Talamasca: The Secret Order - Season 1 Blu-ray Review

 

I became interested in the AMC created Anne Rice universe around the time that the second season of Interview with the Vampire was coming out on home released, having been offered the chance to review it. By the time the first episode ended I was hooked, and I knew that it was a show that was something a little special. Whilst I might have missed the first spin-off/addition to the universe in Mayfair Witches, I was excited to be able to dive into the third show in this ever expanding mythology, Talamasca: The Secret Order.

Introduced as something of a background element in Interview with the Vampire, the Talamasca are the mortal faction that plays a role in the realm of the supernatural in Anne Rice's world. Chroniclers of the immortals, historians of the hidden truth of the world, the Talamasca observe vampires, witches, ghosts, and demons and tries to maintain order where it can. The series introduces us to this organisation through the eyes of Guy Anatole (Nicholas Denton), a young man looking to break his way into the world of law, but who's life has always been difficult thanks to his strange ability to hear what people have been thinking.

Guy is approached by Helen (Elizabeth McGovern), a mysterious figure that runs the New York chapter of the Talamasca. She introduces Guy to the world of the supernatural in order to recruit him on an important mission. Helen believes that the London branch of the Talamasca has gone rogue, and that it has fallen under the influence of a vampire named Jasper (William Fichtner). Journeying to London, Guy finds himself in a world of monsters and spy-craft as he tries to discover what Jasper is up to. However, as secrets about his own past, and the Talamasca's involvement in it, come to light Guy begins to question where his own loyalties should lie. 

At it's heart, Talamasca: The Secret Order, is a spy series. It deals with double agents, secret organisations, dead-drops, fake persona's, and trickery in the same way any decent spy story does; it just has the added element of monsters and magic thrown into the mix. Despite this, the show ended up being much more reserved on the supernatural front than I was expecting. Interview with the Vampire throws its audience into this world in an almost violent, passionate way, and you're confronted with the brutal, bloody reality of these monsters. Talamasca: The Secret Order, in contrast, often feels something of a step removed from that; though I suppose this does fit the theme of the organisation itself, as they're supposed to be outside observers of the supernatural.

Whilst the show plays down these elements somewhat, its more human focus makes it feel like a more unique companion piece to the other shows, and offers the viewers something new. Guy might have powers, but for the most part he's a fairly normal person. His lack of knowledge of how the spy world works, him trying to keep one step ahead and not get killed all the time allows the viewer to connect with him as he's a regular person in a fantastical world. Nicholas Denton fits this role well, and whilst Guy never feels like he's an idiot, he does manage to make him feel like he's out of his depth, having to think fast. He's fallible, he gets emotionally involved, and there are times where you're not sure what side he's going to land on.

The supporting cast do wonderful jobs too, and help to craft an engaging narrative. Elizabeth McGovern plays Helen, the head of the New York Talamasca, a woman who's clearly used to espionage and spy work, but whose own personal demons are setting her on a path that might make her world come crashing down. She manages to be both a kind, almost maternal figure to Guy, yet also challenges him in ways that could see her shift into a more antagonistic role. The opposite to this is William Fichtner's Jasper, the villain of the series. Jasper is a vampire who's taken over the London Talamasca, creating monstrous attack vampires, and using the organisation's resources for his own ends. He's set up to be evil, yet as the series goes on you see a more human side to him, he occasionally shows the pain and trauma beneath his threatening and charming exterior. He's the kind of villain that isn't just the hero to his own story, but could easily shift into being the hero of this story too. Fichtner plays him wonderfully, and you'll likely come away wishing for more scenes with him.

The rest of the cast is rounded out by Céline Buckens who plays the young witch Doris, who becomes involved in Guy's life when her friend Kevis (Amelia Clarkson) is killed, Maisie Richardson-Sellers who plays the Talamasca agent Oliver, who's assigned to handle Guy, Jonathan Aris as head of the Talamasca London branch Owen, and Bryony Hannah as detective Ridge, a police officer determined to solve a series of grizzly killings that draw her closer to the world of the supernatural. The series also features a couple of fun inclusions from Interview with the Vampire that help to ground it a little more in that series, preventing it from just feeling like any other stand-alone urban fantasy series.

The story of Talamasca: The Secret Order is interesting, and manages to pace itself well over the course of its six episodes. It's got time to take it slow at moments, to allow you to spend some time with the characters and see inside their heads, getting to know them and understanding how these events are affecting them. Some other shows try to pack so much in that things move too fast, but Talamasca: The Secret Order seems to have found a decent balance between these quieter moments and moments of action and intrigue. That being said, the series didn't hit as hard as Interview with the Vampire for me. 

Interview with the Vampire is a show about passion, both the beautiful and destructive sides of it. The emotions are dialled up to eleven, and you're sucked into the lives of these immortals who love and hate and lust in ways that make humans emotions seem like pale shadows in comparison. Talamasca: The Secret Order is, in comparison, less than that. It's not bad, but it doesn't have the fire and fury that Interview with the Vampire did. To be fair, very few shows do, and I can't expect every piece in this shared universe to all feel the same. As it is, it's a decent, well crafted narrative that shows a very different side of Anne Rice's world.

Alongside the six episodes, the new Blu-ray release also includes a handful of special features. There's a small behind the scenes piece for each of the episodes that sits somewhere between five and ten minutes each that has some interviews with cast and crew which whilst doesn't add a huge amount are still fun to watch. There's a larger behind the scenes piece that sits around 40 minutes that goes mych deeper into the production of the series that'll satisfy fans.

Whilst Talamasca: The Secret Order might have a whole different flavour to the other entries in this franchise it's a welcome one for sure. It puts a fun, espionage spin onto a world of monsters and magic that we don't often get to see, and leaves you eagerly hoping for a second season so that we can get more from these characters.

Talamasca: The Secret Order is available now on Blu-ray.

