The great southern creature feature

Once upon a time, in the summer of 2017, I wrote a story for Metro called ‘The Great Southern Creature Feature’ that used the release of the independent monster movie, Red Billabong, as a launching pad to talk about Australia’s proclivity for eco-horror.

While I was contractually unable to share this story with you until now, I’d like to point out that this particular edition of Metro is still available for purchase online, where you can enjoy this story (and many more) in all its colourful, printed glory.

Otherwise, here’s a plain text version for your reading pleasure… Continue reading “The great southern creature feature” →

September 5, 2018 0

The 25 greatest Australian films of the 21st century

The brief was ambitious (and contentious) but Luke Buckmaster from Flicks.com.au approached over 50 Australian film critics and asked us to vote for the greatest Australian films since the year 2000. The clincher was: we needed to rank them in order of best to worst, with number one being our choice for the best film of the century so far.

As you can appreciate, this was a very challenging task, and I speak for myself in saying that the inclusions and running order changed several times. However, when all the votes were tallied, the top ten looked like this… Continue reading “The 25 greatest Australian films of the 21st century” →

July 30, 2018 0

To watch or not to watch, that is the question

This was a difficult article to write and, while it’s impossible to answer, I’m hoping it provides some means for people to navigate a challenging ethical landscape.

Thanks to Kat and Lee at Diabolique for having the editorial balls to run with me…

May 25, 2018 2

Stacy Keach is one of the kind strangers

What do you do in a 10-minute interview with one of the greatest actors of our time? You ask him about his role as private eye Mike Hammer and a lesser known made-for-TV movie from 1974, All the Kind Strangers.

That’s what I did when I spoke to Stacy Keach for Diabolique...

Note: Via Vision has released Mickey Spillane’s The New Mike Hammer The Series (1986) for the first time on DVD.

March 22, 2018 0

Women’s Stories Aren’t Told in Laos: An Interview with Mattie Do

Mattie Do is a pioneer. She is one of very few filmmakers in Laos, and she is her country’s first female horror filmmaker. She also may have secured Laos’ first ever nomination for an Oscar with her second film, Dearest Sister.

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas from Senses of Cinema commissioned me to write a piece on Mattie Do and – 8,000 words of interviewing later, faithfully transcribed by the always awesome Faith Everard – this piece came into being.

While this article is half the length of the actual interview, it is, hopefully, one that manages to capture Mattie accurately in her own words, as well as the big things she’s doing with some small films that are light years away from Hollywood.

January 6, 2018 0

From the Drain (David Cronenberg, 1967)

This piece was written at the beginning of 2017 but, inexplicably, I failed to post it to my website. Me bad.

But I’m proud to say this is, likely, one of the most substantial/lengthy articles written about David Cronenberg’s second short film, From the Drain, to appear online at the very least. I am willing to be proven wrong and would, in fact, be very interested in reading someone else’s take on this surreal mind-fuck.

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, one of the editors at Senses of Cinema, asked me to undertake this challenge as part of the journal’s tribute section of the March 2017. Titled ‘Love Letters: 1967’, this section included articles about filmmakers who would later become big players on the cinematic landscape but were only just emerging in short form in that particular year.

The likes of David Lynch, Seijun Suzuki, Joseph Losey and Norman Jewison also had ‘love letters’ written to them by a variety of talented folk. It’s well worth perusing them all. But, first, help me make sense of David Cronenberg’s enigmatic mind.

November 21, 2017 0

Gods & Monsters: Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Writers will have favourites from their body of work, and this piece on the Bride of Frankenstein is undoubtedly one of mine.

Thank you to Diabolique Magazine and Lee Gambin for breathing new life into this piece and selecting it to kick off the ‘Gods & Monsters’ column.

I particularly appreciate the glorious photograph selection, including the one featured above of my ‘spirit animal’, Elsa Lanchester.

November 3, 2017 0

Five legendary B-brilliant horror movies

When asked by Frankie to create a listicle on Five Laugh-Inducing B-Grade Horror Movies to promote Triple R’s 2017 Radiothon, I don’t think they expected my utter admiration for films others may see in another light.

But I’m pleased that Frankie’s assistant editor Mia Timpano allowed me to put my particular bent on this list and write what I’m not-so secretly calling ‘Five Legendary B-Brilliant Horror Movies’. I have nothing but utter respect for these beautiful cinematic specimens, as you can read below…

(Maybe Houseboat Horror is just plain bad but anyhoo…)

August 16, 2017 0

Don’t Fear the Creeper: An Interview with Gina Philips

In preparation for a longer form piece in the new Cinemaniacs Presents journal, I had the pleasure of talking to fellow horror movie fan, Gina Philips, who played the role of Trish in the original Jeepers Creepers (fans will be very pleased to know she is coming back for the third instalment in the franchise).

Gina was such a generous interviewee I decided to throw some words the way of Diabolique, and the fruits of my labour can now be read in the following article…

May 19, 2017 0

RAW: Horror in the Eyes of Women

One of the gratifying outcomes of the RAW advanced screening and discussion panel with Barbara Creed, Philippa Hawker, Clem Bastow and Cerise Howard on 19th April has been the opportunity to write a wrap-up of the event for the incomparable Kat Ellinger and Diabolique online.

For those who were not able to attend, this is the closest you’ll get to hearing the panellists’ words, including sage observations from the likes of Cerise Howard:

“What is most monstrous in this film is heteronormativity… This whole hazing business… it’s rape culture writ large and is truly monstrous.”

May 10, 2017 0