Dracula: Prince of Darkness, 1966. Directed by Terence Fisher. Starring Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Andrew Keir, Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer, Charles Tingwell, Philip Latham and Thorley Walters. SYNOPSIS: Four unsuspecting visitors are lured to Castle Dracula, paving the way for the resurrection of the fearsome Prince of Darkness. Vampires don’t chat. They’re vicious, hungry predators […]

Columbus Circle, 2012. Directed by George Gallo. Starring Selma Blair, Amy Smart, Jason Lee, Giovanni Ribisi, Kevin Pollack and Beau Bridges. SYNOPSIS: After living a secluded life for almost two decades, an agrophobic heiress is forced to confront her fears when a tenant in her apartment building is murdered. All too often in Hollywood, there’s […]

Safe House, 2012. Directed by Daniel Espinosa. Starring Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Vera Farmiga, Sam Shephard, Brendan Gleeson and Robert Patrick. SYNOPSIS: A rookie CIA agent is forced to go on the run with a high value prisoner when a Cape Town safe house comes under attack. Let’s face it – action movies are not […]

Commenting on the critics with Simon Columb… Vanessa Thorpe, for The Guardian, writes today (Sunday, March 4th) about a change to what cinemas show: “Tomorrow, the Royal Opera House will release its new feature film, Madam Butterfly 3D, and the team behind the production argue it is not just a cheaper option for opera fans, […]

The acclaimed illustrator and Academy Award-winning conceptual artist Ralph McQuarrie passed away on Saturday at his home in Berkeley, California, aged 82. A name that will be instantly familiar to Star Wars fans, McQuarrie was one of the most influential figures in science fiction and fantasy art and his visionary illustrations were key to defining […]

Project X, 2012. Directed by Nima Nourizadeh. Starring Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel Brown, Nichole Bloom and Alexis Knapp. SYNOPSIS: Three high school friends plan to gain popularity by throwing a party, only for proceedings to rapidly escalate beyond their control. Found footage films are fast becoming a cinematic phenomenon. You’re seeing more and […]

Our weekly round-up of the big news stories from the world of movie superheroes… The big talking point this past week was of course the arrival of the second theatrical trailer for Marvel’s epic superhero team-up The Avengers (or Marvel Avengers Assemble, as it’s now officially known here in the UK), which debuted online on […]

John Carter, 2012. Directed by Andrew Stanton. Starring Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong, Samantha Morton, Ciarán Hinds, Dominic West, Thomas Haden Church, James Purefoy and Bryan Cranston. SYNOPSIS: Civil War veteran John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is transported to the war-torn planet of Mars and becomes embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions, […]

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, 1994. Directed by Neil Jordan. Starring Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Antonio Banderas, Stephen Rea and Christian Slater. SYNOPSIS: A vampire chronicles his eventful life to a journalist. There is an inherent sex appeal that is often alluded to within vampire films, particularly within the earlier horror […]

Tom Jolliffe presents a selection of the action genre’s greatest douchebags… Cinema has created many wonderful characters over the years. We’ve had classic heroes, and the most heinous of villains. Heroes and villains are particularly paramount in the action genre. There’s also another type of character: The Douchebag. These would be the whiny, sniveling, low […]