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Marvel Studios' The Infinity Saga - Black Panther: The Art of the Movie - Book Review

 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been something of a mixed bag for everyone who's watched it, and I doubt that there has been a single person who's enjoyed every project equally, or even at all. For myself, I often found the films that tried something new to be the more interesting ones. A regular man who puts on a suit of armour and fights robots in a setting I recognise might be unusual and entertaining, but it wasn't anything that wowed me. Instead, it was the times when we were able to see the fantastical that really sold the amazing creativity of comics, like the alien worlds Guardians of the Galaxy, the magic of Doctor Strange, and in one of the most exciting things the MCU has done, the afrofuturism of Black Panther.

Originally debuting in Captain America: Civil War, the character of Black Panther was an immediate stand out, and fans were quickly demanding a solo movie for him. Thankfully, audiences didn't have to wait too long, and a film followed two years later. Marvel Studios' The Infinity Saga - Black Panther: The Art of the Movie charts the creation of the film from an art and design perspective, giving readers and insight into costume designs, sets and locations, and props, all of which had to be constructed from scratch to bring the world of Wakanda to life.

Despite being set on Earth, Black Panther had to create much of its style from scratch, unable to just rely on standard filming locations and costumes bought from stores. The nation of Wakanda is in some ways like the alien worlds that inhabit the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, where every detail needs to be considered and crafted. However, the design team weren't just creating things out of whole cloth, as they were able to draw upon the rich histories of the people and cultures that make up the continent of Africa, combined with science fiction elements, to craft something unique.

The world of Black Panther is perhaps one of the most mainstream examples of afrofuturism, an art movement that combines cultural and artistic expressions from across the history of the African diaspora, including religion, and philosophy, to create a vision of a liberated identity. This is something that is very central to Black Panther, with Wakanda being a nation that was never conquered by the white colonialist oppression of nations such as England and France. This has been a part of Wakandan history since its creation in the comics, but the details vary from creative team to creative team. This means that whilst the general theme of Wakanda's visual aesthetic has been established the film was open to explore in in a variety of directions.

Across the various chapters in Marvel Studios' The Infinity Saga - Black Panther: The Art of the Movie you can see where different inspirations have helped to shape the designs. There's a section of the book that explores the various tribes of Wakanda, complete with both colour and gorgeous black and whit epencil sketeches, that showcase not just the unique looks of these groups, but also explains the real world inspirations, such as the Tuareg people of Sahara the inspired the Merchant Tribe, or the Etheopian Karo people who's look helped to shape the Jabari Tribe. Moreso than any other book in the Infinity Saga series this is one volume is one that not only makes you appreciate the work that went into the film, but inspires you to go further afield, to look more into these real cultures and their history.

Marvel Studios' The Infinity Saga - Black Panther: The Art of the Movie does what the other volumes does, it goes into the design elements, it shows how these evolved from initial concepts to what we ended up with, it has storyboards, CGI models, and huge double page spreads. As with the other entries in the series the quality of the book itself is excellent, with gorgeous, thick glossy paper, attention given to the binding and image layout to reduce image loss on cross page images, and the textured finish on the hardcover itself is wonderful.

If you're endeavouring to collect the entire series I imagine this entry is already going to be on your list of books to buy, but if you're only wanting to pick up one or two of them and aren't sure which you should go for this is definitely one that should be a contender for top place. Black Panther was a huge cultural milestone, and whilst this book leaves you completely satisfied it does also feel like discovering the tip of the iceberg as it gives readers an insight into a whole world of art and culture that they might not have been aware of; one that you'll find yourself wanting more of.

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Return to Skull Island - Graphic Novel Blog Tour

 

Skull Island, an animated entry in the Monsterverse franchise, may not have been a show that got much attention, having only aired for eight episodes on Netflix, despite it being well received. Set during the 1990's, it follows the adventures of a group of explorers that travel to the mysterious Skull Island in an attempt to rescue a young girl believed lost there. Of course, as with any good monster adventure story, disaster strikes, and the group end up stranded on Skull Island, and must come up with a plan to escape.

The book picks up where the show ends, with several characters still stranded on Skull Island as Kong fights a giant squid monster, and the girl they went to save, Annie, back in civilisation, waking up in a hospital. Starting in medias res is something of a bold choice for a book that could be many people's first introduction to this series (which it was for me), but considering how the show ended, it's actually the perfect choice as it immediately grabs readers and draws them in no matter how much they do or don't know.

The main story of Return to Skull Island follows two distinct narrative threads. The first of these follows Charlie, the young protagonist who's stuck on Skull Island. Having stolen a sacred relic from the island inhabitants in order to lure Kong into a fight with the monster that guards the ocean around the island, Charlie begins this new chapter of the story literally at the mercy of the people who live on Skull Island, starting the book hanging upside down in a tree. Brought to the leader, a young woman named Kaia, Charlie must undergo the judgment of the island. Luckily, his father and other survivors of their ship are on the island to help him. Unfortunately, something powerful has awoken on Skull Island, something that the wounded Kong may not be able to survive.

The second part of the narrative follows Annie, who's been brought home to her mother in the US; along with her giant dog. Annie, having spent most of her life surviving on a remote island filled with monsters and giant animals, struggles to return to the normal world, being almost immediately expelled. She even struggles to build a relationship with her mother. Knowing that she doesn't fit in, and that Charlie and the others are still stuck on Skull Island, Annie formulates a plan to get back to the island. Of course, these two narratives eventually come together as the two groups must contend with multiple new threats on the titular Skull Island.

Having gone back and watched the series now, I was pleasantly surprised by how well the book and the show mesh together. Despite the change in medium this book really does feel like it's a second season of the series, rather than something like a simple tie-in or follow-up, and thanks to the cliff hanger nature of the series it makes Return to Skull Island feel like mandatory reading.

