Writer. Editor. Film Scholar. Script Consultant
I'll be delivering a paper on Coffin Joe and surrealism at the Cine-Excess conference 'Raising Hell: Demons, Darkness and the Abject' on Wednesday 18th October 2023. Cine-Excess runs from 17th to 27th October 2023 in Birmingham, UK and online. More details on the Cine-Excess website. Pic credit: At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (José Mojica Marins, 1964)
In our upcoming Straight On Till Morning show I discuss FrightFest 2023, sponsored by Pigeon Shrine, which took place from 24-28 August 2023 in London, with Kim Newman, author of Nightmare Movies and co-writer of Mark Kermode’s Secrets of Cinema, and film critic Dr Anton Bitel. Among the themes covered this year were cosmic monsters,... Continue Reading →
THE PETTING ZOO, the short film I wrote and directed this year, has been selected to screen at the Dead and Sudburied festival.
It was such a pleasure to contribute a video essay on Coffin Joe and demonic surrealism to Arrow's superb limited edition blu-ray set. New restorations, ten films, archival material featuring José Mojica Marins and tons of extras from Stephen Thrower, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Jack Sargeant, Lindsay Hallam and Tim Lucas among others. Co-produced by Kat Ellinger... Continue Reading →
It was a pleasure to be part of the Cheval Noir jury at the Fantasia International Film Festival. I particularly enjoyed Vincent Must Die (Vincent doit mourir), a smart and inventive update of the zombie film that nods to Jean-Luc Godard's Weekend - we gave it a well-deserved Special Jury Mention. Pic credit: Vincent doit... Continue Reading →
I contributed a video appreciation of Jean Rollin's The Shiver of the Vampires (1971) to Indicator/Powerhouse's beautiful 4K release. Available from the Powerhouse website.
I'm looking forward to introducing Luis Buñuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), one of the last few films he made, at BFI Southbank tonight. Tickets available on the BFI Southbank website.
The short film I have written and directed, THE PETTING ZOO, is now finished. It's a ghost tale about five friends who go to the woods on Halloween and get lost in a local legend. I had invaluable help from the hugely talented Jonathan Zaurin and was lucky to work with a brilliant team of... Continue Reading →
I'm very happy to have contributed an introduction + a commentary alongside the brilliant Kat Ellinger to Radiance Films' release of A Woman Kills (La femme bourreau), directed by Jean-Denis Bonan, a one-time Jean Rollin associate, in 1968. Lost for 40 years, A Woman Kills is a radically odd serial killer story that was shot... Continue Reading →
In this episode of the Straight On Till Morning radio show, I host a discussion on Korean horror film with Kim Newman, author of Nightmare Movies, and film critic Anton Bitel in the aftermath of the London Korean Film Festival. https://www.koreanfilm.co.uk/https://johnnyalucard.com/https://projectedfigures.com First broadcast on 29th November 2022. Pic credit: The Anchor (Dir. Jeong Ji-yeon, 2022)... Continue Reading →
Virginie Sélavy 