Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on May 18, 2019

(1944) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock; Screenplay by Jo Swerling; Story by John Steinbeck; Starring: Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson, John Hodiak, Henry Hull, Canada Lee and Hume Cronyn; Available on Blu-ray and DVD Rating: ****½ “The intent of   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on May 8, 2019

(1924) Directed by Buster Keaton and Donald Crisp; Written by Clyde Bruckman, Joseph A. Mitchell and Jean C. Havez: Starring: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, and Frederick Vroom; Available on Blu-ray and DVD Rating: **** “Rollo Treadway – Heir to the Treadway fortune &#8211   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on May 1, 2019

Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924) This is the first of two films by director/co-writer Fritz Lang (with a script co-written by Thea von Harbou), based on an epic 11th century German poem. The story follows our protagonist Siegfried (Paul Richter), as he fights a dragon, secures a sword and magic helm   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on April 25, 2019

(1984) Directed by Richard Fleischer; Written by Stanley Mann; Story by Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway; Based on the character created by Robert E. Howard; Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Grace Jones, Olivia d'Abo, Wilt Chamberlain, Mako, Tracey Walter and Sarah Douglas; Available on: Blu-ray, DVD   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on April 17, 2019

(1980) Directed by Terry Marcel; Written by Terry Marcel and Harry Robertson; Starring: Jack Palance, John Terry, Patricia Quinn, Bernard Bresslaw, Peter O'Farrell, Ray Charleson, William Morgan Sheppard and Cheryl Campbell; Available on Blu-ray and DVD Rating: *** “I like a man   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on April 11, 2019

(1981) Directed by Matthew Robbins; Written by Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins; Starring: Peter MacNicol, Caitlin Clarke, Ralph Richardson, John Hallam, Peter Eyre and Ian McDiarmid; Available on DVD Rating: ***½ “Oh, I know this creature of yours – Vermithrax Pejora   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on April 2, 2019

(2005) Directed by David Cronenberg; Written by Josh Olson; Based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke; Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt, Ashton Holmes and Peter MacNeill; Available on Blu-ray and DVD Rating: **** “…the audience   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on March 27, 2019

Spider (2002) Director David Cronenberg and writer Patrick McGrath (who also wrote the novel the film is based upon) present an intricately woven study of a profoundly disturbed man, played by Ralph Fiennes. After spending years in an asylum, Spider is released into the custody of a boarding house.   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on March 20, 2019

(1979) Directed by David Cronenberg; Written by David Cronenberg, Phil Savath and Courtney Smith; Starring: William Smith, Claudia Jennings, John Saxon, Nicholas Campbell, Don Francks, Cedric Smith and Judy Foster; Available on Blu-ray and DVD Rating: *** “Fast Company to me is r   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on March 19, 2019

We’re back for round two, with The 2nd Great Hammer-Amicus Blogathon, running June 14th-16th, and hosted by Yours Truly along with my superb co-host Gill Jacob from Realweegiemidget Reviews. You can find all the details here. So far, we have a fantastic line-up, but there’s plenty of roo   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on March 17, 2019

We’re back! After last year’s blogathon, Gill Jacob (of Realweegiemidget Reviews) and I had so much fun, we decided to do a repeat. This year, we’re hoping to make this three-day-plus event bigger and better. Popular favorites are always welcome, but we’re encouraging eve   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on March 10, 2019

(1983) Written and directed by David Cronenberg; Starring: James Woods, Deborah Harry, Sonja Smits, Peter Dvorsky, Leslie Carlson and Jack Creley; Available on Blu-ray and DVD Rating: **** “…what if the images that you pulled up were really quite extreme, disturbing, possib   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on February 28, 2019

The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) In this thriller with a paranormal twist, photographer Laura Mars (Faye Dunaway), known for her controversial photos, watches as her models are killed off one by one. The twist is that she sees their deaths before they occur, through the eyes of the killer....   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on February 24, 2019

(1965) Written and directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis; Starring: Connie Mason, William Kerwin, Jeffrey Allen, Shelby Livingston, Jerome Eden, Gary Bakeman; Available on Blu-ray and DVD Rating: *** “They couldn’t tell what we were. We were outlaws in a sense, and yet we were   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on February 17, 2019

(1984) Directed by Neil Jordan; Written by Angela Carter and Neil Jordan; Based on a story by Angela Carter; Starring: Sarah Patterson, Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Stephen Rea and Micha Bergese; Available on Blu-ray, DVD and Amazon Prime Rating: ***½ “The one thing we did   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on February 1, 2019

The Man Who Stole the Sun (1979) Director/co-writer Kazuhiko Hasegawa’s thought-provoking film is the darkest of comedies, told from the perspective of a country that has lived under the nuclear shadow. Makoto Kido (Kenji Sawada) is an eccentric high school science teacher who decides to creat   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on January 28, 2019

(2005) Directed by Takashi Miike; Written by Takashi Miike, Mitsuhiko Sawamura and Takehiko Itakura; Based on the novel Teito Monogatari by Hiroshi Aramata, and the works of Shigeru Mizuki; Starring: Ryûnosuke Kamiki, Hiroyuki Miyasako, Chiaki Kuriyama, Bunta Sugawara and Kaho Minami; Available on B   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on January 16, 2019

(1989) Written and directed by Shin'ya Tsukamoto; Starring: Tomorô Taguchi, Kei Fujiwara, Nobu Kanaoka and Shin'ya Tsukamoto; Available on Blu-ray (Region B), DVD and Amazon Prime Rating: *** “In my films, technology is terrifying but still convenient. The theme is the conflict   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on January 9, 2019

(1979) Directed by Hayao Miyazaki; Written by Hayao Miyazaki and Haruya Yamazaki; Based on the manga series by Monkey Punch; Based on characters by Maurice Leblanc; Starring: Yasuo Yamada, Eiko Masuyama, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Makio Inoue, Gorô Naya, Sumi Shimamoto and Tarô Ishida; Available on Blu-ray   read more

Cinematic Catharsis Posted by Barry P. on January 1, 2019

The 10th Victim (1965) In the near future (which looks conspicuously like the ‘60s), a deadly international competition known as “The Hunt,” consisting of ten matches, alternating between hunter and victim, has taken the place of wars. Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress), in her ten   read more