Heresy - Film Review

 

Ever since men figured out that women didn't magically create life inside themselves and it required a man's semen to make a baby women have been reduced from being worshipped as life givers to being seen as walking baby makers; often seen as little more than a breeding machine whose sole purpose it is to make babies. We've seen it throughout history, and are seeing these views re-emerge in the modern world with the the rise of fascistic politics and Christian nationalist views that put women in a confining role as baby makers and servants. Even in places with more progressive societies women will still be bombarded with questions about when they'll be having children as soon as they marry or settle down with a long term partner. 

Heresy, also titled Witte Wieven, tells the story of Frieda (Anneke Sluiters), a woman living in a remote Dutch village in the middle ages. Frieda is desperate to give her husband a child, to fulfil her good Christian womanly duties to bear the next generation. Unfortunately for her, a series of miscarriages has led to her questioning if she will even be able to have a child, and that if she has somehow been cursed. Frieda is mocked by the village butcher Gelo (Léon van Waas), and treated coldly by her husband Hikko (Len Leo Vincent), the only person who seems to care about her is her friend Sasha (Nola Elvis Kemper).

When Freida tries to perform a ritual to see if God has cursed her to a baren womb, she's chased into the dark woods that surround the remote village by Gelo, who intends to rape her. As she's being attacked, something tears Gelo off of her and drags him into the woods. Freida begins to have strange dreams about ethereal women who live within the woods, believing that they saved her from her assault. However, as the search for Gelo leads to a grizzly, unnatural discovery, the villagers start to believe that Frieda has made a deal with the dark forces that lurk there. Now Frieda must decide if she wishes to continue to live under the oppressive, patriarcal rule of her village, or if she wants to embrace the frightening freedom and power offered by the forest dwellers.

Heresy is a short film, having originally been produced for Dutch television as part of an anthology series, and as such doesn't have a whole lot of time to really delve into details or flesh out its narrative. Despite that, Heresy manages to accomplish more in just sixty minutes than some films do with twice the time. It manages to play wonderfully in the realms of folk horror, creates a story that feels like it's got enough time to breathe and really sink it's claws into you, and manages to develop it's lead character enough that you feel like you can understand her.

It's also impressive what the filmmakers were able to do with a relatively small budget. The sets and locations used for the film feel incredibly lived in and realistic. A big part of this is down to the fact that the production used a historic open air museum that had recreated a medieval village. Because of this the sets look fantastic, having aged and become more part of the environment around it. The location doesn't have that freshly built look to it, nor has it obviously been dressed by a set decorator; instead the moss growing across the stones, the peeling bark on the houses, and the thick thatched rooves are exactly what you're seeing. It not only looks fantastic on screen, but helps to ground these scenes in reality, meaning that when things eventually take a twisted turn into the supernatural it feels incredibly wrong.

The money saved on having to build an entire medieval village is definitely put to better use on the effects for the supernatural elements, and Heresy has some beautiful creature effects. The forest spirits that come for Frieda's aid are both monstrous and beautiful, and whilst the film makes the smart choice to never give the audience a clear look at them, what we do see, shrouded in darkness and wrapped in fog, looks incredible, managing to be both beautiful and frightening at the same moment. It's easy to see how these creatures begin to get under Freida's skin, their strange beauty and their apparent desire to both protect her and give her what she wants is incredibly seductive.

And this is ultimately a big theme in Heresy, much as it is in many folk horror stories; seduction. In this case it's an abused and downtrodden woman being seduced with the promise of more, of having the power to shape her own future, to live as she wants to, and to never feel the threat of a man looming over her life, whether that's her husband, the village priest, or a rapist. I think because of these themes there will be some people who'd probably have some degree of trouble with Heresy, and will come away from it with the conclusion that Freida has 'turned evil' or given into the dark forces within the woods. Whilst there's not really any right or wrong way of viewing art, I think that the fairer conclusion to draw is that Freida is being given the chance at freedom, and that sometimes that means breaking the shackles that are holding you prisoner and engaging in violence.

Heresy is a horror story about monsters living in the woods, threatening the peace of a 'good Christian community', but it's also a horror story about the brutality that women have to face because of men, and because of Christianity. Who exactly the monsters are in the film, the forest spirits or the men, is down to your interpretation, and I think that these themes are likely to lead to some division amongst viewers, as I've already seen in some reviews and comments made about the film in online spaces. But I encourage you to go into the film open to the story, willing to come to your own conclusions.

With a rise in popularity of folk horror in recent years I think Heresy, despite it's short length, can easily be counted amongst the best on offer right now. First time director Didier Konings does a fantastic job with the constraints of a television production, so well that the film is now being released on its own. Whilst there is a part of me that wishes the film could have had another half hour or more to really spend the time getting to know Frieda more, maybe fleshing out some of the other characters, and showing more of the strange creatures in the forest, Heresy still manages to deliver a fantastic piece of art in just sixty minutes.

Heresy is available on UK digital services from 28th September 2026.

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Lenore - Film Review

 

Before the age of YouTube and social media it was rare that you'd hear stories about people becoming obsessed with television or film personalities. There was a certain level of disconnect between them and the general public that wasn't impossible to cross, but at least seemed more difficult. However, as the Internet began to become a part of everyday lives people began to share more about themselves; and once capitalism invaded these spaces and people realised they could make money off of making their identity a brand this line between fan and obsessive became much thinner. 

Parasocialism is at the core of the new film Lenore, Directed by David Ward, and co-written by Ward and Josie Hess. Lenore drops us into a world that could very well be our own, one where a young woman who's built an online personality named Lenore (Ruby Duncan) has gone from everyday vlogger to media sensation, surrealist artist, and musician, making herself a brand. This will be familiar with anyone who spends any real time on social media, or who watches YouTube, as it's something that can be seen over and over again.

Much like with real life, something happens to Lenore that brings her entire persona, career, and life crashing down around her. One of her videos, in which she miscarries in a bath, is somehow aired on actual television during a children's show. Lenore is vilified, blamed for the event as people assume it's some shock value art statement, and everything she's been creating comes crashing down. Whilst I'm not aware of something as shocking happening in real life, an internet personality making a mistake, or deliberate choice, that ends up in the public turning against them and them seemingly losing everything is something that is all too common. I can think of several names off the top of my head, and I'm not even that plugged into 'internet culture'.

