Personal Shopper (2016)

Director: Olivier Assayas Starring: Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, Sigird Bouaziz, Nora Von Waldstratten. USA/UK/France. 1h 45m

At times it’s easy to forget that Personal Shopper is a horror movie. If you’re into something which burns slow but delivers a whack at the end then this might feel like it’s let you down, but there is a huge revelation at the end but it might not be what you were expecting. At times it’s mundane and even dull, but Assatas’ genius technique is to force the viewer to not to see what’s coming so when something does stand out it has a larger impact. It’s not hard to connect Kirsten Stewart to keywords such as “Blank” and at times it’s a perfect emotion for the film that deals all too honestly with grief, alienation and death.

Ray and Liz (2018)

Director: Richard Billingham
Starring: Patrick Romer, Richard Ashton, Justin Salinger, Ella Smith, Tony Way. UK. 1h 50m

This strangely hypnotic movie doesn’t really have a beginning, middle and an end, per say but there’s a strange introduction to characters, and they are very unusual creatures. Once you get over the initial shock of their squalid lives and attitudes the movie kinda meanders until a pivotal moment where everyone’s life changes, most notable the teller of the story, Richard, and his little brother Jason, who at one point would rather sleep rough than go home, but what would drive a child to do this?

The Silencing (2020)

Director: Robin Pront Starring:Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Caleb Ellsworh-Clark Josh Crudda, Annabelle Wallis, Zahn McClarnon . Canada. 1h 33m

Backwoods horrors seem to have traveled from the deserts of the southern American into the cold forests of the north, incorporating indigenous folklore along the way. The Silencing tries to keep itself in the here and now, offering a grimy armchair detective mystery with icy drama, some daring thrills and a fathers promise to find his missing daughter at all costs.

Crimson Peak (2015)

Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring:Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam. USA. 1h 59m

With the lack of modern genuine gothic literature making it to the big screen, Crimson Peak had a lot to make up for, however despite it’s well crafted story, delicious cast amongst opulent sets, I wasn’t blown away by this epic ghost story. There’s a massive divide between Guillermo Del Toro’s Spanish and American work. Crimson Peak battles with its style and substance, for the most part it will wow it’s audience with an oil slick blend of colours but it seems to pluck the worse elements of gothic literature to mix but remains true and doesn’t step a foot out of the box.

Hour of Victory (2020)

Director: Engr. Henry Mgbemele
Starring: Onny Michael, Destiny Etiko, Adim Christian, Ebere Okaro, Joseph Daniels, Obi Okoli. .Nigeria. 4h +

This charming Nigerian production is built up around a family drama, a brother and sister are caught up in a terrible cycle, having recently lost their father only to later find out their mother is gravely ill and in need of emergency operation that costs a mere 2Million Naira. The siblings struggle against bad luck to raise the money to save what’s left of their family.

The Warrior (2011)

Director: Gavin O’Connor
Starring:Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Morrison. .USA. 2h 20m

Back in 2011 the warrior was quite a breakthrough movie for the time. While it remains an emotive glance into the lives behind the men in the ring, as does for MMA what the Wrestler did for.. wrestling I do wonder what the movie would be like if made today after the UFC explosion of talent and headline grabbing antics.

Feed the Devil (2015)

Director: Max Perrier
Starring: Jared Cohn, Ardis Barrow, Victoria Curtain .USA. 1h 35m

A romp through the woods in search of secret fields of dope, turns into a hellish nightmare, filled with native tribal monsters and strange dangerous entities in Max Perrier’s tepid horror.

The typical loser, while down on his luck, calls in a debt from a friend which involves trading all outstanding money for whatever homegrown he has been busy growing out in the wilderness. Eager to get his hands on the green gold he heads out speedily with his girlfriend but finds his sister stowed away in the back of the pick up before finding the sweet spot. She’s a pain in the ass but another pair of hands and they’ve gone too far to turn back.

Loving a Crippled Prince (2020)

Director: Chika Onu
Starring: Prof Dr Laz Ekwueme, Ngozi Ezeonu, Stanley Igboanugo, Uche Ebere Agu, Uzo Umeh, Ifunanya Igwe, Promise Shaka . Nigeria. 4h +

Everyone deserves to be loved, even princes.. even crippled princes, am I right? This slightly comical Nigerian romance story is a touch disturbing and deals with some bad boy characters, while jostling between Tribal wisdom and Christian values there’s just enough time for this irresistible prince to fall in and out of love.

Everything is pretty low key in this drama, it’s almost a strife of two contrasting households. The Princes lavish compound with its many servants and luxuries, and the home of the pious woman who will change his life, but her compound is very rural and run down. Her family dynamic isn’t all that wonderful, her useless brother avoids all housework, he makes his living from stealing, usually with his best friend in tow.

Underverden/ Darkland (2017)

Director: Denar Ahmad
Starring: Dar Salim, Stine Fischer Christensen, Roland Møller, Ali Sivandi Denmark 1h 28m

Denmark has produced some amazing gritty gut wrenching crime thrillers over the years, but this one really stands out on the international scene with it’s ultra-modern approach to filming but the story remains so very familiar.

After migrating to Denmark Zaid (Salim) becomes a successful surgeon with a child on the way his life is bliss, on the flip side his younger brother has fallen in with a bad crowd and after a botched bank robbery he is left short of cash and needs help. Zaid has had enough of handing out cash and refuses to help his brother one more time and during a painful altercation he tells his brother to leave, the following day he’s pulled away from his work as his brother had been admitted to the emergency room, but there’s nothing they can do for him, after informing his parents he oversees his brother’s life support being switched off. After the funeral be becomes obsessed with that happened to his brother, going back to his boxing training he uses both mind and body to infiltrate the criminal underground to get  revenge.