Mother of Rome by Lauren J.A. Bear - Book Review

 

'The names Romulus and Remus may be immortalized in map and stone and chronicle, but their mother exists only as a preface to her sons’ journey, the princess turned oath-breaking priestess, condemned to death alongside her children. But she did not die; she survived. And so does her story.

'Beautiful, royal, rich: Rhea has it all—until her father loses his kingdom in a treacherous coup, and she is sent to the order of the Vestal Virgins to ensure she will never produce an heir. Except when mortals scheme, gods laugh.

'Rhea becomes pregnant, and human society turns against her. Abandoned, ostracized, and facing the gravest punishment, Rhea forges a dangerous deal with the divine, one that will forever change the trajectory of her life…and her beloved land. To save her sons and reclaim their birth right, Rhea must summon nature’s mightiest force – a mother’s love – and fight. All roads may lead to Rome, but they began with Rhea Silvia.'

Myth and legend has long been used to inspire new works, and even a lot of those legends are reinterpretations of other stories that have existed in the world. There are certain stories and character archetypes that have survived over the centuries because they've appealed to people on a deeper level, and these tend to be the ones that get adapted over and over again. There are hundreds of versions of Hercules, Thor, and other legendary heroes. Lauren J.A. Bear seems to take a different approach with her writing, however, instead focusing in on the lesser known characters, those who play a smaller part in another's story, and focuses on them instead. She did that with her debut novel, Medusa's Sisters, and is doing that once again with the spectacular Mother of Rome.

Most people will likely be familiar with the characters of Romulus and Remus, the twin brothers raised by a fierce wolf who would go on to found the city of Rome, creating one of the largest empires to ever exist. But that tends to be where the knowledge ends. Where did these two come from, and what led them to be raised by a wild animal? These are the questions that Bear is focusing on, giving the answers her now signature twist, transforming the story into something deeper and more surprising than ever before.

Rhea Silvia is the only daughter of King Numitor, a king troubled by much grief at the loss of his queen and their eldest son to illness years before. When his only other son is lost he falls into a pit of grief and despair; a despair that leaves to upheaval for the kingdom. Rhea is sent to join the order of the Vestal Virgins by her uncle, where she's expected to spend decades in service to the gods and celibacy. Unknown to anyone though, Rhea has been visited by the Roman god Mars, and the two of them have entered into a relationship. Before she takes her vows with the order she falls pregnant to the god, something that earns her a death sentence. With her sons lost out in the world and her dead, it's believed that that's where Rhea's story ends. However, at the moment of her death Rhea makes a deal with the goddess Cybele, and becomes the very wolf that will care for her sons and raise them to greatness.

One of the things that I have come to adore with Bear's writing is that women get put in the centre of things. It's not going to be surprising news to anyone that in a lot of these stories from the ancient world women don't get the best roles. Prizes to be won for men, victims to be brutalised, monsters to be vanquished. Women are obstacles or set-dressing to men's heroics. But Bear has twice now shone the light on the women of these myths, and has given them more agency, humanity, and wonder than any of these ancient storytellers have ever done.

Rhea is a character that goes through a lot of changes over the course of her narrative, and not just physically. She's a loving daughter who cares about her father and her role as a princess. She understands duty and knows that she will need to marry in order to strengthen the kingdom. Because of this, when we see her watching her father lose himself to drug and grief induced madness it's incredibly tragic, and seeing it through her eyes shows the very human impact of an event that's usually described in the broader terms, as something that befalls a kingdom. Rhea is used to humanise the people around her, and it's through her connections and love for them that this tale is made a little less fantastical and into something that most people will be able to connect with.

Bear also uses the Order of the Vestal Virgins in a similarly interesting way. Often this group is presented as something of a punishment, a life sentence where Rhea will be locked away without her own agency. And whilst the book doesn't try to paint it as something else, it does give it more depth than other tellings of the story. Rhea comes to respect the order and its members, she makes connections with them, and you can start to see it as less of a prison and more of a sisterhood; a sisterhood that will echo down through Rhea's story.

The most obviously impactful changes in her story are her motherhood, and her life after her death. As far as I'm aware most versions Rhea's story end with her death, and the folding of her narrative into the rest of the story, making her Lupa the she-wolf who cares for her sons, is something that is unique to Bear's telling. When I read the synopsis for the book and saw that change I thought that it made perfect sense to do that, and having now read the book I can't believe that this wasn't just the original myth. It works perfectly. It fits with the world of gods, magic, and the fantastical, but it also works on a thematic level; a mother whose love is so strong that she returns from death to care for her sons in a new form, of course that's what happened.

Much like with Medusa's Sisters, Mother of Rome will change the way that you look at this story, and will reframe what you know in such a way that it'll become the only version you have in your head. I've been unable to view Medusa as anything but a hugely tragic and mistreated figure since Bear's first book, and now I'm not going to be able to see the myth of Rhea or her sons again without this narrative being chiefly at the forefront of my mind. Bear is a master at reinterpreting these stories, at putting women at the centre of them, and making them feel varied, flawed, real, and strong beyond belief. If you're looking for a feminist take on these ancient tales this is the book for you.

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Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson by Jesse J. Holland (editor) - Book Review

 

'The new Captain America has a big shield to carry. Is he up to the task? In these short stories inspired by the Marvel comic book universe, Sam Wilson takes up the shield and proves his mettle.

'Sam Wilson has a heavy shield to lift as the new Captain America. Read an action-packed anthology about Sam Wilson. Inspired by the Marvel comic book universe, the stories will see Sam prove he is ready to carry the shield as he faces Skrulls, Sabretooth, Kingpin, and other infamous villains.

'A revolutionary anthology written by authors of African Heritage and inspired by the Marvel Comics universe. Slated to take part are several noted, award-winning authors including bestselling author Kyoko M., fantasy author L.L. McKinney, crime writer Gary Phillips, sci-fi author Sheree Renée Thomas, comics creator Alex Simmons, horror and mystery writer Nicole Givens Kurtz, and many more. Edited by Jesse J. Holland, distinguished visiting scholar in residence at the U. S. Library of Congress who edited the Marvel anthology Black Tales of Wakanda and wrote the novelization of the graphic novel Black Who Is the Black Panther?, which was nominated for the NAACP Image Award for outstanding Literary Work.'

Captain America has been an icon for decades, a symbol of the better qualities of America, the belief in truth, justice, equality, and bravery. He's been an inspiration for millions across his multiple stories, even being willing to go against the American government in order to stand on the right side of history. He's the kind of person we should all aspire a little bit to be. But Captain America is more than one man, more than just Steve Rodgers, and a decade ago another man took up the shield and became Captain America. Unlike others, this wasn't a gimmick, it wasn't keeping the costume warm for Steve, it was what has so far been a permanent change. Sam Wilson, the hero known as the Falcon, became a new Captain America.

There was some controversy when this happened, due to the fact that Sam is Black. There were outcries of 'woke ideology' taking over Captain America (an absolute joke of a comment when you consider Cap has always been progressive), and these were the nicest of negative comments as some people used this as an excuse to be the worst kinds of bigots they could be. But despite this, Sam Wilson has stood tall as Captain America ever since. Even when Steve returned to the role Sam remain Captain America, giving us two Caps. And now Sam Wilson is wielding the shield on the big screen. Sam Wilson IS Captain America, even if it still feels like he's having to prove that fact a decade on to those that will never accept a Black man as the symbol of the United States. 

This is a theme that carries heavily across the stories collected in Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson. Eleven authors, all of whom are Black, bring together stories about Sam Wilson proving that he's worthy to hold the title of Captain America, dealing with those who say he could never be Cap, and learning more about what the mantle means to him and his own place in the world.

