Film Reviews by NP

John Le Care’s not-so-simple love story concerns washed-up writer/publisher Barley Blair and Russian book editor Katya Orlova, set amidst a backdrop of political types falling over themselves to double-cross each other. When you have a cast of this calibre, it’s difficult initially to separate well-known actors such as Sean Connery and Michele Pfeiffer from the characters – but the performances ensure that doesn’t last long.

Fred Schepisi’s adaption is a languid affair. There could be more tension here, but ultimately, the story shines through. What emerges is a gradually heart-warming production set amidst magnificent but grey surroundings. It’s impossible to resist the two leads, and the ever-flustered officials tracking their every move (including Roy Scheider, Ken Russell, Martin Clunes and John Mahoney) are compelling in lesser roles. Two disheartened human beings amid the machinations of cold manipulation – irresistible.

Pfeiffer has a scene – possibly a contractual obligation – where she is in full glamorous make-up and looks customarily stunning; for me, she works better when Orlova is dressed down and unassuming, because the character is more real, and it is easier to appreciate her actual acting.

My previous and first experience of this story is a 1995 audio version, produced for BBC Radio 4, starring Tom Baker and Valentina Yakunina, which is excellent. Of the two (different) endings, I prefer this filmed version. My score is 9 out of 10.

This sumptuous film has received mixed reviews. The grievances viewers have is that it is set up as a horror film and fails to deliver. I’d respectfully disagree. I think it delivers in spades, but not in jump scares or special effects, but in atmosphere, and the crushing desperation of loneliness.

I can understand why some have been frustrated by this – the location, atmosphere, and superbly cold direction have all the hallmarks of a horror film, but it’s much more about the relationship between a mother and daughter, both played by the wonderful Tilda Swindon. I adored this.

I’ll go further - so low-key is the production, I almost feel as if the twist at the end is too obvious. But it’s beautifully done, and again, the acting shines.

The small cast is laden with superlative performances, especially from Carly-Sophia Davies as the abrasive and apparently tactless unnamed Hotel Receptionist. Louis the dog is top-billed Tilda Swinton’s dog.

A lot is happening in this Jess Franco film. Set in an unnamed vicinity, Dennis Price (in his final film for Franco, and looking sun-burnt but looking healthier than he had in Franco’s two recent Frankenstein films) plays lawyer L'avocat Linsday, who – describing himself as aged and alcoholic – discovers that a young couple has been unfairly convicted of murder. He is told of this injustice by former governor Mendoza (Jean Guedes); travelling to the austere and corrupt institution in which they are being held, he attempts to sort the matter out.

Although this is primarily a ‘women in prison’ drama, the incarceration element only makes up part of the story. Naturally, such scenes are wonderfully bleak and adorned with much wailing and sobbing. Apart from Price, other Franco regulars on hand are a suitably cruel-looking Luis Barboo as Lenz, the always brilliant Howard Vernon as Colonel Ford, and Anne Libert, who had been so effective as bizarre bird-woman Melisa in ‘The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein’ is reduced to an unnamed thumb-sucking peripheral prisoner. I believe this is also her final film for Franco.

Usual humiliations, often involving fighting, torture and cruelty ensue. Raymond (Andrés Resino) and Beatriz (Geneviève Robert), the two lovers of the title, are each led to believe their partner is dead. Beatriz’s naïve goodness puts her at loggerheads with the other inmates, whereas Raymond flirts with exhaustion and near death as his work pattern becomes intolerable. There’s a pretty twisted love angle involving Raymond’s affair with his godmother Emilia (Danielle Godet), which fuels her vendetta against Beatriz, whom Governor Mendoza desires. Have you got all that?

Having established Raymond and Beatriz’s incarceration as a cruel injustice, Franco’s script doesn’t seem concerned with any urgency regarding Lindsay’s mission in getting them released. Instead, we dwell more on the actions and interactions of the characters, which exploits the various layers of occasionally pantomime sadism that is part of the routine (incongruously involving a laser gun at one point). The finale is as low-key as you could imagine and appallingly effective. The last shot we see is of Price’s face, crumpled with disgust as he turns and walks away. Price, who died the year this film was released, is in fine form here. His performances in Franco’s more bizarre films were heightened accordingly, but here, he reminds us he still has the talent that made him one of the most popular performers at the earlier stage of his career. Here’s to you, Dennis.

Interestingly, the other version of this film, known as ‘Quarter des femmes’ rejects the flashback sequences and inserts instead scenes of extra sex and cruelty, in which Libert enjoys her most substantial scene. It also adds a little extra to Lindsay’s final departure, which ends this version of the film less abruptly than the version more widely available.

