THE EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN

Starring: Howard Vernon, Anne Libert, Alberto Dalbés
Writer: Jess Franco
Director: Jess Franco

*** This review is of the 74-minute French version ***


As Doctor Frankenstein brings his creation to life, he and his assistant are attacked and killed. The creature is brought to Cagliostro (Vernon), a powerful mesmerist who can control it by thought. Frankenstein's daughter Vera (Beatriz Savón) takes it upon herself to locate the monster, avenge her father and thwart Cagliostro's plan to create a master race.

At this point, let's say a little about the movies of Jess Franco. If you're used to nipping along to the multiplex every few weeks and seeing the latest big studio movie then you may need to prepare yourself for the culture shock of experiencing this style of movie making. It isn't put together in the way you would normally expect and you may be disoriented because it doesn't necessarily have that comforting structure you're used to but hang in there, stay with it and you may end up enjoying it.

As far as I know it's only the UK where this movie is known as The Erotic Rites Of Frankenstein (see the ace Go Video cover above from those halcyon 80s video days) and it's a title which sums up this heady mix of sexualised horror rather nicely. It also promises a level of luridness which you're pretty sure it's never going to deliver but when you have a movie this enjoyably bonkers, who cares?

So you have classic horror characters such as Doctor Frankenstein (of course) and Doctor Seward thrown into a plot that's straight out of the strangest comic book you've ever seen. Fans of the seminal literary sources may be horrified at the treatment but Franco's spin bears very little resemblance to the novels which provided the spark of inspiration and in my opinion there's something encouraging about shooting certain elements of those original stories off at the most bizarre tangent possible.

In this universe, Frankenstein's monster is silver, the dead are re-animated briefly to provide clues to the ongoing mystery, there's an outing for the seldom-used sulphuric acid method of self-defence and instead of the captured good guy awaiting their fate in a dungeon they're wheeled out for entertainment and whipped repeatedly as they try to avoid collapsing on to a load of bloody great spikes while Cagliostro's baying minions watch on.

Central to the piece is Cagliostro's amazing sidekick Melisa (Libert), a half-woman/half-bird who tears her victims to pieces with her talons and often communicates in tweets - not the social media type either. Even if she did, it'd be something along the lines of "Just ripped off someone's face. LOL".

Even if you think this sounds like a load of old cobblers - and, let's face, part of the this film's charm is that it clearly is a load of old cobblers - allow me to point you towards the performance of Anne Libert. She's absolutely astonishing as she vamps around various period locations, barely dressed, dialogue drifting from her in wonderfully smoky tones. Simultaneously gorgeous and nightmarish, it's not too bold a claim to suggest Libert would have found herself being talked of as a horror icon had she been in a more high-profile horror picture.

In a smaller role Vernon is just as effective, letting his screen presence do the talking (whilst letting Libert do most of his actual talking). He's seldom better than he is here and the only disappointment is that he's not in the movie more because he's such a memorable villain. Cagliostro is a bad guy not only in the best pantomime tradition - you feel the soundtrack is missing the boos and hisses whenever he appears - but Vernon imbues him with a sense of genuine, gleeful menace.

This is a definite case of that old adage about people always remembering the bad guy. TEROF has such a striking set of anti-heroes that their opposing paradigms of virtue are staggeringly dull by comparison. Even Savon, with her revenge mission, is pretty much sidelined until the very end and even then she doesn't really figure much in the climactic face-off between good and evil, which isn't much of a face-off at all. In keeping with the general off-kilter nature of the enterprise, the whole thing comes to a fairly abrupt halt and that's your lot. FIN.

You may view this and think it's 74 minutes of your life which you'll never get back. You may view this and wonder what the hell you've just watched - and then think it's 74 minutes of your life you'll never get back. I think it's wonderful that something so out there is out there. For fans of exploitation movies, this is something of a treat. It may lack the gory special effects and the pace of today's horror flicks but it has atmosphere by the bucketload, it looks wonderful and it's driven by the power of a fantastic imagination.

