Review Category: Movie

RAZOR BLADE SMILE (1998)

Stunningly restored and rescanned in 4K, Jake West’s cult British vampire film rises from the grave looking fresher than ever.

Lilith Silver (Eileen Daly) is an immortal vampire living in ‘90s London, killing (literally!) two birds with one stone by working as an elite assassin. Her livelihood (and life) is threatened when a group of vampire Illuminati kidnap her boss and lover, Platinum (Kevin Howarth). Further complications arise when she finds out the head of the Illuminati is the vampire who turned her, Sethane Blake (a brilliantly sinister turn from Christopher Adamson). All that, and she has to deal with the attention of the law.

The film’s already a cult favourite, and this 4K restoration bolsters its reputation and looks absolutely fabulous. Director Jake West has painstakingly cleaned up the original 16mm print, and the results are extraordinary. For those who’ve only seen the VHS or DVD releases, you’ll see the movie in a whole new light. Sure, it’s still a low-budget British flick, and as such has some shortfalls, but it totally holds up in terms of both story and execution. The cinematography is impressive, with plenty of low-angle shots, but the star of the show is Dena Costello’s costumes. Eileen Daly became iconic in her rubber jumpsuits, and that stylishness is present throughout, with plenty of long leather coats and knee-high boots. It’s a very self-aware film, with Lilith hanging out with the goths of the London scene, who haven’t a clue about the real bloodsuckers in their midst. A welcome appearance from genre legend David Warbeck adds more gravitas.

The 4K Blu-ray release comes packed with extras. The feature-length documentary Vampires Forever is worth the price of admission on its own. It charts British vampire culture that seemed prevalent in the ‘90s, and it touches on areas other docs don’t even think of, with plenty of talking heads who actually know what they’re on about rather than spouting the usual BS. Other extras focus on the making of the film, naturally, as well as the restoration process and various other interesting items. With over nine hours of bonus footage, there’s plenty to get your teeth into.

RAZOR BLADE SMILE is available on 4K Blu-ray from Nucleus Films on April 20th.

LEE CRONIN’S THE MUMMY

Not content with tearing one family apart in Evil Dead Rise, director Lee Cronin returns to torment another with his take on a classic movie monster. Forget Brendan Fraser and Boris Karloff – this ain’t your mother’s Mummy. In its tale of a tight-knit family unit ripped to pieces by the disappearance and sudden return of their beloved daughter, Cronin goes hard. Harder, even, than his previous film. Which is no mean feat – we’re still cringing at the memory of what he put the characters of Evil Dead Rise through.

Thrown into a fresh cycle of trauma is the Cannon family, led by TV journalist Charlie (Midsommar star Jack Reynor) and pregnant wife Larissa (Laia Costa). They’re living in Cairo when their young daughter Katie (Emily Mitchell) is suddenly kidnapped by a creeper at the bottom of the garden. Eight years later, and now residing in New Mexico, Charlie and Larissa are shocked when Katie is found. With her now catatonic after spending the best part of a decade locked inside a sarcophagus, it quickly becomes clear that this isn’t the same Katie they lost. Quite literally, in fact, as she’s now played by Natalie Grace in a performance that’s part Hereditary, part The Exorcism.

And what happened to Katie? As the family try to reintegrate the teenager into the home, Charlie puts his skills as a journalist to good use in unlocking the mystery of her disappearance. What he soon comes to learn is that… well, maybe Katie should have stayed buried.

Where the efficiently horrible Evil Dead Rise barely pushed ninety minutes, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy takes its time to breathe… a rank, fetid breath that reeks of death and embalming fluid. Written by the director in the wake of real-life tragedy, it holds nothing back in its depiction of grief and its devastating effects on those of us who survive. It’s sphincter-tightening, sick-in-your-mouth stuff, and includes a sequence which does for toenail clippers what Evil Dead Rise did for the cheese grater. This is made all the more discomforting for its likeable cast (including Billie Roy and Shylo Molina, who play the Cannons’ other children) and the well-written, often heartbreaking family dynamic.

It may come off the rails during the boisterous final act (including an egregiously tacked-on closing scene), but this is the most fun you’ll have with a bad time this year. Provided you don’t go in expecting a traditional Mummy movie from Lee Cronin’s The Mummy, that is. Blending intense body horror with big scares and even bigger laughs, the director more than earns his name being in the title. His bloody fingerprints are all over the thing – a crowd-pleasing, stomach-upsetting work of sustained horror that’s more Evil Dead than his actual Evil Dead film.

