Review Roundup - Apes a Poppin'

KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (2024)

Time for a computer generated ape empire double feature, which for some reason was a thing this year. While I will get to yet another King Kong feature shortly it's obvious that both of these franchises have already reached the limit of what's possible in prior instalments. The potential fourth part in a trilogy is usually ill-advised even if there are some ideas here that mean it's not as easy to dismiss it straight away. The issue is that said ideas are often scarce or spread over an unwieldy running time. Kong and Godzilla had solo movies then a big confrontation, so there wasn't much else left to say. Caesar's story came to an end. But as ever the movies keep coming.

HCF Review - Blood Brothers

WOLVES, PIGS AND MEN (1964)

In the world of gangster movies there are a lot of typical tropes and character archetypes; honour among thieves, rival factions in turf wars, respect within a criminal hierarchy. Kinji Fukasaku’s body of work is full of such examples, after all he’s probably best know for directing two sets of films in the ‘Battles Without Honour or Humanity’ series, aka The Yakuza Papers; a total of eight all in all. However, this earlier example is perhaps more interested in the social and economic struggles of a family. That is to say it’s tale of actual brotherhood rather than competing gang members. The result is a surprisingly bleak and brutal affair that suggests maybe blood isn’t thicker than water. Make no mistake; this isn’t any kind of sentimental melodrama.

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Horror Bites - Fashion House of Death

BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1963)

Mystery killers with black gloves seem to appear everywhere in films about murder and mayhem; from the shocking violence of Deep Red to the farcical mysteries of A Shot in the Dark. It's recurring motif but tracing the roots of the Giallo body-count mystery genre seems to point to the films of Mario Bava. Here we'll take a look at one of the most striking early examples Blood and Black Lace; aka Six Women for the Murderer. It certainly brings a particular level of Italian style to the proceedings with a garish 1960s colour scheme being mixed with plenty of dark shadows and sinister lighting. So let's put on the leather and get down to business.