Film Reviews by NP

Also known as 'Last Stop on the Night Train', this was banned in the UK in 1976, only surfacing once Shameless dusted it off and released it on DVD.

At first, you might well wonder what all the fuss was about. What begins as an untidy-looking production, we witness sinister activity on a train, from a couple of youths notable for their distinct lack of menace. But this isn't mere hooligan behaviour here. They progressively become more abhorrent as time goes along, and Director Aldo Lado is in no hurry to move on from their deeds. The fact that their behaviour seems to be controlled by the main antagonist makes things even more distasteful.

That the shocking events are carried out in such measured tones also means that various horrors are both disturbing and on occasion, highly satisfying. Once used to the mindset of the villains, it's easy for us to want the very worst for them.

A good cast, and some beautifully foggy cinematography - my score is 8 out of 10.

Rearranging events from Mary Shelley's original novel, this film manages to be true to the book while at the same time making something new.

Very much an independent production, Ricardo Islas has directed a very atmospheric horror variation on the familiar theme, of an animalistic monster who seems to delight in killing. You may not blame him, because most of the supporting characters want to kill him too. More than bloodlust, a sense of mating drives him along.

Newly married Victor Frankenstein (Adam Stephenson) and his new wife Elizabeth (Michelle Shields) are, at the time of the story's commencement, being heavily guarded by a group of guards only too aware there is a monster afoot. Frankenstein here is a rather fey character, who is afraid of what he has created, but is not prepared to take the responsibility. What transpires is a game of cat and mouse between the motley selection of guards and the creature, with the latter displaying an almost impossible inability to succumb to death. Some of these effects stretch the budget and the realism.

This is low-key and highly enjoyable, muddy and grimy, with a fast-moving story and willingness to go gory when the plot demands it. Also, the ending is delightfully oblique, allowing us to imagine that somewhere out there ... evil lurks.

According to the DVD extras, 'Cassadaga' is two originally separate story strands melded together. This is apparent but still works well as two strands of the same tale being told. It also means there's plenty of incident. There are gratuitous scenes from the get-go, and the characters are not difficult to like and empathise with as we follow them through a twisted mass of events.

The ending is good, too, ensuring the destination is as enjoyable as the journey. Good performances, convincing effects and an engaging story. My score is 8 out of 10.

One of the joys of Devanand Shanmugam's film is that it begins so steadily, even sedately. You might even be put off by this, but stick with it. Events turn progressively darker, even if they never reach the wince-inducing depths of Mark's aspirations as a stand-up comedian (don't worry, he's supposed to be bloody awful). Mark (Michael Lieber) is a bit of an idiot, and, as is often the way of things recently, the girlfriend, in this case Jill (Loren Peta), provides the practicalities and the backbone of the relationship.

So strong is she that when the couple's new landlords, Henry (Christopher Craig) and Josephine Baker (Antonia Davies), prove to clearly be up to no good, you're surprised she doesn't cotton on sooner. Whatever, this tightly written chiller becomes progressively more weird and genuinely disturbing - nasty, even.

Another joy is the unpredictable quality of the ongoing story. You truly don't know where it is heading, but get quite a jolt when it gets there. My score is 8 out of 10.

As I write, it's 69 years since Godzilla first stomped across our planet, causing the kind of destruction that is, even now, wowing audiences across the world. Toho films were originally (and subsequently) responsible for most of The Big G's attempts to save/destroy humanity. Perhaps less well known, particularly to Western audiences, is that Toho also enjoys a run of horror films. They were behind 1998's seminal Ringu, for example, which spawned a whole host of ghostly dark-haired children in horror films.

They flirted with the Prince of Darkness himself with this trilogy of films. Beginning with 1970's 'The Vampire Doll' and ending with ending with 'Evil of Dracula (1974)', 'Lake of Dracula' stars Shin Kishida as a thin glowing-eyed vampire and is more frightening than you might imagine. Nicely directed by Michio Yamamoto and bathed in abrasive colours, he is a force well up to the standing and style of other Draculas.

Any middle section of a trilogy has the most difficult job. No beginning and no end to speak of, it might ungraciously be regarded as 'filler' to any ongoing story. Happily, the stories are so loosely connected, 'Lake' is free to do as it pleases to a large degree.

There's a note of restrain with the horrors here, which isn't always the way with Toho films, and yet the finale is as horrifying as you could hope for. A triumph of lighting, tension and a generally eerie ambience, my score is 8 out of 10.

