As a kid growing up in rural Lincolnshire, one of my main portals to the glamour of Hollywood was the meagre selection of videos on offer to rent in the local garage-cum-grocery shop.
Of all the titles on offer, it was the horror movies that stood out most, with their lurid and frightening covers – Hellraiser’s Pinhead somehow seemed more terrifying glowering out at me among shelves otherwise stacked with Panda Pops, Hob Nobs and jars of Bisto.
I was beginning to think I had imagined the one about killer slugs, but IMDB has assured me this was indeed a real movie, with a classic tagline to boot: “They slime. They ooze. They kill!”
British chiller Censor offers a trip back to the heady days of the video nasty this week, while watch-through-your-fingers fare of a different stripe comes courtesy of Kurupt FM…
New releases
People Just Do Nothing: Big in Japan
For British sitcoms, the path from small screen to big screen can be tricky, but from early reviews it sounds like the Kurupt FM crew’s first feature-length outing sits comfortably on the Inbetweeners end of the scale, as opposed to the Keith Lemon one.
The follow-up to the hugely popular BBC3 mockumentary series sees MC Grindah (Allan Mustafah) and co head out East after they discover one of their songs has become a hit thanks to its use in a Japanese game show.
Fame and fortune are finally within their grasp – but how will the gang take to life outside of Brentford, and are they prepared to cash in their cred (such as it is) for life as a J-pop boyband?
Cert 15, 97 mins | |
Cineworld, Everyman, Vue | |
From Fri Aug 20 | |
More details |
Censor
Glowing reviews suggest that this 1980s-set British horror heralds the arrival of a striking new talent in director Prano Bailey-Bond (a previous winner at York’s own Aesthetica Short Film Festival).
Rising star Niamh Algar (currently to be seen in Channel 4’s Deceit) plays quiet, reserved film censor Enid, whose job it is to sift through reel after reel of gruesome and gory fare in the name of protecting the public (the film takes place against the backdrop of the UK’s panic about ‘video nasties’, whereby it was feared that the nation’s moral health was at risk from exposure to the likes of The Evil Dead on VHS).
Enid’s world is turned upside down when one of the films she watches has unnerving echos of her sister’s mysterious disappearance – starting her down an increasingly obsessive path in which reality and fantasy start to blur.
Cert 15, 84 mins | |
City Screen | |
From Fri Aug 20 | |
More details |
Reminiscence
Fusing sci-fi dystopia with film noir, this intriguing thriller stars Hugh Jackman as a “private investigator of the mind” in a near-future Miami beset by rising sea levels.
With the present day offering little in the way of hope, Nick Bannister (Jackman) offers a unique service that allows his clients to journey back into their memories.
As in many a classic noir, Bannister’s life is changed when a woman in red walks into his office one day – and when his new client disappears, he becomes consumed with finding out the truth about the mysterious Mae (Jackman’s Greatest Showman co-star Rebecca Ferguson).
The film marks the feature debut of director Lisa Joy, who has plenty of form in making intelligent sci-fi as the co-creator of TV’s Westworld.
Cert 12A, 114 mins | |
Cineworld, Everyman, Vue York | |
From Fri Aug 20 | |
More details |
Other screenings
Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding flexes his action chops (and burnishes his Bond credentials) in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (Cineworld, Vue), a reboot of the action franchise based on the long-running US toy line.
Golding plays the eponymous hero, who begins the film as a drifter out for revenge for the death of his father – a mission that leads him to infiltrate Japan’s ancient and powerful Arashikage clan (and given that their personnel include martial arts supremos such as The Raid’s Iko Uwais, expect flying fists aplenty).
Also out this week is psychological horror The Night House (Cineworld, Everyman, Vue), which sees widow Beth (Rebecca Hall) haunted by a disturbing presence in the lakeside home her late husband built for her, causing her to uncover some troubling secrets.
There’s another atmospheric chiller on offer at City Screen on Mon 23rd, as their celebration of the female-led horror boom continues with 2020’s highly acclaimed Saint Maud – the tale of a deeply troubled hospice nurse (Morfydd Clark) out to save the soul of her cruelly provocative client (Jennifer Ehle).
I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it when I saw it last year, but it’s one that’s really stayed with me since – Clark (soon to be seen in Amazon’s megabucks Lord of the Rings TV show) is terrific in the lead role.
City Screen also continue their Wong Kar Wai season with Chungking Express, which tells the intersecting stories of two lovelorn Hong Kong cops, and brought the director international acclaim on its release in 1994 – not least from Quentin Tarantino, who loved the film so much he picked it up for distribution in the US.
It shows on Sun 22nd, with further matinees on Tues 24th and Weds 25th.
And finally, Bridesmaids is, incredibly, marking its tenth anniversary, and to celebrate you can party with Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and co. once more at Vue this week (Sat 21st, Sun 22nd, Thurs 26th) – just maybe don’t head out to a backstreet steak restaurant afterwards.
Summer holiday round-up
As we get further into August, there’s a certain sense of ‘Found this in the store cupboard, what do you think?’ to some of the new kids’ releases making their way to the big screen.
Alighting at Cineworld and Vue this week, then, is a new animated take on Around the World in 80 Days, which sees Philéas Fogg reborn as Philéas Frog – while Cineworld are also showing Conni and the Cat, which looks to be one for younger viewers and, like David Hasselhoff, was apparently a big hit in Germany.
Showing at Vue, and promising ‘double the singing and double the fun’ (they’ve obviously never heard of Jedward) is Barbie: Big City, Big Dreams.
Your big budget viewing option this week is Peter Rabbit 2, showing in Cineworld’s Movies For Juniors slot (daily, tickets £3.25) and Vue’s Mini Mornings (daily, £2.49).
Meanwhile, City Screen’s Kids’ Club has a werewolf transforming into a poodle in Australian CGI fantasy adventure 100% Wolf on Sat 21st, and the original animated Disney Jungle Book from Mon 23rd – Thurs 26th (tickets for both are £3.00).
I mean, there’s really only one choice, isn’t there? All together now: “Oo-be-do, I wanna be like you-oo-oo…”