LEE CRONIN’S THE MUMMY is out in UK cinemas now.

PROJECT HAIL MARY

Waking up on a mysterious spaceship, school teacher and passionate biologist Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) has to rely on his fractured memory to piece back together not only how he got there, but why he is there. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), and adapted for cinema by Drew Goddard (The Martian) from the Andy Weir novel of the same name, Project Hail Mary instantly pulls the viewer into its intriguing enigma, and what follows is one of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made.

Known for his outstanding earlier novels The Martian and Artemis (also soon to be adapted by Lord and Miller), renowned sci-fi author Andy Weir constructed a stunning sci-fi world with Project Hail Mary, which could have only been a dream to translate to the big screen. Just like with Ridley Scott’s take on The Martian, Weir’s grounded use of science within his storytelling shines through wonderfully. It makes for a compelling watch as you attempt to figure out each urgent situation alongside the protagonist.

During Ryland’s flashbacks, we discover that single-celled spaceborne organisms named Astrophage are draining the energy from the Sun, setting Earth on a course to catastrophe, and doing the same to all nearby stars – except for a distant star called Tau Ceti, which has somehow not been affected. The government-appointed agent Eva Stratt (Sandra Hüller) assembles the finest team of astronauts and scientists the world has to offer, and sends them on a one-way deep space mission to Tau Ceti to find out how they can fix our sun. Due to his history with molecular biology, Eva recruits Ryland to find out a possible way of combatting Astrophage. But Ryland’s no astronaut, so how did he end up on the Hail Mary himself?

Backed by a stunning and commanding soundtrack from Daniel Pemberton (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), alongside beautiful cinematography from Greig Fraser (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Dune, The Batman), the creative energy and passion from everyone involved is on display through every single frame. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller also used no green or blue screens, which not only makes you appreciate the movie even more, grounding the story within a believable setting.

If you’ve seen any trailer for Project Hail Mary, then you’ve probably witnessed an alien character called Rocky. Voiced by puppeteer James Ortiz, the dynamic between Grace and Rocky has already become iconic. The pair share fascinating moments of humour, joy, and complete fear, as they team up to save both their species. It’s quite simply, “Amaze. Amaze. Amaze.”

In its later act, we see huge, beautiful, sweeping sci-fi sequences that have you mesmerised, which eventually leads to – just like the book – a satisfying ending. With what comes across as three huge narrative sections that differ rewardingly from each other, and an ending that ties everything neatly together, the storytelling pace of Project Hail Mary is flawless. It’s a perfect balance.

Thanks to movies like Interstellar, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and Dune, sci-fi has found success with a more serious tone in recent years, but Project Hail Mary is something for everyone. It’s almost Spielberg-esque in its approach. Capturing the monumental tone of the book in a grand scale that you could not be prepared for, it is sci-fi at its absolute best.

CUSTOM

Avant-garde artists Jasper (Rowan Polonski) and Harriet (Abigail Hardingham) embark on a collaboration selling custom kinky video clips to people. One day, Jasper is offered 10K for some specific scenes. There are some snags: the footage must be shot on a specific vintage video camera, and they must not watch the tapes themselves. Jasper is troubled, however, when he has no recollection of what they did on camera for the mysterious punter, and he’s too tempted to resist looking at what’s been recorded. As things progress, each video takes its toll on the pair.

Written and directed by Tiago Teixeira, Custom delves into a murky, ritualistic world that wouldn’t be out of place in a David Cronenberg movie. Being full of familiar genre references, it messes with the audiences’ heads as much as it does with the characters on screen. The oppressive sound design envelops everything and is as important as any dialogue, particularly towards the conclusion. Polonski and Hardingham are impressive in their roles, albeit playing fairly unlikable characters. Their descent into psychotropic madness is handled well and offers a few surprises along the way.

Trying to be enigmatic, Teixeira fills the screen with haunting, Lynchian visuals, including one sequence that almost fetishises videotape itself. Custom almost achieves the status of being the British equivalent of Videodrome with its depiction of nightmarish scenarios. It can be heavy going, though.

CUSTOM is available on digital platforms.

FACES OF DEATH

When the original Faces of Death came out in 1978, the world was convinced that this shockumentary was real, when in reality it was predominantly fake. Today, we live in a world where social media algorithms consume our lives, AI is readily available, and everyone is trying to be the main attraction. Though not a direct remake of the infamous shockumentary, Daniel Goldhaber and Isa Mazzei‘s reboot follows a social media moderator (Euphoria’s Barbie Ferreira) who comes across a group re-enacting the original film’s murders. It explores where the film stands today with regard to new technology, the growing attention economy we live in, and who we are in this bizarre world of social media sensationalism.

