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London Film Festival · 2017

London Film Festival 2017

Cult

Programme

12 films · 10 reviews

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78/52 (Hitchcock's Shower Scene 78/52)

Review preview for 78/52

Essential viewing for anyone with an interest in the craft of filmmaking.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A documentary about the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Alexandre O Philippe; Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Elijah Wood, Guillermo del Toro, Danny Elfman, Leigh Whannell, Peter Bogdanovich, Oz Perkins, Neil Marshall, Karyn Kusama, Bret Easton Ellis, Richard Stanley, Walter Murch, Mali Elfman, Fred Raskin, Josh C Waller)

Full review

Brawl in Cell Block 99

Review preview for Brawl in Cell Block 99

Brawl In Cell Block 99 is one of the best action films of the year.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A former boxer-turned-drug runner lands in a prison battleground after a deal gets deadly.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: S Craig Zahler; Writer: S Craig Zahler; Stars: Jennifer Carpenter, Vince Vaughn, Don Johnson, Marc Blucas, Tom Guiry, Udo Kier, Rob Morgan, Geno Segers, Dan Amboyer, Fred Melamed, Clark Johnson, Pooja Kumar, Michael Medeiros, Mustafa Shakir, Dion Mucciacito)

Full review

The Cured

Review preview for The Cured

This ambitious feature debut is packed with interesting ideas.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
After a zombie disease has been cured, former sufferers face discrimination in society.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2017; Director: David Freyne; Writer: David Freyne; Stars: Elliot Page, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Sam Keeley, Stuart Graham, Amy De Bhrún, Patrick Murphy, Frank Cannon, Peter Campion, Chelsea Debo, Dez McMahon, Natalia Kostrzewa, Tj O'Grady Peyton, Lesley Conroy, Tadhg Devery, Alan Moriarty)

Full review See: Interview with David Freyne about The Cured

The Endless

Review preview for The Endless

The proportion of films opening with HP Lovecraft quotes that manage to live up to the visionary writer's work verges on the infinitesimal, but The Endless is one of the special ones.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Years after escaping a cult as teenagers, brothers Aaron and Justin return to their former home after receiving a mysterious message. While Aaron is quickly drawn back into the fold, Justin remains uneasy.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead; Writer: Justin Benson; Stars: Callie Hernandez, Tate Ellington, Lew Temple, Emily Montague, Justin Benson, James Jordan, Ric Sarabia, Kira Powell, Aaron Moorhead, Shane Brady, Peter Cilella, Vinny Curran, David Lawson Jr., Glen Roberts)

Full review

Ghost Stories

Review preview for Ghost Stories

When it's not busy trying to impress, the film conjures up a lot of atmosphere and succeeds in disturbing.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A trio of spooky tales.

(Country: UK; Year: 2017; Director: Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman; Writer: Jeremy Dyson, Andy Nyman; Stars: Martin Freeman, Alex Lawther, Andy Nyman, Nicholas Burns, Paul Whitehouse, Daniel Hill, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Ryan Oliva, Samuel Bottomley, Lesley Harcourt, Jake Davies, Oliver Woollford, Maggie McCarthy, Paul Warren, Louise Atkins)

Full review

Hagazussa - A Heathen's Curse

Review preview for Hagazussa - A Heathen's Curse

Lukas Feigelfeld's imagery is lush and evocative, sometimes verging on the psychedelic.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
The line between fantasy and reality begins to blur for a woman in 15th Century Austria.

(Country: Germany, Austria; Year: 2017; Director: Lukas Feigelfeld; Writer: Lukas Feigelfeld)

Full review

Let The Corpses Tan (Laissez bronzer les cadavres)

Review preview for Let The Corpses Tan

Not every risky idea works, but where they are successful, the results are dazzling.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A woman's summer retreat becomes the scene for a showdown after a gang come looking for a hideout, pursued by the police.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2017; Director: Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani; Writer: Jean-Pierre Bastid, Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani, based on the novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette; Stars: Marc Barbé, Bernie Bonvoisin, Dorylia Calmel, Stéphane Ferrara, Bamba Forzani Ndiaye, Marilyn Jess, Elina Löwensohn, Michelangelo Marchese, Pierre Nisse, Marine Sainsily, Tristan Schotte, Hervé Sogne, Aline Stevens)

Full review

My Friend Dahmer

Review preview for My Friend Dahmer

This is a sudden and astonishing arrival for an adult actor.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
Before Jeffrey Dahmer became one of the most notorious serial killers of all time, he was a teenage loner.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Marc Meyers; Writer: Marc Meyers, based on the graphic novel by Derf Backderf; Stars: Ross Lynch, Alex Wolff, Anne Heche, Vincent Kartheiser, Dallas Roberts, Jack DeVillers, Cameron McKendry, Christopher Mele, Harrison Holzer, Miles Robbins, Tommy Nelson, Liam Koeth,)

Full review

Rift (Rökkur)

Two men in a secluded cabin are haunted by their dead relationship.

(Country: Iceland; Year: 2017; Director: Erlingur Thoroddsen; Writer: Erlingur Thoroddsen; Stars: Björn Stefánsson, Sigurður Þór Óskarsson, Guðmundur Ólafsson, Aðalbjörg Árnadóttir, Anna Eva Steindórsdóttir, Böðvar Óttar Steindórsson)

Suspiria (Dario Argento's Suspiria)

Review preview for Suspiria

Those who doubt the artistic potential of the horror genre should be nailed down and made to watch this.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
A young ballet dancer uncovers a sinister conspiracy in this masterpiece of surrealist horror.

(Country: Italy; Year: 1977; Director: Dario Argento; Writer: Dario Argento, Daria Nicolodi; Stars: Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini, Flavio Bucci, Alida Valli, Udo Kier)

Full review

Thelma

Review preview for Thelma

Thelma appears aloof on the surface, but her constant choice of statement lipsticks, despite her otherwise conservative dress code, hints at the emotions screaming from within.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
Strange things happen to a religious young woman when she starts to fall in love.

(Country: France, Sweden, Denmark, Norway; Year: 2017; Director: Joachim Trier; Writer: Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt; Stars: Eili Harboe, Okay Kaya, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Henrik Rafaelsen, Vanessa Borgli, Stian Werme, Anders Mossling, Marte Magnusdotter Solem, Ingrid Giæver, Peter Ekedahl, Steinar Klouman Hallert, Grethe Eltervåg, Jonas Jörgensen, Johannes Wike, Ian Twedmark)

Full review

Strand gala

Veronica

A reclusive female psychologist who has stopped practicing medicine, decides against her better judgment to take the case of disturbed Veronica de la Serna, a young woman whose previous therapist has mysteriously disappeared.

(Country: Mexico; Year: 2017; Director: Carlos Algara, Alejandro Martinez-Beltran; Stars: Olga Segura, Sofía Garza, Arcelia Ramírez, Horacio Castelo, Juan Salvador Fernandez)