Saw Movies Ranked
Top 10 Best Found-Footage Horror Movies
Memories of Murder (2003) Review
Mulan (2020) Review
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018/2020) Review
The New Mutants (2020) Review
Where to Start with Paul Verhoeven
Review in Brief: Fanny Lye Deliver’d (2019/20)
FANNY LYE DELIVER’D is a 17th Century-set sort-of home invasion horror where a family of Puritans and particularly the titular character (Maxine Peake) are made to question their beliefs under duress by a “sinful”nontheistic and hedonistic Quaker couple. This is bleak, dirty history in itchy clothes and it’s a mostly mirthless affair, apart from the pleasing line “There was a full-blown ranting orgy at the Hopton alehouse”. The whole thing is delivered in a thick regional dialect and archaic sentence structure but any pretence of period drama class is soon eclipsed by jarring borderline-exploitation film imagery and loud cinematography and a blaring score. It’s a pretty unique beast, and definitely not for everyone, but you’ll not soon forget this muddled and strangely beguiling mismatch of genre elements. SSP
Review in Brief: Swallow (2019/20)
In SWALLOW, Hunter (Haley Bennett, terrific) is trapped in a miserable marriage and pregnancy to a rich asshole. The only excitement in Hunter’s day, the only control she can exert on her monotonous life is which objects she puts into her body. She consumes them for every passive-aggressive slight she endures at the hands of pretty much everyone she meets, not least her nearest and dearest and they are retained as mementos or trophies once they pass through her. “I wanted to do it so I did it!”. But even this freedom is eventually taken away from Hunter and she essentially ends up under house arrest with a burley Syrian watching her every move because her husband refuses to even try to understand how he is making her feel. Hunter’s painful journey into herself is only just beginning and sooner or later she has to make a stand to regain her freedom. This is unusual, twisted and heartfelt stuff. SSP