As happens in such situations, Lenore vanishes, choosing to leave online spaces to avoid the fallout from the event. However, as time passes, no apology video gets released, no statement, no sightings of her. She very literally disappears. This is where the film begins, with Lenore missing, and a young filmmaker, Max (Nicholas Jaquinot) wanting to make a documentary piece on what happened to her. However, it soon becomes apparent that Max is less of an impartial investigator, and more of an obsessed fan.

Lenore is an unsettling movie, but I think that how much the film is going to effect you will depend on who you are as much as what the film does. One of things that women and femme people will understand where men, particularly cis men, won't is that the Internet is not a good place. It's somewhere where you cannot exist without some form of harassment and sexualisation, just like the real world. Women and femme people will be harassed for posting a photo, told that we're ugly or fat, or perhaps the gross sexual things a complete stranger wants to do to our bodies. If we share our opinions on things our expertise, credentials, and intelligence will be questioned, or just outright denied. The anonymity of online spaces emboldens some of the worst desires and impulses in men towards women and femme people, and almost all of us will have stories of abuse, unwanted sexualisation, harassment, doxing, receiving explicit images without consent, or being on the receiving end of AI generated or photoshopped pornography of ourselves. 

If you've been through this, Lenore is going to hit you somewhat different. You're going to feel a deeper connection to the titular character, you're going to understand what it's like to be harassed, to have a man obsess over you. I think that depending on your gendered experience of the internet you're probably going to immediately see Max very differently too, and he's either going to be a somewhat sympatric and awkward man, or an immediate red flag. I've not had anywhere near as bad experiences as a lot of women, and have been mostly inactive in these spaces for years now, but I was very quickly put into a more uneasy mindset watching Lenore as it just reminded me of those times where I was sexualised, insulted, attacked, and send awful images and messages.

This oppressive, uncomfortable atmosphere is only enhanced by the films visual presentation. Max is a skinny, pale guy, wearing messy clothes, spending almost all of his time in the awful basement space of his house, with a grotty stained mattress on the floor. He eats plain bread out of the bag, or blows of cereal as he sits and watches videos of Lenore over and over, trying to figure out how to create his film. There's very little illumination other than the light cast by the collection of screens and monitors that Max has assembled into what resembles a monument, and what light it does provide does little to help with the dark shadows, pervasive greys, and impression of filth that fills the space. Max is presented as living in what everyone will picture when they hear the term 'basement dweller'.

Jaquinot does an excellent job at walking the fine line between presenting Max as unnerving and pitiable, and there are time when I almost began to forget my initial feelings about him, seeing the sad, broken, and lonely man beneath the obsessive personality that had taken over. It's a fantastic performance, one that at times feels almost manic and crazed before shifting to become a man who seems so tired and weighed down, barely able to keep going. He also has a sense of despair to him, driven mostly by the fact that he seems to be haunted by the spectre of Lenore, seeing things that aren't real, his grip on reality fraying as he experiences more and more disturbing events. Whether or not this is some kind of supernatural force such as a haunting, his own mind fracturing, or a combination of the two is something that the film leaves to you to decide, but the fact that all of these feel like plausible explanations for what we see speaks to the strength of his portrayal.

Despite having much less screen time, his titular co-star Ruby Duncan is by no means any less important, and the spectre of Lenore looms larger across the entire film. We get to know Lenore through tiny snippets of her videos, seeing both the personal that she carefully crafted as well as the person behind it all. It feels like Duncan really gets the chance to play a lot with Lenore, being presented in dozens of different costumes and make-up looks thanks to the character's vivid and varied art styles, and whilst it's hard to initially pin down who this character is, it's through some important scenes that Duncan is able to inject a huge amount of humanity into her, turning her from an internet persona into a real person; which is I think one of the core messages of the film, that online personalities often aren't real.

Fans of surreal horror will also find a lot to enjoy throughout Lenore, as the film plays with both expectations and perceptions. You're never one hundred percent sure what you're seeing, and if anything is even true. There are some things that happen in the film that feel perfectly normal and mundane, but later information makes you realise that you've been following an unreliable narrator, and that you should have been questioning everything from the very beginning. Lenore is one of those films that almost demands at least a second viewing, and I found myself wanting to go back to it to see if I'd end up going on a different journey with it the second time.

Small budget independent horror is a very mixed bag, it's a side of cinema where you're probably going to find something pretty bad, and if you're lucky you might come out the other side going 'it had it's good moments'; but every once in a while you stumble across a movie that exceeds your expectations and makes you realise that you really shouldn't judge a film based on its budget, how quickly you recognise the cast, or if the director has done much before. I honestly didn't expect much from  first time director, a films with a handful of actors, and one location, but in the end Lenore didn't just use it's limitations, it exceeded them. I know this film isn't going to be for everyone, but for those that it clicks with, I think it's going to be something that really wows you.

Lenore is available on UK digital from 21st September 2026.

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The Hammer Story: Revised and Expanded Edition by Marcus Hearne & Alan Barnes - Book Review

 

'Established in 1934, Hammer Films is one of the most renowned and prolific independent production companies in the world. Hammer’s productions encompass almost every genre, but it remains best known for the ground breaking reinvention of cinematic horror that was a phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1950s. The unique formula that became known as Hammer Horror was perfected in such classics as The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dracula (1958) and The Mummy (1959). Over the next 20 years numerous sequels and similarly acclaimed films such as The Devil Rides Out (1968) made Hammer one of the most recognisable filmmaking brands in the world.

'The Hammer Story is the only authorised history of the company and was compiled with unlimited access to its archive. The book is lavishly illustrated with rare promotional material and previously unpublished photographs. Now with an additional 32 pages continuing the story of Hammer as it came back from the dead in 2007 and began producing new horror films for a modern audience'

I'm not old enough to have experienced the heyday of Hammer Horror, though I was aware of it growing up thanks in large part to my mother and grandmother having watched numerous Hammer films together on a Friday night whilst alone in the house; stories they'd tell that would end out with the power going out at a frightening moment that made them scream, or one of my uncles suddenly appearing at a window with fake fangs, or shoving a hand through a window to grab them whilst wearing a monster glove. Honestly, with those stories I think part of why I never sought them out before I did was because it seemed like watching a Hammer Horror came with some kind of frightening event.