It’s a familiar story. Not this tale of Tony, who is apparently mentally handicapped, and his mother Mudi (Maud de Belleroche) and friends’ attempts to rid him of his virginity, amidst exotic, sun-kissed locations. I mean the story of a film with a certain reputation presumed lost – or woefully incomplete – found and meticulously reconstructed, proving to be … mostly unspectacular.

Not since Godzilla trudged out of the water to confront a shabby Japanese King Kong back in 1962 have two more mighty icons shared screen time. Seeing two giants of giallo films – Rosalba Neri (Paola) and Edwige Fenech (Ulla) – appearing together is an almost surreal scene, and it is this pairing that probably ensures interest in ‘Top Sensation’. The result spends vast amounts of its running time exploring the tremendous environment and the equally tremendous star players.

Visually, it is great. The locations are incredible and lend themselves entirely to the casual paradise in which these rich layabouts live their lives. Fenech and Neri are masters of their craft: naturally beautiful and exuding casual confidence and a sense of presence, it is a pity this is the only time they are billed together. There’s a scene featuring Fenech and a goat that is as mind-boggling as it sounds.

Mudi is pretty fixated on her son’s plight, going to the lengths of implanting hidden cameras in the yacht and copping off with Paola’s husband Aldo (Maurizio Bonuglia). The stinger here is that Tony, despite being surrounded by such wanton temptation, falls for uncorrupted local farm girl Beba (Ewa Thulin). Only then do events turn particularly strange and nasty, and the shift from mild sex-romp to drama becomes apparent. This interesting development almost feels tacked on, it arrives so late but is still very effective and unexpected.

The final scene leaves things open-ended but fairly gloomy, which is a good contrast to the sunny, carefree hi-jinks earlier on.

This remains a curious horror piece. After watching, it impresses as a fairly gruelling, mean-spirited showcase from director/writer Brian Bertino – but when you are actually watching, it is apparent that not a lot happens.

Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman play Kristen and James, an inexplicably annoying couple who are both awkward and unhappy when we first meet them (Kristen has just turned down James’ wedding proposal). A small group of nameless masked characters invade their home and subject them to torture. That fills the 85-minute runtime.

Locations are all bathed in a uniform washed-out beige throughout, making the film a rather bland affair visually. Kristen is sullen and needy, while James does everything with a swagger, and I found it hard to warm to them. His friend, equally self-assured Mike (Glenn Howerton) joins the luckless ensemble for a time.

We get to know nothing about the aggressors, which is fine, not even what they really look like. “Next time will be easier,” they say toward the climax, and that’s as much explanation as we get.

Thinking back over the film as the final credits roll, I found that I quite enjoyed ‘The Strangers’, and I can’t quite work out why. It’s slickly made and features some moderately gory moments, but doesn’t do anything other home invasion films haven’t done. It became a sleeper hit and earned a sequel ‘Prey at Night’ ten years later and a film trilogy that began in 2024.

I’m going to roll out my regular observation that there were so many horror films released in the early ‘70s that I am still seeing some for the first time over fifty years later. What a time to be alive for a genre fan.

The story is loosely based on Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy's novel ‘The Family of the Vourdalak.’ Almost ten years before this film’s release, the tale was adapted as part of Mario Bava’s excellent ‘Black Sabbath’ anthology. Here, though, the story is explored further, the characters become more familiar to us, and the scares are more plentiful.

And what scares they are! Aside from the wonderfully grisly special effects, many of which the camera cannot help but return to time and again (courtesy of artist Carlo Rambaldi who went on to work on ‘Alien’ and ‘ET’ among many others), there’s a thick sense of foreboding atmosphere that hasn’t been diminished by Raro Video’s (a label to keep an eye on) excellent clean-up job.

The story unfolds slowly, which may not appeal to some, but is highly rewarding and becomes truly unsettling on more than one occasion. If you like horror and you’re unfamiliar with this jewel, it is highly recommended. 9 out of 10.

Before watching this, I broke the cardinal rule and read a bunch of online reviews that generally labelled Lawrence Fowler’s project as ‘watchable but hardly outstanding or scary’. On the whole, I’d agree, although I did find the depiction of the titular character was pretty unnerving at times.

There have been several ‘demon in a box’ movies released in recent years, where the protagonists are at pains to destroy the villain before it completes some killing cycle or other, usually in an unspecified period of time until it hibernates for a while before beginning the pattern over again.

The acting is decent and keeps the viewer engaged. Ethan Taylor plays Casey, swapping his native UK accent for something approaching Canadian; Lucy-Jane Quinlan, allowed to keep her native British accent, is Lisa. Both are young museum curators and have the misfortune to stumble across a malevolent-looking doll that has a touch of Pennywise about him. Go on, you know the drill – ‘and then, bad things start happening.’

But don’t be put off by the familiar premise. This is a good ride, and occasionally ascends to the depths of real chills. My score is 7 out of 10.