Faces of Death 2026 is crazy from start to finish. As humans living in the modern day, we’re constantly in search of the next shocking, viral thing. Here, as our current lives are on display, with the majority of the world being desensitised and content creation being the premier career, it poses the question of what can be deemed as entertainment, and do we dare give the people what they want? Ferreira gives us a stunning performance, which could land her the title of scream queen in the future, and Dacre Montgomery gets under your skin and truly unnerves you the moment he’s on screen.

This is unlike anything you’re expecting. It can be argued that the original was the first ever viral video, as it gave us an insight into how evil and sick humanity could be; the new film simply solidifies that we are just as bad, if not worse. As a society we love a remake, and the algorithm is no different, so why not capitalise and put our morbid interests back in the spotlight – but will you watch on, or will you look away?

FACE OF DEATH is out now in the US.

SCREAMBOAT

Watch out, there’s a pint-sized tooney terror aboard and he’s taking no prisoners! Screamboat serves up an abundance of blood and guts that will leave you seasick, and the Disney puns will have your eyes rolling!

With Steamboat Willie entering the public domain, this twist to the classic animation sticks to the bare bones of the original subject matter closely, but adds some fresh ideas to the mix, throwing the source material into the dark underbelly of horror. It showcases new inventive kills that keep you on your toes and has you belly laughing in true B-Movie horror fashion. But what it has in stunning practical effects, it sometimes lacks in the acting department. Mainly propped up by David Howard Thornton’s portrayal as ‘Screamboat Willie’, a grizzled and angry rodent, the Terrifier star oozes camp and silly, with every moment dripping in tomfoolery. Kailey Hyman also boasts some great moments as the drunk birthday girl, Cindy.

Though the acting might have you cringing at times, Thornton’s performance makes this an easy watch and will have you chuckling whenever he is on screen. Screamboat isn’t a groundbreaking film by any means, but it’s a lot of fun and will gain a dedicated following for sure. It’s the perfect film for a campy movie night, and perfect for double billing with some of your other favourite cheesy IP horrors. You’ll never look at the original Steamboat Willie the same again, but the blood makes everything better!

SCREAMBOAT is in selected UK cinemas from April 4th and will be coming to digital soon.

I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU DIE

With a delicious premise at its heart, I Know Exactly How You Die looks intriguing on paper, but its execution is so poor that it fails to convey its own inner logic with any satisfaction.

Hack writer Rian (Rushabh Patel) checks into a seedy motel to write his latest slasher novel, while coming to terms with breaking up with his girlfriend. The protagonist of his book appears as the traumatised Sarah (Stephanie Hogan) on the run from a stalker. The stalker inevitably shows up in the motel and whatever Rian writes becomes reality.

With influence from films like Stranger Than Fiction and Ruby Sparks, the set up is a good one but it falls flat very quickly, firstly with terrible acting from Patel and even more so from Rawya El Chap as motel owner Naja – both coming straight out of an amateur dramatic class. Then there’s the execution. We don’t see Rian writing down the information, he just has to tell us he came up with it first, like a childish lie. There is an interesting plot point about the motel having a prescient ability, but it’s forgotten about and the last act is messy. The film does do a good job of using its location to build tension, and the spots of humour with Rian’s girlfriend and agent are a welcome addition, but when we need the film to be clever, it tips into student film dramatics.

This is the first feature film from director Alexandra Spieth and writer Mike Corey, who have come up with a really interesting setup but haven’t been able to execute it correctly. Here at STARBURST, we applaud anyone who ventures into this tough industry, but it’s back to the drawing board for their sophomore feature.

I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU DIE is available now on Prime Video.

BARE SKIN

This portmanteau thriller centres on an intensive therapy session for a group of traumatised survivors of disturbing physical and psychological torment. Brought together in a collective exercise to ‘share and heal’, these distrustful and damaged individuals are encouraged by their therapist to recount their experiences in the ‘safe space’ that she has enabled for them all.

As befits the format, each of these five combative survivors is invited to tell their personal horror story. These tales explore some dark themes: torture and disfigurement; arson and immolation; hostage taking and incarceration; haunting and possession. Writer-director Mico Montes cumulatively builds the atmosphere, savouring the slow-burn of his near two-and-a-half-hour runtime.

