#73 - Pin (1988)

"An engagingly unique horror hook, this is a slow burner focused more on psychological and tension fulled dread than any hack and slash gore fest. Shades of Psycho run through the membrane of this film, especially as we follow the main characters mental status decline more and more, each crumbling stage wielding more and more sinister results. As the anticipation builds the worry finally breaks in an absorbing and satisfying final twenty minutes"


- 7/10

Note - this was 14/03 film, the review posted early hours of the next day. 

#72 - Annihilation (2018)

Both visceral and mindful, a trance-like experience of non-linear storytelling that rides that fine balance between tension, exposition, and pay off. Garland excels at releasing snippets of information from both the human and inhuman ends of the story, coaxing us to theorise and daring us to guess. Ultimately, it's a reflection on humanity, of self destruction and, more poignantly, why do we self destruct on all ends of a scale


- 8.5/10   

#71 - Lady Bird (2017)

"Captures that wonderful moment in time of a life coming of age and trying to understand their own contradictions, intricacies and realisations. Like a polaroid that shows the essence of a moment this film grabs an image and develops  it, each flick of the picture giving scene by scene more detail and minutia, building on the skeleton of what we start with: a story of a person trying to understand themselves"


- 8/10 

#70 - Look Who's Talking (1989)

"Surprisingly charming, this has all the makings of an off the conveyor belt exercise in saccharine romcom, but instead flickers between the expected and the surreal, from unironic montage to a darkly comical dream sequence. This clash works in its favour, for outside the earnest performances and unique narrative of the baby, the strangely enjoyable moments are only peppered over a stale story that we have all seen lots before"


- 6/10

#69 - Jago: A Life Underwater [documentary] (2015)

"Sails between dramatic re-enactment, interview, and beautifully tranquil shots of the ocean and islands around Indonesia. This snippet of a life that sounds straight from another age is almost hypnotising in its fluidity and slowly snares like a tide moving in, you eye unable to look away from the striking colours of a crystal sea all painted against the story of a simple hunter and his intriguing story"


- 8/10

#68 - Still [short] (2017)

"Simple but effective shots are genuinely ominous, especially the first 'fright' as it feels real and punctures the primal need for safety. A great POV shot as our protagonist lurches through the house to the back door imparts a rushing sense of urgency. A concoction of dark humour splices the straight up horror but it works, almost a stab at unreliable narration before the slightly disappointing predictable finale"


- 7/10 

#67 - Resurrection of Evil (2016)

"What could have been an intriguing premise with potential for surreal shots/tension is unfortunately abandoned for your cookie-cutter jump scares and standard horror fare. Our protagonist's motivations are weak, and it is hard to believe she would go to the lengths she does in the beginning; the mental gymnastics undergone to arrive at the conclusions the script needs her to leaves only a simmering boredom"


- 4/10