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Image description: the protagonist of ‘Bloodborne’ falls to their knees in witness of a Lovecraftian nightmare The question of video games as art is one that, as someone who somewhat stopped playing games regularly once I left my teen years, I often struggle to reconcile with my other pretentious English Lit student leanings, and my […]
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The majority of the people who know me are aware that I love Scream. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the best horror films ever made. It manages to tackle meta-humour, whilst still creating compelling characters and a creepy atmosphere. For that alone it occupies a special place in my heart. However, my […]
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From Dracula (1958) to The Devil Rides Out (1968), in their 82 year history, Hammer Films Productions have produced some of the most iconic British horror films released in the 20th century. The Man Who Could Cheat Death isn’t one of those films. One of the lesser known entries of the production company’s output, it’s […]
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“It’s true what they say. Rich people really are different.” This is the message of Ready or Not, the second film directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett who’s previous credits include the horror anthology V/H/S (2012). Samara Weavings stars as Grace, a young woman marrying into the uber-wealthy “Le Domas” family. Instead of being […]
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As a film-fanatic I’ve always regarded theatre as something of a weird uncle – the ‘acting’ with a big A never seemed as nuanced, typically inspiring in me an almost irrepressible urge to laugh as the silly men shouted their overwrought emotion into the audience and paced manically up and down the stage in that […]
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“In space, no-one can hear you scream” So goes the famous tagline to Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror classic Alien. The combination of H.R. Giger’s grotesquely beautiful creature design and Scott’s brilliantly claustrophobic direction made for a uniquely terrifying experience, one which took the tropes of 20th century science fiction and twisted them into a […]
Continue ReadingLinked only by their claustrophobic settings – a railway sleeper carriage, a bedroom wardrobe in a game of sardines, a trendy tapas restaurant after closing – the episodes of Inside No. 9 are an intense study in macabre comedy. Written, starring, and occasionally directed by the immense creative talents of League of Gentlemen stars Reece […]
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It’s the scariest time of the year…no, not exam season, Halloween! Some of you will want to hide away beneath the covers, but for those of you bold enough or seeking the thrills of horror (and crazy enough to enjoy those films), the Oxford Student has some suggestions for your October movie repertoire – the […]
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Scrap the popcorn and the all-American horror flicks, get ready to squirm to horror done the Asian way. Horror movies and I have always had a love-hate relationship. From a young age I loved thrillers and all things gothic, but come Halloween it seemed impossible for me to make that last jump (scare) into the […]
Continue ReadingAlong with action blockbusters, the horror genre is probably the one which gets accused of stagnancy the most; the perception that films are only greenlit if they follow the money-making cinema trends is a popular one, and a largely correct one. Franchises like Paranormal Activity stretch on past their welcome, but still inexplicably turn profits. […]
Continue ReadingYou could be forgiven for thinking that Patrick Wilson enjoys being scared witless. After his turn in Insidious as a terrified father combating supernatural forces, and with that film’s sequel due out next month, Wilson is back in the meantime in The Conjuring, a horror film which plays it too safe, but doesn’t do all […]
Continue ReadingEver feel like the only ignoramus in a roomful of culture aficionados? If you can’t be a buff, learn to bluff… GOTHIC FICTION Need To Know • Genre of literature combining horror and romance that began in the mid-18th century with the publication of Walpole’s novel The Castle of Otranto. Prominent features include psychological and […]
Continue ReadingWhat Saw has become for “’torture porn”, Paranormal Activity has become for found footage. Both made a mark because they put a unique twist on the horror film (the former has a serial killer who never killed, and the latter used a Internet campaign that built hype and actually asked audiences to demand its release), […]
Continue ReadingThe release of Adam Sandler’s ‘Hotel Transylvania’ and Tim Burton’s ‘Frankenweenie’ marks a new chapter in the history of comedy horror; time will tell whether these contemporary movies represent the spark of life or the kiss of death for the flaccid corpse of this well-worn genre. But the very nature of comedy horror clashes with […]
Continue ReadingThe horror genre is something of the red-headed stepchild in games: genre conventions from film and literature are near-intrinsically subverted by the mechanical conventions of games. Our agency in games is part of the vernacular – to thwart player agency is to make us feel powerless and passive. While some of the most memorable scenes […]
Continue ReadingThere are those who will criticise The Woman in Black, they will claim that the ending is drawn out and faintly ridiculous, that Daniel Radcliffe is a weak leading man and that the film occasionally descends into melodrama. Unfortunately, those people have rather missed the point. The Woman in Black has no pretensions to be […]
Continue ReadingWith the recent release of Coriolanus in theatres across the country, I recently found myself going through the back catalogue of one of this generation’s most respected Shakespearian actors, Kenneth Branagh. When it comes to adapting the bard’s tales onto the silver screen, his versions of Hamlet and Henry V are often cited as the […]
Continue ReadingAt this year’s London Film Festival David Cronenberg received a fellowship to the BFI. Edward Elliott thinks that it’s long overdue.
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