An initially quiet and extraordinary film, which relies very much on its central performance. A true horror on all kinds of levels, bereft of special effects and spectacle. Made in 2006, but set 40 years earlier; Hans-Christian Schmid directs in a way that lets the actors do their thing, which allows us to soak up the chilly atmosphere both outside, and in the titular Michaela’s bleak family environment. You could spread the bleakness like butter. Michaela played by Sandra Hüller is an astonishing central performance.

Based on a true story, the names have been changed – and also the ending. [Spoiler]: whilst ‘Requiem’ ends in the middle of a scene, offering, until the end credits summarize her fate, an uncertain future for our heroine (in keeping with the non-judgemental style of the film throughout), in reality, the young student died of exhaustion and malnutrition as the result of – get ready for this – twice-daily exorcisms for a year: a more horrifying notion than anything presented even here. The resulting trial of her parents and priests formed, very loosely, the basis for ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’, a far more visceral and sensationalist recreation of events than here.

‘Requiem’ remains a tragic, heartbreaking, devastating story. We’re never entirely sure as to the nature of Michaela’s malady, although it seems a combination of mental instability, epilepsy, peer pressure, a truly monstrous mother (who does repent later) and the dangerously misplaced kindness of her father.

The no-frills nature of the production gives it a raw, emotional charge. We’re as concerned for the nervous onlookers during the exorcism as we are the unfortunate central figure, and the results are compellingly sad. My score is 9 out of 10.

Richard John Taylor is a prolific filmmaker of modestly budgeted films that seem to veer between gangster yarns and horror stories. They’re a mixed bag. That is to say, some I like, some I don’t so much.

Despite an arresting beginning, ‘A New Breed of Criminal’ is a bit of a mess; Steve Wraith’s story sprawls over its 88 minutes running time. It’s as if the project was filmed in chunks whenever actors became available, and veteran TV hardman Nicholas Ball has been drafted in to narrate throughout, in a bid to tie the many plot strands together.

Events just roll on and on and … lots of swearing, mixed acting, interesting direction, but no drama, a distinct lack of pace and too many characters and loose ends. My score is 4 out of 10.

Mike Flanagan partly raised the finance for this 2001 film via Kickstarter, and each contributor is name-checked in the end credits. Such commitment to a project should be applauded – Flanagan clearly has a passion for the story he chooses to tell. The results are low-key and doubly effective for that.

I love horror films that make the ordinary appear extraordinary. An underpass, much like those at the end of any street or town, slowly becomes foreboding; to be avoided – somewhere you’d choose not to walk down. This is due to the lighting, the direction, and of course, the eerie things that go on within those walls.

Courtney Bell, actually seven months pregnant during the shoot, plays Tricia, is coming to terms with the fact that her partner has disappeared and may not be coming back. Her sister Callie comes to visit. Both are ‘unreliable’ narrators when it comes to the strange happenings they claim are happening; Tricia is suffering from loss and we soon discover Callie was, until recently, a drug addict – indeed, we’re not convinced she’s truly kicked the habit. So when they claim to see shambling, half-dead people … should they be believed?

A familiar-sounding format this may be, but it isn’t long before Flanagan plays tricks with us. Our expectations are regularly confounded and the film morphs into something even more interesting than we may have been led to believe. With only a smattering of special effects, this moody piece becomes genuinely unsettling at times. My score is 8 out of 10.

Also known as ‘High Tension’, this is a violent French slasher directed by Alexandre Aja. Two appealing best mates Marie (Cecile De France) and Alex (Maiwenn Le Besco) are visiting Alex’s parents who live in the remote countryside. It’s not a complete surprise when people start getting carved up in some graphic and impressively staged set pieces. That’s the story for most of the film.

For such subject matter, I found the relentless ‘going through the motions’ of such a genre film tough going after a while, and the antagonist is somewhat underwhelming, both in terms of presence and physicality. Just an ordinary, middle-aged man, really.

When filmmakers (or writers of fiction in general) choose to plant a big twist toward the end of a story, it presents a huge risk. For the biggest misfire I’m aware of, we have to travel all the way back to 1935’s ‘Mark of the Vampire’, where all the carefully layered and staged elements that made the viewing experience so delightfully gothic were all undone when a giant revelation ripped the ground from under the audience and destroyed the atmosphere. As far as twists go, I either love them or hate them.

Except for here. The reveal is expertly done, and very well played. And yet as soon as it happens, I wasn’t sure whether it actually made sense or undermined much of what we’d seen thus far. Ultimately, I recommend just going with it. The twist may not stand up to scrutiny, but is undeniably entertaining, and answers as many questions as it poses. My score is 7 out of 10.