Simon Furman captures the tone of the series well, and manages to make the characters feel the same. Everyone has the same voice still, still acts in the same ways, and have the same motivations despite the change in circumstances, and if you have a favourite character from the series I think that you'll find them well represented.

The book also introduces a number of new characters that fit into the world created by the show well. But is it the characters that people come to these stories for? Sure, you need good characters and a decent plot to keep a Kaiju story from being vapid nonsense, but it's the monsters that are the headliners that people want to see; and Return to Skull Island introduces a cool new antagonist for Kong to go up against. Return to Skull Islands's new headline monster is Yuggoth, a creature made from mould and fungus, it makes a startling change from other Kaiju who tend to be animals or creatures of some recognisable kind. 

Yuggoth is a mass of mushrooms, spores, and sludge that feels more akin to creatures like Biollante or Hedorah, monsters that present a different kind of challenge for Kong and our human characters, as simply blowing it to pieces or tearing limbs off won't kill it the way it would other creatures. Yuggoth challenges Kong in a fun way, and forces the heroes to rely on more than just pure brute strength to win the day. I also really like the monster's design, and would love to have seen something like this on the big screen.

The art team on Return to Skull Island, Christopher Jones and Charlie Kirchoff, do a wonderful job at recapturing the feel of the show, with bold, bright art and designs that will appeal to readers of all ages. As with the series itself, the book feels like it's designed for a wider audience, and it's art style is a big part of it. Characters and monsters are fairly simple, without being plain. The art manages to convey a lot of detail and depth whilst using few lines and colouring. Everything is neat, and clean, and it means that you're not getting lost in unnecessary details or noise, and get to appreciate the art on the page even more.

Return to Skull Island feels like a fantastic continuation to the series, one that's set to keep on going with the upcoming Escape from Skull Island. If you watched the series and wanted more this book will give you that. If you're a fan of King Kong and the Monsterverse but missed the series when it was first released this book is a fun introduction to it, and will get you to go back and check out what you missed.

Return to Skull Island is out now from Titan Comics.

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Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History (Revised and Expanded Edition) - Book Review

 

Back to the Future is a film series that secured its place within the hearts of a generation almost immediately upon it's release in 1985. A pair of sequels quickly followed, with the second and third film being made back to back, and the resulting trilogy became one of the most beloved film series ever created. It's hard to describe just how much of an impact they had upon wider culture, from people only knowing the Delorean as a time machine, to thousands of posts and memes in 2015 as we reached the point of the future time of the second film, and even Donald Trump being compared to the future sleazy criminal version of Biff Tannen (a comparison that's actually hugely unfair to Biff). Back to the Future is an icon, and one that not only deserves a book like Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History, but demands it.

This newly revised and expanded version of the book is a bit of a monster to hold with its thick, embossed hardcover, and more than 200 pages. As someone with chronic illness there were times when I found even picking up the book to read a challenge that resulted in some pain; and if a book is that big that just holding it hurts I know I'm getting some value for money.

The book is split into four distinct parts, the first and largest covers the original film, the second the sequel, and the third the final film, with the last section going into the ongoing legacy of the series and where it has continued on in popular culture. 

The first film definitely gets the most attention here, and this is largely because it's the film that needed the most work, which we can see here as the book covers various drafts of the script, story changes, and even the recasting of one of the film's two lead actors. It's interesting to see what we could have had with the details on these early drafts, with Marty as a streetwise video pirate, the time machine being a fridge, a nuclear bomb needed to send Marty home, and a military action scene in the final act. Whilst the bare bones of the film we know and love is there much of that charm is missing from these early versions; which is something that we get to see slowly added as the pre-production of the film is given in wonderful detail.

Once the story we know is figured out the book goes into the design elements of the film, showing us designs for the Delorean, some of which look more like spaceships, versions of the flux capacitor that vary wildly from what we got, and storyboard breakdowns of some of the films more intense moments. These chapters go into some fantastic details about the challenges of creating the film from scratch, of finding the right look and feel for the sets, costumes, and props, to picking the perfect actors for the role, and the pitfalls that come from having to translate the script to the screen.

Whilst the section on the second movie isn't as long as the first it's by no means lacking in any way. Readers are treated to the various story drafts, designs for the future locations and clothing, behind the scenes looks at how the sequel returned to the first movie, and find out how the films effects were brought to life with models, wirework, and a prosthetic trickery.

The part of the book that covers the third film is a delightful section, partly because as a little girl I always liked the third one the best. With the third film taking such a big leap away from the visual eras of the first two films almost everything had to be designed new from the ground up, and we get to see here how the town of Hill Valley was designed and constructed in the desert, how costumes were developed, Doc Browns old west inventions, and one of my favourite pieces in the trilogy, the time train.

Following on from taking a look at the films the book goes into the legacy of the series. We get to see how the Back to the Future ride was developed and created for Universal Studios, from the development of the concept, to the creation of animatronic dinosaurs and miniature sets. We also get some insight into the short lived animated series that continues the adventures of Marty, the Doc, and his family following the events of the third film. The book covers merchandise and toys that have been released over the years, video games, references in other media, and comics. One of the largest parts of this section goes into the creation of the musical version of the film, something that has spanned the globe and wowed audiences across thousands of performances.

Whilst a book packed with behind the scenes stories, interviews, production secrets, and more extra information than any fan of the franchise could ask for, the book doesn't just stop there, as it comes with more surprises. Scattered throughout the book are pieces of merchandise, prop replica's, and easter eggs than I was ready for. These include things like a lenticular photo of Marty and his siblings that creates the effect of Marty's brother and sister vanishing from time, a copy of the letter Marty leave Doc Brown warning him about getting shot, a reversible 2015 newspaper with both versions of events, a Biff dollar, the photo of Doc and Marty in 1885, and so much more. My personal favourite is the fold out poster for Jaws 19, which I am incredibly tempted to get framed alongside some of the other pieces to make a collage display.

