Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988)
When I was thinking of how good Alien was my mind turned to a film which might be placed somewhat closer towards the other end of the science-fiction/horror quality spectrum. With its premise readily apparent from the title I have to confess that I do hold Killer Klowns in something approaching genuine affection. It’s probably because it’s one of the first films I can remember watching as a child (I had very negligent parents) but with a few years growth under my belt I can still identify one or two redeeming features for any Black Lagoon readers who might happen across a copy to look out for. Read more
Silent Hill (2006)
Computer games have something of a chequered history when it comes to big screen adaptations. Actually I suppose that’s not quite true as their heritage is quite consistent; basically, they’re usually very bad indeed. I’d still like to know who decided that Bob Hoskins would make a good Super Mario, or that Kylie Minogue’s heart-warming portrayal of quintessential Australian suburb-dweller could only be followed by a part in Street Fighter. More recently we’ve had the slightly more accomplished Resident Evil series which wasn’t as bad (no really) as a lot of people feared.
Uzumaki (2000)
It’s probably fair to say that Uzumaki is one cult Japanese horror movie that’s not going to be remade by Hollywood any time soon. If anything, the film is a fair benchmark of how different Western and Eastern cinema cultures really are: despite being probably the most wilfully odd movie I’ve ever seen, it was a sizeable mainstream hit in Japan, suggesting that the Japanese cinema-going public are more than open to material this extreme. Read more
Podcast
