JUDY AND PUNCH (full review at Screen Realm)

Judy And Punch is a stylish looking folk tale from director Mirrah Foulkes, outlining a fictional origin tale for the famous British sea side puppet show.

Judy (Mia Wasikowska) and Punch (Damon Herriman) ply their trade as puppeteers in the ramshackle and landlocked town of Seaside (three day’s mule ride from the ocean). Their popular marionette performances are always packed out, yet never quite produce the income they hope for. Convinced of the show’s quality, and of his personal talents, Punch is hopeful that sooner or later talent scouts will see the performance and sign them up for a big city run. Judy wishes for success also, but her view is more realistic, concentrating most of her non-puppetry efforts on taking care of their newborn baby and keeping Punch away from the bottle. Of course, it’s not too long before Punch’s proclivity for alcohol, combined with an ugly temper, cause events to take a dark turn.

Read the full review at Screen Realm:
https://screenrealm.com/judy-and-punch-movie-review/

IMDB: Judy And Punch

COLOR OUT OF SPACE (full review at Screen Realm)

Color Out Of Space is the new film from Elijah Wood, Daniel Noah and Josh C Waller’s production house, Spectra Vision, which has previously brought us the likes of A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, The Greasy Strangler and last year’s feral rage monster, Mandy. Adapted from a short story of the same name, the apparent personal favourite of legendary horror author Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Color Out Of Space sees the eccentric cult director Richard Stanley team up with a resurgent Nicolas Cage to deliver their take on H.P.’s famous tale of cosmic horror.

Nathan (Nicolas Cage) and Theresa Gardner (Joely Richardson) are living the dream. Having escaped the pressures of city life, they have retreated to their new country pile to enjoy the simple things in life. Together with their children, Lavinia (Madeleine Arthur) and Benny (Brendan Meyer), and hippie squatter Ezra (Tommy Chong) who lives at the bottom of their garden, their lifestyle is more-or-less idyllic. Nathan farms alpacas, Theresa conducts her financial business from her office and the kids want to live somewhere less boring.

Read the full review at Screen Realm:
https://screenrealm.com/color-out-of-space-movie-review-nicolas-cage/

IMDB: Color Out Of Space

IN THE TALL GRASS (full review at Screen Realm)

In The Tall Grass is the third Netflix feature to be adapted from a story by Stephen King, following on from Gerald’s Game and 1922 which both debuted on the streaming platform.  In The Tall Grass is based on a novella written by the horror legend, in collaboration with his son, Joe Hill, and first published in 2012.

Becky (Laysla De Oliveira) and Cal Delmuth (Avery Whitted) are driving cross country to an appointment but are forced to stop by the side of the road when pregnant Becky becomes nauseous. Pulling over near an old run-down church, surrounded by towering fields of seemingly endless green grass, they are about to hit the road once more when they hear a cry for help emanating from within the fields.

Read the full review at Screen Realm:
https://screenrealm.com/in-the-tall-grass-movie-review-netflix-stephen-king/

IMDB: In The Tall Grass

FANGORIA X MONSTER FEST 2019 PROGRAM LAUNCH (full article at Screen Realm)

Friday 13th September saw the full Program Launch for Monster Fest 2019. Monster Fest is entering its eighth year and the second year back at Cinema Nova in Carlton.  It is also the second successive year the festival has been sponsored by beloved horror magazine Fangoria. The festival is similar in both scope and programming to London’s long running Fright Fest and this year they both share screenings of, amongst others, Bliss, Satanic Panic, Daniel Isn’t Real and the Rabid remake.

Normally spread over the course of one weekend, the first bit of news is that Monster Fest has expanded and the Melbourne program will be taking place over the course of a full week from Thursday 10 October until Friday 18th October. For horror fiends outside of Victoria, the festival also has selected screenings interstate over the weekend of 31 October to 3 November 2019 and hits up Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

Read the full article at Screen Realm:
https://screenrealm.com/???https://screenrealm.com/fangoria-x-monster-fest-2019-australias-horror-fiends-are-in-for-creepy-treats/

Monster Fest 2019
http://www.monsterfest.com.au/australia/

MIDSOMMAR (full review at Screen Realm)

Midsommar is the second film from director Ari Aster and the follow up to his highly regarded debut Hereditary. 

After experiencing a tragedy, Dani (Florence Pugh) is invited on a trip to Sweden by her insensitive and toxic boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor). Christian and his friends Josh (Wiliam Jackson Harper) and Mark (Will Poulter) are anthropology students, invited by fellow student Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren) to visit the commune in Hälsingland, where he grew up, and to witness a once-every-ninety-years summer festival.

It doesn’t take long for the visitors to warm up to the Hårga and their idyllic, welcoming, psychotropic drug friendly commune. But gradually, slowly, almost imperceptibly, things start to feel off. As the festival continues and events become stranger, the relationships between the visitors become more fraught and before long the situation goes awry.

Read the full review at Screen Realm:
https://screenrealm.com/midsommar-movie-review/

IMDB: Midsommar

MASTER OF THE SWORD. AVENGER OF THE TRUTH... AND BLIND AS A BAT: WHY BLIND FURY IS AN ACTION CLASSIC (full article at Diabolique Magazine)

With Rutger Hauer’s recent passing, many reflected on a long and varied career that included memorable bad guys (The Hitcher, Nighthawks), heroic warriors (Ladyhawke) bizarre adverts (Guinness, Lurpak) and post-apocalyptic sports dudes (Salute of the Jugger a.k.a. The Blood Of Heroes). It goes without saying that his iconic role as replicant Roy Batty, in Ridley Scott’s tech-noir potboiler, Blade Runner (1982), is the one he’ll be best remembered for.

But another of Hauer’s films that is well worth revisiting, is an action comedy directed by Phillip Noyce (Rabbit Proof Fence, Patriot Games, Dead Calm), with mediocre critical scores and tucked away in the middle of his filmography. Loosely based around the classic Japanese swordplay serial character Zatoichi, but transposed to modern day U.S.A., Blind Fury’s (1989) gloriously simple plot sees Hauer’s blind swordsman, and that kid off Baywatch, facing off against some drug dealers. So while we’re not debating the quality of Blade Runner, forget all that ‘tears in the rain’ stuff for a moment, because what we really want to see is Rutger Hauer mistake an alligator for a pet dog, ‘accidentally’ thrash a barroom full of tough guys and slice some geezers up with a hidden sword.

Read the full article at Diabolique Magazine:
https://diaboliquemagazine.com/master-of-the-sword-avenger-of-the-truth-blind-as-a-bat-blind-fury-is-an-action-classic/

IMDB: Blind Fury

COME TO DADDY (full review at Screen Realm)

Come to Daddy is the debut feature from Ant Timpson, best known for founding New Zealand’s 48Hours film competition and producing Turbo Kid, The ABCs Of Death, and celebrated cinematic irritant The Greasy Strangler. It screened as part of the 2019 Melbourne International Film Festival.

Come to Daddy begins as a classic estranged father story. We meet Norval Greenwood (Elijah Wood) as he arrives on the doorstep of his father’s remote (and architecturally bold) clifftop pad. Norval is responding to a letter received from his father, suggesting a reconciliation, and pays a visit to the man he has not seen since he was three years old… to say they don’t hit it off is something of an understatement.

His father (Stephen McHattie) is annoyed, belligerent and frequently drunk. Norval is understandably uncomfortable and matters are compounded when he is caught in a lie, trying to impress his Dad. It doesn’t take long for events to come to a head

Read the full review at Screen Realm:
https://screenrealm.com/come-to-daddy-movie-review-elijah-wood/
IMDB: Come To Daddy