Want to broaden your cinematic horizons? Try this.

THE COMMUTER

Starring: Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson
Writers: Ryan Willinger, Philip De Blasi, Ryan Engle
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

*** WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS ***

Michael MacCauley (Neeson) is not having the best of days. After ten years working as a life insurance salesman he shows up at work to find out he's lost his job, which is extremely bad timing as he's trying to work out how to finance his son's college education. Taking his usual train home, his path crosses that of the mysterious Joanna (Farmiga) who offers Michael the chance to make $100,000. Someone on the train doesn't belong, and Michael's knowledge of his fellow commuters - plus his previous job as a cop - should make him the ideal man to carry out the task...

Liam Neeson and Jaume Collet-Serra reunite for a thriller than shares more than a little of its DNA with their previous collaboration in airborne conspiracy flick Non-Stop. There's transport involved, there's a mystery to solve and Neeson plays a guy who faces a race against time to sort out the good guys from the bad. He has a very specific set of skills, skills he has acquired over a long career. Skills that make him a nightmare. He will look for them, he will find them, and he will....hold on, that's Taken.

Having said that, MacCauley does possess a very specific set of skills and having Neeson playing another pleasingly scuffed, scrappy everyman with an almost superhuman ability to step up in a crisis is like plonking down in a favourite, well-worn armchair. It's comforting, you know where you are, you know what to expect. He may get bruised and battered but arse will most definitely be kicked.

Of course, the problem with finding yourself in such recognisable territory is the complete and utter lack of surprises and if you're looking for a movie which constantly confounds your expectations The Commuter really isn't it. Like its featured method of transit, it sticks steadfastly to its tracks for the vast proportion of its running time and even when the plot finally goes off the rails we can even see that coming, entertainingly daffy though it is.

The revelation of the bad guy's identity would be a shock if it wasn't so blindingly obvious who they are from the get-go. It's made all the worse by trying to throw in someone else whose behaviour, dialogue and backstory is such a blatant piece of misdirection that there's even less doubt who's going to show up at the denouement to deliver that crucial "yes, it was me" speech. And you're not even a quarter of the way into it.

Then there's the potential for a complex mystery, muddied even further by a carriageful of characters, each of whom could be a killer or someone in need of protection. Surely all of that wouldn't be jettisoned in favour of a resolution which hinges on just one piece of observation. And what of MacCauley's family, who we're told are in mortal danger for most of the movie and will surely die the moment he doesn't comply with his instructions? Well...

And yet, there's enjoyment to be had from The Commuter. Neeson is as watchable as ever. Vera Farmiga always elevates the proceedings and it's a shame she isn't in the movie more. Andy Nyman is good value as a fellow traveller as is Florence Pugh, continuing the "Brit playing an American" theme. She doesn't get up to any of her Lady Macbeth shenanigans, by the way.

Yes, the sudden lurch into destructive action territory is ludicrous. Yes, the climactic siege and stand-off invites a slew of "but why didn't they...?" questions. Yes, the final scene is annoyingly improbable even if it's kind of satisfying. Yes, if you start picking holes in the plot chances are it will collapse into tiny bits without an especially large amount of effort on your part. Even so, I've a feeling this will fit the bill for moviegoers looking for an undemanding flick and while there's nothing wrong with that this could have been so much more.

In the end, what I can say about The Commuter is that it's just about passable. And that's possibly the most damning criticism of all.

INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY

Starring: Lin Shaye, Leigh Whannell, Angus Sampson
Writer: Leigh Whannell
Director: Adam Robitel

When Elise Rainier (Shaye) receives a call from someone in New Mexico regarding the supernatural events going on in his home, she is forced to confront the demons of her past - literally - as the property happens to be the house in which she grew up.


The fourth outing in the Insidious series (which is actually the second one chronologically) is something of a frustrating one in that there are some great moments and ideas which are ultimately sunk in the swamp of a so-so horror outing which has a distinctly ghoulish premise but would generally rather startle you with SUDDEN VERY LOUD NOISES.