No-nonsense Meg (Olivia Williams) has been hired to renovate a sprawling, ramshackle Yorkshire mansion. Unfazed by the task at hand, her family are brought along to accompany her. Artistic Alec (Matthew Nodine), her partner is enthusiastic. Her two children are not.

Unhappy they may be, but Penny and Harper (Antonia Clarke and Adam Thomas Wright) are two likeable children, not prey to the poutings that define others of their age group in films such as this. The acting is great, but Director Nick Willing makes sure the property itself is the star. Sprawling and oppressive, it could never be anything other than a haunted house. Typecasting!

As events become spookier, if not entirely original, they also become confusing, and other characters are brought in to explain what's going on, including a brief turn from Steve Oram's Nigel the ghost hunter. Even then, many things remain unanswered. Some find that annoying. In this case, I am happy with the outcome - sometimes it's better not to know everything!

A recommended chiller. My score is 7 out of 10.

There's always one guest that seems intent on ruining the evening. Steven, played by David Chokachi, is the jerk in question here. Loutish and determined to cause a fight, he disrupts burgeoning friendships between George and Dora and newlywed Vassil and Nadya. It's almost as if he has some agenda of his own.

Slowly the 'normal' people seem to fall under Steven's influence and become infected by whatever is fuelling his fury. This kind of descent is not totally original, and it's true to say the running time is a little too long, but Director and co-writer Martin Makariev does a great job loading the increasingly intense scenes with a thickly spread sense of suspense. This subtitled Bulgarian film features some scenes - mostly those involving Steven - that are spoken in English. Well worth seeing. My score is 8 out of 10.

"We don't own the land, the land owns us," is a quote that gives you a good impression of the message 'Crow' is giving us. These days, much fiction takes it upon itself to preach to us about one thing or another. Sometimes we agree with what is being said, other times, not.

'Crow' is described as an eco-horror and the balance between the two is finely tuned. Wyndham Price has co-written a fine script, by turns wistful, mesmeric, spiritual and an unsettling warning about what might happen if you mess with things better left alone. Alicia (Elen Rhys) is our most sympathetic character - ignored and treated as the trophy wife she initially seems to be.

I found this film great fun, and extremely well directed by Price. Only the depiction of the forest itself is an issue - it's too clean and laundered. Crow and his tribe would, you imagine, be living in fuller, more unkempt greenery befitting the nature of the story. Other than that, my score is 8 out of 10.

Sometimes, it's good to sit back and let a horror movie unfold before you. It needn't be the slickest written, it needn't contain hidden messages or agendas, and it needn't be bursting with CGI or a massive budget. 'The Sichouse' is stylish in its direction and increasingly manic in its storyline. The characters are put well and truly through the mill and the overall feeling is one of chaos and, as you would imagine, sickness.

Co-writer and director Curtis Radclyffe has meticulously (over?) edited the scenes here, drenching them in cold colours and bleeding out any warmth, the camera angles are frequently eccentric, ensuring viewers are never feeling reassured. The sense of chaos makes it virtually impossible to keep up with what is going on, but that is, I think, deliberate. Just as the characters are losing their minds, so we are invited to lose ours for the duration. Some won't enjoy that, but I found it an enjoyable stark experience. It's a bit of a dark trip. My score is 7 out of 10.

There's a lengthy introduction to this tale, involving the set-up for a home-invasion story with a twist - the aggressors are in the house before the homeowners get there, and they are meticulous in their methods.

Director Adam Mason’s found-footage-type horror extols the truly frightening prospect of a stranger in your house. As viewers, we are privy to the family going about their daily business, sleeping - but we're unaware of the stalker's dark plans, and that's the worry. Anything is possible. The house has become his world. He is a further member of the family that no one sees.

Of course, inkeeping with horror stories, our good guys - particularly Dad Aaron (Jeremy Sisko) - are prone to illogicality, even stupidity that works against them, but succeeds in furthering the plot. I'm happy with that, because the result is so entertaining. The finale is particularly good; it manages to be shocking and satisfying.

There are echoes here of the COVID pandemic, even though this prequel to ‘X’ (also from 2022) is set during 1918’s influenza pandemic. Once again this is written and directed by Ti West and stars the magnificent Mia Goth who, for once, is really given a chance to shine. This is far more satisfying than ‘X’ in my view. The focus is more on the small cast and they instigate the story being told; it’s more of a series of vignettes that become more and more twisted as the plot rolls on – although the signs of Pearl’s mindset were there in the opening moments.

