The James Marsh film review archive

Horror

  • Ritual: A Psychomagic Story

    Of interest almost solely because of a rare acting performance from Alejandro Jodorowsky, this Italian psychodrama proves a baffling, underwhelming dud. As our heroine battles depression and an incredibly frustrating… Read More

  • The Fridge

    Utterly ridiculous and hokey, but not without plenty of charm and enthusiastic splatter, this Filipino horror sees an orphaned actress tormented by the titular demonic appliance. People and pets are… Read More

  • The Howling

    While certainly entertaining, I’m baffled that some people hold Joe Dante’s film in the same high regard as John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London, or contend that the make… Read More

  • A Field In England

    Ben Wheatley’s latest is an incredibly bold, baffling, beautiful and quite brilliant period horror flick that follows a group of deserting civil war soldiers as they get embroiled in a… Read More

  • Sharknado

    The rumours are true. Sharknado is far more entertaining than it has any right to be. The story is completely ridiculous, the effects are passable but a long way from… Read More

  • The Beyond

    Typically ridiculous zombie movie from Lucio Fulci that is also the second part of his unofficial “Gates of Hell” trilogy. There isn’t much in the way of a plot –… Read More

  • Tales From The Dark 1

    First of two 3-part horror anthologies adapting the stories of acclaimed Hong Kong author Lilian Lee. Read More

  • Resolution

    Michael comes to visit his friend, Chris, who is holed up in a dilapidated shack in the middle of nowhere, his life gone the way of the dogs thanks to… Read More

  • The Lair of the White Worm

    I remember catching this on TV very late one night, as a young impressionable teen. At the time, the sight of a scantily glad Amanda Donohoe was enough to set… Read More

  • John Dies at the End

    A rather baffling melange of horror, science-fiction and comedy that screams out to be embraced as a late night cult classic in the vein of Repo Man or director Don… Read More

  • World War Z

    Plagued with problems every step of the way, running vastly overbudget, scraping and totally reshooting the entire third act, losing its core fanbase by largely disgarding Max Brooks’ source novel… Read More

  • V/H/S/2

    This second dose of first person found footage horror antics from seven vivacious young filmmakers from around the world proves far too similar an experience as the first film did.… Read More

  • REVIEW: V/H/S/2

    I wasn’t overly enamoured by last year’s V/H/S but nevertheless I was looking forward to the follow-up, especially after early reports out of Sundance promised a leaner, more lighthearted affair… Read More

  • Contamination

    I only heard about this film from the special features on Arrow’s excellent Zombie Flesh Eaters disc, and it seemed the perfect late-night splatter flick. For large parts, Contamination seems… Read More

  • Pee Mak Phrakanong

    The director of Shutter and Alone breaks all the box office records in Thailand with his latest, a vivacious and humorous retelling of one of the country’s most famous ghost… Read More

  • Errors of the Human Body

    I managed to miss this at a couple of different festivals last year, before finally catching up with it this week on iTunes. The feature debut from Eron Sheean stars… Read More

  • Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist

    I’ve had a copy of this film sitting in a boxset entitled The Exorcist Complete Anthology for many years now, and never felt especially compelled to give it a watch… Read More

  • Aftershock

    Chilean director Nicolas Lopez teams up with Eli Roth for a sadistic horror-disaster movie hybrid that follows a group of tourists through the rubble and chaos that follows a spectacular… Read More