I'm a white British person, I don't know what it's like to be treated differently because of the colour of my skin, I've never experienced systemic racism the way that Black communities in the United States do, so my experience with this short story collection and what it will mean to those within that community. Sam Wilson being Captain America is a big thing, something important that generated a lot of reactions across the board. A lot of these reactions are explored in these stories, whether it's Sam being told he's 'not my Captain America' by racists who are desperate to use a slur, to allies who reassure him that he's more than earned the title and embodies what it is to be Cap, and even those within the Black community who feel that his change from Falcon is some kind of betrayal, as if he's 'selling out'.

I don't know if this was a theme that the authors were told to include, or whether it's even now, a decade on from him taking up the shield, something that's still so hotly debated; either way, these elements appear in most of the stories in the book, and create a thematic throughline that connects them. It also helps to humanise Sam in a lot of ways. With certain heroic figures it's easy to make them into icons, larger than life characters that feel removed from the rest of humanity. In Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson Sam very much feels like a normal person, one with fears, self doubt, and faults that we all have. He might be wearing the costume of Captain America, but he's still very much a person, and that sets him aside from Steve Rodgers in some ways, as we get to know the man behind the shield.

Whilst a lot of the stories here feel thematically connected they all manage to have their own distinct identities, approaching the character of Sam Wilson from different perspectives that not only keeps the book fresh and interesting, but shows hoe many facets the character has. The first story, 'Lost Cause' by Kyoko M. has Sam as more of a hero figure, flying in to help stop the villains and showcasing his larger than life attributes. This contrasts nicely with something like Gar Anthony Haywood's 'The Way Home', which sees Sam taking on a more personal case, talking to people, walking the streets of Harlem to help a kid that the authorities have simply ignored. We get to see Sam as Captain America, the symbol, but we also see him as a man who cares about people, who wants to help his former home.

Some of the stories focus less on Sam, and use him as a way to explore different ideas. One example of this would be 'Uniform' by Jesse J. Holland, in which Sam finds himself thrown backwards in time to World War Two, where he ends up spending some time with a regiment of Black soldiers. The story explores what it means to wear the uniform for these men, to proudly display the fact that they serve their country, are willing to lay down their lives for it when at home other Black men are being lynched for wearing it. It was an incredibly touching story, one that explores how difficult it must have been for these people to be in a situation like this, and whilst Sam is there, and gets to share his own unique thoughts on this as Captain America, he's more of a vehicle to have this discussion than the focus of it.

With the book being set in the world of the comics there's a lot of characters that readers will be familiar with who make appearances in these stories. These characters aren't just thrown in as cameo appearances (for the most part), and they tend to add something to Sam's journey. One story, 'Everyone's Hero' by Maurice Broaddus features Maria Hill, who begins the story somewhat adversarial, and you're unsure as to what she thinks of Sam as Cap, but by the end she's telling Sam 'the shield looks good on you', mirroring some of the themes of the story about whether Sam is worthy of being Cap and who's Captain America he is. 

John Walker, the US Agent, appears in a couple of the stories, and whilst he's used differently in each he works as a great foil for Sam. A man who took on the role of Captain America but gave it up to be his own hero, Walker offers a unique perspective on what Sam is going through, and his support of Sam being Captain America every step of the way won me over to the character instantly; there's one moment when he's literally choking out a soldier for muttering disrespect at Sam, and it's brilliant. Other characters like Steve Rodgers, Misty Knight, and Luke Cage are present in the book, though his more often used companion is his bird, Redwing. As someone who has read little about Redwing it was actually really interesting to see their relationship in these stories. 

Sam Wilson is an important character, one who has very much earned the right to be Captain America, yet who continues to be complained about by those who take one look at him and cannot accept a Black man representing their nation. Because of this he will continue to be one of the more important characters that Marvel have in their catalogue. Sam Wilson more than embodies what it means to be Captain America, and one could argue that his role isn't just earned but needed, now more than ever. This collection of stories showcases why he's such a good character, the kind of hate he gets, and why his presence is important. How you feel about Sam Wilson will affect what you take away from this book. If you're one of the people who will never accept a Black Captain America this book will likely do little to change your mind, but for the rest of us, those who understand and appreciate what this character means will find a lot of brilliant stories in this collection. 

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Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman - Book Review

 

'Noah Fairchild has been losing his formerly polite Southern parents to far-right cable news for years, so when his mother leaves him a voicemail warning him that the “Great Reawakening” is here, he assumes it’s related to one of the many conspiracy theories she believes in. But when his own phone calls go unanswered, Noah makes the long drive from Brooklyn to Richmond, Virginia. There, he discovers his childhood home in shambles, a fridge full of spoiled food, and his parents locked in a terrifying trance-like state in front of the TV. Panicked, Noah attempts to snap them out of it and get medical help. Then Noah’s mother brutally attacks him.

'But Noah isn’t the only person to be attacked by a loved one. Families across the country are tearing each other apart-–literally-–as people succumb to a form of possession that gets worse the more time they spend watching particular channels, using certain apps, or visiting certain websites. In Noah’s Richmond-based family, only he and his young nephew Marcus are unaffected. Together, they must race back to the safe haven of Brooklyn–-but can they make it before they fall prey to the violent hordes?'

There are occasions when a piece of media comes out and you can tell with absolute certainty that it was inspired by the world we're living in, where it's clear that the creator has something to say about the shape of the world and politics. Much great fiction has these elements in them, and Wake Up and Open Your Eyes is definitely one of these, but I also think that thanks to how the recent US presidential election ended this book is going to hit just a little harder, and potentially fuck people up just a bit more.

The basic plot of the book, without giving too much away, is that people who have been spending their time watching Fax News, and scrolling through right-wing social media sites, one day make a sudden turn. These conspiracy nuts angry bigots go from being the kind of people we're currently having to deal with into a crazed mass of killers. A switch is thrown and a politically aligned apocalypse hits the world and boy does this book feel even more relevant that it should have. It's clear that Clay McLeod Chapman was heavily inspired by events in America over the last decade, especially the Trump administration, but I suspect that this book was written as partly a 'imagine how bad things could have gotten' kind of narrative post-Trump. And then he got in again. As such, we're not getting to read this book post-Trump, we're reading it going into Trump 2.0, and a world that feels incredibly devoid of hope.

You can't say that McLeod Chapman knew this was coming, because most sane, rational people would have never imagined that we'd be going through this shit a second time, but it does feel a little bit like he created this book at just the right time for the narrative to really get under people's skin even more. I'm not even living in America, but I found reding this book so incredibly uncomfortable thanks to what's happening there that I can't help but wonder just how much harder this novel will hit American readers.

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes tells the story of the Fairchild family, focusing on Noah. Noah's parents are right wingers, and his recent Thanksgiving visit ended badly thanks to his and his parents political views not aligning. This is a situation that a lot of people will be familiar with, of strained family gatherings as some relative or friend of the family comes out with something truly bigoted and disgusting and you're forced to bite your tongue for fear of causing some kind of fracture; especially as you know it'll get heated. Unfortunately for Noah, just holding your opinions in and thinking 'it's okay, the old bigots will be dead soon' no longer becomes an option as those on the right turn into raging maniacs.

I think that there's a lot of people out there who quite genuinely and correctly fear for their safety and the safety of those they love in the current political climate. We're living in a time where fascism is on the rise, where a convicted criminal and rapist has been given control of a world super power (for a second fucking time!), where 'free speech' has become so sacred that open hate speech and disinformation cannot be spoken out against, and where rights of minority groups are being eroded. It's right to be afraid of that, and if you are Wake Up and Open Your Eyes is going to prey on those fears. Suddenly it's not the nebulous 'they're coming for you' of political violence, but actual physical violence. It's the rage virus mixed with right wing media, and that's disturbing as hell.