This is particularly disappointing because the prologue, set in 1953 and featuring a young Elise dealing with demons both in this world and beyond, delivers on the suspense and the intrigue despite the fact even so early in the piece it can't resist that whole quiet-quiet-quiet-BANG shtick. These first fifteen minutes promise much so it's annoying that the remaining eighty-odd don't measure up.

Again, it's wonderful to Lin Shaye front and centre once more and as usual she's the most interesting and entertaining thing in as Insidious flick. She doesn't get to kick quite as much phantom arse as in the previous outing but she's still a shrewd, able heroine who can show her much younger colleagues a thing or two. Also, as the custodian of the film's single f-bomb, she drops that with relish.

On the subject of her much younger colleagues, Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson return as Specs and Tucker respectively. As before, they're on hand to carry the equipment, watch Elise on video as she wanders around darkened, spirit-filled rooms and to swap awkward banter. Regrettably, the numerous attempts at lightening the proceedings with humour land only sporadically, with one running gag about the attractiveness of Elise's nieces proving more unpleasant and creepy than some of the ghosts on display.

The story switches between the present day and historical action efficiently enough and provides yet more pleasing backstory for Elise but as far as the scares go this seems to be going through the motions for much of its running time and waiting for the next apparition to lunge into the frame eventually begins to grate.

Thankfully, this approach is ditched for the final battle with the big bad although this also doesn't thrill as it should. The evil in this tale - referred to as KeyFace in the imdb character details - is a reasonably menacing presence and there's an excellent sequence where it crawls from the shadows towards a stricken victim. However, there's something oddly unscary about the creature when it's unveiled in all of its detail and the ultimate face-off degenerates into a slightly silly spectral smackdown rather than a battle of wills and wits.

Insidious: The Last Key shows all too often that it's the latest movie in a franchise and although it closes with a decent nod to the first Insidious outing (which is actually the third one chronologically) it brings very little to the poltergeist-shifted table that's new. Lin Shaye deserves better and you do too.

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Starring: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell
Writer: Martin McDonagh
Director: Martin McDonagh

With no headway being made on the investigation of her daughter's murder, Mildred Hayes (McDormand) decides to re-ignite local interest in the case by means of posting messages on three billboards on what was once a main road leading into her home town. This puts her on a confrontational collision course with Ebbing's police department, notably Chief Willoughby (Harrelson) and his infantile, thuggish second-in-command Officer Dixon (Rockwell)...

If you've seen some of Martin McDonagh's previous work then you'll probably know what to expect here: profane, soulful dialogue; pitch-black humour; bursts of brutal, shocking violence; a beating heart underneath it all. These elements are all present and correct in Three Billboards and I'm delighted to say that they work together more brilliantly than ever.

A lot has been made of the performances (don't worry, I'm going to make more of those shortly) but let's not forget that without a script of this quality McDormand, Harrelson et al would not be able to make the lasting impact they do. The writing is beautiful, it's exquisitely judged and paints a group of characters who don't necessarily conform to the normal good/bad guy tropes. These are people who are all capable of doing the right or the very wrong thing. You'll laugh with them, you'll cry with them, you'll fear for them.

Thankfully the superior screenplay is given vivid, memorable humanity by a choice cast. Frances McDormand commands the screen as Mildred, a formidable figure who will not be intimidated and who will stop at nothing to see justice served. She isn't there to be liked and some of her choices will certainly test the audience's loyalty towards her but they stand as particularly fine examples of how the story and its players are all differing shades of grey.

Take Woody Harrelson as the police chief, for instance. Initially it would be natural to assume that he cares little for the case of Angela Hayes as he presides over what would appear to be a brutish, inept bunch of cops. As the film progresses, our expectations of Willoughby are confounded as the tale takes a heartbreaking turn and his actions loom large over the second half of the piece.

