Gothic Nightmares

A survey of British horror films on DVD and Blu-ray

By Tony Dayoub

Serena in Hammer's Vampire Circus

As the climate turns chilly, leaves fall away from skeletal trees and nighttime lasts just a bit longer, I’m always tempted to enjoy the run up to Halloween by binging on spooky films. In selecting a sampling of some of those horror films to share with all of you, I decided to focus on a cross-section of British horror films. Though this sample leans toward the more esoteric in theme, many of them feature very familiar monsters and are representative of the eroticism, gothic panache and propensity for colorful gore that characterizes screamers made in the UK...

CONTINUE READING AT NOMAD EDITIONS: WIDE SCREEN

Criterion Buyer's Guide 2011

by Tony Dayoub

A couple of weeks ago, Barnes and Noble began their semi-annual 50% Off Criterion Collection sale. With their sale due to wrap up next Monday, this gives me an opportunity to post several capsule reviews of some recent titles the label has sent me which readers might be interested in perusing before stocking up. In addition to linking to the book store's page online, I've linked each of my recommendations to its corresponding entry on the store's site.

Seventies Cinema Revival: Walkabout (1971)

by Tony Dayoub

As I tweeted earlier this week (you may follow me on Twitter here, if you wish), Walkabout is very difficult for me to approach critically because of the personal significance it holds for me. This is the first film I remember ever seeing, a strange one to be sure. With its sexual subtext and copious nudity, it is not a film I would expect my parents would have exposed me to before, say, the typical Walt Disney cartoon. Yet, it was a different time, and my parents were liberal for even that era, the mid-seventies. How else could I explain the clear memory of Jenny Agutter's nude swim in an edenic oasis located somewhere in the Australian outback?

Movie Review: Puffball: The Devil's Eyeball - Reflecting on Roeg

by Tony Dayoub

Whatever happened to Nicolas Roeg? Wait a second... who IS Nicolas Roeg? That is the unfortunate response I would get today, as the once promising British director has faded into obscurity to all but the most avid cinephile. His latest film, Puffball: The Devil's Eyeball, is languishing in the On Demand sector rather than getting major distribution in theaters or even on DVD.

So who is Nicolas Roeg? A promising camera operator and cinematographer on such classics as Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and Fahrenheit 451, he quickly made the transition to director. With Performance (1970), he was called upon to co-direct with the movie's writer Donald Cammell. This film is the first to feature his now oft-imitated non-linear techniques in storytelling. Though the movie faced some controversy due to its explicit sexuality (a recurring issue in Roeg's career), it propelled him to early success.