Despite this, my first experience with Hammer Horror was in 2012 with the release of The Woman in Black. Being a fan of horror in general, and gothic Victorian horror in particular, I could tell that it was going to be a movie that ticked a lot of my boxes. And it ended up being the scariest film I watched that year. I'd still say that it's probably one of my favourites. My housemate at the time, who I watched the film with, suggested we try out some other Hammer movies, and from there I've now seen a decent number of them (though by no means the entire catalogue).

Thanks to my interest in Hammer, when I saw that Titan Books was bringing out a revised edition of The Hammer Story, I knew that I'd want to read it. Covering every film that Hammer has ever made, in chronological order, the book charts the legacy of one of the most respected horror film production companies there has ever been; now fully up to date to include several films from the revival era of Hammer Horror, including the already mentioned The Woman in Black, and Let Me In, a remake of the Swedish Let The Right One In.

With the US dominating most of movie culture in the Western world, it's sometimes easy to overlook British cinema, but if there's one thing that The Hammer Story really puts into perspective is that whilst the studio didn't always produce amazing movies it certainly helped to shape what modern horror is, and is perhaps one of the most important forces in horror. Thanks to the book going in chronological order readers get to see this happen as you move from film to film, witnessing the increased budget, creativity, and star power that the studio attains as it goes from success to success.

Of course, anyone who knows about Hammer will say that some of this is largely down to two names in particular, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing; both of whom would star in multiple films, both alone and together, and would become the iconic faces of Count Dracula and Victor Frankenstein respectively, with several films in each character's series. It's no surprise then that the two of them share the cover of the book together, as these characters, as well as being the only two people given their own chapters in the book; the other chapters being dedicated to eras of the studio.

As the book progresses through each film we get behind the scenes accounts of the production, from how the films were pitched and written, to stories from the set, and looks at how they were marketed and received by the public. These accounts are accompanied by production stills, promotional artwork featuring some amazing painted posters, as well as documents that were never released to the public, creating a surprisingly detailed account of each film over a handful of pages.

This new Revised and Expanded Edition has an additional thirty pages since the last printing of the book; the previous release being 2007. These new pages include the modern Hammer films, Wake Wood, The Resident, Let Me In, The Woman in Black, The Quiet Ones, The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, The Lodge, and Doctor Jekyll. It's interesting to see that these modern movies don't quite go into as much detail as the older films, perhaps with so much of the behind the scenes stuff being covered by home release extras, online videos, and Internet articles that there's not a whole lot that can be said here that isn't easy to find elsewhere. It could also be that despite the age of the older movies there's just more documentation from the productions that made it to the archive, more internal memos and letters that are now just emails sitting in the cloud somewhere on a modern production. 

It's also very striking how Hammer has operated at different points when everything is laid out as it is here in the book, especially in regards to the modern movies. Despite a couple of decent successes, the modern Hammer movies just didn't quite land the same way that they did back in the day, and even attempts to recapture some of that magic, such as having Christopher Lee appear in The Resident, or making movies that tap into the Gothic horror era via The Woman in Black or their new take on Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Hammer just never managed to become the powerhouse that it once was.

As someone who loves the stuff around movies, who'd watch through the making-of documentaries more times than the film, and would listen to audio-commentary tracks whilst working on some hobby or the other, I love these kinds of books. To be able to sit down and just go through the history of an entire production company, or to be able to go to specific movies as and when the urge takes me to read about them again or see the extra documents and artwork included is such a joy. Reading through this book, along with Titan's other recent Hammer release, The Hammer Horror Omnibus, has resulted in me wanting to go through a great deal of the Hammer movies for the first time.

Whether you're a lifelong fan of the franchise, or someone like myself who has a passing interest and wants to learn more, The Hammer Story: Revised and Expanded Edition makes for the perfect book to add to your shelves, no matter if it's joining your collection of Hammer memorabilia, or your gateway into a whole new world of cinema. This lavishly produced and gorgeous coffee table book is well worth the price of admission at a frankly bargain price.

The Hammer Story: Revised and Expanded Edition is available now from Titan Books for £29.99.

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The Stranger - Film Review

 

The Stranger opens on two scenes that both immediately raise interest. The first sees a man sitting in a car at night on the phone to someone, saying that his partner has been killed, that people are after him, and that he has nowhere he can go to be safe. The next scenes introduce us to a fairly regular couple, Amanda (Jennifer K. Preston) and Greg (Jake Francis), showing us their normal, loving life before it's all torn away from them when an intruder murders Greg in their home during a burglary. The film is trying to draw you in in two distinct ways, one with a grim, frightening mystery, and the other by trying to very quickly get us to care for one of our lead characters via a tragedy.

From here we're introduced to Amanda's teenage daughter Karli (Isabella Percival) some amount of time later. It's not clear how soon after Greg's death this is, but it's been long enough that Amanda has developed a drinking problem, and for her to make the choice to sell her home and make a fresh start for herself and her daughter in a remote countryside guesthouse. As Amanda and Karli move into their new home we see the cracks in their relationship, with Karli resenting her mother for both her drinking and for dragging her away from her life and plans for the future.

As the two of them try to work out their issues and find a way to settle into their new normal a man, Kyle (Damien Ashley) turns up on their doorstep in the night, wanting to rent a room despite the business not being running yet. Agreeing to let him stay, Kyle's behaviour is soon obviously strange, telling Amanda and Karli conflicting stories that seem to turn the two of them against each other, and blocking off the window in the room he's staying in. 

A few nights after checking in Kyle takes the two of them hostage, telling them that he cannot leave until morning, and if they try to escape they'll be killed. Kyle tells them that he and his wife let someone into their home one night, someone in need. This person was being chased by something, a strange group of people who wanted to kill him, and that they may be more than human. They followed the man to Kyle's home, broke inside, killed him and Kyle's wife, and have been chasing Kyle ever since. They'll soon be arriving at the guesthouse looking for him, and so the three of them will have to work together to make it through the night alive.

There's a pretty good premise at the foundation of The Stranger, a combination of It Follows mixed with a home invasion story. I like the concept, and think that it could have a lot of promise. Unfortunately, The Stranger never really does much with this concept, and despite only being an hour and nineteen minutes long it manages to drag on a lot longer than you'd expect as the film doesn't really do anything.