When I first saw the details for Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History I was a bit taken aback by the price, as this isn't a cheap book. However, after spending some time with it I can't help but feel that it's a very reasonable price, as the book is amazing value for money. As a fan of the films it throws more insight and information at me than I could have asked for, giving me an even deeper appreciation and love for the series. The addition of the extra pieces, like the posters, photos, and prop replicas not only makes it great value for money, but made the book so much fun to explore, as each turn of the page leading to another secret item brought a huge smile and the excitement of discovery.

Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History (Revised and Expanded Edition) is the perfect piece for any fan of the franchise, and if you failed to pick the book up on previous releases you're not going to want to miss out on this celebration of 40 years of an icon of cinema.

Back to the Future: The Ultimate Visual History (Revised and Expanded Edition) is available now from Titan Books.

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V/H/S/Halloween - Blu-ray Review

 

Horror franchises are often well known for having too many sequels, of stumbling across a formula that works and milking it for all its worth; even if the results may not be the best (once you send your slasher villain into space things may have gone off the rails a little). The V/H/S/ series is entering into it's eighth instalment, and whilst it's certainly not as bad as other long running franchises get by this point I can't help but feel that perhaps the cracks are finally starting to show.

As with previous films in the series V/H/S/Halloween has several short found footage films, with another that's broken up between them acting as an addition film. In the original few films this framing narrative was often part of those other stories in some way, such as in the first film a gang breaks into a house and finds a strange collection of tapes that contain the short films, or in the second film having a private investigator going through strange tapes looking for answers. These stories made the collection of shorts feel like one larger narrative; but with V/H/S/Halloween the framing narrative is as stand alone as the other films, and there's no real reason for it to be split up into pieces and scattered across the runtime. The choice to continue with a framing narrative that wasn't actually filling that role only resulted in me questioning if the series was trying to hold onto a structure that wasn't really working for it anymore, and that perhaps it would be better to try something different in future versions.

This framing narrative, 'Diet Phantasma' features the efforts of the Octagon Company to infuse supernatural energies into a soft drink in the 1980's. Over the course of these segments we watch as they test various versions of the drink on a series of taste tester volunteers, with awful results as people lose their skin, get attacked by tentacles inside the cans, and explode. It leans into the 80's aesthetic, and some of the practical effects feel right out of the era, but I can't help but feel some of this charm is lost by the constant cutting away to other segments. Luckily, one of the special features on the Blu-ray is the ability to watch it uninterrupted.

The first short story is 'Coochie Coochie Coo', which follows a pair of older teens out to make the most of their final Halloween before going off the college and entering the world of adult life. Dressed as babies, and being far too old for trick or treat, the two of them manage to act like complete jerks as they go from house to house stealing bowls of candy, insulting people, and even grabbing candy out of the hands of children. Their antics put them in the crosshairs of The Mommy, a local legend about a creepy woman. The two of them soon find themselves trapped inside Mommy's house, where they discover her other victims, and the fate that awaits them if they fail to find a way out. This segment starts out pretty strongly, but loses a little bit of quality as it trades creepy tension for gross-out horror. It's got some decent ideas, but ultimately feels like it goes on a little too long, and maybe makes a few missteps.

'Ut Supra Sic Infra' was the story I was most looking forward to seeing thanks to it being directed by Paco Plaza, who created the [Rec] franchise (which I really enjoy). 'Ut Supra Sic Infra' almost feels out of place compared to the other stories on offer here. Where the others have a visual quality that screams found footage (near total darkness, excessive film grain, and shaky cameras), Plaza bucks the trend by having a decent amount of his story take place both in the day, and on very high quality cameras. 

The story follows police investigators who are trying to discover what happened inside an old building on Halloween night that led to all but one of a group of friends dead with their eyes missing. The police take him back to the scene of the crime to reconstruct what happens, and the terrors of that night begin to repeat itself. 'Ut Supra Sic Infra' jumps between traditional found footage from the night in question to the brightly light, slick looking police footage, and creates a short that has a very different feel to it, and one that ends up being the best of the bunch on offer.

'Fun Size' is easily the most bizarre story on offer here (yes, more bizarre than haunted soda), and follows four friends as they go trick or treating on Halloween night. The four adults, way too old to be doing it, stumble across a bowl outside a house filled with strange candy and the note 'one per person'. When one of the group takes a second piece he's dragged into the bowl. The bowl then flies around, swallowing up the others, who then all wake up inside a strange factory. They're chased around the building by a candy man (not that one), who tries to cut them into pieces and turn them into more of the candy that was on offer in the bowl. 

'Fun Size' is very silly, and leans into the silliness with some wild effects and cheesy creature design. It's not clear if the dialogue is a part of this, as there are some very clunky moments and delivery that could perhaps be part of the film trying to come across as bad. An example of this is how one character insists on calling another 'fiancé' repeatedly at times where it feels clunky and out of place, just so that audiences as absolutely clear they're engaged for one gag at the end to make sense. It does feel like perhaps 'Fun Size' is treating the audience like they're not smart enough to remember this engagement, and seems to want to hold your hand like a child. Whilst there are some creatively silly moments in this segment I couldn't help but feel that it didn't try anything too new or interesting to actually wow me at any point.

'Kidprint' takes viewers to 1990's smalltown America, where a local community is being plagued with a rash of missing children and teens in the lead-up to Halloween. The film follows the owner of the local video and tech store who's created a service where kids can come in and be given a short interview in front of a height chart so that if they go missing it can be given to police to try and help find them. Taking place on Halloween night, the local community seems to still be allowing kids out to take part in some festivities, despite around a dozen kids being brutally murdered. It's during this event that the video shop owner learns of a new victim, one that he recently filmed. Heading back to the store at night to collect her tape to give to police, he stumbles across videos in the back room of several children being brutalised, leading him to discover that one of his workers in the mysterious killer. Unfortunately, this is only the start of the terrors he's in for. 