Performance of the film for me, somehow eclipsing McDormand's exceptional lead role, comes from Sam Rockwell. With a character arc unlike most others in recent memory, we are introduced to Dixon as a prejudiced, drunken mother's boy with an attitude problem and a penchant for violence but the Hayes case will change him in ways that he would never have seen coming. It's all the more realistic in that he doesn't experience the epiphany and personality switch that would be so unlikely, instead his gradual realisation that he can be a better person (and that others see this too) is more subtle and convincing.

In fact there's not a single weak link when it comes to the players and even the smaller roles are wonderfully accomplished. Lucas Hedges, as Mildred's son Robbie, is excellent as someone having to deal with the trauma of his sister's death and the ramifications of his mother's actions which stir up the townsfolk (and hence his high-school classmates). Peter Dinklage scores as sympathetic car dealer James, John Hawkes is deeply unnerving as Mildred's abusive ex-husband and Darrell Britt-Gibson impresses as billboard poster Jerome.

It's very early in the year to be predicting what will be in my Top Ten for 2018 but Three Billboards is certainly a strong contender to be there come December. Hilarious, heartfelt, horrific - often within the same scene - it's a great way to start the year.

HOSTILES

Starring: Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi

Writer: Scott Cooper (from a manuscript by Donald E. Stewart)

Director: Scott Cooper

In the 1890s grizzled, veteran Army Captain Joseph Blocker (Bale) is given an assignment to escort dying Cheyenne Chief Yellow Hawk (Studi) back to his homelands in Montana. The two men have previously lost friends at the hands of each other in many bloody battles but that chequered history could turn out to be the least of their problems in a journey fraught with danger, which is further complicated when their travelling party encounters a widow (Pike) in the wilderness...

If you saw the trailer for Hostiles and thought it was an action movie let me stop you right there, pardner. Yes, there is action, but those sequences are few and far between. This is a film about conflict but the verbal and the internal varieties are given as much, if not more, precedence than the scalpings and the flying bullets.

Oh yes, if you were expecting line 'em up, shoot 'em down sequences then let me stop you right there, pardner - if you hadn't already stopped from when I said you should stop right there the previous time. The bursts of violence here are grim, up close, personal, down and dirty affairs in which the you feel the pain of its victims. Flashy, glamorous gunfights are not the order of the day.

Hostiles takes its time in putting its characters through the wringer and its slow pace may mean that some won't stay the course, especially when it's piling on the misery (which it does almost relentlessly). However, for those willing to stick with it there are rewards to be found, mostly in the excellent performances.

Bale is never less than convincing as Blocker, worn down by a career drenched with the blood of others and wondering if he's truly beyond salvation. Studi is terrific, bringing an air of quiet authority and wisdom but also weighed down by the violence of his past. Then there's Pike, whose portrayal of grief is so strong that it's almost unbearable to watch in places.

The script doesn't quite fulfil its promise, its meditations on who exactly the bad guys are being a touch heavy-handed in places - tagline: We are all hostiles - and the denouement can't resist trowelling on even more bleakness, double-underlining a point that had already been made earlier. It then gives way to a final scene which arguably ties things up somewhat too neatly but, given what's gone before, at least sends you out of the cinema clinging to some form of hope.

A modern Western which utilises the classic template of that genre while trying to portray that period of history from a different viewpoint, Hostiles doesn't quite get the balance right and it isn't the revisionist masterpiece it so diligently strives to be. That doesn't stop it from being a damn good drama though and it's well worth watching for the work of its exemplary cast.

MY TOP TEN MOVIES OF 2017

Hi folks! Hope the holiday season was full of cheer and you all have my best wishes for a great 2018.

So here we are at the end of 2017. It seems like just a year ago that I was talking on this blog about my favourite movies of 2016, because it was. Now it's time for me to reveal my ten favourite films of this year, plus ten more which just missed that particular cut but are still well worth your time.

As usual, there will be great movies I didn't get to see this year and that's why they didn't make the list. As usual, I can't rank them from 1 to 10 (or 10 to 1), it was difficult enough to narrow the list down without trying to decide which one I liked the most. And, as usual, it's fine if you don't like my list. However, it's my list and I'm standing by it.