This film has a less-than-stellar reputation. Paganini is portrayed by Klaus Kinski in his final film; after failing to persuade his best ‘fiend’ Werner Herzog to direct, Kinsi did the job himself, electing to use only natural lighting. The resulting scenes are often obscured because of this. Kinski energetically mimes to the frenzied violin playing of Paganini, with his right hand. In close-ups of the genuine player that are spliced in, the instrument is being played with the left hand. These things, the meandering story, and the tasteless sex scenes between the titular character and a series of underage girls, have been used to berate the film. They don’t bother me that much, particularly the latter, because that was an undeniable element of the character.

What sets my teeth on edge is the consistent use of screeching, choppy violin ‘music’ throughout the 81-minute runtime. Of course that was the sound Paganini was known for. Of course it represents his genius and torment (traits Kinski seized upon when he made the film, probably because of the similarities between them both). But it’s present all the time, as a backdrop to all the varied emotional moments. What makes Paganini’s final, and very powerful, scenes so effective is the comparative silence in which they are represented.

By this time in his life, as the Blu-ray extras attest at length, Kinski felt he was spent, that he ‘did not exist’, and this exacerbated his extreme behaviour (one commentator tells how every morning, after checking his make-up, the star would smash the mirror, explaining the reflection only has the right to see his image once). I’m not sure whether no one wanted to work with him at this stage, or he wouldn’t listen to advice anyway. Whatever, this film cries out for additional eyes during production, a more restrained voice.

‘Paganini’, or ‘Kinski Paganini’ has many fine moments. Much of the superb location is well captured, the period and settings are well realised, many of the performances are very good (Kinski’s son Nikolai in particular) and there’s no denying that Klaus the actor was a force of nature, and delivers a final bombastic performance. It could just have benefitted from a less grating soundtrack. My score is 6 out of 10.

As I write these words, ‘Cool it, Carol!’, directed by Pete Walker who is perhaps better known for his horror films, is close to its silver anniversary. It’s sobering to remember that 25 years before the film came out, World War 2 had just come to an end.

A lot changes in 25 years. This story, sometimes known as ‘The Dirtiest Girl I Ever Met’ stars Janet Lynn as the titular strumpet – and she isn’t a strumpet at all. Demure, shy even, she tells her wannabe boyfriend Joe (Robin Asquith) that she just doesn’t see sex as a big deal. This comes in handy when the two of them try to make their fortune in London. In other circumstances, Joe becoming her pimp and managing her earnings might portray him as a bit of a git, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.

We’re never really witnesses to the various sex acts, but rather Joe’s reaction as a number of old men disappear into the bedroom with Carol. When she wanders out after it’s over for a nice cup of tea, she’s not remotely fazed by the ordeal.

Based on real-life events, this slice of exploitation is both naïve and eye-watering in its depiction of the ambitions of these young people, both of whom are well portrayed.

While Askwith became a household name with a series of bawdy comedies, Lynn settled down to a life of domesticity away from the cameras. Jess Conrad, Stubby Kaye and DJ Pete Murray bolster the cast with a series of cameos.

I found this an enjoyable slice of what is now ‘period drama’. My score is 7 out of 10.

Vampira is a boring film that without its terrific cast would likely be unwatchable. For a horror/comedy, there’s nothing remotely creepy about any of the set pieces and only a smattering of lukewarm jokes.

David Niven injects a lot of charm into the character of Dracula, scurrying through his lines, and Teresa Graves is beguiling as his resurrected wife Vampira. That the subsequent merriment is based on the fact that Vampira has become non-Caucasian as a result of a blood mix-up, the results could have been a lot more awkward. Whilst the humour is always treading water (except at the end), it is never mean-spirited, just not very funny.

And that’s the problem. Events roll on and on, with only a familiar face cropping up every so often to sustain any interest. Written by Jeremy Lloyd, who with David Croft co-wrote many successful UK sitcoms, ‘Vampira’ suggests that Croft might have been the funny one. My score is 3 out of 10.

‘The Violent Professionals’ – originally known in its native Italy as ‘Milano trema: la polizia vuole giustizia’ – is a riot from start to finish. After a frenzied first few minutes, in which characters either dispatch or are dispatched with shocking regularity, you can hardly blame smouldering ‘tec Giorgio (Luc Merenda) for wanting to walk away. Except he doesn’t – he becomes one of those maverick cops who doesn’t play by the rules. You know the type. But he does it with a scowl and a pout that makes his journey irresistible.

The pace doesn’t slacken; each set piece is meticulously orchestrated and directed (by ever-reliable Sergio Martino). If it occurs to you that some parts of this twisting, complex story might be a little improbable, the violence and car chases make it easy just to go with it: it’s one heck of a ride, and I had a lot of fun for the entire 95 minutes. Terrific. My score is 8 out of 10.