Oliver Battershall

Female Prisoner Scorpion: #701 (1972) 4/5
There’ll always be a limit to how much I can enjoy an exploitation film centring round subjugation of women before I have to put my Woke Hat on, but this definitely eclipsed what I thought that limit was. This has a great aesthetic, balancing out the grime with irresistibly lurid blood and neon light. The framing of shots is well thought out too, there’s more Dutch angles than you can shake a stick at and by the end they’re skewed by a full 90° which was a good laugh.

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007) 3.5/5
At its peak it’s real heart-in-your-mouth cinema, with palpable dread and desperation emanating from the two fantastic leads. I think this could’ve done with being a good fifteen minutes shorter to keep that snowballing momentum going because I wasn’t fully on board with the slower moments of lamentation. But it’s a joy to see such a juggernaut director resurrect shades of Dog Day Afternoon and Philip Seymour Hoffman is undoubtedly the GOAT shouty actor.

The Faculty (1998) 4/5
I love Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but what it really needed was 90s CGI and Donald Sutherland and Jeff Goldblum calling each other dickwads. To my relief, in steps The Faculty to quench my sick urges. This was so much fun! Gripping with distinct characters and some really great usage of the high school setting. A proper popcorn horror film, recommended!

From Beyond (1986) 3.5/5
You know a movie’s good when you can picture David Cronenberg kicking himself while watching it and muttering “Why didn’t *I* make that?”. Cerebral and erotic with fantastic body horror. Honestly preferred this less comedic approach over Gordon’s other big canonised work Re-Animator.

Cashback (2006) 3/5
Tonally a bit odd, with moments of emotion and philosophical contemplation padded out with gratuitous nudity and physical comedy. Has its moments as a coming of age story though and I can see why the ethics of the main character are a bit of a point of contention but I didn’t see much of an issue. The boss character also provided some good Brent-esque laughs.

Who Killed Captain Alex? (2010) 3.5/5
I’d never seen this cult classic before tonight but I was well aware of the film’s reputation and had seen many clips. There aren’t that many films that I can say have truly felt like nothing I’ve ever seen before, but this is one. Guided throughout by the often hilarious VJ Emmie, this was a great time that proves once and for all that the immaterial concept of “vibes” trumps all technical or financial specifications when judging and appreciating art. I watched this on a Blu-Ray put out by AGFI and I really recommend it, there’s loads of brilliant special features that are an essential accompaniment to the main feature if you want to be filled with joy at the innate human desire to come together and have fun creating art. The disc also includes Bad Black, another Wakaliwood film, so I’m sure I’ll watch that one soon!

The Station Agent (2003) 4/5
A brilliantly understated film that quietly explores loneliness and the human desire to belong. Dinklage gives a brilliant performance and adds such nuance to the clichéd character arc of “curmudgeonly man learns the meaning of love”. Proper indie filmmaking. Hits a specific vibe that I always go on a tangent about whenever I see a film that fits with it so I’ve made a (first draft of a) list on my letterboxd for it if anyone has any suggestions for additions!