My biggest criticism of the movie is that the characters feel quite odd, and half the time their motivations make little sense. There's a whole sub-plot about Karli resenting her mother for not letting her go to university as planned, having to hold off for a year so that she can help her mother set up her new guesthouse. However, there's also a ton of animosity between them because Karli has been dragged away from her girlfriend, a relationship that Amanda knows nothing about. There are scenes of Karli talking to her girlfriend over the phone and trying to make it work between them, and mention of her having to tell her mum that she's gay and her 'friend' is more than just a friend. But this conversation never happens. There's no scene that addresses this, and this lack of any real resolution to things almost makes these earlier scenes feel somewhat pointless because they intentionally feel like they're building up to this coming out moment that never comes.

I also don't really understand Kyle's motivations a huge amount. Kyle tells us that he never stays in any one place more than three nights because the people chasing him will find him. But he intentionally stays where he is for three nights, almost like he's waiting for these people to catch-up to him. He keeps talking about how he can move on if they make it to morning, but the question remains of why did he not just move on after the first night. He doesn't say surviving for three nights will stop them, or that there's any reason why he didn't keep running. It feels like he allowed the gap to close between him and his hunters, and I don't know why. There's also no real explanation as for why he keeps trying to set Amanda and Karli against each other, twisting events to make Karlie seem like a thief and a liar, especially as he then wants them to help him survive.

This lack of any real explanation could work if it only applied to the people following Kyle, we don't get told why the rules around them apply for example, as leaving some mystery around the supernatural elements of the film is a fairly standard thing; but for most of the human interactions to also leave you scratching your head makes me lean more towards a general issue with the story and writing. It's a shame, as I think the movie could be done incredibly well if given a bit more thought and care. As it is, it feels kind of rushed, half baked, and as if it's the result of different versions of the script being tossed together so that explanations are lost, character motivations are changed, and plotlines simply vanish partway through.

There are some decent elements, such as the lead creature/person that's chasing Kyle presenting itself as an old woman. I liked that she knocks on the door and asks for permission to come in, that she talks to Amanda as if she's there to help her, as it gives the creatures a sense of intelligence, like they're capable of planning even if they are bound by some set of unseen rules. The rest, however, lack any real visual punch, and feel almost hastily thrown together. When seen as just silhouettes waiting in the dark they make for a good image, but when you see that they're a bunch of men in masks and boilersuits it takes away the sense of the supernatural that was being built up, almost grounding them in reality too much. There is a moment when one of their masks comes off and it reveals something very non-human beneath, and I think that perhaps showing this up front may have been better than a bunch of people in cheap masks; but then that could have been a budget restriction.

The Stranger had a good amount of promise to the concept, but I can't help but feel that a lot of it ended up wasted. The script is filled with holes, the main cast try their best to give decent performances but end up let down by shifting and incomprehensible motivations, and things kind of fall apart towards the end. There's a possibility that you could really enjoy The Stranger, but I can't help but feel it was a bit of a waste of a concept.

The Stranger is available now on UK digital from Trinity Content Partners.

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The Spirit Lock - Film Review

 

Parents doing whatever it takes to protect their child, especially against supernatural forces that they can't contend with has been a staple of horror cinema for decades. Most parents love their children more than anything in the world, more than they even love themselves, and as such they'll be willing to face down the most unimaginable odds to save them; but what happens when one parent of a disturbed child is convinced that their son is possessed, whilst the other just wants to get them professional help? 

This is where we find parents Karl (Joe Anderson) and Vanessa (Yasmin Al-Khudairi), a young couple whose son, Kit (Stefanos Parakevopoulos) has been taken out of school for hurting another child, and is isolated, alone, and lashing out. Whilst Vanessa thinks that medical and psychological help is the best course of action Karl has become convinced that Kit has been possessed, that some kind of demon is inside him. To be fair, we get to see Kit torturing and killing captured birds in the attic, and he's not afraid to start snarling whilst his eyes start glowing red, so maybe Karl has something of a point.

In order to try and help his son Karl has tracked down an object that will cast the demon out of Kit, a wooden box called the Spirit Lock. When their local priest, Father Bailey (Tim Downie), refuses to help, Karl starts the ritual needed to activate the Spirit Lock, trapping his family inside their home until the ritual is complete and the demon has been banished to hell.

The Spirit Lock will feel vaguely familiar to people who've watched a few possessed child movies. Kit is relegated to being tied up in bed for most of the film, the only occassions that he really gets to get up and do anything are the times he's running around the house growling and attacking his dad. Where The Spirit Box Starts to do things a little differently, however, is that this time there's no heroic priest coming to save the day, and it's the father rather than the mother who's seen as the hysterical one making up stories; something of a refreshing take.

There's a nugget of a pretty decent idea at the heart of The Spirit Lock, but it unfortunately doesn't do much with it. The film is very light on details and explanations. For example, the very first scene of the movie is Karl going to a bar and meeting a strange man who gives him the Spirit Lock, a man who gives dire warnings, cryptic instructions, then simply vanishes into nothingness. Who is this man, how did Karl learn about the Spirit Lock and know to be there to get it, and how the heck did he remember the weird mystical words he was given are all questions the movie doesn't cover. Instead, we kind of have to just go along with things and accept that at some point off screen before the film even began Karl went 'my son has a demon inside him, maybe I should Google how to get strange artefacts to exorcise them' or some such thing.

In a way, the audience is put more into the position of Vanessa, who's a very grounded and normal person being told that Kit is possessed and that she simply needs to go along with it. She's left with questions that need answering, just as we do, and receives very little actual explanation for Karl, as we do. Perhaps this is an intentional choice on the part of Director Steven Fierberg and Writers Justin Stanley and Mark Jonathan Stanley, but it could also be that the people making the movie never thought to give us this information as they were more focused on what happens once the Spirit Lock comes into play. I think it's likely more the latter as the film seems to be more told from Karl's point of view, and I would expect us to follow Vanessa if the film was trying to put us into her shoes.