The book doesn't just rely on these internal fears from the real world, as McLeod Chapman goes hard on the horror elements too. The Fax zombies are nasty, brutal people, and the book doesn't shy away from showing what they do to the non-infected. The book has physical violence, harm to animals, sexual assault, school violence, and other terrible things that are described in vivid, brutal fashion. Even without the political elements Wake Up and Open Your Eyes would be a hard read.

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes is not an easy book to get through. It's disturbing as hell, in part because of the world in which it's been released. I would recommend it as a frightening horror story, but I'd also do so with a warning; this is not going to be a fun read, it might get too much, it might be a little too close to comfort at times, so take a break if need be, don't try reading it all at once. There's one thing that makes this book not totally devoid of cheer or hope though, the fact that we're pretty confident that whilst these people may try and kill us in real life they at least won't do it as murderous rage zombies. We hope.

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Nosferatu - Film Review

 

There are some films where the history of the movie can be as interesting as the film itself; and 1922's Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror is definitely one of these. A silent German Expressionist movie that was an unofficial adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel Dracula, the film was almost lost to time when the Stoker estate used copyright law to have all copies of the movie rounded up and burnt. Luckily, a few scattered versions remained, and it passed on into film history as one of the most influential vampire films of all time. The idea that sunlight can kill vampires came from the original film, it shaped vampire myth that much! Over the years it has been remade, but it has always remained something of an oddity, a monster movie with an almost comical creature in the middle of it, and somewhat weighed down by it's dubious connection to the more famous Dracula. However, director Robert Eggers has managed to elevate Nosferatu, creating one of the more ambitious, and beautifully crafted vampire films ever made; and has elevated Count Orlok into a figure of fear. 

Following the plot of the original, Nosferatu centres on Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp), a young woman who's been haunted by nightmarish visions and dark dreams her entire life; the opening scene of the film takes us into one of these dreams, and sets the tone for everything that comes after. Her newlywed husband Thomas (Nicholas Hoult), eager to find a way to better support his new wife and provide for her, takes on a long assignment from his boss, Herr Knock (Simon McBurney), which will require him to travel to Transylvania, where he will finalise the selling of an old manor. Leaving Ellen with family friends Friedrich (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his wife Anna (Emma Corrin), Thomas sets out for a weeks long journey.

Finally arriving in Transylvania, he's met with fearful locals, tales of the supernatural, and urgings to not travel to the castle where he's to meet his client. As Thomas approaches the castle his mind enters an almost delirious state, with things taking on a more nightmarish and dreamlike quality. Before he knows it, he's inside the ancient castle, face to face with the terrifying Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgård). Thomas soon realises that there's something truly evil about the Count, and is forced to fight for his life against the monster. Back home, Ellen's mind begins to deteriorate as her past mental health issues and depression returns. She becomes convinced that there's some dark force that's coming to her, one that spells doom for everyone. 

From the opening scene it's clear that Nosferatu is a film that's going to be an audio and visual treat. Opening to creepy, off-kilter music box notes and a dream sequence devoid of colour, a deep bluish grey taking over every frame, this is a movie filled with style. Yet thankfully it's not one that forgets that you need more than style to carry a movie. Every scene is carefully thought out, either being used to further build the characters, or moving the story forward in some important way. It's a film that feels like it's being very tight with what it puts on screen, giving you exactly what you need to feel invested in the narrative and those involved, and by the time the credits roll you'll be wondering how more than two hours could have passed in what felt like such a short time.

Eggers has been praised for the way that he presents his movies since he exploded onto the scene with The Witch, a film that captured the era it was set in more than most others; to the point where I remember seeing negative comments and reviews for the more period accurate language that was used in the movie. The Lighthouse was a film filled with visual flair, with it's black and white footage and use of heavy shadows and carefully thought out lighting, a lot of people who'd not seen the movie could identify it from an image because it became so well known for how it looked. Nosferatu feels like a great marriage of the two, crafting a wonderfully detailed and believable period setting that feels genuine but also manages to feel otherworldly thanks to the cinematography.

I want to take a moment to talk a little about the look of the film before delving into the other aspects. One of the chief things I took away from Nosferatu when I came out of the cinema, a point that I made to the people I was there with, was that the film makes you grateful for the invention of the lightbulb. The film has three types of scenes, those shot during the day, scenes set in darkness that feel desaturated and almost devoid of colour, and night scenes where the use of candles, lanterns, and other sources of fire creates a thick, almost oppressive orange haze. There are a lot of films and television shows that seem to either take a stylised approach to night scenes, or have become so dark in a bid to be 'realistic' that you can hardly make out anything ('The Long Night' episode of Game of Thrones being almost universally criticised for this). 

Nosferatu feels like it's own animal. Things feel realistic in the sense that it hammer home how oppressive the nights were back then, and how firelight was an awful way of seeing things. Yet the film also feels incredibly stylised, and Eggers seems to know how to use light and darkness to produce some of the best night scenes in a horror film I've ever seen. The darkness itself feels like a character in the movie, one that is able to shape the moments we're seeing, skewing our perception of them, and depending on how it's presented, whether that be cold and devoid of colour or bathed in a soft glow, lets the audience know whether we're safe or not (for the most part at least).

Eggers doesn't just play with the darkness, however, but also messes with the viewers perception of scenes thanks to some beautifully twisted transitions and cuts that give the film a dark nightmarish quality. For the most part Nosferatu is presented as a fairly normal film, one with a chain of events that makes sense and you're able to follow. With the introduction of Orlok, though, things begin to break down. It's when on the road to Orlok's castle, in a beautifully composed night scene that shows Thomas on a dark, moonlit road with snow gently fluttering down upon him, that the film goes into the surreal; in some ways taking some lessons from the German Expressionist movement that gave birth to the original. 

Logic begins to break down, a carriage that's about to run him down is suddenly still, awaiting his entry, facing a direction it couldn't have been. As the carriage approaches the castle the camera moves into the blackness of Thomas' coat before moving upwards to emerge from the shadows of the castle itself, giving us a birds-eye view of it. Inside the castle, Thomas shifts around the room, moving from one chair to another thanks to a camera move that seems to take him by surprise as much as it does the audience. There are times where the film doesn't quite make narrative sense, where logic falls by the wayside, and it's like living inside a dream. I have to commend Eggers for these moments, as they make the film one of the more distinct, creative movies of modern mainstream cinema.

The film isn't just stylish visuals though, as the film cannot rely on flair alone to win over audiences. The film's central cast are outstanding, and deliver some superb performances. Lily-Rose Depp is incredibly impressive, bringing a well of emotional range and physical acting to the role that marks her out as someone worthy of keeping note of. This is my first film with her in it, and so for me she was a completely unknown factor, and her role is such a vitally important one that it would make or break the movie. As it is, Depp is shockingly good, bringing something new to each scene she's in. Depp plays Ellen as a very sad character for much of the film, depressed that her husband has to leave her, a depression that only grows thanks to her nightmares and hallucinations. There are moments in the film where you're never quite sure what Ellen is going to do next, and some of her sudden turns from deeply sad to shaking with cold rage come so suddenly that it's shocking to take in. This, coupled with the way she plays the physical side of Ellen's ailment, intense shaking, twisting limbs, and rolling eyes, makes her almost as hard to look at as Orlok at times.