'Kidprint' is the segment where I found my interest in the film beginning to wane the most. The plot isn't bad by any means, but 'Kidprint' felt the most slow, and overly long part of the film, and I came away thinking that it could have been improved with some tighter pacing and editing. To be fair, it's not the only segment of the film that had this issue, but it's the one where it's the most glaring an issue, and led me to check the time more than once to see how close I was to the end of the film.

'Home Haunt' is the final segment, and follows a father and his teenage son as they build a haunted house for Halloween. Footage shows us that the two of them used to do it each year, but as the son has grown older he's become less interested in the annual event, and so this year the dad goes out of his way to make it the biggest and best haunted house yet. The two of them visit an old store looking for supplies and decorations for the haunted house, and the father comes across a strange old Halloween record that he decides to take to use for their event. That Halloween night local residents enter the haunted house, but when the record is played supernatural forces trap the people inside and bring the decorations to life. Now people will have to try to survive ghosts, zombies, executioners, and a twisted witch if they're to get out alive. 'Home Haunt' is perhaps the most enjoyable piece in the whole film as I can't help but feel that it sums up what I imagine when I think of the V/H/S/ franchise. It has a fun, simple idea at its core, it's got some great visual moments, decent effects work, is acted well, and is both funny and horrifying in places.

Overall, V/H/S/Halloween has been my least favourite of the series so far. The framing narrative structure felt completely misused, most of the segments felt overly long and even at times boring thanks to some pacing issues, and the quality varied more wildly than I can really remember from other entries in the series. The film clocks in at just shy of two hours long yet feels much longer than that. I watched it alongside people who had seen the other films in the series and enjoyed them, and all of us came away feeling like this was the weakest entry yet. Whilst there are still some great moments here, and the franchise is far from being ran dry I think that perhaps for V/H/S/ to continue on some changes will be needed to prevent a decline in quality.

Alongside the film the Blu-ray also comes with an audio commentary track that features the various filmmakers, some short behind the scenes films for 'Coochie Coochie Coo' and 'Diet Phantasma', a deleted scene for 'Kidprint', and an uninterrupted cut, image gallery, and commercial for the 'Diet Phantasma' segment. Outside of the commentary track the extras do feel a little light, and are definitely skewed towards the Phantasma segment over the others, and some viewers might come away a little disappointed that other segments feel underserved. 

Overall, V/H/S/Halloween continues much in the same vein as other entries in the series, but thanks largely to some pacing issues left me feeling like it was the least rewarding one yet. However, as each of these shorts cater to different tastes I'm sure that there'll be viewers who absolutely love this entry in the series.

V/H/S/Halloween is available on Blu-ray and DVD now.

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Re-Animator - Limited Edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray Review

 

The works of H.P. Lovecraft have helped to inspire a myriad of stories over the decades since their release, with multiple books and short stories drawing upon his mythos, video games set in the worlds he created, and film adaptations of some of his more famous stories. However, film tends to be one of the areas in which Lovecraft doesn't get as much praise. There are films that draw upon the kind of cosmic horror he crafted, such as Event Horizon or Alien which become hugely popular, but there are few actual Lovecraft films that are well received or remembered. 1985's Re-Animator, however, bucks this trend and stands out as an icon of horror cinema.

The first film from director Stuart Gordon, Re-Animator adapts several short stories by Lovecraft that tell the story of Herbert West, a scientist who's part grave robber, part Doctor Frankenstein. Updated for the current era, Re-Animator casts Jeffrey Combs in the role of West, a young medical student who has been developing a cure to the ultimate illness, death. After an opening scene in Switzerland in which he brings his dead professor back to life with horrific results, the film shifts the Massachusetts Miskatonic University, where we meet the passionate young medical student Dan Cain (Bruce Abbott), and professor and researcher Dr Hill (David Gale), who has been trying to study where in the human brain will originates.

Having returned from Switzerland, West has enrolled at the university to continue his studies and perfect his reanimation agent, and is introduced to Cain and Hill. West eventually moves in with Cain, who's seeking a roommate, and shifts his experiments to the basement, where he brings Cain's dead cat back to life in order to convince Cain to assist him in his mission. However, the two of them will have to deal with Dr Hill, someone who's already stolen others work in the past, and now wants to take West's cure for death and pass it off as his own.

One of the things that immediately stands out about Re-Animator is that it has a sense of humour to it that's almost guaranteed to be missing from every other Lovecraft project. Lovecraft was known for being serious in his fiction, focused on the horror and strangeness of his stories; stories that often had terrible ends for the people in them. However, the original source material for Re-Animator was one of his more humorous works, and makes for the prefect material for Stuart Gordon to adapt. There's a vein of dark comedy that runs throughout the movie, one that helps to lessen some of the scenery chewing performances and over-the-top gore effects because these moments now become part of the overall vibe, a movie that's having fun telling it's story and doesn't need you to take it overly serious.

After watching through the film again for this new release I was shocked that it was Gordon's first feature film. Re-Animator has a higher level of quality than other films of that era, especially other horror movies, and has managed to age incredibly well. It feels like the kind of film that would take an experienced film director, not someone who had never been on a film set before. Gordon manages to blend some wonderfully create cinematography and camera tricks with some fantastic practical effects, a solid script, and some stand out performances from its main cast.

Re-Animator is probably best known for Jeffrey Combs, who plays the titular mad scientist, though isn't supposed to be the star of the film. The film really follows Dan Cain, an ordinary guy who finds himself drawn into this world of crazy doctor and zombies. He's the audience stand-in, our vehicle throughout the story, and whilst he is the protagonist it's Combs' West who ends up stealing every scene he's in. Without trying to Combs manages to upstage his co-stars at every turn, and transforms a role that could have been a villain into something of a loveable anti-hero that we want to see succeed. This doesn't mean that other cast members are delivering weak performances by any means, as the film is populated with stand-outs, and whilst it seems that Combs might be outperforming Bruce Abbott at times Abbott is still delivering a strong performance, and carries much of the film despite being overshadowed. 