Once things begin to happen around the house and we get to see the stuff that has convinced Karl that his son is possessed I found that the film still, sadly, lacked any real identity of it's own. It kind of felt like it was more going through the motions than trying to make it's own identity or try anything new. It was during this part of the film that I kept finding my mind wandering away from the plot to consider what the film would be like if it went in a different direction, one that would probably be more interesting than what we were being given; then the film did it, it suddenly changed gears and went against expectations and gave me my idea, and it still didn't really excite me. I don't know what it is about The Spirit Lock, but when it was being a possessed child movie I didn't really gel with it well, and then when it went against expectations and became the film I wanted instead it still failed to grab me.

I think it is perhaps just because the film never really felt like it was trying anything new or original. The movie trod familiar ground, it did things that I'd already seen before, and whilst the acting was decent enough for the most part, especially from the two leads, I felt like they were perhaps let down by a script that never really gave them anything to sink their teeth into, and the times where things did start to get interesting the movie never really focused on it for long. Some of the editing choices also disrupted these moments, moving on a bit too quick and not allowing the scene to linger for a moment so that the viewer could spend some more time with it before the next thing happened. There's also an almost bizarre sound effect choice in one scene where an apparently possessed Vanessa is attacking Karl, and the screeching scream she makes is clearly not her, and even happens when her mouth is closed at one point. It made what should have been a frightening or tense scene feel kind of silly, and it broke my immersion completely.

The Spirit Lock feels somewhat like a film that was made when the script could probably have gone through a couple more revisions. Like I said, there are some decent ideas here, and with a slightly different focus, some stronger moments, and some better pacing, it could have ended up as a pretty good possession movie. As it is, however, The Spirit Lock is one of those short horror films that somehow manages to feel like it's going on a little too long, and that you'll end up forgetting about very soon after it's done.

The Spirit Lock is available now on UK digital from Seven Tales.

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Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, The Making of the Classic Film by John Tenuto & Maria Jose Tenuto - Book Review

 

'Go behind the scenes of one of the most beloved entries in the Star Trek saga with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – The Making of the Classic Film. This definitive companion takes fans deep into the heart of the 1986 production that brought humor, heart, and humpback whales to the final frontier.

'Packed with exclusive interviews, rare photographs, and untold stories from cast and crew, this book reveals how director Leonard Nimoy and the creative team crafted a legendary time-travel adventure. From the challenges of shooting on location in San Francisco, to ground-breaking special effects needed to create the animatronic whales, to the environmental message that still resonates today, this insider account celebrates the risks and rewards of boldly going in a new direction. Whether you’re a lifelong Trek fan or a film history enthusiast, discover the artistry and camaraderie behind a film that helped redefine what a Star Trek movie could be.'

I've enjoyed Star Trek for most of my life, having grown up watching several of the season air on BBC in the evenings and trying my best to follow along week to week at a time when if you missed an episode it would be years before you could see it again. Despite my love of the franchise I have to admit I never really cared for the Original Series as much. The bright colours, the campiness, and the stories never really grabbed me as much as the 90's shows; especially Deep Space Nine. That being said, I did enjoy the films that came out of the crew of the original Enterprise, and despite everyone saying The Wrath of Khan is the best one I've always preferred The Voyage Home. And now as the film reaches it's 40th anniversary I'm more than happy to get the chance to dive into Titan Book's gorgeous new making of book, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - The Making of the Classic Film.

Perhaps the most fun of the Original Series films, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is the one that people will immediately remember because of the whales. The simple concept of 'Earth needs whales' that then sees a rogue Enterprise crew taking their stolen Klingon Bird of Prey back in time to 1980's San Francisco to steal a couple of whales, is a large part of the success of this film compared to the three that came before it. The first was incredibly dull, the second was great but left some viewers feeling a bit left behind as it was a sequel to a specific episode, and the third was dealing with the fallout of the second. Then along some the fourth film, one that asked a very simple but important question, 'what if we just had fun?'. That sense of joy, those memorable moments of the crew interacting with a new time period, and the jokes throughout the movie helped cement The Voyage Home as one of the best films the franchise had to offer.

Taking a look back at a film made forty years ago, however, presents a few problems; especially as so many of the original cast, and even the behind-the-scenes crew, are sadly no longer with us. With so many important figures in the creation of the film gone the Tenuto duo make the choice to focus on one person in particular, Kirk Thatcher, who worked as associate producer off-screen, and was the iconic bus punk Spock knocks unconscious on-screen. Having worked so closely with Leonard Nimoy during the production, Thatcher is able to give an astonishing amount of insight into the movie, providing details and stories that would otherwise be lost to time. A few of the surviving cast and crew do add their voices to the book, including actors George Takei and Robin Curtis, and effects artists and graphic designers Ken Ralston and Michael Okuda.

The opening chapter for the book deals with the pre-production aspects of the film, discussing the various drafts, scripting issues, and even casting changes that the film went through. I'd heard that Eddie Murphy had been intended to be in the movie, and would have filled the role that Catherine Hicks would go on to play; however, it's not until reading through this book that I found out that whilst Murphy was indeed intended to be involved, it was in a very different version of the film. The early versions of The Voyage Home are quite different, and the more I learned about it here the more glad I was that Murphy did eventually drop out and the script went in a different direction as what we ended up with definitely1 sounds like a more coherent and cohesive idea. 

After we learn about the genesis of the film we move onto characters, though not the main cast. This chapter opens with the more important characters, introducing us to new character Gillian Taylor, who would play a pivotal role in the saving of Earth, before focusing a little bit on some returning characters such as Saavik, Janice Rand, Nurse Chapel, and Sarek. From here we get a whole host of supporting characters, and a look at some of the special make-up effects, and puppets, that would be used to flesh out the world of Federation HQ. As someone who loves being able to take a proper look at what is essentially background elements in the movie this part of the book was absolutely fantastic, and I adored getting to actually take the time to appreciate the hard work the effects team put into bringing these various alien species to life. 

The rest of the book covers what you'd expect from a making of, dealing with concept art, the creation of sets and props, location shooting and the issues that would arise from doing so, and costuming. There's a significant part of the book given over to the whales, two of the most important characters in the film. I never knew that the footage of the whales used during the majority of the film were not of actual animals, but creations of ILM, and seeing how these puppets were created, and the effort that went into filming them underwater in such a way that they apparently even fooled whale experts, is honestly quite astonishing to see and will change how I look at these scenes in future re-watches of the film. 