Nosferatu relies heavily on Ellen being performed well as, unlike the book that the story draws inspiration from, the female lead isn't just something for the men to covet. Yes, several of the men in the movie want to protect her, and she's the thing that the villain desires, but here Ellen is someone who is more of the hero. If you're familiar with the original you know that Ellen plays an incredibly important role in defeating Orlok (I won't say how), and that without her it's likely the villain would remain undefeated. Because of this, the film becomes something of a feminist story, with a central female figure who is largely ignored by the men around her, her warnings of a coming evil chalked up to hysteria, who's tied down and drugged rather than helped, but who ultimately is able to save the day when she's finally listened to and allowed agency. Compared to her Stoker counterpart it's shocking how much more this film gives its female lead.

Nicholas Hoult might not be given the hero role of the film, but is absolutely a character that the audience spends much of the film with, and through who we're introduced to a lot of the horror. His already mentioned journey to Orlok's castle gives Hoult a huge amount to play with, from a young man eager to make more of himself, to a man tired and worn down by his long journey, to someone living though a nightmare within Orlok's castle. As soon as Thomas enters the castle Hoult's entire demeanour changes, and he shows genuine terror in many of these moments. Hoult is barely holding himself together in some of these moments, tears running down his face, his body shaking. With a lot of horror films putting the female cast in the role of the most frightened, it's wonderful to see a film showing that anyone would be terrified in these situations. Thomas is often more frightened than Ellen in the movie, and it just makes his decision to stand against Orlok even more triumphant. He's a man who was very nearly broken completely, but now he's choosing to face those horrors again in order to save those he loves. It's a wonderful performance, and it's easy to see why Hoult is one of those actors that often gets brought up as an underrated gem.

Filling out the rest of the main cast is Ralph Ineson as Doctor Sievers, a physician who comes to help Ellen with her declining health, and Willem Dafoe as Professor Albin Eberhart Von Franz, a former teacher of Sievers who has become disgraced over the years thanks to his study of the occult. Alongside Aaron-Taylor Johnson and Emma Corrin, this group become a focus for much of the film, as Thomas recovers from his ordeal at the castle, and Ellen remains unwell and tied to the bed. They become the 'normal' part of the film, a group trying to get to the bottom of Ellen's illness as best they can. It's the introduction of Dafoe's character that begins to steer them towards the supernatural, a journey that takes much of the film for them as they write it off as superstitious nonsense. 

Ineson shines as the respectable doctor type, though thanks to the medical practices of the time comes across as sexist and backwards, yet the film makes it clear that's historical thinking and not necessarily a failing on his part as he tries to be a good man where he can. Johnson and Corrin get some decent scenes, but often their characters are playing catch-up to the others, expressing their incredulity at the events happening around them, and being a little slow at realising the horrors they're experiencing. Dafoe is a surprisingly quiet presence in the film. Dafoe is one of those actors who you're never sure what kind of performance he's going to give, one who can do quiet and calm, but who is also well known for being a bit over-the-top. It would have been easy to have his Van Helsing stand in go this direction, to be the man raving about the supernatural, but instead he tackles the role more as a man tired and worn down by the world.

The stand out, however, is Skarsgård as Orlok. Orlok's presence has been kept to a minimum in the build up to the film, with little more than a shadowy presence in the trailers and barely distinguishable shapes on posters. This has been one of the biggest strengths of the film for me, and going into the movie I was excited to see what he'd be like. The first few scenes he's in you don't even get a good look at him, yet he manages to become an instantly terrifying figure thanks to the sheer presence he has. Even when out of focus in the background, or draped in shadows, he looms over every moment, and your eyes are instantly drawn to him. The voice that Skarsgård employs for the count is booming, guttural, and plays into the sound design wonderfully. Even as the film continues and you see more of him you never really get a clear look at him, and it's just the actors physicality, the way he moves, the way he holds himself, and the way he talks, that brings Orlok to life like never before. 

The original Count Orlok has become something of a joke over the last century, with the wizened, diseased vampire with the rat-like teeth having become used as a gag in various media; but Skarsgård makes Orlok into one of the most frightening vampires that I've seen be put to film. This is an Orlok who makes your skin crawl, you plays with your mind, and who you feel would tear you apart before you could even raise your arms in defence. This performance coupled with his version of Pennywise makes Skarsgård one of the best monster actors we have, and may ever have had. I knew that this was him, but I couldn't see or hear him at all, he'd transformed himself so much here that it wasn't an actor playing Orlok, it was just Orlok to me. And because of that I'm going to find it hard to see another vampire top this.

Nosferatu is a beautiful, disturbing, terrifying movie. It's a film that has taken a story and character that people have largely looked down upon over the years and made it so surprisingly good that I may have to name this movie as my favourite adaptation of Dracula now. With the huge attention to detail and the clear thought that has been put into the framing of every shot this is a film that you can point to as more than just entertainment and clearly say 'this is what we mean when we say movies are art'. Eggers has an eye for both the beautiful and haunting, and brings that to play in equal measures here, creating a film that will worm its way under your skin and wow you at the same time. It's not perfect, as I don't think any film can be, and there are some things that I'd have liked to have seen the film focus more on or to have given us more of, but it's one of the most stunning films I've had the pleasure to see on the big screen.

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Oddity - Blu-ray Review

 

 Oddity opens with Dani (Carolyn Bracken) alone in an old converted stable house in the middle of the countryside. The rough, unfinished home conversion is stark, empty, and eerily beautiful. We watch Dani as she goes about her jobs, fixing the place up, before settling in to spend the night alone inside the old building, a small tent prepared in one of the rooms. Her husband, Ted (Gwilym Lee), is working nights in a nearby high security mental hospital, so Dani is alone as the darkness creeps in. Or is she? After heading out to her car she has a knock at the door, where she finds a former patient of her husband, Olin (Tadgh Murphy), begging to be let in, warning her that someone is in the house with her. 

After this the film jumps forward a year, where we learn that Dani was brutally murdered within the house, and that it's believed Olin committed the crime after being allowed inside. Her blind twin sister, Darcy (also played by Bracken) runs an occult antique shop, where she contains haunted and cursed items. She's visited by Ted, who brings her the gift of Olin's artificial eye, the former patient having been recently killed. Darcy believes that she can use her psychic gifts to learn something from the eye, something that Ted dismisses out of hand. However, when Darcy arrives on Ted's doorstep a few days later, with a mysterious crate, he and his new girlfriend Yana (Caroline Menton) are ill prepared for what will come next.

Labelled as a horror, Oddity certainly fits the bill thanks to its eery atmosphere and some truly chilling frights, but for me the film is much closer to a dark, supernatural thriller; one that works its way under your skin as you demand answers to the mystery of what happened to Dani. This question is at the heart of the movie, and is one that informs everything that we see. This mystery would be enough to sustain the film in itself, and there are thousands of stories about someone investigating the death of a loved one, but what makes Oddity feel different from a lot of these is the way that the supernatural manages to creep its way into every moment in the film.

The very first scenes of the movie feel like an urban legend, one of those stories that's designed to scare you around the campfire. Imagine you're alone in a big, dark house, and someone at the door is telling you that someone else got inside with you. Would you believe that? Could you take the risk of opening the door? The initial setup gets under your skin so beautifully that even though it's the most grounded and 'normal' part of the film it still feels like something that's so impossibly frightening that it could only exist in fiction, even if because it's a scenario that's so nightmarish. But from this moment on dread, unease, and the supernatural seeps into every moment.

From the first introduction of Darcy we see that she's deep into the world of the paranormal, with her tiny antique shop filled with items with dark stories and supposed curses attached to them. It's something that most people would dismiss out of hand, something so outlandish that it would have to be fake, but the film presents it in such an honest way that you believe it. Even without the paranormal having been brought up before this point you leave the scene convinced that ghost exist, and that we'll be seeing more of them.