As is almost inevitable with any film compilation, some contributions are stronger than others. Perhaps aware of the fact, Montes holds back the most impressive story for last – a genuinely disturbing tale of a tortured goth agoraphobe, whose tentative relationship with a lonely new neighbour spirals in some alarming directions.

The ensemble cast of Bare Skin is strong, even though the nature of the material is not the easiest for any actor to personalise. The standout turn comes from Rachel Alig as the bookish, bespectacled therapist, who manages to wrangle her explosive group to follow the prescriptions she has set out for them all.

Part of the audience buy-in to these sorts of films is the understanding that there will be some kind of concluding pay-off which will bind together the disparate story threads. That is delivered with conviction here, even if the ‘big reveal’ is not that difficult to anticipate. This remains inventive horror filmmaking, with a pleasing sense of self-belief and some unusually sharp edges.

BARE SKIN is available now on major digital platforms.

SURRENDER TO IT

A group of former students from a drama school are all invited to a reunion weekend, deep in the Welsh countryside. As a gang of local hoodlums makes it clear that the visitors are unwelcome, the real motivation behind the invitation is gradually revealed. What follows is a rollercoaster of chases, chance encounters, lost opportunities, confrontations and strange goings-on in the woods – ending when an already bad trip is made worse by the experience of an additional mushroom-fuelled ‘bad trip’.

Developed out of a project to immerse a new generation of actors and technicians in the practice of filmmaking, this debut feature by Tim Bryn Smith aims to showcase the talents of actors and crew who’ve been part of Nottingham’s Actors’ Workshop. Drawing heavily on his DIY convictions, Smith found ways to make Surrender to It a workable movie proposition, with the entire cast of enthusiastic workshop alumni making their feature film debuts.

Blending character drama with comedy, fantasy and folk horror tropes, and with such a large ensemble cast to service, the plotting, writing and performance styles are all necessarily broad. And while there are too many ideas competing for attention in Smith’s full-to-bursting script, everything is delivered with gusto and self-confidence.

The barriers preventing ordinary youngsters and young people from pursuing a career in the creative and performing arts in the UK are widely recognised. If inventive projects like this one afford a group of upcoming and ambitious actors and artists a route into the industry, that in itself is reason enough to applaud this endeavour. Above and beyond that, this succeeds as an enticing calling card.

SURRENDER TO IT is available now on digital platforms.

THEY WILL KILL YOU

Imagine if a tryst between Johns Wick and McClane had produced Beatrix Kiddo as their love child. Next, suppose that she’d checked into the Grand Budapest Hotel for a game of hide-and-seek with a cult of Satan-worshipping lunatics. Now picture what a side-scrolling video game adaptation of that film might look like.

Thrown onto this wild ride is Asia Reaves, a seemingly unassuming young woman who takes on a housekeeping job at a luxurious New York high-rise. As she settles in for the night, Asia comes to realise that there’s more going on than meets the eye… but that’s fine, the murderous denizens of the Virgil are in for an eye-watering wake-up call too.

Of its many influences, the fingerprints of Quentin Tarantino are all over this thing – extreme bloodletting, red ball gags, toe-slurping and all. If that sounds insufferable, then They Will Kill You probably isn’t your tempo. It’s a relentless onslaught of violence, exploding body parts and geysers of blood, compounded by an insanely game performance from star Zazie Feetz – sorry, Beetz – as Asia.

Standing in the way of a touching family reunion (an unexpected parallel to Ready or Not 2) is house mother Lily (Patricia Arquette, saddled with an inexplicable Irish accent) and her clan of dark deity-worshipping monsters. This includes Draco Malfoy star Tom Felton as hapless Kevin (his best post-Potter performance since Rise of the Planet of the Apes), and a scene-stealing Heather Graham in her most eye-opening role to date. It’s a fun cast, with Myha’la and Peep Show’s Paterson Joseph also popping up to ensure that things don’t get too one-sided in either direction.

It’s all deeply silly, but Beetz and director Kirill Sokolov commit wholeheartedly to the bit, utilising the logic of a video game to deliver fight sequence after fight sequence, each more beat-’em-up coded than the last. It’s exhausting viewing, but never outstays its welcome, throwing Asia into a new situation or peril before the previous scene has had time to get stale. Barely pushing ninety minutes, it barrels from brisk setup to bonkers ending, never losing momentum or pausing for thought.

THEY WILL KILL YOU is out in UK cinemas from March 27th, 2026.