The first few scenes are not indicative of what is to come; they go for a David Lynch/Guillermo del Toro level of surreal weirdness and don’t quite cut it. Much better is when Pearl’s predicament and protracted misery are slowly unveiled, and her chance of happiness appears to beckon. Only then do the directorial extravagances gain some depth and complement the story, rather than striking out to engage the viewer on their own.

The cast is very good, and the progression of Pearl’s condition, together with her realisation and embracing of it, is beautifully carried out. Quite the character piece and a lovely way to extol Goth’s talents as an actress. My score is 8 out of 10.

There have been a few one-off sequels to Amando de Ossorio's quartet of Blind Dead films. The four original films, which were released in the early '70s, dealt with very slow-moving animated corpses who invariably made their way after scantily-clad females, on equally slow-moving horses. The films have acquired cult status over the years and inspired more modern-day directors to tell their own stories featuring the bedraggled Knights Templar.

Director Raffaele Pocchio is working with a limited budget, and this has earned his film criticism from some quarters - yet Ossario's productions were always modestly financed; he even created the masks and costumes for the villains himself.

These Knights have an agenda. They are on a mission to kidnap newborn babies for reasons not made clear (unless I missed them) and so therefore, we are treated to several gruelling, enthusiastically played childbirth scenes. Set in a post-apocalyptic world, it appears the Knights want to fashion the young to their ways. There are several gut-wrenching scenes, and while the acting is distinctly mixed, there's a definite energy here which propels the murky story.

70’s Italian star Fabio Testi makes a tiny cameo and it's curious that he's used so sparingly. Good to see him though. I enjoyed this broad and bloody tale. It doesn't adhere to many of the rules of the original films (which were always changing their own backstory anyway) and makes its own narrative. My score is 8 gore-soaked points out of 10.

Pascal Laugier directed the hugely unsettling ‘Martyrs’ (2008) which really pushed the definitions of 'entertainment'. Certainly, it was one of the most distressing films I have ever seen. Happily - if that's the right word - 'Incident in a Ghostland' doesn't approach that level of brutal horror, but it's no walk in the park.

Siblings Beth and Vera (Emilia Jones and Taylor Hickson) are adults suffering from the effects of childhood trauma. Both have been damaged, both have been damaged by events that continue to haunt them. Punishing then, that their abuse doesn't end in the past and we're treated to a jaw-dropping twist in the narrative.

The appearance of the character Howard, otherwise known as HP Lovecraft to his friends, lends the story a certain cold comfort, but ultimately 'Incident in a Ghostland' is harrowing viewing. Is it enjoyable to watch? Well, it's extremely well produced, directed and acted, but you'll be watching segments of it between your fingers. My score is 8 out of 10.

There's a tendency these days especially, to release films that are longer than two hours. Often the subject matter doesn't justify this, and ends up being a slightly thin experience. 1989's Mexican psychedelic fairy-tale, 'Santa Sangre' in contrast, is so awash with weirdly compelling imagery and characters, that the passing of time is the last thing on your mind.

It takes a while to get to grips with 'Santa Sangre' ('Holy Blood' in English). It features the story of young Fenix (Adán Jodorowsky) whose traumatic carnival childhood becomes perversely beautiful thanks to director (and co-writer) Alejandro Jodorowsky's extravagant use of colour and mood. As he becomes an adult (Axel Jodorowsky), the mix of the horrific and the erotic (nothing explicit but often there, under the surface) creates an ambience that is increasingly disturbing and compelling.

This is an acquired taste. At times I really questioned what I was watching - but nothing drags, there is no excuse to look away. A surrealist nightmare, but not without its charms. My score is 8 out of 10.

In this curio, Pere Portabella filmed many silent scenes from Jess Franco’s 1970 production, the oft-derided ‘El Conde Dracula’, and pieced them together. His images are deliberately very grainy and clumsy, as if his goal is to create a documentary-style product - Portabella was by this point known as a documentary director after all. Christopher Lee as the main man features here, alongside other stars Soledad Miranda, Herbert Lom and Franco himself.

Any time we are in danger of being treated to moments from the familiar story, there are inserts from behind the scenes featuring false cobwebs being sprayed over coffins, a poor old rubber bat being coerced into action, and general larks from the cast and crew. What results is a curious hybrid of genuinely unsettling scenes, often filmed without dialogue and saturated with unearthly moans and noises, in stark, heavily-grained black and white.

In fact, the only dialogue we're treated to is at the end of the film, with Christopher Lee's very grand reading of a scene from the novel.

The whole experience is an odd one, and certainly not everyone's pint of blood. I'd suggest, however, it's worth a look. I rather enjoyed it.