It's once we return to the scene of Dani's murder that things really ratchet up, and we'll be spending much of the film in this one location. The stark grey walls and minimal colours in the scenes, matched with Darcy's pale clothing and light hair makes it feel like a lot of the life has been drained out of things. The atmosphere of the building itself feels wrong, dark and cold even in moments where it shouldn't be, and despite the beauty of the location you can't help but feel unease just in being there. The cinematography and choice of shots adds to this, as characters are often framed with darkened doorways behind them, pools of shadow where you keep finding your eyes drawn, waiting for something to emerge and frighten you.

Oddity uses atmosphere to sell the horror and unease of the story, are rarely if ever resorts to cheap jump scares of musical stings to make the audience jump. There are some moments that will make you yell out loud, frights that feel sudden that you can't help but be caught off guard, but they're done in such a way that they feel well earned, rather than tricks that are being used upon you.

A lot of praise should also be given to the cast, who do a superb job with the script. Bracken does double duty as both sisters, and is so good in each role that I didn't even realise she was both characters until another pointed out that Darcy looked exactly like Dani. Dani seems confident, full or energy and life in her scenes, whilst Darcy is quiet, withdrawn, and incredibly still. They physical differences in how Bracken plays the two is so good that I bought they were different people. Some of this comes down to Darcy's blindness, the fact that she has to move through a scene differently, that her movements seem more calculated and thought out and she takes on an almost ethereal quality at times.

Gwilym Lee's Ted is presented as a hard to read character, which is great for the mystery angle of the film. He could be seen as a man struggling with the grief of his wife having been killed, or he might be someone who simply doesn't care that she's dead. He's very reserved, almost detached in his scenes, and you're never quite sure whether you should trust him or not. The flip side to this is his new girlfriend, played wonderfully by Menton. Yana comes across as very unlikable to begin with, resenting that Darcy is in her home, and not wanting to be around her, but as the film goes on you start to see her differently, and she's perhaps closer to the audience surrogate than you'd first expect as a regular person dropped into an extraordinary series of events. It's interesting to see how your views of her change across the course of the film, and in the end I felt her to be one of the most relatable characters in the movie. 

Although there are some predictable moments in the film, frights that you can see coming a few minutes before they hit, the film is very much its own animal. Writer and director Damian McCarthy has crafted a story that feels twisting and complex, changing tone and going to some incredibly dark places without it losing its sense of self. It's a film that's unpredictable, yet once it's all said and done there's never a moment that felt wrong or out of place. McCarthy has taken the supernatural mystery genre and managed to craft something new and interesting from it, delivering a film that demands to be seen more than once. 

The blu-ray release offers those without a Shudder subscription a chance to watch Oddity, which I would say is reason enough to pick up a copy if it's your only way to watch the film. Sadly, there's not a huge amount on offer on the disc outside of the film. There's a three minute scene that shows the storyboards alongside the action, a four minute featurette that talks to some of the cast and crew, and a photo gallery that shows how the wooden mannequin was created. I would have loved more behind the scenes stuff, and something like a director commentary to really get deep into the film would have been great, as I feel Oddity is the kind of film that demands in depth analysis.

Oddity is a great movie, one that I can't help but think about after it's done. A brilliant example of how to create a compelling, engaging horror film almost completely set in one location with a limited cast, effects, and budget. This is the kind of movie that people who want to make films should be watching, as there's a lot that can be learned from this. 

Oddity is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital from 6th January 2025.

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The Damned - Film Review

 

Winter is a hard time of year, even now in the modern day there are still lives lost each year due to the cold, so imagining life in a snowed in Icelandic fishing outpost in the 19th century is in itself a frightening scenario, as death looms over the inhabitants each day. If The Damned, from first time director Thordur Palsson, were simply a story of this small group of people trying to survive a brutal winter it would be dramatic enough, but when dark and supernatural forces begins to close in on the fishing outpost it makes their previous attempts to survive seem idyllic in comparison. 

The Damned tells the story of Eva (Odessa Young), a young widow who is now the sole owner of a small fishing outpost on the Icelandic coast, a place she and her husband used to run together before his death of a series of jagged rocky spurs just off the coast the year before. Despite this loss Eva wishes to continue on the work, having no other family to go to or place to call home. Instead, the men who once worked with her husband have become something of a surrogate family to her. With winter in full swing times have been hard, and catches have been light, forcing them to ration their supplies to get through the snowy months.

When the fishermen are preparing to leave one morning, however, Eva spots a ship stuck against the same rocks that claimed her husbands life. The men watch as the ship sinks into the icy waters. Knowing that any survivors are doomed unless they help them, a difficult decision must be made. With barely enough supplies to get through winter more mouths to feed would certainly doom them all, so Eva makes the decision that they won't help any of the sailors. However, disturbing visions begin to plague the fishing outpost as the bodies of the sailors wash up on the beach. It seems that in their inaction Eva may have begun a series of events that has unleashed a terrible supernatural force upon them all; one that won't stop until it has had revenge.

The Damned is a film that oozes atmosphere, and is the thing that drew me to it initially. The setting is eerie and unsettling even without the addition of supernatural forces, and straddles the line between beautiful and frightening. And this is used to great effect throughout the film. Even during the day it feels like there's barely enough light, and instead of the crisp, bright white of snow that you imagine when you think of it, it's instead dirty, gloomy, as if the land itself is as tired and depressed as the people who are calling it home this long winter. Because of this even when the film ventures out into the wide open during the day it still manages to feel oppressive, and there's no relief from the tension that's built throughout.

There are several scenes that use the snowy setting wonderfully too, and really highlights how winter is a fantastic time in which to place a horror story. Whether it's figures barely glimpsed out in the blanket of fog and snow that swirls around the characters, or the dark shape that slowly creeps across the snow towards the camera, there are moments where you're left wondering what it is you're seeing in a way that really gets inside your head.

A lot of this is down to the nature of the supernatural presence in the film too. One of the characters, an old woman named Helga (Siobhan Finneran) informs the group that she believes a drauger is haunting their settlement, a creature that's part ghost, part undead. There are times when things in the film don't really make sense, when you're unsure if you're seeing a ghost or a real person, and others where you wonder if perhaps the old folk takes have gotten inside the troubled minds of a guilty conscience and is causing that person to see something that's not real. The film does give you some answers, clearing away any confusion and gives you a very concrete answer as to what's happening; and for me it actually weakens the movie somewhat. If the film had ended a minute or two earlier I think that it would have been much more satisfying, and the unanswered questions would have been thematically more fitting.

Despite the film having pretty sparse dialogue the film manages to make you care about the characters pretty quickly, and they're a likable and interesting bunch. A mixture of seasoned old fishermen and younger men looking to make it through the winter, the men that surround Eva feel more akin to a family than anything else. It's clear that they've known each other and worked together for many years, and there's never any moments where you worry about the men turning against Eva, or someone revealing a dark desire towards her. Instead, the tension comes from without, and as such we see how each of the characters reacts to it, and how it tests the bonds that they have.

The Damned also feels strangely pertinent to the modern times, despite being set in the 19th century. The woman in charge of a small community who has to justify her decisions and actions in a way that a man doesn't, the trials of surviving through hard times, and the way communities can become insular and selfish instead of helping others when faced with foreigners arriving on their shores all reflect very prominent discussions from today. It shows that whilst times change people are largely the same, and that we've not really progressed all that much. The result is a film that makes it easy to connect with, one that draws you in with the relatable characters and their familiar struggles before it takes a darker turn into the supernatural.