My favourite parts of the book are the small asides that are included. These small snippets, often presented in their own box to show that they're an additional insight rather than part of the main text, tend to give us tiny stories that make the film feel a little bit more personal, or give us a view of things that could have been. A couple of my favourites are Thatcher reminiscing on how Nimoy loved both acting in and directing the film, but how much of a toll it took on him, as well as talk about a scene that would have had Sulu briefly meet one of his ancestors in the form of a small boy, but the scene fell apart due to the child actor being unable to perform on the day. These are the kind of insights that give the whole project more depth and charm, and I loved them for that.

One of the things that is reiterated throughout the book is how much that Nimoy wanted the film to matter. He didn't want just another Star Trek adventure, but something that discussed important things in the world. The environmental message of The Voyage Home was what he landed on, and is one that was not only important at the time, but is oh so much more vital today. It's sad that the simple message of 'protect the Earth now to save it for the future' that this film wrapped up in it's packaging of sci-fi adventure and humour was so lost on people that it didn't make much of a difference; but despite that it still makes the movie feel relevant now, and because of that I can't help but feel that The Voyage Home will continue to connect with audiences in ways that the other Original Series films don't.

Whether or not The Voyage Home is your favourite of the series or not, and if not odds are that it'd be your second favourite behind The Wrath of Khan (unless you've a real outlier), this behind the scenes book offers a ton of reasons to give it a read. The deeper look at the production of the film, and the personal stories provided by cast and crew make this an engaging and entertaining read, and the print quality of the book makes this a fantastic coffee table tome that would look great on anyone's shelf.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, The Making of the Classic Film is out now from Titan Books for £39.99.

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Giger's Alien by H.R. Giger - Book Review

 

'Originally published in 1979, Giger’s Alien is the ultimate illustrated diary on Giger’s involvement in the making of the movie Alien and its titular monster, the Xenomorph. The classic status of Alien, the movie, is in large part due to Academy-Award winning artist and designer H. R. Giger. This book provides a complete illustrated record of the months of painstaking work that went into designing the most frightening movie monster of them all.

'This perennial bestseller takes the form of a high-quality illustrated diary, featuring sketches, original paintings, on-set photographs and stills from the finished movie; this is an exquisite blend of words and pictures. A must-buy for fans of H.R. Giger, Alien and science fiction films in general.'

I grew up watching the Alien franchise, thanks in large part to some uncles who probably should have known better letting me see things I shouldn't have, and parents who had a more relaxed view on allowing me to be exposed to certain media that I knew wasn't real. Because of this, not only did I end up becoming quite a weird child, but I became fascinated with the titular Xenomorph from an early age, recognising that even in the decades that followed the release of the original 1979 film there were very few movie monsters that came close to it. 

The Xenomorph wasn't just a frightening monstrosity, one that would be an damn near guaranteed death sentence if you ever found yourself around one, but it was also one of the most beautiful. It's mixture of human, insect, and biomechanical traits, some of which that evoked bizarre sexual elements, made it feel like a creature from some dark, sexual nightmare. The Xenomorph managed to be so incredibly alien, so different from what pop culture had prepared audiences for, that the first time it appeared on screen it changed things forever.

Spawning from the brain of now renowned Swiss artist H.R. Giger, the creature was a testament to creativity. Where other sci-fi artists were creating bug-eyed monsters, Giger was tapping into something truly unique; and that uniqueness was exactly what Ridley Scott, Director of Alien was looking for to make sure that his upcoming science fiction movie wasn't lost in the slew of Star Wars clones and cash-ins. Giger's Alien, which was originally published in 1979, is made up from diary entries and notes made by Giger himself, beginning with a sudden call from Dan O'Bannon, who knew from the failed attempt to adapt Dune, who asked him to contribute to his latest sci-fi film.

Over the course of Giger's Alien was get to see Giger going from someone unsure of the process of filmmaking, to being on the set of the movie in Pinewood Studios, frantically decorating the the space jockey so that it's ready for filming, or locking himself away to hastily create a practical Facehugger that could be used to impregnate actor John Hurt. We get to see through Giger's own words how much of that nervousness fell away, often being replaced by frustration as a man used to marching to the beat of his own drum found himself having to operate under the studio's mandate, creating to their specifications and timetable.

There's often a sense of frustration that seems to come through in Giger's writing, especially once production actually enters full swing and he's having to stay in England throughout. He's someone who comes across as not being used to being asked for changes, where his artistic vision is normally absolute, but now he's being asked to go against that, creating by committee instead. It's somewhat sad, but you can almost hear the tiredness in his voice as you read the words he's written, and get the sense that despite Alien making him an international name, and one of the most famous artist of the modern era, he at times probably hated it. This does go against the way he would talk in interviews over the years, usually having such a positive outlook on it, but as these are his words at the time they feel so much more genuine, more raw, in how they come across; and thus it makes this a strangely personal book at times.

Alongside Giger's thoughts, the book contains a number of behind the scenes pieces, ranging from preliminary sketches, to more finalised designs, to the construction of sets and monsters, and things that never made it to the screen. All of this artwork comes from Giger, the evolution of certain designs showing how boldly different the film could have been, whether that is a Facehugger that's some huge creature, the Chestburster that resembled some horrific plucked bird, or the eggs originating in a breast-like silo structure rather than the derelict spacecraft. A lot of these images are ones that I've seen before, through various documentaries and behind the scenes features on DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film, so it's the photographs, taken by Giger's girlfriend of the time, Mia, that took centre-stage for me.

These photographs chronicle the practical process of the film, following along as Giger constructed the alien landscape that the astronauts would trek across from bone and chicken wire, ultimately becoming a full-sized set. There are photographs of the iconic derelict alien craft being constructed from Styrofoam before having all of the gorgeous detailing added to it. And there are photographs of the construction of the Xenomorph itself, of the complexity of the suit that was made by hand, scrapped and refined over and over until the iconic creature came to life. These photographs offer a unique perspective into the making of the film, and alongside Giger's words, create a narrative that I'd not heard before; a brutally honest account of the creation of one of the most important science fiction horror films ever created.

