Author Archives: Lewis Packwood

Halloween Special 2012: Frankenstein Double Bill

Welcome to our Halloween special: a traditional Hollywood ‘creature feature’ double bill featuring James Whale’s 1931  Frankenstein and its (superior) 1935 sequel, Bride of Frankenstein. As it’s Halloween, this week we’re recording in Ian’s ‘special dungeon’, or as he prefers to call it, his ‘sex attic’. We can assure you that any screaming you canContinue reading “Halloween Special 2012: Frankenstein Double Bill”

I’ve been twelve for a long time…

This week, in the first of two Halloween-themed podcasts, we’re looking at the splendidly creepy Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In. Although as Ian points out, it’s not really a horror film, more a sort of disturbing tale of isolation and companionship set against a backdrop of bleak housing estates, but with vampiresContinue reading “I’ve been twelve for a long time…”

She walks in beauty, like the night… only she’s cycling and it’s daytime

It was Ian’s turn to make a recommendation this week, and he came up with an absolute corker: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death (American viewers might know it better as Stairway to Heaven, although as we point out in the podcast, strictly speaking it should be called ‘Escalator toContinue reading “She walks in beauty, like the night… only she’s cycling and it’s daytime”

Silent Running: Hicks and Hippies in Space

I first saw Silent Running when I was quite young (about 11 I think), and it left a profound impression on me. The very thought that the earth of the not-too-distant future would be a barren wasteland and that the only surviving plants would be on a spaceship orbiting Saturn absolutely horrified me. As farContinue reading “Silent Running: Hicks and Hippies in Space”

Remembering Legends of the Screen: Blawp

Unfortunately there’s no podcast this week as we’ve just been too busy to record one, so instead let us present the first in an occasional series dedicated to remembering legends from the silver screen. The inaugural feature in this series is in praise of Blawp, the undisputed star of the classic 1998 sci-fi film LostContinue reading “Remembering Legends of the Screen: Blawp”

I’m loud, darling, but never cheap

The IRA thriller-comedy-romance is a seldom represented genre in film. It feels at times like The Crying Game is actually two separate movies in one: a sort-of comedy romance bookended by a highly charged thriller about terrorism, which makes for an odd mix. It reminded me a bit of the ending to A.I., where suddenlyContinue reading “I’m loud, darling, but never cheap”