Film Reviews by NP

It seems to me that Frnech horror does 'violence' better than most, whether that's on their telesion series, or in their films. Here, you wince at every blow, you feel every incision, baulk and every pumelling - and that's surely the attraction of slasher films such as this. A consequence of this is that often, a character will be apparently killed (or at least knocked into unconsciousness) only to miraculously get up and carry on the good fight - be prepared for that.

Written and directed by Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, 'Among the Dead' scratches that itch you get when you want to watch something cringe-ingy gory and violent. My score is 8 out of 10.

When relationships get in the way of bloodlust - or vice versa. This is billed as brutal and erotic, which it is, but luckily the blurb doesn't mention the CGI, which, unless you've got squillions to spend, reduces intelligent drama to a cartoon. Whilst not quite ascending those heights, 'Animals' succeeds in displaying a heady mixture of sexual encounters and gory set-pieces. It's all well played and well presented, although the story is somewhat stretched and buckles under the weight of CGI that doesn't do John Skipp's story many favours.

An interesting hybrid of horror and study of what happens when two characters drift apart, this may provide a few surprises. It certainly did for me, and I enjoyed it. The acting is very natural and true-to-life, and the characters are likeable enough that you actually care when horrible things start happening - and they do, of course. 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.

This is a nice, moody Kickstarter-funded project that succeeds in making the ordinary seem extraordinary, that takes a modern day setting and makes it unsettling. Shuffling dead people, unreliable narrators, and plenty of dark surprises provided by director Mike Flanagan. This is an underrated gem.

This is the kind of film that makes it clear that you're not going to get a coherent narrative, and certainly not a finale that wraps everything up. Director, writer, and co-producer Ulli Lommel is determined to leave us scratching our heads. The approach is partly successful: we may not have much of a clue as to what is going on, but we continue to watch.

A macabre art-project then, which is difficult either to recommend or otherwise. My score is 4 out of 10.

A further addition to the work of director Steve Lawson, who has made a name for himself producing low-budget, chatty, carefully made films. You could say he's the master of the chamber piece.

Mark Topping is the bullet-headed vampire-in-chief here, and Hannaj Bang Bendz, a stoical, arse-kicking Mina Harker in this tweaked take on Bram Stoker’s most famous story. It won't be to everyone's taste, but I enjoyed it. My score is 7 out of 10.

A bleak and unforgiving delve into drug use, underage sex and hopelessness. It also features David Bowie both as a guest star and the focus of deadly fascination displayed by young Christiane F (superbly played by Natja Brunckhorst).

I'm a huge devotee of Jess Franco and will always defend his work. Well, nearly always.

This offering is a dud, sadly. A few familiar faces - Alice Arno, Antonio Mayans, Lina Romay, Paul Muller and Olivier Mathot amongst them - slip and slide in and out of a seemingly endless storyline that goes nowhere. The challenge is keeping engaged with it, a challenge not helped by the distractingly bad dubbing. Something about a private eye, a stripper, some gangsters and Lina and Alice in a continuing state of undress. It seems to have been made up as it goes along, but the insertion of some actors in cameos at various points indicates some apparent level of planning and production. Unfortunately, I didn't know what was going on and was not inspired to find out.

Sorry, Jess. Can't like everything.

The Adams Family (just the one 'D') strikes again. Everything we see here is what they have created - as Zelda Adams has said in interviews, one minute they're deciding what groceries to buy, the next, they're planning on shooting another scene for their latest melancholy horror project.

The results are highly individual and absolutely have no need for a higher budget. Unsettling atmospherics are bled from the weather and locations, all shot in the most immersive way - directed, naturally, by Zelda, John Adams and Toby Poser.

This won't be to everyone's tastes. Even I have to admit I felt things drag a little (perhaps pruning ten minutes from the running time would have helped), but ultimately, I had a wonderful time with this story, which flirts with possession, reincarnation, losing one's mind and life beyond death. The acting is great, but so is the cold, uncompromising small-town location.

I liked that nothing is over-explained. I like that there is no real closure, just the suggestion of a continuation of events, and the irony of the fate of the antagonist. It's not happy, but it's not quite sad either - just strange and unnerving. My score is 9 out of 10.

Some complain about there being too many Dracula films released recently. Some complain about anything. If you happen to like horror, this is a golden time for the old Count.

Hot on the heels of 2024’s mighty Nosferatu, a superb production in which the only weak link was the depiction of the titular character, there’s this French-produced epic. As the title suggests, Dracula: A Love Tale concentrates on the more romantic nature of draining young people of their lifeblood, much as Francis Ford Coppola’s overblown Dracula 1992 film did; and that’s not the only similarity between the productions. The look of Caleb Landry Jones’ main character, both young and ancient, is similar too Gary Oldman’s version, as is his brooding ancestral castle. However, whereas Coppola’s film was unnecessarily overblown and – strangely, considering the star-studded cast – very poorly acted in places, A Love Tale features exemplary performances and just the right mix of spectacle and effects. A wronged monster in search of a reincarnated long-lost love was never exclusive to Coppola anyway – the Mummy films have been doing it since the 1940s.

