Author: Steven West

OUTPOST *** USA 2022 Dir: Joe Lo Truglio. 88 mins Writer-director Joe Lo Truglio is best known for his comic work, including WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER and a long-running stint as Charles Boyle in TV’s BROOKLYN NINE-NINE. Here he essays a thriller about PTSD not dissimilar at times to Leigh Whannell’s excellent take on THE INVISIBLE MAN. Beth Dover, his real-life wife, portrays a woman physically and emotionally scarred by a brutal attack, taking refuge in a job at a remote outpost in the mountains of North Idaho. Her job involves scoping the area for forest fires from a watchtower…

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MANCUNIAN MAN: THE LEGENDARY LIFE OF CLIFF TWEMLOW ***** UK 2023 Dir: Jake West. 124 mins A merchant seaman’s son, the “Mancunian Man” in question is Cliff Twemlow – he had entertainment in his blood and, in addition to pursuing a body building passion that ultimately killed him, wracked up an enormous amount of credits in one medium or another. His film career is the best known part of his life (albeit in niche circles), even though so much was unfinished or unreleased. As relayed here by a host of honest, affectionate collaborators, friends and loved ones, he had over…

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HOLLYWOOD DREAMS & NIGHTMARES: THE ROBERT ENGLUND STORY **** UK 2022 Dir: Christopher Griffiths & Gary Smart. 134 mins Here’s an engaging, insightful tour through the career of one of the few bonafide “horror stars” of the modern era in which, not surprisingly, the always witty and articulate Englund has the best tales to tell. It opens with a story of his first Freddy Krueger makeup experience and how he channelled his anger at the process and his envy of his pretty younger co-stars into the performance that would make him an icon. From there, we trace his life and…

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WOLFKIN *** Luxembourg / Belgium 2022 Dir: Jacques Molitor. 90 mins This offbeat riff on lycanthropic opens potently with a fairly explicit sex scene, full-frontal nudity and a key character walking off in a distressed state. Subsequently, in Brussels, single mother Elaine (the excellent Louise Manteau) is under pressure at home and at work. Her troubled 10-year-old-son Martin (Victor Dieu) scratches a classmate and the teachers have pretty much given up on him. At his birthday party, he also savagely attacks and bites a young guest. Elaine takes refuge at the family home of the boy’s dead father in Luxembourg:…

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SATAN’S LITTLE HELPER **** USA 2004 Dir: Jeff Lieberman. 100 mins His first feature since offbeat, prophetic satire REMOTE CONTROL, this inventive riff on slasher conventions was a breath of fresh air at the time – and right at home in an eclectic career that has veered from unique eco horror SQUIRM to subversive satire BLUE SUNSHINE and JUST BEFORE DAWN, one of the standout slasher-era DELIVERANCE riffs. There’s a deliciously anarchic attitude and plentiful dark humour at work in this tale of an meek-looking kid (Alexander Brickel) who befriends a Satanically-costumed madman and goads him into shoplifting, mowing down…

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