David Gale manages to match Combs in many of their scenes, and whenever the two of them are together it feels like a battle of wills between their two driven, almost monstrous scientists. It's wonderful to see how their roles seem to shift over the course of the film, with West being set up in a villain role early on and Dr Hill the target of his abuse, yet as things unfold Gale injects more and more sinister elements into Hill until he becomes both a figurative and literal monster by the end. Some of this transformation comes in how he acts towards the only woman in the film, Barbara Crampton's Megan Halsey. Crampton transforms a rather thankless role, of the damsel in distress, into a memorable and laudable performance as the most level-headed person in the film, one who's not afraid to stand up to the overbearing, powerful men around her. Crampton would go on to become a huge name in the horror community over the years, and there are many fans who would hold Re-Animator as one of her best performances.

Second Sight's new 4k UHD and Blu-ray release is absolutely packed to bursting with special features that makes this a set that fans will want to check out. The 4K restoration looks absolutely fantastic, and is the best looking version of the film that I've seen. Whilst this crispness does mean that you might more easily spot some seams in the effects work I found that it enhanced the experience, as you can't help but love to spot how some of the tricks were done. There's also three full length audio commentary tracks, a brand new one with Eddie Falvey, one with director Stuart Gordon, and another with the producer Brian Yuzna and actors Jeffrey Combs, Barbara Crampton, Bruce Abbott, and Robert Sampson.

There are also a variety of interviews included, including with Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna, writer Dennis Paoli, editor Lee Percy, and composer Richard Band. There are deleted and extended scenes, trailers and TV spots, and a gallery. There's also an extensive behind the scenes documentary, a feature that looks at the legacy of re-Animator, a video essay on various Lovecraft film adaptations over the years, and a conversation with Barbara Crampton. There's also several art card included with the release, as well as a 120 page book filled with essays and writings on the film. Second Sight have included so much in the release that despite Re-Animator only being an hour and a half long you're going to be spending hours watching everything, and the extra features are going to fill you with even more love for the film.

Re-Animator is an absolute gem of a movie. It manages to be fun and frightening, has a brilliant cast, and remains one of the best adaptations of Lovecraft's work decades later. 

Re-Animator: Limited Edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray is available from Second Sight Films from 15th December 2025.

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Possession - Limited Edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray Review

Andrzej Żuławski's 1981 Possession is a hard film to describe, even in terms of what genre it falls into. Often advertised as horror, though with lashings of fantasy, melodrama, and psychological thriller, it's a unique creature that has continued to disturb and baffle viewers for decades. Once a part of the notorious Video Nasties list, having been banned in the Britain, Possession gets it's first 4K UHD release in the UK thanks to Second Sight.

Set in Berlin during the Cold War, the film opens with Mark (Sam Neil) returning home from some vague spy mission, only to find his wife Anna (Isabelle Adjani) in a depressed state, unhappy at his arrival. She tells him that she wants a divorce, admitting to seeing another man. After a spiral into an alcohol fuelled depression Mark returns to their home to find his son, Bob (Michael Hogben), in a state of neglect. He learns that Anna has lost control, vanishing for days at a time, and acting more and more unstable. Mark suspects that this may be due to her affair, but as he learns more he discovers something much more frightening.

I first learned of Possession through the Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape documentary, which covered the wave of censorship that went through the UK as the BBFC banned certain films, almost all of which were horror films. Most of the films on this list are rather bloody, gore filled films that would have fallen into obscurity if it wasn't for their inclusion on the banned list. Possession found itself on this list, but other than having a few disgusting moments, feels incredibly out of place from those others now that I've finally seen it. 

Possession is less of an overt horror film and more of a twisted, almost dream-like European art-house experience. Partially inspired by director Andrzej Żuławski's own divorce, the film feels like an exploration of the complex, destructive emotions one goes through when their comfortable, happy life falls to pieces and shatters their entire worldview. 

Almost the entire first half of Possession lacks any overt horror, and plays instead as a heightened version of reality, where we explore the lives of these people in very relatable situations, even if their emotions are turned up to eleven. Performances are ramped up, with dialogue as likely to be delivered through yells or bursts of physicality than any real sense of sincerity. This makes Possession difficult and uncomfortable to watch in its own unique way as you feel trapped in this skewed, broken version of the world.

The film is probably most known for this in it's most infamous scene as Isabelle Adjani delivers a hauntingly raw, visceral performance as Anna suffers a miscarriage whilst in an underground passage. It is likely the scene that helped to secure the film it's place on the banned list as it delivers an incredibly shocking sequence with very little else than Adjani's performance to elicit feelings of discomfort. Adjani physicality in the sequence is nothing short of stunning as she flails and thrashes against the walls and floor, screams, bleeds, and cries out in agony as she feels the life inside her die. It's a scene that has produced essays and introspection, and even if you fail to connect with the rest of the film it's a moment that will linger with you and be the first thing that you think about when you hear the film mentioned. It's not hard to see why Adjani was nominated for so many awards for her performance in Possession.

Whilst I have been praising Possession that doesn't mean that I consider it a faultless film; and if anything I think I may have failed to connect with it the way others have. Possession has achieved a cult-like following over the decades, and has had academic praise thrown upon it by experts in horror and cinema. But, probably as someone who hasn't had much experience of melodrama, and who was expecting something a bit different, I struggled to connect with Possession. Whilst I found it interesting there were many scenes that I didn't enjoy, I found that it dragged at times, and the things that were interesting to me weren't given enough time or focus for my liking. 