Perhaps my only criticism of the book is that it feels like it ends somewhat abruptly. The final entry from Giger is from the filming of the movie, after the Xenomorph suit has been created and is being used on screen. Giger is talking about how his work is still continuing, as he's spending the nights after each day's filming repainting and repairing the costume, making sure that his creature remains as horrifically beautiful as possible. The next page jumps forward in time, to after the film's release. This final entry, written by Mia, describes the night that she and Giger attended the Oscars, where he and the other members of the Alien team wins the award for Best Visual Effect. She talks about the almost child-like excitement and happiness that Giger experienced upon his win; something sharply at odds with his emotions during the production. It's a lovely way to end the book, but it does almost feel as if some pages have been excised thanks to the sudden change.

Giger's Alien has been lovingly recreated, a huge, coffee-table book that's designed to be read through once, but leafed through over and over again. The artwork inside the book is going to be a major draw for a lot of people, and might be the reason that some folks pick it up to begin with. However, it's also a personal account of Giger's time on the film, one that shows some of the worst parts of the production for him, an account that almost makes the making of the film sound like a horror story unto itself. Giger's Alien is a must-have book for any Alien fan, one that will make you appreciate the beauty of Giger's creations even more.

Giger's Alien is out now from Titan Books for £39.99

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The Hammer Horror Omnibus by John Burke - Book Review

 

'Hammer Films set the benchmark for horror cinema, creating some of horror's most enduring icons. Back in print after decades, discover these seminal novelisations from the studio's classic era of macabre storytelling, with a new foreword by TV showrunner Stephen Gallagher and a new afterword by horror legend Ramsey Campbell.

'The Gorgon - Directed by Terence Fisher, the master of Gothic cinema. what is the terrible secret of the village of Vandorf, where a murderer's victims turn to stone? The Curse of Frankenstein - The film that first united Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and Hammer's first colour horror film, that launched the studio's golden age. Baron Frankenstein creates a grotesque monster - and is himself condemned to death for the creature's killings.

'The Revenge of Frankenstein - The sequel to The Curse of Frankenstein, dubbed a 'high-grade horror film' by Variety. Escaping the guillotine Baron Frankenstein repays the dwarf who aids him - giving him a new body. But his creation is a killer, worse - a cannibal! The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb - The sequel to the smash-hit The Mummy. From the Egypt of 3000BC to the London of 1900 comes the monster that would not die!'

Hammer is a British icon, one that has become so ingrained in the country that even if you've never seen one of the films you can't help but know about them, even if that's something as simple as the iconic image of Christopher Lee as Dracula. It's not hard to see how the studio became the juggernaut that it was, however, when you consider the sheer volume of films that they produced. As well as movies, Hammer commissioned novelisations of their films. As the foreword of the book laments, the practice of creating book versions of popular movies has become something of a lost art over the last couple of decades as films go from cinema to home release so incredibly quickly; and those that are made tend to be for more hardcore fans and unique collectors than the much wider audience that used to invest in the cheap, mass produced paperbacks of movies people had to wait years to see again. This new omnibus printing from Titan Books brings together four classic adaptations, offering a whole new audience the chance to experience them decades later.

The four films collected together in this omnibus are a bit of a strange mix, having originally been created to coincide with the release of 1964's the Gorgon, the four stories do not really have any thematic linking, and other than featuring the first two entries in Hammer's ever expanding Frankenstein series, there's no obvious reason why any of these were picked out. That being said, the collection does give us a decent bit of variety, not just in story but in artistic style too.

The first story in the collection, The Gorgon is perhaps the most important as it was the reason for the omnibus having originally been created, and it does show how sometimes these film to book adaptations can lead to the reader getting an alternative version of their movie thanks to creative changes that take place on set after the script is sent to the book adaptor. For example, in the film version of The Gorgon has the titular monster be Megaera whilst the book uses the original version Medusa. This difference highlights how something tiny can alter how you'd view the final product, as in the film the gorgon being a character from myth who wasn't one of the three gorgon sisters feels out of place, like the writer knew enough about Greek myth to know a name from it, but didn't realise they'd used it wrong. In contrast, whilst the central plot still feels somewhat silly in the book version, it does at least feature the correct character. 

Sadly, I found the adaptation of The Gorgon to be somewhat lacking at times, and despite it's very short length I often found myself becoming a bit bored with events. Characters were so flat as to have barely any dimension at all, and the story was at times a bit meandering and dull, and despite being a horror story there was almost no tension or horror to be found.

In contrast to this opening story, the next two included in the collection are so much better done. The two Frankenstein tales make the bold move of not being written in the third person, as you would come to expect from a film novelisation, but are told from the perspective of Victor Frankenstein himself, recounting his story. This not only evokes the feeling of the original story, and other horror fiction of the era, but it means that whilst the book is able to be vague on details, and can jump from scene to scene as the film does, it still feels like it's giving the reader a lot more to sink their teeth into as John Burke is able to put so much more personality into the narration.

This shift to the perspective of the villain also puts the reader into an interesting position as you can come away from the adaptation with a very different outlook to having just watched the film. Victor Frankenstein is the one taking us on this journey, and whilst you can still judge him harshly for his poor choices and evil acts you cannot help but want to go along with him to see what happens next.

The final story in the collection, The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, goes back to third person narration, and manages to avoid some of the dullness of The Gorgon likely due to the fact that whilst the film it's based on isn't that great, it's at least not dull. It also helps that the lack of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in the second Mummy film isn't felt here, as you can just imagine the two of them in any of the roles that you want.

Somewhat schlocky in nature, this second The Mummy story is perhaps more enjoyable in it's book form, as the silliness of it's ancient cult, living dead mummy, and con-men out to make money, make the story feel like a pulp tale, one not designed to be taken too seriously, and I was largely able to switch off my brain and just go along with all of the silliness and schlock.

The Hammer Horror Omnibus is a rather delightful collection, one that is very much a throwback to a different time of films. Whilst there are definitely some highs and lows throughout the book, with the opening story being the weakest and the one that you really need to push through to get to the good bits, overall it was a very enjoyable experience to be able to go back and read these stories without having to hunt through charity shops or internet sites. For fans of Hammer Horror, and people who may remember reading these stories when they were kids who want to experience them all over again, this new printing is a fantastic way to add these stories to your collection.

The Hammer Horror Omnibus is out now from Titan Books for £10.99.