Some of the following may have played festivals or could have even been released last year but I saw them in 2017 and that is purely the criterion I'm applying.

So, rambling over. In purely alphabetical order, here goes...


BABY DRIVER

Edgar Wright's effervescent car-chase/heist/romance thrill ride was something that I went back to see again and enjoyed it just as much, if not more, than I did on the first viewing. Baby (Ansel Elgort) is the best getaway driver around but he's trying to get out of the business, doubly so when he sees the possibility of a new life with waitress Debora (Lily James). And of course he's pressured into doing one last job...

I know some people complained about the plausibility of this one and I get that but sometimes cinema is all about escapism and Baby Driver presents a marvellously skewed reality, one in which a simple walk to and a from a coffee shop is choreographed to a cracking track from Bob & Earl.

Elgort and James make for a cute couple, the dialogue fizzes, the ancillary roles are all nicely-written and acted (Jon Hamm looks like he had a blast making this), the action sequences get the adrenaline pumping, the jokes land and the romantic interludes are sweet. And now I want to watch it again.


CREEP 2

The first Creep movie, for me at least, came pretty much out of nowhere and I was thoroughly impressed at not only its mixture of chills and chuckles but also with how it took the building blocks of the "found footage" genre to construct something very different.

Again, Duplass' serial killer - now calling himself Aaron - advertises for a videographer to document his life and web series maker Sara (Desiree Akhavan) shows up but from then on all bets are off as this superior sequel heads off in a number of unexpected directions. Bringing the fear and the funny in equal measure, this risks a lot by playing almost the entire proceedings as a two-hander between Aaron and Sara but this pays off handsomely because Duplass and Akhavan spark off each other outstandingly.

I saw this at Celluloid Screams in October where it went down a storm. Mark Duplass is once again both hilarious and deeply unnerving and Akhavan kicks arse in both performance and plot. I was more than sufficiently Creep-ed out (yeah yeah, I'm using that one again) to want a third one.


COLOSSAL

Nacho Vigalondo's magnificent mash-up of monster movie and indie dramedy sees the somewhat flaky Gloria (Anne Hathaway) have her life in New York fall to pieces and head back to her hometown where old acquaintance Oscar (Jason Sudeikis) offers her a job in his bar. Meanwhile, a giant creature is attacking Seoul and Gloria is struck by the possibility that she may be connected to this strange phenomenon.

It's a brilliant concept and Vigalondo runs with it, giving us the classic city in peril sequences we'd expect but never allowing these to undercut the smaller moments as Hathaway tries to get herself together. In fact, the smaller moments end up becoming the bigger moments as...but I'm giving too much away.

As always, Hathaway is first-rate and makes for an affectingly flawed heroine but it's Jason Sudeikis who is the real surprise here. Yes, his comedic turns have always been impressive but here he turns in a multi-layered and, quite frankly, amazing performance. As for the movie, it's winningly weird and I loved it.


THE ENDLESS

After Resolution and Spring, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead make it three unmissable films out of three with this genre-hopping, mind-melting tale of Justin (Benson) and Aaron (Moorhead) who return to the "UFO death cult" from which they escaped years previously.

Resolutely refusing to stick to any kind of template, The Endless constantly leaves the viewer genuinely unsure of exactly where the story is going and what the hell is going to happen next. It also avoids going down the usual route of having cult members behaving like lunatics within nanoseconds of being introduced to them. In fact, they actually seem like reasonable people with a purpose. Or is that what the movie wants you to think?

Taking the lead roles in their own film is something of a risk but Benson and Moorhead carry the film very well, helped by a fine supporting cast. With a beautifully executed, satisfying callback to their previous work which explains some of the head-spinning plot developments this rewards patience and attention. You may leave the cinema with your mind blown but trust me, you'll feel better for it.


