HCF Reviews
The Black Phone (2021)
THE BLACK PHONE Directed by Scott Derrickson It’s understandable Joe Hill doesn’t go by his birth name Joe King. Aside from the obvious reason people may not take him seriously, he’s the son of the […]
Articles by david.s.smith
HCF Reviews
Dashcam (2021)
DASHCAM Directed by Rob Savage Depending on how well you know horror, you’ll either have heard of Dashcam as the film Vue almost certainly didn’t try to ban or the sophomore outing for director Rob […]
HCF Reviews
Men (2022)
MEN (2022) Directed by Alex Garland It’s a moderately priced horror with a couple of recognisable actors, a director with art-house sensibilities and the A24 logo slapped on the side. So it looks like we’re […]
Action
Top Gun: Maverick (2022)
TOP GUN: MAVERICK Directed by Joseph Kosinski Throw on some shades and a leather jacket then jump on a bike. It’s been 36 years but, finally, we can ride into the danger zone again. Top […]
HCF Reviews
Firestarter (2022)
FIRESTARTER Directed by Keith Thomas Charlie is a Firestarter – a twisted Firestarter – and has been since she was born. Whenever she gets stressed or upset, flames soon follow – so you can imagine […]
Interviews
Interview: Jane Schoenbrun on We’re All Going To The World’s Fair
Alone in her attic bedroom, teenage outcast Casey becomes immersed in an online role-playing horror game, wherein she begins to document the changes that may or may not be happening to her. It’s a premise […]
HCF Reviews
The Northman (2022)
THE NORTHMAN Directed by Robert Eggers A young prince vows to avenge his father, the king, who dies at the hands of his own brother. It’s either the plot of Hamlet or The Lion King, […]
Drama
Death on the Nile (2022)
DEATH ON THE NILE (2022) Directed by Kenneth Branagh “A person in love would do anything” opines Poirot. In the second case under director/star Kenneth Branagh, after seemingly no time at all, Linnet and Simon […]
HCF Reviews
You Are Not My Mother (2021)
YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER (2021) Directed by Katie Dolan Often Irish horror has a habit of grounding itself in centuries-old lore. Films like The Hallow, The Lodgers, Wake Wood and The Hole In The […]
HCF Reviews
REPRESSION (2020)
REPRESSION (2020) Directed by Elbert van Strien Like Scottish art in general, Scottish films have a reputation for being dour: our’s is a culture that revels in miserablism. So I wasn’t surprised to see the […]
HCF Reviews
Master (2022)
MASTER Directed by Mariama Diallo As a genre, horror has a knack for giving voice to outsider perspectives: be it films about race, class, or sexual orientation, it celebrates stories about marginalised people. The latest […]
HCF Reviews
HCF Reviews
The Batman (2022)
THE BATMAN Directed by Matt Reeves A few years ago, I remember sitting in a coffee shop and seeing a youngish mum, probably in her late twenties, doing a Batman colouring-in book with her daughter. […]
HCF Reviews
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE Directed by David Blue Garcia Eventually, every franchise stops using numbers – either because the chronology has gotten too messy, with numerous timelines, or it becomes embarrassing trying to make people see […]
HCF Reviews
Slapface (2021)
SLAPFACE Directed by Jeremiah Kipp From the opening shot, in which we see young Lucas (Maturo) getting an open palm whack by his older brother Tom (Manning), we know Slapface isn’t going to be the […]
Features
David’s top 15 of 2021
It’s that time of year again for reflection. For most of 2021, I thought it’d been a pretty lousy year for horror and cult films – the good ones seemed to trickle out, and there […]
Interviews
HCF exclusive interview: Gary J Tunnicliffe on the Hellraiser franchise
Rounding off our Hellraiser retrospective, David and Alasdair speak with special-effects wizard Gary J. Tunnicliffe. Gary has worked on every Hellraiser film since the third, in some capacity, and directed the most recent one. In […]
Interviews
HCF Exclusive interview: Nicholas Vince on Hellraiser
The Hellraiser retrospective continues in Episode 15 of the HorrorCultFilms Podcast. In this episode, David and Alasdair talk with Nicholas Vince, aka The Chatterer from the Hellraiser franchise. Nicholas Vince appeared in the first two […]