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Worst Man by Brandt & Stein - Graphic Novel Review

 

'On a remote island, far from the distractions of the internet and modern life, we gather here today to celebrate the union of Domino McElligott and Battista Lovely... unless Radcliffe Raleigh can stop it! A professional 'Worst Man', Rad is hired by the Mother of the Bride, the merciless tech mogul Valentina McElligott. With the price of failure being his life and less than 32 hours till “I do", will Rad survive his biggest job yet!'

Weddings are a chaotic affair, often listed as one of the most stressful and lifechanging events someone can go through; often only topped by with a marriage breakdown, the loss of a loved one, or someone finding themselves in prison. Considering it's pretty much the only thing that people happily sign up for that's on the list of most stressful life events it's a wonder so many weddings go as smoothly as they do. Yes, this is in large part thanks to people taking years to plan the event in some cases, and having a whole host of people to help you along it, but there's one very important thing that helps a wedding run smoothly; there's no one there trying to make sure that it doesn't. So what would happen if you're days away from your dread day and a professional relationship wrecker turned up? Well, that's what the delightful new graphic novel Worst Man hopes to answer.

Radcliffe Raleigh is a man with a very special set of skills. Like the myth of how casino's will deploy a 'cooler' to ruin someone's winning streak to save the house big bucks, Radcliffe is a cooler for romance, a man who can insert himself into people's lives and wear down a relationship to breaking point. This is a pretty awful ability compared to most skills you could have, but luckily Radcliffe swore to only ever use his skills for good, using them to help break apart doomed relationship. He thinks that he's able to help relationships fall apart years before they're meant to, letting those involved skip all the extra heartbreak and drama by getting it done early. Or at least that's how he justifies it to himself.

However, there was one time that Radcliffe broke his own rule, when shady tech billionaire Valentina McElligott (picture an even more evil looking Maye Musk) hires him to break up her daughter Merritt and her girlfriend Galetea. Despite trying his best, spending six months becoming friends with the two women, Radcliffe is unable to bring himself to try and break them apart, seeing two people genuinely in love in a relationship that works. Instead, he walks away from the job. Unfortunately, Valentina McElligott isn't a woman who is used to being refused, so when she comes to Radcliffe a second time, telling him that he has less than two days to wreck the wedding of her youngest daughter, Domino, this time it comes with the stipulation that failure will end up with him being killed.

With his life literally on the line, Radcliffe now finds himself on a remote island hotel resort with his accomplice, Nat, using every trick in his arsenal to try and ruin the big day. But when the best man, the handsome Christopher Kafka, arrives on the island determined to make sure that things go without a hitch Radcliffe not only has to work twice as hard, but finds himself falling for the man who's out to ruin his plans.

The blurb for Worst Man pitches the book as a cross between White Lotus and Glass Onion, and I have to shamefully admit that whilst I am aware of both of these things I have no idea what they're like, so went into the book somewhat blind on what to expect. However, I was very quickly pleasantly surprised to find that at it's heart Worst Man is something of a farce comedy. This is a situation that's completely unbelievable, one that is filled with people who act so unnatural and bizarre that if you ever found yourself surrounded by them you'd assume you're being set-up, in a series of events that are so over-the-top reality could never align to have them actually happen. But, despite that level of ridiculousness the book works, and works in large part because of how wild it is.

The very concept of someone who's hired by people to ruin the relationships of other people, and who believes that they're not an awful person for doing so, is a bit of a big hurdle to get over, but Radcliffe manages to charm the reader incredibly quickly, making him more of a dashing rogue over terrible person. The opening of the book gives us a wonderful introduction into the character as he's handcuffed to a chair and told to explain everything, the black eye he's sporting presumably proof that if he doesn't things will get worse. Despite this he slips his cuffs, relaxes into the chair, gives some witty banter, and begins his story as if his safety is of no concern. His charisma feels incredibly natural, and makes this one questionable protagonist you can't help but root for despite his awful goals.

This is also the tone for most of the book, charm and whit that seeps off the pages as the story keeps on getting weirder and weirder. The cast of characters are mostly larger than life, which not only helps to heighten events, but makes it much easier to keep track of who people are and their motivations. The bride, Domino, is a bundle of nerves, constantly worried that things are going to go wrong and that her awful mother will somehow make her life worse. The groom, Battista, is so determined to make sure he doesn't see his bride before the wedding and give them bad luck that he's going to spend 36 hours blindfolded, bashing into everything on the island. One of the maids of honour is a sports and fitness obsesses germaphobe who loses her mind if she gets a cut because microbes will get inside her and kill her, whilst the other is your stereotypical social media rich girl, to name just a few of the whacky characters.

The jokes come pretty thick and fast in Worst Man and the story definitely benefits from being told in graphic novel form as it's allowed the creators to utilise visual gags that end up giving some of the better laughs in the book. There are a few moments that I think work even better than they would in a live action as the image is allowed to linger on the wild facial expressions or the silly background gag that would just be something that'd happen so fast on screen that you'd miss it if not looking out for it. In that regard I think that the creative team of Brandt & Stein have done a phenomenal job at creating  a story that's not simply just enjoyable, but one that's genuinely funny.

As well as writing the book, Brandt & Stein create the art, and I have to say that the style of Worst Man is quite lovely. The characters all have their own very clear visual identity, and the colours chosen for the book very much accentuate the style of art, creating something that's both filled with energy and feels wonderfully cosy at the same time. It's a style that works in this more indie style of comic, yet also showcases how the creators have also worked on titles such as Power Rangers or their recent work in DC's Justice League Dream Girls Pride special series.

Speaking of Pride, Worst Man has some great representation throughout. Not only is one of the main romance plots a queer one, featuring two men, but there's a prominent lesbian couple, as well as a non-binary character. Queer representation is something that the creators feel strongly about, and whilst they have said that they can't speak much on the struggles or identities of people of colour, they go out of their way to make their projects diverse, allowing as many readers as possible to see themselves in those stories, and as such the book features a decent range of POC characters too.

Worst Man is a silly, over-the-top romantic comedy that is hard to put down. Despite how dense the book is, with every single panel being used to it's maximum potential, I read the entire thing in a single sitting because I just wanted to see how everything unfolded, having quickly become invested in these characters and their ridiculous lives. Even if romantic comedy graphic novels aren't usually the thing you go in for (they're not my usual comic read), I think that you'll be pleasantly surprised by taking a shot on Worst Man.

Worst Man is out now from Titan Comics for £21.99.

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