THE FLORIDA PROJECT

On the fringe of Disneyworld the fringes of society live in motel complexes, facing a daily struggle to just exist. In one such place, six-year-old Moonee (Brooklynn Prince) goes off on various adventures with her equally free-spirited playmates while rebellious mother Halley (Bria Vinaite) tries to keep a roof over their heads.

There's no doubting that Sean Baker's film tackles a tough subject and there are some utterly heartbreaking moments along the way but there's also a whole lot of joy to be found as the piece captures precisely what it's like to be a kid. The young members of the cast are amazingly naturalistic and the adults are none too bad either. Bria Vinaite's debut is flawless and Willem Dafoe, as sympathetic motel manager Bobby, demonstrates once again what an exceedingly fine actor he is.

The end of The Florida Project seems to have proven somewhat divisive. I thought it was totally in keeping with the rest of the film, a mixture of heart-rending sadness and unbridled delight. 


GET OUT

Is a horror movie? Is it a thriller? Is it a social satire? Whatever the label, Jordan's Peele film is excellent from start to finish. Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) takes a trip with girlfriend Rose (Allison Williams) to meet her ultra-liberal parents for the first time and from the get-go something doesn't seem quite right.

Get Out doesn't play its hand too early, building the tension - and eliciting plenty of nervous laughs - via a series of increasingly weird and unsettling events before tipping into full-on horror in its final stretch. As well as being thoroughly entertaining, this also makes salient points about racism but not in a preachy way. It asks us to take a look at how we behave without having to hammer the message home.

The denouement is deliciously twisted, the clash of cultures is dealt with in a smart, amusing way, any movie that has Catherine Keener in it gets my vote and can we please have a spin off which focuses on Chris's best friend Rod? For me, Rod is the supporting character of the year and Lil Rel Howery is ace as the TSA employee with a nose for suspicious goings-on. Rod is the guy we'd all like as our best friend.


LADY MACBETH

Rural England, 1865, and the young Katherine (Florence Pugh) is sold into marriage to a man twice her age. As her husband spends more and more time away from home, Katherine enters into a reckless romance with a stable worker on the estate. Needless to say, things don't go well...

William's Oldroyd's strikingly shot drama is intense, passionate and gripping, with Florence Pugh absolutely magnetic in the central role. Sure, it's on the bleak side but it's beautifully made, dripping with atmosphere and its climax seems to have upset a few people judging but some of the things I've read about their reaction to it.

My view is: surely they should be upset in some way at how things end here. It's also a testament to the conviction of those who made this that they don't try to pull out an upbeat ending from nowhere, the piece naturally moves inexorably towards its grim and tragic conclusion and that's how it should be. 


LOGAN

At long last, the Wolverine movie that I (and possibly many others) had been waiting for, Logan is grungy, sweary, and very, very violent. It's also full of unexpectedly warm - if somewhat dark - humour with Hugh Jackman's titular hero and Patrick Stewart's Professor X as aged, bickering companions in an increasingly emotional road movie as they attempt to keep mutant kid Laura (Dafne Keen) out of the hands of some very bad guys.

F-words and severed limbs are liberally scattered throughout. Innocent people die up close in brutal and shocking ways. It's the antithesis of all those summer superhero blockbusters and is so much better for it. If this wasn't enough, the final moments deliver an emotional gut punch that will make you hope there's no post-credit sequence so you can get out of the cinema for air.

Definitely my favourite Marvel movie so far and if this is Messrs Stewart and Jackman's final appearance as X and Wolvie then they'll have bowed out in superb style.


MAB

As with 2016's Top Ten another short movie finds itself on the list. Last year it was Katie Bonham's wonderful Mindless and this year it's Katie Bonham's even more wonderful Mab. Rosie delivers packages on a regular basis to the mysterious title character but a late arrival to her destination one day gives her a glimpse into a strange and terrifying world.

Once again, as with Mindless, social commentary mixes with the supernatural to produce something truly distinctive. Without so much as a drop of gore, the revelation of the fate of one particular character is devastatingly, horribly realised and it's moments like this which confirm you're in the hands of a skilled film-maker.