Thanks to the rich atmosphere and beautiful cinematography, some genuinely eerie music, and superb acting The Damned ends up being a really entertaining movie, one that I found myself wanting to spend more time with. Other than a final two minutes that I felt weakened it a little (a personal choice which others might have the exact opposite view of), I had a wonderful time with it, and can't wait to see what the director gives us next. A superb directorial debut that ends up being one of the better winter horrors.

The Damned will be released in UK cinemas on 10th January 2025.

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Top 10 Comics of 2024

 

There have been many amazing comics across 2024, with some great events, brilliant new series, and plenty of ongoing runs that have gone from strength to strength. I found it hard to pick just ten books to include on this list, and tried to limit them to books that have had at least two issues released in 2024, and because of this there are two honourable mentions at the end that don't quite meet this criteria.

Absolute Batman

The Absolute Universe is something that DC fans have been clamouring for for years, DC's take on the Ultimate line from Marvel. Using both Absolute Power and DC All In as a spring board, three books launched the Absolute line, and the first was Absolute Batman. Set in a world where things are dark and lacking hope, this version of Bruce is a man who grew up without wealth, who experienced a different childhood tragedy, yet still found the drive and strength to fight for his city as Batman. A huge, muscled figure, this Batman uses his knowledge from being an engineer to create a batsuit that features multiple inbuilt weapons, and a cape that incorporates chains, hooks, and the ability to scale walls, making him very different from the regular Batman. With three issue of the series out so far it's clear that we're going to be getting a very different version of the iconic hero, but one who still hold true to the ideals and qualities that makes him a hero.

Birds of Prey

This title was one of my favourites in 2023, and the series continued to be the wonderfully fun and well created book that won me over when it first launched. Thanks to its rotating cast, with a handful of core characters that have been there from the beginning, the book is able to bring in new members as stories dictate, allowing the creative team the freedom to do something different each arc. The last year has featured a fight with an ancient god, dimension hopping adventures that changes the style and aesthetic of the team each time, and an undercover mission to rescue kidnapped Amazons. As well as the superb stories, the series has featured some of the more creative and unique art on an ongoing book at the moment; art that won colourist Jordie Bellaire an award this year.

Superman

Cowboy Superman, a showdown with an army of Czarnians, a powerless Clark going up against magic, every Brainiac ever returning, Lois gaining powers, and Doomsday breaking his way out of hell have been some of the many highlights of Superman this year. Easily the best of DC's trinity's books, the series has delivered some of the best Superman stories in a while this year. Joshua Williamson has taken some big swings with the stories that he's been telling, and whilst they've been full of action and spectacle they've also made time for the smaller moments too, and there has been some great personal stories and quiet character moments to be found across the various arcs. With an exciting new era for Superman and his family just beginning, this title promises big things going into 2025.

Moon Knight (Various)

This entry is a bit of a cheat, as it's more than one book. Vengeance of Moon Knight, and Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu were both released this year, and both have told the unfolding adventures of Marc Spector and his supporting cast of misfits and heroes in the narrative that Jed MacKay has been writing for a few years now. I would normally expect that this story would be over just one title, but Marvel love relaunching books with new number one issues to draw in fans (and annoy collectors) so this story has been split across two titles this year, and as such I will count them as one. I wasn't much of a Moon Knight fan before the MacKay run, but his time on the book has made Moon Knight one of the first books I read each week it comes out, and I can't wait for this era to get collected together into a bumper omnibus edition. Going from strength to strength, some recent shocking events has set the book in an exciting new direction that means it'll continue to be one of my most anticipated titles.

Absolute Wonder Woman

What can I say about Absolute Wonder Woman other than 'holy fuck this book is amazing!'? Well, it's the best of the Absolute line for a start. From the concept of Diana being the 'last Amazon', raised in hell to be a witch who comes to Earth to fight for humanity, to the fact that she wields giant weapons and rides a skeletal Pegasus, to the art on the book being absolutely gorgeous, there's so much to compliment the book for. This book embraces the supernatural and magic, and gives Diana a drastic reimagining, yet captures her spirit wonderfully. I dare anyone to read the first issue and not fall in love with this version of the character. The revelation in the third issue that this version of Wonder Woman is also disabled is just the cherry on the cake for me too, as having one of the most iconic comic characters, and the most iconic female character, being disabled is one of the best things that DC has done in years, and was so amazing to me as a disabled woman that I couldn't help but cry a little when reading it. This is one of those rare things in comics, a perfect book.

Batman/Superman: World's Finest

There's something about this title that's just infectiously delightful each and every issue. Set in the past, in a time that's evoking the Silver Age, these stories might be about it's titular heroes, but frequently manages to draw in characters from across the DC universe, offering readers the chance to have fun with characters they might never normally read. Whether it's a return to the Kingdom Come universe, the first meeting between Lex Luthor and the Joker, Eclipso taking over the world, 5th dimensional imps threatening existence, or Jimmy Olsen and Krypto teaming up with Batgirl and Ace, this book injects fun into every story that it delivers. With some of the best writing on the shelves right now, and amazing art from some of the best in the industry, each story feels like a love letter to this universe and its characters. 

West Coast Avengers

I've not been as surprised by any book this year as I have by West Coast Avengers. The premise of the book is simple, Tony Stark and Rhodey are looking to offer villains a chance to reform and become heroes, and start an Avengers team to facilitate this. What I didn't expect, however, was for the book to be very, very funny. I find comics to be one of the hardest mediums in which to make comedy work. You can't make a sentence sound funny just by saying it a certain way, you can't have good timing, and physical comedy can't really be captures in static images. You have to really know comedy well to make it work in this medium, but Gerry Duggan manages to do it effortlessly, and I ended up laughing out loud several times each issue. The book has only two issues so far (just qualified for the list) and I loved both of them. With some real super heroics and deeper character stuff to accompany the great gags, this is easily my favourite Avengers book available at the moment. 

The Flash

I absolutely adored Jeremy Adams' time on The Flash, and was very nervous about it changing over to Simon Spurrier as I was unsure of what to expect. And I will admit, when the book first started I didn't really like it. It went very hard sci-fi, and did some weird things. I dropped off for a while. But then I tried again, doing the first half dozen issues together, and things suddenly clicked for me, and from that point I've really liked the series. With the second arc of the series toning down the hard sci-fi somewhat, embracing more of the whimsical and fun that the previous run had which I loved so much, and putting the West family square at the front of things, it was back to being the kind of Flash book that I loved. It might not work for everyone, and like me it might not click for you straight away, but The Flash feels like one of those books that really rewards its readers.

Absolute Superman

There was no way all three Absolute books weren't making it onto the list. Much like the other two, Absolute Superman takes the core of our heroes and keeps it true whilst fundamentally changing everything else. Instead of being raised on Earth this is a Superman who lived on Krypton before its destruction. He was not raised human, instead, he was born into a cruel cast system that had him as one of the downtrodden. As such, when he comes to Earth and sees abuse, enslavement, and the degradation of people by those in power he stands up to defend them. He might be more alien than we're used to seeing him, but this is a Superman who still stands for everything that our Clark does. And turning the S crest from the symbol of the House of El into a brand that the lowest members of Kryptonian society wear is a perfect choice, as a symbol that to one people meant nothing, that labelled them as below everyone else will become a symbol of truth, justice, and hope for those who need it the most; and to me, that's very, very Superman.

Justice League Unlimited

Borrowing the name and concept from the cartoon series, Justice League Unlimited is the most ambitious Justice League book to date. Instead of a limited team, every hero in the DC universe gets to be on the League. Spinning out of the events of Absolute Power, the heroes are trying to come together more than ever before. With a huge space station that can house every hero, the Earth has never been more protected. Justice League Unlimited in a lot of ways feels like the modern version of Batman/Superman: World's Finest, a book that can use any character to tell stories that span the entire breadth of DC. With a number of mysteries already unfolding, and personal stories being put at the forefront, this book looks set to be one of the best Justice League titles in years (possibly ever), and it's all star creative team are sure to take it to great heights.