Possession isn't going to be a film that everyone likes, and I'm glad I didn't watch it with my partner as originally planned as I know she'd have hated it, but there are people that have yet to see it that will fall in love with it. I think that's likely a big part of the artistic merit of the film, it's one that will divide people because it's so unique and so unusual. If you've never watched Possession I would absolutely encourage you to do so, and if you enjoy the film this new release is a wonderful way to experience it.

Alongside the absolutely beautiful looking 4K version of the film, which is incredibly crisp and clear, the new limited edition set is packed with extra features. There four full length audio commentary tracks which offer a huge amount of insight and extra perspective into the film that add a ton to the watching experience; as mentioned before, I didn't really connect with the film, but I loved listening to the commentaries so that I could learn more about the film, and I ended up enjoying them more than the film itself. There's a sit down chat with Guillermo del Toro to discuss his love of Possession, which ends up being hugely fascinating. Kat Ellinger provides a video essay on the film, a look at the reception of the film in the UK and US, and an archival documentary. There's also a look at the locations where the film was shot, an interview with the composer, the producer, and director. Add onto that a look at the artist on the film's iconic poster, a making-of, deleted scenes, and a trailer, and you couldn't ask for more. Whether you're a Possession lover who demands more, or simply a fan of behind the scenes materials, this release serves up so much to enjoy. Oh, and there's the 220 page book filled with essays, art cards, and a reproduction of the original script it's hard to know what else you could want.

Possession was an odd viewing experience, one that I didn't always enjoy, but one that was fascinating throughout. The new release from Second Sight is frankly ridiculous with how much extra content you get, and puts some physical media releases to shame.

Possession is available from Second Sight Films from December 15th 2025.

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Thousands Call For Girlguiding to Reverse Trans Ban

 

It was announced yesterday that Girlguiding would be excluding transgender children from all of its groups, Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, and Rangers. This ban, which seems to have been spurred on in the face of threats of legal action being taken against them if they continued their inclusion policy, rolls back on previously established pledges that welcomed transgender girls and nonbinary children into the organisation.

As soon as news broke current and former members of the organisation spoke out to express their anger and disappointment with Girlguiding's decision, with some accusing them of going against their pledges of equality. Some even called the decision a 'betrayal'. My wife, who had been involved with Girlguiding since her childhood, attended her final meeting as a volunteer last night as she could no longer take part in an organisation that has chosen to harm a group of vulnerable children.

Girlguiding volunteer Jenny Thompson created an online petition that calls for the organisation to reverse it's decision, and has already received several thousand signatures in less than 24 hours.

Petition Link

Thompson says that during her time with Girlguiding she learned the values of friendship, acceptance, and support, principals that were key commitments of the organisation. However, their decision to exclude certain women and girls is described as 'a step backwards', one that 'suggests some individuals are not worthy of inclusion'.

I urge those who also feel that the Girlguiding decision to be wrong and wish to see it reversed please click the link above and sign the petition, adding your voice to the growing pushback against this cruel, discriminatory decision. 

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Women's Institute to Exclude Trans Women Following Legal Threats

 

The Women's Institute has announced today, 3rd December 2025, that it has made the choice to exclude transgender women from membership, effectively banning them from inclusion.

Trans inclusion in the Women's Institute has been a policy for the previous 40 years, with no demonstratable issues caused by this; yet the organisation has chosen to use the UK Supreme Court ruling regarding the definition of sex in the Equality Act 2010 to mean 'observed sex at birth' as an excuse to roll back this policy. The WI is only the latest group to make such a choice, with Girlguiding banning trans children from being included just yesterday.

As with others who have made the choice to exclude trans people, and as there is no law compelling them to do so this is a choice, the WI have claimed that this choice was made with 'utmost regret and sadness'. These empty words are likely to ring hollow with British trans people, who have heard them over and over and over again as people jump at the chance to bar us from public life, or force us into segregated spaces.

Melissa Green, the chief executive of the National Federation of Women's Institutes released a statement about the decision claiming that they 'had no choice' but to do so. Whilst this is an outright lie, they appear to be referring not to the law compelling them to engage in bigotry, but the threat of legal action from rabidly transphobic members of the public.

Earlier this year the billionaire children's author J.K. Rowling established a legal fund to aid with court cases and legal action against trans people and organisations that were trans inclusive. Rowling herself also paid more than £70,000 towards the Supreme Court case that has emboldened transphobes and resulted in these rollbacks of trans inclusion. Whilst there is no law compelling the WI to ban trans people the simple threat of legal action, backed by Rowling's money was likely enough to force their hand. And is likely the reason other groups, such as Girlguiding, have done similar. The UK is now a place where the threat of court action is all it takes for people to abandon vulnerable minority groups.

Green said 'Incredibly sadly, we will have to restrict our membership on the basis of biological sex from April next year. But the message we really want to get across is that it remains our firm belief that transgender women are women, and that doesn’t change.'

As with other places that have excluded trans people the WI have not detailed how they will enforce this. It may be possible that they will require members to produce some kind of proof that they're women, either a birth certificate (which can be changed), medical records, genetic screenings, or possibly even genital exams. They have also not indicated what their policy or practice will be when a butch cis woman in the organisation is accused of being trans, which is highly likely to happen as previous examples have made clear.

Green continued her empty platitudes and false words of support by saying 'My hope is that the message that the transgender community gets from this is not one of betrayal, but is one of our desire to continue to maintain those friendships and that support. This has been a very difficult year for everybody, particularly for the transgender community, but I hope that when that anger subsides the transgender community will know that we stand with them.'

Unfortunately for Green, this decision is a betrayal of the trans community, and their trans members in particular. The WI do not stand by trans people, because if they did they would not be throwing trans people aside as they're doing now. It's hard to stand beside someone when you make them leave. I can only speak for myself, but when my anger subsides I will not think they stood beside us, I will forever see them as yet another group who said trans lives don't actually matter.