Everything about this short is infused with quality. The production design is fabulous, the score is sublime and the performances are accomplished, especially newcomer Maria-Theresa as Rosie who's expressive and sympathetic without ever overplaying it.

Deservedly winning the Melies D'Argent (and the Audience Award) at this year's Abertoir Festival, this expertly fuses the everyday and the extraordinary. Is another Katie Bonham film going to be on the 2018 Top Ten? On the basis of Mab, don't bet against it.


PREVENGE

After the death of her partner, Ruth (Alice Lowe) starts to hear messages from her unborn child. These messages tell her to take revenge on the people responsible for covering up the tragedy as an accident, sending the mum-to-be on a homicidal rampage.

If the above paragraph sounds like a terribly depressing night at the cinema, it's actually quite the opposite. Prevenge serves up its murders and mayhem with a deliciously dark streak of humour and having many of its scenes play longer than we're used to gives us much more of an insight into the story's potential victims which means that, rather cleverly, we're never exactly sure who to side with.

Has Ruth truly been wronged or is she experiencing a psychotic episode following the death of a loved one? Indeed, is any of this actually happening? Prevenge lets you decide the answers to these questions for yourself. Writer/director/star Alice Lowe takes on that most tricky of beasts, the horror/comedy, and delivers both the shocks and the sniggers with surety.  


Honorable mentions go to the following (again in alphabetical order):

The Big Sick - Smartly scripted by Kumail Nanjiani, this takes his own real-life tale and spins it into a subversive rom-com. Full of heart and hilarity, this is a massive, welcoming hug of a movie and it has Holly Hunter being awesome. What more could you want?

Blade Runner 2049 - Making a sequel to Ridley Scott's classic original takes a lot of guts and I'm delighted to say that Denis Villeneuve's follow-up is very good indeed. Visually, this redefines the word "stunning" but there's also an intriguing continuation of the story in which to become involved. Ryan Gosling is first class as top blade runner J but it's Harrison Ford's return as Deckard which really elevates the proceedings. How great is Harrison Ford in this? I'll answer that one for you. He's bloody brilliant.

Brawl In Cell Block 99 - S. Craig Zahler follows up the excellent Bone Tomahawk with this tale of drug runner Vince Vaughn landing in the clink and trying to save his pregnant wife on the outside. Builds brilliantly to an astonishingly violent payoff, Vaughn is on career-best form here and sterling support is provided by Udo Kier and Don Johnson.

Canaries - Belying its £29,000 budget, Peter Stray's beguiling mix of sci-fi, horror and comedy reaches for the stars while still keeping its feet firmly on the ground as bantering, bickering mates try to survive an alien invasion in the Welsh Valleys. With a surprisingly detailed mythology to give the backstory some real heft, this hits all of the right notes regardless of which genre it's stepped into.

Diani & Devine Meet The Apocalypse - Comedy duo Etta Devine and Gabriel Diani suddenly find themselves in a situation where there's no power, communcations are down and society is collapsing. What follows next is an unexpectedly sweet and consistently funny series of adventures as our heroes try to survive. Track this down before the world ends.

The Disaster Artist - James Franco directs and stars in this take on the making of Tommy Wiseau's now infamous movie The Room. The chaotic environment of the film set makes for some big laughs along the way but this is also a spirited celebration of someone following their dream, however crazy that dream may be.

I Remember You - A confidently-made slow-burner based on Yrsa Sigurðardóttir's novel, this weaves seemingly unconnected elements (a woman found hanged in a church, a missing child, a project to renovate a run-down house) into a coherent and ultimately satisfying whole. Beautiful Icelandic locations abound and it's creepy as hell, too.

M.F.A. - After a year in which new allegations of sexual misconduct surface pretty much every day, Natalia Leite's exploration of what happens to art student Noelle after a horrific incident could not be more timely. Uncompromising but unwaveringly unexploitative, this benefits further from an excellent, provocative screenplay by Leah McKendrick (who's also effective in a pivotal supporting role) and a terrific performance from Francesca Eastwood as Noelle.

