane’s main motivation for staying in town to face the villains is that he’s never run from anyone before. This doesn’t stop Gary Cooper from delivering a painfully vulnerable performance of an ideal western hero crumbling under pressure and fear. Western figures like Howard Hawks criticised this vulnerability but I agree with Bill Clinton’s interpretation of this thriller: courage is not the absence of fear but the mastery of it. 

An epic blend of brutal realism and dreamy outlaw fantasy, this revisionist western proves that there’s still plenty of untold viewpoints and narratives for the genre to explore. In this case, our sharpshooting western hero Jarah is a half-Aboriginal woman defending her family from cruel colonial forces in post-WW2 Australia. This film is eye-opening in terms of depicting the atrocities committed against the First Nations of Australia, as well as delivering an exhilarating mix of action, pathos and redemption that doesn’t simply say that violent vengeance is the way forward. Cinematically, this is a unique experience, with plenty of dream-like sequences showing off the beauty of the Australian landscape. You’ll never see a film quite like this. 

Nice to see a western with Native Americans as the central characters. This is a tragic outlaw romance, in which desert runner Willie Boy goes on the run with his lover in the early 20th century Californian desert, after accidentally shooting his lover’s father. The pair of star-crossed lovebirds are pursued by a hapless posse led by a depressed, alcoholic sheriff. The film’s focus switches between the squabbling of the tough-talking posse and the existential, almost dialogue-free scenes between the two lovers. This is a western that’s more about melancholic atmosphere than action, with beautiful shots of the sparse, unforgiving desert. It also explored the tensions between the races of the American West and shows a rather cynical view of the conventional western manhunt. As a warning for fans of Jason Mamoa, he has a very small part amongst the largely unknown but brilliant cast. This epic is proof that there are still plenty of stories to be told about the West. 

I’m shocked that this is the first time I’ve seen this film. Adventure! Romance! Swordfights! Revenge! Shrieking eels! Giant rats! Comedy! A perfect cast! I do like how this is both a spoof of fairy tales while also being a genuinely good fantasy adventure and romance. There are even moments that could fit nicely into genuine myths, like the hero taking down three adversaries using their strengths and the young lover secretly returned from being lost at sea. Inigo Montoya’s quest for revenge is somehow both funny and incredibly moving. Just a fun, fun movie that’s not too cheesy. 

If, like me, you’re late to the GOT party and want to see what all the fuss was about: do it, it is worth it. Season one alone was epic entertainment even if (like me) you still prefer Tolkien. This is just a different and way more adult fantasy experience: a soap opera of power struggles, with a rich tapestry of plot lines and a gallery of strong characters played by a strong cast. So I would say it’s never too late to stick this on and have a good time. 

Watching this 80s classic felt like riding a really cheesy, nostalgic theme park ride. It’s a shame this fun movie was mostly filmed in dark (but imaginative) sets of booby-trapped caves with cheesy props. Nevertheless this movie is still a celebration of classic adventure, as a bunch of loveable 80s kids (you can see where ‘Stranger Things’ pinched the dynamic for their characters from) go on a good old-fashioned treasure hunt (although surely the scriptwriters knew what they were doing when they named the treasure’s owner One-Eyed Willy). It was fun to watch young versions of recognisable actors like Josh Brolin and a wide-eyed Samwise Gamgee. I also liked the very Italian villains and the building bromance between my favourite characters, Chunk and Sloth. 

John Ford certainly did not fail to deliver with another western epic. Three bank robbers on the run in the middle of the desert discover a woman in an abandoned wagon giving birth. They vow to be the child’s godfathers and dedicate themselves to redemption by agreeing to deliver the baby to the nearest town: on foot, across the desert with little water. 

This is not your typical action-driven western but the quality of the performances (perhaps John Wayne’s best besides Ethan Edwards in ‘The Searchers’), the outlaws’ moving embrace of redemption and the mounting Biblical pathos make this epic utterly captivating. There’s even some comedy as the three tough hombres argue over how to best care for a baby and of course, there is Ford’s persistent message on the strength of community in the face of cruel nature and human selfishness. 

