The First Omen is a prequel to the classic horror film franchise that began with Richard Donner’s The Omen (1976), starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick. That film introduced audiences to Damien, the Antichrist. Director Arkasha Stevenson’s prequel opens in 1971, five years before the events of The Omen. A young American woman, Margaret Daino…
Every year when I get my hands on the Melbourne International Film Festival program and start selecting my films, the first strand I pore through is Night Shift, which contains some bizarre horror and cinematic oddities. And the offbeat Late Night With the Devil (MIFF ’23) offers a fresh take on the tired found-footage genre….
The speculative fiction genre got a bit of a kick in the teeth back in 2000 with the release of China Miéville’s Perdito Street Station and Jeff Vandemeer’s City of Saints and Sinners. With these came the advent of what has become known as ‘New Weird’. One source in 2023, defined New Weird novels as…
– Immaculate – Only in cinemas from 21 March 2024 We have 5 double in-season passes thanks to Rialto Distribution. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE Cecilia, a woman of devout faith, is warmly welcomed to the picture-perfect Italian countryside where she is offered a new role at an illustrious convent. But…
Sometimes we get two films released around the same time with the same basic concept (eg: Deep Impact and Armageddon both films concerning a giant meteor headed for Earth; or Dante’s Peak and Volcano, both dealing with destructive volcanic eruptions). Another case in point is the new horror film Baghead. A quick skim of the…
– Imaginary – Only in cinemas from 7 March 2024 We have 5 double in-season passes thanks to StudioCanal. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE From Blumhouse, the genre-defining masterminds behind FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S and M3GAN, comes an original horror that taps into the innocence of imaginary friends – and begs…
– Baghead – Only in cinemas from 22 February 2024 We have 5 double in-season passes thanks to StudioCanal. *(Tickets valid in Australia only)* Watch the trailer HERE Following the death of her estranged father (Peter Mullan), Iris (Freya Allan) learns she has inherited a run-down, centuries-old pub. She travels to Berlin to identify her…
K-dramas (from South Korea), have been making a huge impact on Netflix in the past few years (e.g. Squid Game), with one of them, The Glory, making it into the top 10 for 2023. Gyeongseong Creature arrived with much hype, with the irresistible pairing of a couple of well-loved actors – Park Seo-Jun and Han…
A backyard pool all but becomes a living entity in the horror film Night Swim. The malevolent force does its worst early on before we settle into the main storyline, which loops back to what happened at the start. The appearance of a toy boat seemingly operating by itself in the dead of night portends…
Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos makes weird but oddly compelling and visually arresting dramas and absurdist comedies. His resume includes films such as The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and The Favourite, which have won numerous awards on the festival circuit. But his deadpan approach and detached style have proved polarising and controversial with…