My Life As A Courgette - Short (66 minutes) and very sweet animation centred on a young boy sent to a foster home following a tragedy at home. Confronting difficult subject matter with straightforwardness and great skill, this never descends into sentimentality and it's rather wonderful. You may have to pretend you have something in your eye come the end of this one.

Wonder Woman - After Logan, another much needed shot in the arm for the superhero movie as Amazonian warrior Diana (Gal Gadot in a piece of perfect casting) joins the fight in World War One. A wonder-fully (oh, I'm so sorry for that) entertaining mix of great action sequences, amusing fish-out-of-water comedy and spot-on emotional beats, this destroys the ridiculous argument that this sort of movie - any sort of movie, to be honest - is "a guy's thing".

MAB

Starring: Maria-Teresa, Carolyn Saint-Pé, Lucy Clements
Writer: Katie Bonham
Director: Katie Bonham

Mab tells the story of Rosie (Maria-Teresa) and her mother, Kris (Lucy Clements), who struggle to make ends meet. Their only source of income comes from the daily delivery Rosie makes to the mysterious Mab, but what are these deliveries and what impact will this have on their lives of those around them?

You may remember how much I enjoyed Katie Bonham's previous short film Mindless, a terrific, emotionally resonant piece of work that ended up in my Top Ten films of 2016 so it was with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation that I approached Mab. I needn't have been concerned because Mab is even more accomplished than its predecessor.

Much like Mindless the plot’s focus is on the real, desperate, domestic struggles of the type of characters who are seldom given prominence in the horror genre and gives them a deft, otherworldly spin. The magical elements of the story never overwhelm the surprisingly gritty social commentary, instead the supernatural weaves its way in and out of the tale in creepy, strange and ultimately startling fashion.

The performances are top-notch, especially newcomer Maria-Teresa who is truly outstanding as Rosie. Surrounded by people who range from uncaring to genuinely horrendous, we are further drawn into the struggles of her character thanks to an adept, sympathetic performance. We don't learn too much about the other characters along the way (other than the fact they're generally awful) but that isn't an issue as this is Rosie's story and Maria-Teresa's expressive yet delicate work takes centre stage as it should.

As for the production design it’s consistently excellent, Mab’s place in particular being beautifully realised, a weird, wonderful collection of mystic artefacts which provides the ideal enchanted counterpoint to the drab dwelling inhabited by Rosie and her mum. I also loved the train which took Rosie to Mab’s each day, a familiar mode of transport given an unusual makeover and providing the perfect connection between the everyday and the extraordinary.

In some short films, the score sometimes goes by the wayside for any number of different reasons but here it’s yet another example of how Mab delivers. Patrick Fagan’s sublime musical accompaniments are never nudging nor do they overpower the on-screen action but add another pleasing layer of eerie depth to the movie. 

This doesn't deploy gallons of gore to keep its viewers watching and if you’re waiting for heads exploding or sprays of arterial claret then you’re going to have to rein in that bloodlust of yours. This rewards patience and imagination, proving that it’s what you create in your own head that’s far more devastating and terrifying than explicit grue. The fate of one character is all the more chilling simply because it resists cashing in with a spectacular, OTT demise. It’s all too real, it's genuinely horrible and it's something to which we can easily relate.

Mab is neither a movie which joins the dots for you in clunky fashion nor is it one so frustratingly enigmatic that you’ll wander out of the cinema wondering what the hell it was all about. Put your phone away for fifteen minutes and be swept up in this brilliant, original tale. The pace is perfect, the plot unfolds with great care and the climactic reveal is quietly yet profoundly disturbing. It’ll stay with you a whole lot longer than a shrieking chord of strings, a jump scare and a splash of red.

I may be starting to sound like a broken record when it comes to Katie Bonham's work but, as with the magnificent Mindless, this demands to be seen. Mab is an unmissable chiller from a skilled director growing in confidence and scope with each new project and I'm very much looking forward to finding out exactly where she's going to take us next.