The WI have said that they intend to 'bring forward programmes to continue to extend fellowship, sisterhood, and support to transgender women' and that they intend to introduce a national network of sisterhood groups that will include trans women. Though the main organisation will apparently be a cisterhood only. 

As said earlier, the Women's Institute is only the latest in a long list of groups, organisations, and businesses to exclude trans people, and I highly doubt they will be the last. Transphobes are using the threat of legal action and the backing of rich people to get what they want. There are parts of our government looking to push segregation of trans people that would effectively make public life impossible into law. This is the same government who stripped trans children of healthcare, yet allow that same healthcare to cis children; the same government who created anti-trans education policies that are essentially a new Section 28. 

The UK is growing increasingly unsafe for trans people. Our friends and allies are continually turning their backs on us, pretending to stand with us whilst going along with our erasure. I truly hope that everyone who goes along with this feels sick to their stomachs. You disgust me, you're wearing down my faith in humanity, and you're helping to make the world a worse place. The Women's Institute, Inspiring Some Women.

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Girlguiding Chooses to Ban Transgender Children from Organisation Following Threats from Transphobes

 

Girlguiding has announced today (2nd December 2025) that it has chosen to ban transgender children from its various organisations. 

The announcement, posted on their website, claims that this choice comes following April's UK Supreme Court ruling that under the Equality Act 2010 the term 'woman' means 'biological sex', and that trans women should not be considered women. The group, which has been open to and inclusive to trans and nonbinary children for several years, had previously said that they would stand by that policy, but has now chosen to reverse this stance.

The statement makes no mention of the threats from 'concerned parents' that were featured in the press earlier this year following the UK Supreme Court ruling. This unidentified parent, who I personally doubt has any actual relationship to Girlguiding and is simply an angry bigot, spoke to The Times in November, saying that they had written to Girlguiding threatening legal action if they did not ban trans children. They claimed that simply allowing trans children to exist around cisgender children was 'harassment' that violated their dignity and 'creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, or offensive environment'. They also made heavy implications that allowing trans girls to attend Girlguiding meetings would be somehow unsafe for cisgender girls by the inclusion of trans children. Despite not mentioning this bad press, and threats of legal action the timing of the decision from Girlguiding feels awfully convenient and are surely unconnected, especially with billionaire bigot J.K. Rowling financing legal cases against trans people and trans inclusion.

Despite the mention of the Supreme Court ruling in their statement as the main reason for them making this choice it should be noted that there is no law or legislation saying that Girlguiding, or any organisation, must ban trans people following the decision. Despite this, Girlguiding is one of dozens of organisations and businesses who have jumped at the chance to ban trans people in some form. Others, whilst not outwardly banning trans people have instead chosen to enact a form of segregation, such as transgender people being forced into a separate space; a separate space that they reassure us will be equal.

'Guide with Pride' was perhaps a bit of a huge fucking lie.

Girlguiding say that this decision, which no one forced them to make, comes with a heavy heart. They also say that despite deciding that only some children are worthy of inclusion in their group they're 'committed to treating everyone with dignity and respect, particularly those from marginalised groups'. It would appear that their statement is missing the caveat of 'but only for cisgender people'.

The decision that Girlguiding has made is one of exclusion. It's one that singles out certain types of children as 'others', others that aren't allowed. These are children who don't have a space that they can fall back on. Trans girls do not want to be included in boys groups because they're not boys. They're girls, girls who are just as entitled as any other to be included in girls spaces.

Girlguiding has said that more information will be coming in the next week, and I can only imagine that this will include just how they are going to enforce this ruling. Will it become mandatory for any new member of their groups to undergo physical examination in order to confirm they're 'real girls'? Will any such checks be carried out by medical staff, or will it simply be the people running these meetings asking girls to strip for them? If they have no 'prove you're cis' policy in place and simply accept self identification what will they do if they learn a girl in one of their groups is trans, will she be expelled? What happens when some psychotic bigot parent doesn't like the look of a child and believes they're 'secretly trans' and accuses them of such? Are Girlguiding ready to engage in trans witch hunts as we've seen in other spaces that have tried to implement such bans?

Bigots celebrating trans exclusion outside the Supreme Court.

All of this isn't even taking into account that the excuse they're giving for their choice to be bigoted, the Supreme Court ruling, hasn't even bothered to explain what it means by 'born female'. How is being female determined? Is it by chromosomes? This would be fairly ridiculous as almost no one knows their chromosomes, and there are many women with intersex conditions that do not have the typically expected XX chromosome pairing that are still considered women. Is it the need to have a certain reproductive system? If so, what about women born with vaginal agenesis, missing ovaries, missing wombs, or other non-typical genitalia who are still considered women? The Supreme Court have decided that women means female, yet female is not one thing, it is a cluster categorisation, and by simple definition this means that it cannot be an exclusionary group. It's no wonder every reputable scientific and medical body has condemned this choice.

And now Girlguiding's choice should also be condemned. There is no evidence based reason to ban trans people, let alone trans children. Trans people are not committing assaults or violence at any more of a statistical rat than cis people. Trans people aren't dominating sports or setting records. Trans people are more likely to be the victims of violence than the perpetrators, yet they have been made into a monolithic figure of fear, the group upon which all the ills of the world can be placed. Girlguding has made the decision to play along with this. They've decided that some children are a threat, that they must be shunned and excluded. Fuck Girlguiding.

On a personal note, my wife is a volunteer at a Girlguiding group. She was a member as a child, then a young leader, and has found great joy in her time with them, having recently re-joined them. But following this decision she is leaving them. She is attending a meeting tonight, their Christmas party, and it's going to be her last. She is refusing to work with a group that has chosen hate, exclusion, and bigotry over the values of inclusion, dignity, and respect. I doubt that she will be the only person to walk away from the organisation because of this. Girlguiding have made a stupid choice, one that will leave a stain on their reputation for years to come as they walked back on equality.

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