After a ten year wait for a follow up to the dismal Ghosts of Mars (2001), a wait which at numerous points in the last decade seemed like it was never going to end. One of the true masters of modern cinematic suspense John Carpenter finally returns to feature filmmaking with The Ward. The film tells the story of an unstable young woman named Kristen (Amber Heard) who is institutionalized after burning down a farmhouse. Once she arrives on the ward she begins to be stalked by the ghost of a vengeful former patient. The biggest question going into this film was, after such a long absence from feature filmmaking, does Carpenter still have it? [click to continue…]
We here at Bombed Out In Space decided to take the unusual and controversial decision that for our featured article this month we should compile a list of our top ten Christmas movies of all time. This idea really developed when I saw the Christmas Coca Cola advert the other day and thought that it was perhaps time to unleash this article on the internet. [click to continue…]
I’m really not a big Tony Scott fan. He has always been a filmmaker who could not quite escape from his brother’s shadow. I detest Top Gun and his recent films have featured some truly atrocious ‘Shaky-Cam’ camerawork. So, it was with extremely low expectations that I went to a preview screening of Unstoppable, and although the dreaded ‘Shaky-Cam’ is still present (especially in the opening sequence) it is less grating. This contributes greatly to Unstoppable confounding my low expectations and being a surprisingly satisfying and enjoyable thriller/character study genre movie. [click to continue…]
In 1978 John Carpenter made a film which redefined the horror genre and became one of the most imitated movies of all time. Halloween was shot on a shoestring budget in the Spring of 1978. It’s young director was hugely influenced by Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, and references the film many times in Halloween most notably in casting Janet Leigh’s daughter, the then unknown Jamie Lee Curtis in the lead role alongside veteran actor Donald Pleasence as Doctor Loomis. The phenomenal success of Halloween has resulted in seven sequels, a remake and a sequel to the remake. However, the quality of these sequels vary greatly and in this article I will put forward the idea that the Halloween franchise is best studied as a trilogy of: Halloween (1978), Halloween II (1981) and Halloween H20 (1998). [click to continue…]
Joe Dante’s career has been one of great success tempered by box office failure. Despite this he has retained a loyal and passionate following of fans. It has been seven years since his last feature, the moderately successful Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). After this long sabbatical from feature filmmaking, Dante has finally returned with The Hole, his first film to be shot in 3D. Given his decision to shoot in the much criticised third dimension it was always going to be Dante’s biggest challenge to justify the 3D’s presence and make it work for the narrative. [click to continue…]
