Film Reviews by NP

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.

David Greene's beautifully directed film starring Jenny Agutter as 14-year-old Wynne has been described as a horror, but I would suggest it's really a dark - a very dark - coming-of-age film.

Agutter is as charming as she always is, giving her typically unaffected, honest performance as an adolescent fascinated by, and in love with, her stepbrother. His name is George, he is played by Bryan Marshall, and he is twice her age. Annoyingly, Wynne's friend Corinne (Claire Sutcliffe)may also have designs on the rugged charmer. Simon Ward, who was a prolific film and television actor around this time, is also on hand as the unnamed Conductor.

This is one of those films that could only really exist in the late '60s/early '70s. Naivety is mixed with sexuality, and even when under the influence of excessive alcohol, do the youngsters ramble in perfectly received English. It's a charming story in many ways, despite the dark twists and turns it takes, and there's a genuine sense of jeopardy towards the end.

It's strange: I can go through a phase of watching horror films that actually debilitate because of their lack of originality. They tell the same variations of stories, featuring a gang of deeply unpleasant people being stalked by something horrible, or a house giving up its dark secrets to the latest happily married non-entities to have moved in. It sometimes makes me wonder why I love horror so much when the limitations film-makers impose upon themselves result in such mediocrity.

And then, I can watch a run of utter gems. Often low-budget, these are films with something original to say, or at least an original way of presenting an established idea. 'The Ghoul' is one such refreshing example – at times I fought to follow the narrative because I didn't want to lose the thread of interest being weaved around events.

This is a challenging, thought-provoking story. It's far more than just 'is the horror real, or just in the mind?'

'Horror Hospital' is a cheap and very cheerful slice of sexy, early '70s horror sleaze. It's probably the most polished director Anthony Balch made before his untimely death at the age of 42 in 1980. It was also the final acting job for Vanessa Shaw (Judy) who seems to have retired after this.

The cast is impressive. Robin Askwith - whose roles in often hugely un-PC fare such as 'Bless This House', 'Confessions of a Window Cleaner' and 'Carry On, Girls' haven't stifled a prolific career - plays Jason, a true-to-form randy twit who emerges as a kind of hero toward the end (his first words to Judy are, 'Relax, I'm not gonna rape you'). Skip Martin, fresh from Hammer's 'Vampire Circus', is Frederick. Also starring are Eileen Pollock, Dennis Price and top-billed Michael Gough, who puts far more effort into his role as Dr Storm than he did for Hammer's ground-breaking 'Dracula'. You might wonder what these people are doing in gory nonsense like this among a supporting cast of mostly non-actors, but the fact remains - it's gruesomely good fun.

'November' is based on the novel 'Rehepapp' by Andrus Kivirähk and is awash with elements from pagan Estonian folklore. Presented in stark but rich black and white, extraordinary images and set-pieces whirl and skim past us unsuspecting viewers. Underneath all this, the actual story is pretty thin, but that really isn't a consideration. The cinematography is exceptional and squeezes every last drop out of the dark fairy-tale atmosphere.

The plot concerns Liina (Rea Lest) and her patient attempts to attract handsome Hans (Jörgen Liik). However, this is no mere story of love and longing. Mythical-looking, surreal creatures made from wood, metal and bone - Kratts - are obliging and loyal, unsettling and strangely loveable. You won't exactly want one for Christmas, but they have a strange appeal.

At just shy of two hours, 'November' asks the audience to be enthralled by its weirdness for a long time, but that is never really a problem; you don't want to leave until the story is done.

In the UK's comedy 'The Office', Patrick Baladi excelled at being the company heart-throb and hatchet man, someone who could end your career with a smug smile. As Douglas West at one point, he is rather less sympathetic, only realising the folly of his ways whilst stranded in a creepy windmill with a group of others. He is possibly the best-known actor in a uniformly terrific - and diverse - cast.

Boarding a bus for the guided tour of Holland, the group we are to spend the following 85 minutes with are a motley, flawed bunch - Abe (Bart Klever) the guide's weary manner seems to betray something more about him than is immediately apparent. As for his passengers - all of them have a story to tell. Some of them would rather keep it to themselves, but there are no secrets on the 'Happy Holland Tour'.

Nick Jongerius who writes and directs, has guided us on a terrific journey and even at the film's close, the journey shows no real sign of ending, which is disconcerting for any who board the bus. Happily, storytelling comes first here, and the effects that occasionally embellish it are physical for the most part, rather than CGI. Highly recommended. My score is 9 out of 10.