There are no bloodsucking bats here. Instead, we have living CGI gargoyles. They’re impressive mostly, but as a new addition to vampire lore, they’re bizarre. Only in the finale do they assume an air of reality and even poignancy. Humour – not a comforting bedfellow of bloodsuckers – runs a vein through proceedings, and not unsuccessfully. More subjective even than horror, comedy is a risky thing to include, but it is morbid and dry enough to impress me, and I’m extremely hard to please. Jonathan Harker, here, comes across as rather clumsy and oafish – he then becomes a thorn in Dracula’s side at a time when the story invites us to empathise with the vampire. It all works surprisingly well.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and recommend it as a welcome addition to the huge amount of Dracula variations already available to feast upon. Of the impressive actors, Landry Jones is consistent and compelling: not a typical Drac figure, but unusual and very watchable. Zoë Bleu is idiosyncratic and wonderful as Mina, a character who never catches a break. My favourite performer might well be Matilda De Angelis as the flamboyant Maria; her first scene as the captured vampire is exquisitely played in particular – a mix of feral defiance, seduction, playfulness and angst as she is reminded that at this stage of the tale, she is entirely at the mercy of the ‘good guys’. As is sometimes the case, the antagonists are so fascinating and extravagant that those on the side of good are comparatively bland.

A terrific take on the Bram Stoker favourite.

My score is 9 out of 10.

Robert Eggars has proven a divisive director. Some hail him as a true visionary whereas others, myself included, often find little to enjoy in his often overblown, over-produced films. My favourite up until now, has been 2015’s ‘The VVitch’ – his others have left me pretty cold. Eggars expressed an interest in adapting ‘Nosferatu’ many years ago, and I enjoyed the results a lot.

From his impressive build-up, swathed in dark shadow, Bill Skarsgård as Nosferatu is the film’s weakest link. As played by Max Schreck and Klaus Kinski before him, Nosferatu was always a very physical performance, and displayed odd, often lizard-like mannerisms via eccentric contortions of the body. This version is so bunged up with prosthetics, often utilising a full body suit, that there’s very little natural (or unnatural) physicality on display. Therefore, our vampire here is very static and brooding, relying mainly on the face to accentuate the strangeness vital to any blood-sucker; even that is a prosthetic that surprisingly doesn’t include the trademark rat-like ears or pointed incisors. To that end, the titular character is more of an effect than a character, albeit in impressive one. Unlike earlier unearthly vampires, this thin-nosed, heavily moustachioed incarnation looks like a malevolent geography teacher.

To me, the film belongs to Lily-Rose Depp. Her playing of Elen Hutter requires several varied extremes of emotion, and she is utterly convincing playing them all. As far as I can tell, her performance is mostly natural and unencumbered by much in the way of effects work.

The score, by Robin Carolan, is standard for a horror film – lots of doomy, swirling strings and jump-scares. It’s bombastic and adds weight to some more frightening scenes, but is never a character in its own right like Popol Vuh’s extraordinary music for Werner Herzog’s 1979 film.

I’ve been honest in my criticisms here, but it is my favourite Robert Eggers film by far, and has clearly been a labour of love for him. Everything about the production shines – the locations are immersive stunning, the CGI work subtle and natural looking and the thinned-down colours (cold, cold blues and warming reds) are a skilful homage, it seems, to the monochrome original. It just surprises me that Eggar has chosen to deviate from the more traditional look of Count Orlok.

This plays as a Polish fusion of David Lynch and Guillermo del Toro; it starts weird and stays there. The ending succeeds in being quite touching despite the bizarre run of events leading up to it, but the one-note eccentricities and the endless musical pieces soon become a series of more of the same unorthodox story-telling – although the soundtrack is very good.

Robert Bolesto’s plot is adult fairy-tale and wafer-thin, but as is the way with art films of this nature, the visuals and the direction are key; Agnieszka Smoczynska ensures the production looks lavish and epic throughout. Set in the 1980’s, it’s a real case of style over content – events rarely draw you in, but are pleasing on a superficial scale. My score is 6 out of 10.

Very much in the style of its time, this 1972 production – very much in the style of a TV Movie although it did have a cinematic release – features Patty Duke as Francesca, a very appealing lead and Rosemary Murphy as the dreaded mother-in-law. Richard Thomas, famous as John-Boy from wholesome American TV series ‘The Waltons’ is effective as Kenny. Completing the quartet of central actors is familiar ‘70s television actor Sian Barbara Allen as Kathleen. What a family they turn out to be.

The story is a somewhat silly one, and it’s difficult to explain why without including spoilers. That Francesca is heavily pregnant from the outset is a strong indicator that a baby will feature somewhere in this story. It’s the infant’s implausibly exemplary behaviour that allows the tale to roll on and remains a major stumbling point in going along with it.

But it’s worth your time. The acting is terrific, and the production displays much of the style of television drama we really don’t see these days. My score is 7 out of 10.

You may think your Blu-ray has skipped to the halfway mark of this zippy and atmospheric Mexican horror film, for the first scene dives headlong into a sea of horrors involving a blank-eyed woman and her violent ward who set upon a group of travellers. After the credits have rolled, we only then focus on the origins of the characters, all shot in splendidly stark monochrome.

The story is simple. Married couple Amelia (Rosita Arenas) and Jaime (Abel Salazar) travel to a vast country house owned by Selma (Rita Macedo), Amelia’s aunt. Selma is a witch who uses the couple to resurrect ‘la Llorona’ (the crying woman). That’s all you need to know.

This is a good, solid, spooky film, very carefully made and impressive, especially for its time. Horror and destruction come to an impressively realised head toward the climactic moments, and director Rafael Baledón is in no rush to spare the audience a moment. My score is 7 out of 10.