Oliver Battershall

Wild Rose (2018) 4/5
Music star-is-born movies can often be tediously predictable, with such clear unwavering pathways to success laid out for protagonists despite their character flaws. But here it feels like each moment has its consequences and characters’ flaws are shown in a meaningful and vulnerable way. Jessie Buckley and Julie Walters are fantastic and help make this feel so grounded. It makes the more twee and smiley moments feel like they’ve been earnt, even the slightly naff ending.

Saw (2004) 3.5/5
Here it is. The film that started it all. And by ‘it all’, I mean me watching “Top 10 most GRUESOME saw traps” videos on YouTube at a rather inappropriate age. I’m now all too familiar with all the saga’s traps but this is the first Saw film I’ve watched in full since 2023’s pretty underwhelming Saw X. I’m sure the reputation of the series as a whole puts plenty of people off this, which is a shame because it’s simply a tight and entertaining mystery thriller with none of the ‘torture porn’ stylings of its later editions. The acting isn’t great and you’ll always either love or hate the very 2000’s rapid editing, but it’s a very solid watch with a satisfying reveal.

The Milk of Sorrow (2009) 4/5
My first Peruvian film! This is really visually memorable and evocative, and acts as such a powerful yet understated piece of feminist cinema. It’s been interesting doing some brief reading on the provenance of the film regarding Peru’s uncomfortable history during the 80s, but it’s something I definitely need to learn more about. A heart-breaking, lyrical, class-conscious, brave piece of filmmaking.

Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) 3/5
A horror omnibus consisting of murderous vines, voodoo magic, werewolves, vampires et al, that sadly isn’t quite as entertaining as it sounds. Nice to see Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and it was a welcome surprise to see Donald Sutherland in his second ever film role. The short stories drag and are pretty predictable but there is some fun to be had, especially when the titular character is on screen. Though as a general rule, if I met a man named Dr. Terror on a train I’d change carriages, and I especially wouldn’t enquire about his ‘House of Horrors’.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005) 3/5
A fairly charming adventure that embraces absurdism and that very British sense of whimsy in a way that mostly managed to avoid becoming a bit irritating. Martin Freeman just plays his character from The Office and his love subplot is very half-hearted, but Alan Rickman and Sam Rockwell’s characters are fun, and I’ve no idea why Mos Def is here but I certainly can’t complain.

Wet Hot American Summer (2001) 4/5
Between this and They Come Together it’s clear that in the years since Leslie Nielsen and Mel Brooks’ heyday no one’s come close to David Wain when it comes to parody films. This is really ahead of its time and it’s fun to spot all the actors whose careers were just starting out here.

Severance (2006) 3.5/5
A pretty derivative but undeniably fun portrayal of something that seems relatively tame compared to the violent fantasies I’ve personally had while on team-building exercises. Feels like a proper comedy-horror, in that those two elements blend well together instead of it feeling like a horror segment followed by a comedy segment and so on. This also reminded me to watch the new series of the show of the same name (I’m not sponsored to say that, though I am open to paid endorsements).