Honourable Mentions!

Hellhunters

This didn't make the cut because only a single issue has been released so far, but the first issue of Hellhunters gave me everything that I love about Marvel. I have two areas that I really enjoy in Marvel, the X-Men (the loss of Krakoa has hit me hard unfortunately), and it's horror books. The current run of Incredible Hulk almost made the list because it's a horror book, and things like Hellverine are my kind of thing. So a book that brings back Ghostrider '44, teams him up in World War Two with Nick Fury, Peggy Carter, Logan, and Bucky, and has them hunting down demon vampire Nazi's is the kind of pitch that feels too good to be true. Half of the first issue doesn't even feature any of the main characters, and is just a WWII horror story, and I loved it so much that by the time someone became a Ghostrider I'd forgotten this was even a Marvel book. I'm hoping this feeling continues as the series goes on, and if it does, that Hellhunters gets more than a single story, because so far it was an absolute blast.

Superman Special

Technically part of the ongoing Superman story, this single issue special focuses on Lois Lane now that she has Kryptonian powers and has taken on the identity Superwoman. The issue showcases her new life as a hero, letting her have an adventure with Lana Lang (also a Superwoman), and Supergirl, essentially a super powered girls night. We get to see how these changes have affected Lois and what it means for her life going forward. We also get some answers as to how she has these powers, and where they come from, a revelation that had me yelling with excitement as it promises some big things to come. Because it's a single special, and because it's part of the Superman story I couldn't give it a place on the list, but it might be one of the best issues of a comic I've read this year.

There are many, many more comics that I've read this year, and I've loved so many of them, so if a series you love hasn't appeared on my list it doesn't mean that I hate it, it just means that it can sometimes be very hard to pick your favourites. Here's to another great year of comics in 2025!

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Top 10 Movies of 2024

 

I don't get to watch a lot of new films. Most of my years movie viewing tends to be older movies that are getting new releases and I'm reviewing the Blu-ray or DVD. Of the new films I do watch most end up being films I've been asked to review, and are movies that don't really get a cinema release, and as such the majority of the films in my list are likely to be ones that may have fallen under your radar, and some of the big blockbuster releases will be absent from this list. I wish I could watch more new films, but as it is I've still enjoyed a great deal of those I have seen, and here's ten that I liked the most.

Fitting In

Fitting In is a coming of age drama comedy that touches on some topics that most films aimed at teenage viewers ignore. Yes, there's sex and school drama to be found here, but it's chiefly a story about finding out your body isn't what you expected it to be. The film tells the story of Lindy (Maddie Ziegler), a teen who learns that she has the rare MRKH syndrome, which means that most of her reproductive system is missing. Lindy must come to terms with her intersex condition, and the knowledge that she'll never be able to carry her own child. Added on top, she can't have sex with her boyfriend because her vaginal canal is tiny. All of the angst around going from a teen to an adult, and maturing sexually is disrupted by these revelations, leading to Lindy spiralling out of control.

Molly McGlynn, the writer and director of Fitting In, has MRKH syndrome herself, and as such brings a lot of her own personal experience to the film. Lindy's journey across Fitting In is far from smooth, there are some ups and downs, some tragic moments, and some times of joy. It's a film that doesn't sugar-coat this subject, a subject that needs talking about more are intersex conditions and sex variances are a lot more common that people would want to think. And at a time where any deviation from this is being politicised negatively, where people are being hounded and abused for being different, or even perceived as different telling these stories has never been more important. Come to Fitting In for the coming of age drama, stay for the very real heart, and the special story it's telling.

The Contestant

The documentary film The Contestant covers a story that most people will have heard a little about, because it's one of the strangest and most disturbing things ever done for television. In 1998 Tomoaki Hamatsu auditioned for a popular Japanese TV show, Susunu! Denpa Shōnen, and 'won' based on a number draw. He was taken straight from the audition to a small apartment somewhere in the city, stripped of his clothing, and told he had to survive off items won from magazine competitions; and that he couldn't leave until he'd won a certain amount. Thus begun over a year of torture, as Hamatsu was left alone in this tiny apartment, trying desperately to survive, his physical and mental health deteriorating by the day, and his plight televised for the nation to laugh at.

The Contestant covers these shocking events, and speaks to the people involved. It's a film that has to be seen to be believed. The story it tells is one of the most shocking in the modern era, one that shows how terrible the entertainment industry can be. But it's also one that will make you think about the things you watch, will make you question how many reality or documentary shows are actually simply just exploiting people, and how they might be appealing to the worst parts of your own nature. People seem quick to forget others humanity, especially if it benefits them. Tomoaki Hamatsu is one of the best examples of this we have.

Alien: Romulus

I've been a fan of the Alien franchise for as long as I can remember, and watched the second movie when I was way too young. Having grown up loving the franchise I've met the last few decades of Alien movies with hope that has rarely been rewarded. There's good to be found in most of them, but with the very particular direction the last two films have taken it's not necessarily been what I was hoping for. Alien: Romulus, on the other hand, feels much more like the kind of Alien movie I've been waiting for. Set on a Weyland Yutani space station, the film follows a group of downtrodden workers as they enter the station to steal equipment they need in order to escape the cruelty of the company. Instead, they discover a station filled with horrors as they stumble across deadly experiments, and dangerous creatures.

Alien: Romulus takes a big risk by tying itself back to the first movie, literally beginning in the wreckage of the original film's setting and bringing back the first Xenomorph to kick off everything that happens here. But it works. Set between the first and second film, Alien: Romulus feels like a love letter to those films, recreating the look and feel of both of them whilst still being its own creature. The new cast of characters are a great mix, all with their own distinct personalities and reasons to care for them, and the cast do a fantastic job, particularly David Jonsson who might be the best synthetic the franchise has had. There are some things that detracted a little for me, such as the CGI recreation of a certain actor never quite feeling real, and a few call back lines feeling a little forced, but other than that I loved it. I came out of the film wanting more of it, and thinking that it had passed incredibly quickly. I was shocked to learn that it was a two hour film, as it had barely felt more than 90 minutes; and if an Alien film leaves me wanting more that way I have to have loved it.

Arcadian

Post-apocalypse fiction seems to be more popular than ever (wonder if world events might be a part of that somehow), and there are a lot of new stories focusing on the end of the world. Arcadian is Nic Cage's turn to survive the fall of humanity as he takes on the role of a father raising his two sons in the ruins of the old world. After a brief intro that gives us tiny glimpses at this end, we jump forward to when his sons are teens. Joseph (Jaeden Martell) ahs grown into a smart young man who listens to his father, whilst Thomas (Maxwell Jenkins) has become something of a rebel, sneaking off to visit his girlfriend. The film introduces you to their lives and this new world before hitting you with the revelation that there are monsters that come out at night, leading to a second half of the movie that turns into a fight for survival against some frankly bizarre creatures.

Arcadian isn't a very long film, sitting at just 90 minutes, and it uses it's time well, balancing the more mundane and human aspects of the post-apocalypse with scenes of horror. I would have liked to have spend more time in this world and with these characters, and would have happily enjoyed a film that was closer to the two hour mark. It's a world that I wanted to know more about, and wished we could have explored more of outside of the quiet countryside where our characters had sought refuge. As it is, this is a well paced movie that doesn't overstay its welcome, leaves you wanting more, and could even kick off a whole new film universe if the creatives behind it wanted to go further; and that's a rare and wonderful thing to find in an age of horror films that don't feel like they're putting a whole lot of effort in.