An epic, atmospheric, beautifully shot and extremely faithful adaptation of Hardy’s tragedy of a woman wronged. Perhaps the film lacked the emotional punch of the novel, as Polanski’s treatment of emotion was quite restricted and Kubrickian, but the spirit of Southwest England was captured fairly well (despite the film being shot in France!). Lots of gorgeous pastoral landscapes shot in golden summer evening light with long shadows, making this possibly the most visually pleasing period drama I’ve yet seen. Yes, Polanski is an extremely controversial figure but he made amazing films. 

This is a faithful, atmospheric and moving adaptation of the book. The streamlining of the plot did actually help clear up some of the novel’s complexities for me, as we follow a range of characters from London to revolutionary Paris. Dirk Bogarde’s turn as our alcoholic, bitter hero Sydney Carton did move me to tears by the end. The other main parts also did justice to the strong emotions of the characters. Also fun to see horror legends Donald Pleasance and Christopher Lee in small villainous parts! All in all, if you haven’t read the book this is still an impressive historical drama of revenge and romance that swings from Gothic suspense to revolutionary hysteria, with raging street battles in Paris. 

This film is worth watching for the special effects of the time. There’s a reason why Ray Harryhausen is the king of stop motion. All his creatures move so smoothly and naturally some of them were very convincing: from the adorable Eohippus to the monstrous Gwangi itself. The plot is quite entertaining: a mixture of circus performers in Mexico discover a hidden valley full of dangerous prehistoric creatures. Having not seen King Kong, they try to bring some of the past back with them for their show and reap the deadly consequences. I think the film could have done better with its rather stereotypical characters. There’s a rather hammed-up love triangle the audience is forced to follow, but the spectacular action scenes more than make up for any dull romantic cliches. As a realisation of my dreams of combining westerns and dinosaurs, this is still a fun watch! 

There’s so many elements to this film it’s hard to categorise and explain. It starts off being about two women who murder samurai warriors for their armour and then becomes a story of sexual tension and jealousy when the return of a male neighbour comes between them. Then horror imagery comes into play when a scary demon mask turns up. What unifies all the different elements of this historical horror-drama is the menacing, brooding atmosphere that builds throughout, helped by the black-and-white shots of wind-tossed, engulfing grass and the moody tension between characters. A grim depiction of human behaviour that’s still worth watching for the remarkable imagery and original plot. 

A fun war action flick. It’s good to see that the same director of ‘Where Eagles Dare’ can deliver a similar movie with more humour and grit. Clint Eastwood plays another super-cool dude who gathers a bunch of grunts to go deep past enemy lines in WW2 France: not for any noble, strategic reason but to steal a fortune in Nazi gold bars. I wonder if this movie was referencing Eastwood’s other wartime heist movie ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’. What both movies do share is a cynical sense of satire. The grunts choose to do something in their own interest for a change rather than be marched across Normandy by distant generals. The Normandy invasion is not a noble enterprise; it’s an inconvenience. One war-crazed general and the French public consider these raiders as brave liberators. I really enjoyed watching Donald Sutherland play Oddball the tank commander, a hippy decades before his time. As well as laughs, this comedy delivers on action and some poignant moments of peril, when the soldiers realise they could all get killed in the name of gold and the odds are stacked against them. 

A fun, bloody mix of 80s action movie cliches (drugs, bad guys in white suits and ex-special forces turned bank robbers) and western film features (Texan and Mexican locations, dusty shootouts and a granite faced Texas ranger as a hero). Nick Nolte plays the aforementioned steely-faced ranger facing off against an ex-buddy turned border drug kingpin; who the ex-soldiers are also attempting to set up. Both the lawman and the outlaw are in love with the same woman, which gives this otherwise brutal film an almost romantic undercurrent (which the film perhaps tries too hard to maintain). Still this is an excessive, exhilarating joyride with some rather unsubtle nods to Sam Peckinpah (the climax is a decadent Mexican fiesta turned into a fatalist machine-gun battle).