It is hard to know where to begin when discussing the epic that is Labyrinth of Cinema, the final directorial feature of Nobuhiko Obayashi. Perhaps it is best to start with the director himself. With a career spanning sixty years, Obayashi has garnered critical acclaim and an incredible cult following. From his first feature House
Johanna is just twenty years old but struggling with her boring and aimless existence. Disturbing visions start the day she gets fired from her job. Soon Johanna is carried off into a different world beneath the city where people live in a parallel universe full of darkness and magic rituals. The denizens of this world
Traumatised from witnessing the horrific death of her parents, Sara attempts to take her own life. Waking up in the aftermath of this, she cannot remember anything and does her best to manage in a reality she cannot trust – truth distorted by strange dreams, and maybe even deliberate lies. The Free Fall is trying
There is a strong style of horror that uses whatever we take for granted as safe in life and turns it into a nightmare. However, once I started to read Blood in the Tracks (2017) by Shuzo Oshimi, I got maybe a little more than what I asked for. After catching up with this manga,
Chuck Tingle’s a bit of a wild card, mostly known for his erotically humorous tales with subject matter and characters the likes of which other authors dare not do. Aside from that, he’s a loveable, fuzzy, and warm presence on social media that sends out positivity, especially for us LGBTQ+ folks. Imagine my surprise when I discover
I had the great fortune of viewing the documentary Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist (2021) at this years’ Nightstream horror film festival. As a longtime fan of his work it turned out to be an emotional journey that affirmed of my love of animation and felt like a visit with some of my favorite creators. The surprising
Chasing the dream of a breakout success YouTube video, two urban explorers think they’ve found the perfect location: An old French manor that wasn’t demolished before a lake was dammed. Using specialised equipment their competitors don’t have access to, a million views seem guaranteed. The house is miles away from tourists and immaculately preserved, unnaturally
‘I have a fire in me. It doesn’t hurt me – I’m a man’ – thus begins one of the most memorable monologues of this year’s personal, wild, trippy, and sometimes a completely rambling blend of horror and fantasy: The Blazing World. Directed by Carlson Young, being a hit at this year’s Sundance Festival and
Forced to move when her mother gets a new job, a teenager called Sol has to face dangers ranging from power outages, bullies at a new school, the worrying behaviour of her mother’s boyfriend, and attacks in the night the press are reporting as a “puma”. These attacks drive the community into a frenzy that
Seagull (2019) is an oddball revenge story centred on family drama, secrets, and spite. After 8 years of eking out survival on a beach, Rose returns home and the full story of why she lived outside of society for that long is going to cause chaos for a family living with a fair few secrets.