Thine Ears Shall Bleed

Historical horror is a genre that I really like, but don't often get to see much of (and no, I'm not going to count all of the horror films set in the 80's and 90's). Taking the things that frighten us now, bumps in the night, strange apparitions, and things lurking in the shadows and shifting them to a setting where you can't just flick a switch to turn the lights on, or jump on the phone to call for help can often heighten the terror. Thine Ears Shall Bleed takes viewers back hundreds of years to follow a family as they travel across America on a covered wagon, searching for a new place to set down roots and build their church. When they enter a strange part of the forest that they can't seem to leave, and the father of the family discovers a strange noise that he believes to be the voice of god, it leads the family on a horrifying path.

Thine Ears Shall Bleed has some interesting ideas, it tries some new things, and it doesn't feel beholden to the tropes and conventions of the genre. Much of the movie plays out in the bright daylight, in the beauty of nature, it plays around with time and space and becomes almost dream-like at times, and at times it doesn't even feel like a horror film. There are some fantastic moments where you feel like the rug has been pulled out from under you as you figure out what's really going on, and you become so engrossed in the mystery and the story of the Thatcher family that you want to keep watching. The performances are very strong, particularly from a largely unknown cast. As someone who loves seeing horror stories in less common settings, particularly historical ones, Thine Ears Shall Bleed felt like an absolute treat. In a world of slasher movies and modern day haunted house films it's fantastic to find something that stands out like this, that isn't afraid to try something new and to be bold in its difference. I hope we see more films like this. 

Things Will Be Different

Science fiction lets creators play around with a lot of cool ideas, and there's a lot of times when you can kind of just wave your hand away as to why things are happening and just tell a really cool story that other genres would restrict you on. This is the kind of film Things Will Be Different is, and fans of the unusual will definitely be drawn into it. Things Will Be Different sees a brother and sister on the run from the law after robbing a bank, in desperate need of somewhere to lay low. Luckily, one of them has access to a place they'll never be found, a mysterious farmhouse that can access a bubble outside of time. Stepping into this bubble, they find their exit barred by outside forces who are demanding that they perform a task for them before they're released.

Things Will Be Different sits at an hour and forty minutes in length, and the entire movie flew by for me. Considering how much is squeezed into the film I was surprised at how quickly I reached the end. It felt like what I'd seen was barely scratching the surface, and that there was much more that could have been done. I won't go into specifics so as not to ruin the ending, but it becomes clear at a certain point that there is a lot more in this story that we don't see, and that if we were to see everything this would be a multi-season television series instead of a film, and part of me really wanted that. I wish I could have spent more time here, that I could have learned more about this world and its mysteries. Unfortunately, there is only so much a single film can cover, and I'm happy to end craving more. Coming away with a load of questions might not be everyone's favourite kind of film experience, but I'm was more than happy thinking about this film for weeks. 

Lovely, Dark, And Deep

Every year people go missing in the US national parks. No sign, no trace, just gone forever. Lovely, 
Dark, and Deep asks the question of what happens to those who vanish, and if there's something more sinister at play. Following a new park ranger in the Arvores National Park, much of the film focuses on the beauty of nature as we follow her journey across the wilderness alone, clearing up after visitors and being ready to help travellers in need. However, when someone vanishes in the park and she manages to find them it sets of a series of events that reveals a world of dark forces and ancient promises that will forever change how she views the world.

Lovely, Dark, and Deep is the kind of film that doesn’t hold your hand, it doesn’t spell things out for you, and it leaves you with the opportunity to make your own deductions and decisions. I enjoyed this aspect, and liked figuring things out as it went. And whilst I came away thinking I fully understood the story, the person I was watching it with didn’t quite get everything. As such, this might be a film that leaves some feeling like they need a second watch-through, or may even send them looking for an ‘ending explained’ type article or video. But if you like stories that aren’t just simple by the numbers horrors filled with jump scares and predictable plot, that actually get you thinking and leave you wanting more, this is a movie you’re going to want to try out for yourself.

Dogman

What kind of film is Dogman? Even after sitting with this film for most of the year I'm not sure that I can easily sum it up as it's one of the weirdest, scattershot films I've seen, with multiple wild plots and ideas that could easily support their own movies all mixed into this one oddly engrossing narrative. Starring Caleb Landry-Jones, Dogman follows the life of Douglas, a disabled drag performer who rescues dogs. Oh, and has trained his dogs to perform burglaries for expensive jewels, and gets arrested because his home is found full of bodies of local gangsters. Every time you think you've gotten a handle on the kind of story Dogman is telling something even more bizarre gets added to the mix, leaving you with a story that's hard to describe but you know you had a ton of fun with.

Whilst the film is essentially the story of Doug’s life, which borders on Forrest Gump levels of silly at times, it’s also a Luc Besson movie, and so action is never far away. When the film deals with why Doug’s home is filled with corpses the movie reaches an all new level of fun. His dogs lure people into traps, some are dragged into the wall like they’ve just been grabbed by the Xenomorph, and there are a few shots that elicited vocal reactions from me because they were so well made and so creepy that I began to wonder if the movie had turned into a horror film. Besson puts his action stamp onto Dogman and it’s absolutely wonderful. If you like a film whose main goal is to entertain the audience, and genuinely want to have a great time then Dogman is a film that you’re going to want to watch. Luc Besson has made some beloved films in the past, and Dogman more than has the ability to become one that people talk about in the same way.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

I'm a fan of Tolkien's work, I adore the The Lord of the Rings films, and have been enjoying The Rings of Power each season, so when it was announced that there was going to be an animated movie that tells some of the history of Rohan, and that it was being made by a Japanese anime studio I was incredibly intrigued. Jumping backwards in time to before the events of The Hobbit, The War of the Rohirrim focuses on Rohan, and a conflict that begins when one of the lords disrespects the king, a disrespect that leads to the king accidentally killing the lord in an honour fight. A few years later the lords son returns with an army of Wildmen and mercenaries to wage war on Rohan, a war that will lead to a siege at Helmsdeep, and the story of how the iconic keep gained its name.

The War of the Rohirrim still feels like an odd movie to me. I adore the animation style, but seeing the world of Tolkien presented that way kind of feels like something of a fever dream. It's the kind of thing that I'd have asked for as a teen, an anime Lord of the Rings project, so getting it now two decades later is a shock to my system; one that genuinely delights me. There are times when the animation feels a bit off to me, where characters seem to not match the environments as the camera makes some sweeping moves, but overall it works really well, and has some great action scenes, some fascinating lore moments, and will hopefully lead to more works like this in the future.

The Moor

There are certain places that will always feel a little bit creepy, places where humanity have failed to really make much of a dent thanks to the in hospitability of the land, and where nature still rules. In Britain this is the moors. A desolate, dangerous place, they're creepy enough on their own, but when coupled with murder it makes it all the more spine chilling. The Moor makes great use of this location, and will end up leaving you wary of ever setting foot in the place. The Moor follows a young woman who's friend was the victim of a child abductor and killer decades before, whose body was taken onto the moors but never recovered. Now, at the request of his father, she is trying to bring attention to the search by documenting the effort the grieving father is making to find his missing son's body all those years later. However, she soon learns that there are dark forces on the moors that may be responsible for the deaths of the children.

The Moor is a wonderfully dark and brooding movie, one that isn't afraid to take its time and let tension build. With some fantastic performances and some truly creepy moments, it's the kind of horror that gets under your skin and leaves you wanting more; even if you're not completely sure what you've just seen.

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