This is an homage to the classic seasonal M.R. James tale of the supernatural. I hope it gives you as much pleasure to read as it gave me to write.The Company He KeptI.Mr. James, considerate of my great-grandfather’s anonymity, referred to him as Dennistoun. But his name was Barnes. Warrington Barnes. His monograph on the history and archaeology of St Bertrand de Comminges drew no public demand in his lifetime beyond its initial printing. But it has changed hands recently for respectable sums, the buyers invariably those in the know. That I successfully...
Thursday, 30 December 2010
Apologies for the lack of content recently – I’ve been occupied with my “Viva la Revolution!” pieces for the new year as well as working on a couple of short fiction projects.I’ve also done a bit of housekeeping on the blog. The link list was getting a tad overgrown and the time had come to get the cyber-secateurs out and cut it back a bit. Problem was: I like all of the blogs on the list. Which didn’t help me with my other problem: I’m discovering new film blogs all the time.There were some blogs on the link list which have been discontinued but...
Monday, 27 December 2010
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Saturday, 25 December 2010
Friday, 24 December 2010
’Twas the night before Christmas and yours truly braved the supermarket crowds to the do the last minute shopping; everywhere, laughing families and excited children carried with them the joy and spirit of Christmas, their delight at this hallowed time of year communicating itself in an outpouring of goodwill.*The tender and joyful strains of Christmas carols accompanied my drive home and my heart lifted at the soaring melodies. I unlocked the front...
Thursday, 23 December 2010
Full disclosure: a couple of images in this review edge into the arena of NSFW. Unless you work for FHM magazine. In which case, knock yourself out.After the soul-destroying experience of ‘Bulletface’ I was giving careful thought to my choices for the penultimate day of Winter of Discontent when I heard, belatedly, that Jean Rollin passed away last week. I’d seen ‘Requiem for a Vampire’ years ago while severely under the influence and had never quite...
Wednesday, 22 December 2010
Winter of Discontent has brought me into contact with the works of some notorious and nefarious directors. Ruggero Deodato, Bo Arne Vibenius, Jess Franco and the just plain heinous Joe D’Amato.Then I heard tell of Albert Pyun. A laugh out loud funny and yet somehow queasily worrying article on The Inferior 4 pegged him as “the new Ed Wood”. This, apparently, is a man who served his apprenticeship working with Kurosawa, Mifune and cinematographer...
Tuesday, 21 December 2010
This from some online celeb sheet:"Just weeks away from completing her court-ordered stay at the Betty Ford Center, Lindsay Lohan is being investigated by police after allegedly assaulting a female employee at the clinic.Palm Desert police conducted a battery investigation at the scene at about 1 a.m. on Dec. 12. "The victim desired prosecution," says Sgt. Joe Borja of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. "The incident is being investigated...
... Ripley McCoy, whose entry for the caption contest was picked by the adjudicating panel after a period of intense deliberation at the pub last night. Seriously, it took several pints of deliberation. "... and, of course, never drink and drive. Any questions?"Ripley's prize (no monetary equivalent offered) was the choice, from a shortlist of six titles, of which film I review as the grand finale to Winter of Discontent.Tune in on Christmas Eve...
Monday, 20 December 2010
A Final Girl Film Club choice.Paul Maslansky’s 1974 blaxploitation opus effectively provides an answer to the age-old question “Yeah – you and whose army?” The answer it provides is: “Me and Baron Samedi’s army of the undead, that’s who! So kiss my ass, you honky motherfucker.” (Before you jam up the comments section with reprimands for racism, it should be noted that I’m a honky motherfucker myself and therefore allowed to use the term.) As with,...
Sunday, 19 December 2010
“A rebel is a man who says no.” – Albert Camus“While there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.” – Eugene Victor DebsThe Agitation of the Mind will be teaming up with The Film Connoisseur in January 2011 for a celebration of revolution on film. Join ...
This is purely hypothetical – mere conjecture on my part – and I would ask anyone who represents the director or producers of ‘Strip Nude for Your Killer’ to please bear this in mind – as well as the fact that there is no malice whatsoever intended in these remarks – but I reckon the first production meeting for ‘Strip Nude for Your Killer’ (in its equally unambiguous Italian title: ‘Nude per l’Assassino’) went something like this:“Andrea, baby,...
Saturday, 18 December 2010
Friday, 17 December 2010
Picture the scene: yours truly and his good lady wife enter a fish ‘n’ chip shop, emphatically debating yours truly’s recent film-viewing choices. This is how the conversation must have played out to the very conservative and increasingly disconcerted middle-aged gentleman ahead of us in the queue:PAULA: … can’t believe you watched a film called ‘The Killer Nun’. I’m starting to worry about you. ME: I’d never seen a nunsploitation film before.*PAULA:...
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