Reviews by Neil Mitchell

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  The Suicide Theory (2014)

  Review preview for The Suicide Theory

  The Suicide Theory satisfyingly trashed my somewhat jaded pre-conceptions.

  A man hires a hitman to help him commit suicide after it seems he can't manage to take his own life.
• 
  Hobson's Choice (1954)

  Review preview for Hobson's Choice

  Above all, it is the narrative’s clear feminist leanings that remain a breath of fresh air, prescient then and still hugely relevant to the modern world.

  Trouble at t'shop when eldest daughter of tyranical Lancashire bootmaker in 1890 decides to marry his timid, downtrodden employee.
• 
  The Machine (2013)

  Review preview for The Machine

  What James has tried to do is film a Hollywood Blockbuster on an independent British budget, and it shows.

  A cybernetics expert tries to create an android super-soldier.
• 
  Burnt By The Sun 2: Exodus And Citadel (2011)

  Review preview for Burnt By The Sun 2: Exodus And Citadel

  Burnt by the Sun 2 plays fast and loose with both actual history and its own fictionally established facts in such a way that those familiar with Mikhalkov's original may struggle to fully embrace the director's most ambitious work to date.

  Betrayed Red Army General, Sergei Kotov, attempts to clear his name and regain his honour.
• 
  The Invisible Man (1975)

  Review preview for The Invisible Man

  Even the most rose-tinted viewer able to remember the show's original broadcasts will be hard pushed to claim this as anything other than a huge misfire in pretty much every respect.

  Molecular scientist Daniel Westin becomes permanently invisible when an experiment goes wrong.
• 
  I Didn't Come Here To Die (2010)

  Review preview for I Didn't Come Here To Die

  Sullivan's comedy of terrors delivers a number of memorably grisly moments, timed in such a way as to add a frisson of shock value when they occur.

  A community project goes horribly, bloodily, wrong for the six volunteers involved.
• 
  Spring Breakers (2012)

  Review preview for Spring Breakers

  While there is much to admire about Spring Breakers in terms of visual aesthetic and directorial style, those aspects are undermined by a run of the mill narrative not nearly as subversive as it appears to want to be.

  Four college students form an unlikely allegiance with a drug dealer.
• 
  Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (2011)

  Review preview for Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan

  Harryhausen's recollections and anecdotes about the process are a pleasure to see and hear.

  A celebration of the life and work of special effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen.
• 
  The Amazing Mr Blunden (1972)

  Review preview for The Amazing Mr Blunden

  The Amazing Mr Blunden manages to be charming and eerie, fantastical yet rooted in real emotions.

  Siblings travel back in time to help right a 100-year-old wrong.
• 
  From Beyond (1986)

  Review preview for From Beyond

  A witty, gory and trippy descent into altered states of consciousness, eroticised power plays and the clash between humankind, monstrous entities and hybridised 'others'.

  Scientists open a door to a parallel universe, with horrific consequences.
• 
  Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

  Review preview for Wreck-It Ralph

  The beauty of Wreck-It Ralph is that it makes no difference if you spot any of the references or love videogames, such is the vibrancy of the animation and the humour of the screenplay.

  Tired of being a video game bad guy, Ralph sets off through all the games in the arcade where he lives, hoping to make a name for himself.
• 
  Crawl (2011)

  Review preview for Crawl

  Scores high in the derivative stakes but low on satisfaction.

  When a garage owner hires a mysterious hitman to dispose of his business rival, things go from bad to worse.
• 
  V/H/S (2012)

  Review preview for V/H/S

  The movie hits some nasty sweet spots but also falls foul of numerous genre cliches, both old and new.

  A horror anthology based around the theft of an old video tape.
• 
  Gimme The Loot (2012)

  Review preview for Gimme The Loot

  Vibrant, funny and ultimately touching, Leon's loose limbed narrative is an ode to both the tribulations of adolescence and the city in which it's set.

  A pair of graffiti artists attempt to pull off a daring tagging mission
• 
  Now, Forager (2012)

  Review preview for Now, Forager

  I struggle to see how the movie will appeal to 'foodies' let alone those for who food is a run-of-the-mill necessity, especially with such unsympathetic leads as our eyes and ears.

  A foraging couple's relationship unravels under differing expectations.
• 
  War Witch (2012)

  Review preview for War Witch

  This is no chest-beating, flag-waving war movie, no propaganda for conflicts past, present or future, War Witch is the story of childhood destroyed, a country in flames and of how we survive the worst of what (in)humanity throws at us.

  A former child soldier recounts her past to her unborn child.
• 
  Sightseers (2012)

  Review preview for Sightseers

  If Malick's lands were bad, then Wheatley's are sad, as small injustices, petty jealousies and perceived slights lead to cold blooded murder and childish revenge.

