Reviews by Luke Shaw

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  Kyoto Elegy (2014)

  Review preview for Kyoto Elegy

  Unfortunately, it’s all rather muddled.

  Three women have an impact on the life of a selfish would-be lawyer.
• 
  The Incident (2015)

  Review preview for The Incident

  It’s the quiet unease and invasive nature of Lily’s probing into the house that are the real highlights here.

  Psychological drama about a couple whose lives are disrupted by a troubled teenage girl.
• 
  Dead Rising: Watchtower (2015)

  Review preview for Dead Rising: Watchtower

  This film's attempt to contextualise a zombie threat as something more deeply political is clumsy at best.

  Video game spin-off sees a group of people try to survive a zombie attack.
• 
  La La La At Rock Bottom (2015)

  Review preview for La La La At Rock Bottom

  Subaru gives a brilliant performance - including some excellent vocal takes - as an amnesiac whose only link to the world is his singing.

  A young girl with a band tries to help an amnesiac petty criminal.
• 
  Parasyte: Part 1 (2014)

  Review preview for Parasyte: Part 1

  What could have been turned into a gritty, gloomy film with a penchant for gore, instead retains the lighthearted feel of the manga.

  A Tokyo teenager has to try to live witha mutant parasite that takes control of his right arm.
• 
  The Violators (2015)

  Review preview for The Violators

  A respectfully written and admirably performed drama.

  Two dysfunctional girls, from different backgrounds set off on a course that will have profound implications for both of them.
• 
  Above And Below (2015)

  Review preview for Above And Below

  If this weren’t a documentary, these five people would surely find themselves nestled in the pages of some postmodern epic.

  Existence on the fringes of society.
• 
  Uncanny (2015)

  Review preview for Uncanny

  The surface detail may be uncanny, but there’s a truly different film under the skin here.

  Trouble brews when a young journalist starts to interact with a humanoid robot.
• 
  Misery Loves Comedy (2015)

  Review preview for Misery Loves Comedy

  A tighter focus on the misery that drives people may have made this a more indispensable glance at the industry, but for anyone with a love of comedy, it’s sure to harbour a few gems.

  Comics are asked why they do it and whether it is necessary to be miserable to be funny?
• 
  Brotherhood Of Blades (2014)

  Review preview for Brotherhood Of Blades

  Everything here is just a rehash of other films.

  Three assassins take on the Ming dynasty's evil secret police.
• 
  North V South (2015)

  Review preview for North V South

  It’s no good having a twisting tale of gangland betrayal if every plot point is reiterated.

  A gangland Romeo and Juliet.
• 
  Cut Snake (2014)

  Review preview for Cut Snake

  The novel angle it takes is the best thing going for this film, and it is a smart twist to an rote story.

  A pair of ex-cons are set on a collision course.
• 
  100 Yen Love (2014)

  Review preview for 100 Yen Love

  Shin Adachi’s script seeks to get past the gloss and into the reality of Japan’s “lost generation”.

  A young woman morphs from slacker to boxer.
• 
  Future Shock! The Story Of 2000AD (2014)

  Review preview for Future Shock! The Story Of 2000AD

  This is not the most revealing documentary ever, and it deals with a subject that is ultimately pure pop-culture, but it is impossible to feel anything other than inspired by the pluckiness of the this British underdog.

  Study of the British sci-fi comic's evolution.
• 
  Identicals (2015)

  Review preview for Identicals

  For an ambitious SciFi film made for a conservative budget, there’s a lot to enjoy here.

  Sci-fi thriller about a man on a quest to find the love of his life.
• 
  The Messenger (2015)

  Review preview for The Messenger

  Doesn’t so much leave threads untied as set the ropes on fire.

  A man is haunted by the spirits of the dead who want him to help them settled unfinished business.
• 
  Turbo Kid (2015)

  Review preview for Turbo Kid

  A preposterously gory exercise in nostalgia.

  In a post-Apocalyptic wasteland, a scavenger trades scraps for food and comics, until a new friendship and a new weapon change his life.
• 
  The Benefactor (2015)

  Review preview for The Benefactor

  Richard Gere is exceptional.

  A guilt-ridden philanthropist tries to help a young couple but isn't so good at caring for himself.
• 
  The Hallow (2015)

  Review preview for The Hallow

  There’s plenty of the pre-requisite tension, and the monsters are designed well and deployed with restraint.

  When a visiting conservationist accidentally trespasses in an ancient wood, its denizens set their sights on his family.
• 
  Koza (2015)

  Review preview for Koza

  Its refusal to treat fights as spectacle, together with its austere editing and static camera, provides a melancholic grounding.

  A boxer comes out of retirement to help his girlfriend pay for an abortion.
• 
  The Road Within (2014)

  Review preview for The Road Within

  The clashes between characters give this film plenty of catalysts for interesting discussions, and it is refreshing that these discussions are not framed as anything other than three young adults connecting.

  A Tourette's sufferer goes ona road trip with his doctor and a couple of other troubled youngsters.
• 
  Therapy For A Vampire (2014)

  Review preview for Therapy For A Vampire

  Tobias Moretti and Jeanette Hain play the Count & Countess Közsnöm with arch reverence to vampire movies of old.

  A vampire seeks assistance from Dr Freud.
• 
  Hellions (2014)

  Review preview for Hellions

  There isn’t anything particularly wrong with the direction, which is solid horror fare, but it’s trying to animate a cadaver of a script.

  A young pregnant woman is threatened by malignant children.
• 
  Manson Family Vacation (2015)

  Review preview for Manson Family Vacation

  The inevitable schmaltz may be a little too saccharine for some, but the premise is unique and the situations dynamic enough to elevate this a little higher than it seems at first glance.

  Two brothers tour Charlie Manson murder sites.
• 
  Kafka's The Burrow (2014)

  Review preview for Kafka's The Burrow

  The buildup of clutter over the course of the film is its most appealing visual metaphor.

  Adaptation of a Kafka short story about loneliness and isolation.
• 
  Who Am I - No System Is Safe (2014)

  Review preview for Who Am I - No System Is Safe

  Who Am I succeeds because it grounds its braggadocio in action that never feels beyond the realms of possibility.

  A young hacker joins a subversive group intent on "hacking the world".
• 
  Queen And Country (2014)

  Review preview for Queen And Country

  Anchoring the audience with a perennial fence-sitter allows more room for the inevitable impact of the characters' stories, without the weight of an absolute ideological argument.

  An Englishman signs up to fight in the Korean War.
• 
  Poltergeist (2015)

  Review preview for Poltergeist

  Unfortunately the malicious ghouls of the title aren’t the only spirits haunting director Gil Kenan’s prefab carnival ride.

  A family's suburban idyll is shattered after they youngest daughter is taken captive by evil forces.
• 
  Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

  Review preview for Only Angels Have Wings

  A brilliant exercise in plotting, drama, comedy and action with a fitting denouement.

  An Andean adventure sees a bold young woman trying to cut it as a freight pilot and falling for her boss.
• 
  The Salvation (2014)

  Review preview for The Salvation

  The Salvation is a slight affair compared to recent epics.

  A man who kills his family's murderer faces the wrath of a violent gang - with nobody to help him.