  A young couple on a caravan holiday find themselves going on a killing spree.
• 
  Ultimate Zombie Feast (2012)

  Review preview for Ultimate Zombie Feast

  Despite being a real endurance test, Ultimate Zombie Feast isn't a total write off.

  A compilation of 18 zombie themed short films from around the world
• 
  Dovzhenko: War Trilogy (1930)

  Review preview for Dovzhenko: War Trilogy

  The War Trilogy is required, and deeply enriching, viewing for all serious film enthusiasts.

  A trilogy of films depicting Ukraine's journey from a pastoral to industrialised society.
• 
  Les Enfants du Paradis (1945)

  Review preview for Les Enfants du Paradis

  Breathtakingly ambitious, exquisitely realised and performed and made under extreme circumstances, Les Enfants Du Paradis is an absolute joy to behold and a monument to the power of the arts to transcend opressive social and political climates.

  Four men compete for the affections of Garance, a free spirited courtesan.
• 
  Creature (2011)

  Review preview for Creature

  Hackneyed, dull and entirely devoid of wit, invention or tension.

  Vacationing friends face a half-man/half-alligator creature in the Louisiana backwoods.
• 
  Bloodstorm (2012)

  Review preview for Bloodstorm

  Yes, the acting is suspect, the script hit and miss and the whole endeavor undertaken on a wing and a prayer, but Bloodstorm never outstayed its welcome.

  Scientific researchers in Antarctica uncover a surviving Nazi colony.
• 
  Woman In A Dressing Gown (1957)

  Review preview for Woman In A Dressing Gown

  Bold in origin, captivating in delivery and resonant across the eras, Woman in a Dressing Gown may now rightfully assume its position as a watershed entry into the canon of British cinema.

  A middle-aged woman is shocked to discover that her husband, who seemed content in their marriage, is infatuated with a younger woman and plans to leave his family for her.
• 
  Zombie 108 (2012)

  Review preview for Zombie 108

  Zombie 108 is little more than amateurishly presented, disposable fodder for adolescents still in thrall to excessive gore and exposed breasts.

  A virus gets loose in Taipei Army and SWAT teams oversee evacuation but in Ximending the gangs don't...
• 
  Spork (2010)

  Review preview for Spork

  Spork may pluck the heartstrings but its does so with an askew sense of humour free of Hollywood schmaltz.

  Foul-mouthed, musical coming-of-age tale
• 
  Absentia (2012)

  Review preview for Absentia

  An atmospheric tale of physical loss, familial ties and post traumatic emotional fallout wrapped up in an unsettling cross between a psychological crime drama and a fantasy horror movie.

  A woman's missing husband leads her and her sister into a series of terrifying events.
• 
  This Is What Love In Action Looks Like (2011)

  Review preview for This Is What Love In Action Looks Like

  An endearing testament to the power of grass-roots activism and social networking, the durability of the human spirit and to the vital role that documentary film itself plays in recording, analysing and preserving the complex, often tumultuous, lives that

  Documentary profiling a controversial anti-gay therapy program run by Love in Action.
• 
  The Return Of The Living Dead (1985)

  Review preview for The Return Of The Living Dead

  The wild energy of the soundtrack perfectly suits the inventive, tongue-in-cheek onscreen action, and the cast, split as it is between established actorly talent and youthful enthusiasm, alternately bring great comic timing and fearless exuberance.

  Toxic gas brings the dead back to life just as a group of teenagers are partying in the graveyard.
• 
  ID:A (2011)

  Review preview for ID:A

  The narrative as a whole may be implausible, with the whiff of a disposable, sensation seeking airport novel about it, but it's a solidly directed and performed film that despite pushing the believability stakes provides an engaging evening's viewing.

  A woman with amnesia has to uncover her connection to a politician's murder.
• 
  Ghosts With Shit Jobs (2012)

  Review preview for Ghosts With Shit Jobs

  Ghosts With Shit Jobs may not hit the bullseye with all of its satirical pot shots, but it is destined to gain a cult following at the very least

  A popular Chinese TV show, Window on the World, looks at life in the economically deprived West in 2040.
• 
  Exit (2012)

  Review preview for Exit

  Exit is opressive, cryptic and wholly engaging from start to finish.

  Believing her city to be a maze, one woman tells her fellow searchers that she has found the exit.
• 
  Jitters (2010)

  Review preview for Jitters

  There's the nagging feeling throughout that you've seen it all before, and often far more memorably, despite the impressive cast and their impossible to dislike characters.

  A refreshing coming of age story which plays like an Icelandic Skins.
• 
  Chung Kuo China (1972)

  Review preview for Chung Kuo China

  The questions of truth, representation, subjectivity and objectivity define the documentary form, and Antonioni's extraordinary film encapsulates these issues while focusing on one of the world's most 'unknowable' cultures.

  Documentary exploring China in the early 70s, originally shown as a three-part TV series.