Send Help – Spoiler Free

22 Feb 2026 Leave a comment

by Debra Manskey in Biography, Movie Review, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Send Help (2026)

Directed by Sam Raimi. Screenplay by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift.

I haven’t been to the cinema much so far this year but I’m glad I saw Send Help (2026) this weekend. Sam Raimi’s films have always entertained me right back to The Evil Dead (1981) and his blend of visceral horror interspersed with comedic beats is right in my wheelhouse. There are moments in Send Help that are cringe-inducing (especially in the first act), laugh-out-loud funny and still most definitely horror.

The story concerns down-trodden employee Linda Liddle (played beautifully by Rachel McAdams) and her dreadfully insensitive new boss Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien). After their company plane crashes, they’re the only survivors and find themselves stranded on a tropical island. (All of this is in the trailer but any more information would spoil the fun!)

The stranded opposites on a desert island story has often been used as a trope to examine social norms and differences (think Robinson Crusoe). Send Help is no exception, but there are significant twists here and they are delightful. The cinematography is exactly what I expect from such an experienced DoP as Bill Pope and the set pieces are perfectly placed and executed within the narrative. I’m usually not a huge fan of Danny Elfman’s soundtracks, I often find his work overbearing and trying so hard it drags me out of the film, but here his score is great and works with the story.

Being a Raimi black comedy, we’re dealing with archetypes here but O’Brien and McAdams play their roles very well without falling into the trap of caricatures. McAdams in particular is simply stunning and it’s great to see her in such a front and centre role. She is on screen for nearly every scene and balances the comedy and horror of the situation very well.

Both the lead characters are flawed, over the top and in one way or another often unlikeable but I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and so did my date (also a Raimi fan). I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes their horror physical as well as psychological and their comedy very black!

Send Help is currently in wide release globally and highly recommended.

Frankenstein

25 Nov 2025 2 Comments

by Debra Manskey in Movie Review, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Frankenstein (2025)

Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, based on the book by Mary Shelley.

I went to see this a few weeks ago in the cinema and I can’t stop thinking about it for all manner of reasons. As a person with a disability, I sometimes find movies can be problematic (and often downright offensive) in their depictions of disability as “monstrous” or “horrible”. In del Toro’s Frankenstein, as in Shelley’s book, the creature is beautifully depicted, he grows as a character and has a definable arc. This creature feels, has curiosity, develops empathy and learns. Above all, he is no Monster!

“Frankenstein: or, the new Prometheus” is one of my favourite gothic novels and thanks to the success of James Whale’s seminal 1931 work starring Boris Karloff as “The Monster”, Frankenstein has become an iconic media object. As much as I love the Whale version and sequel Bride of Frankenstein (1935), I think my favourite iteration is the stage adaptation by Nick Dear performed in 2011 by the National Theatre in London and starting Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller. (If you can find it, I highly recommend this version.)

Dear’s adaptation closely follows the original text, whereas del Toro’s version embellishes and adds to it, making this treatment all the more risky and interesting. The setting is later, now in the mid 19th century. Victor is older and his brother William is a young man rather than a little boy, and instead of a happy childhood, Victor and William’s father (excellently played by Charles Dance) is abusive and manipulative. Elizabeth is not an orphaned ward of the family but the niece of a new character, Harlander, played with relish and menace by the wonderful Christoph Waltz.

Overall, the production values are sumptuous. Set design, costuming, hair and makeup are all superb and this follows through into cinematography, lighting, framing and the use of colour. And the cast are as carefully curated as the sets they perform in. Oscar Isaac is perfect as the incredibly flawed and egotistical Victor Frankenstein, a man haunted by his mother’s death and his father’s abuse. Jacob Elordi is surprisingly good as the creature though despite all the prosthetics, it’s impossible to make that man look ugly! Though I’ve never thought of her as an actor with great range, Mia Goth is really good in the dual roles of Elizabeth and Victor’s mother – a truly tragic gothic heroine. But Christoph Waltz is just delicious, stealing every scene he’s in.

Grandiose, gothic and gory, this Frankenstein is epic to the point of overwhelming, and displays an over the top grandeur that del Toro has hinted at in previous films. I’m thinking here especially of the dream palace in Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) Cate Blanchett’s gorgeous Art Deco office in Nightmare Alley (2021) and the gloriously gothic mansion in Crimson Peak (2015). Detail is everything, this a movie to be poured over, dissected, examined and discussed like Elizabeth’s insects or Victor’s collection of cadavers.

Frankenstein fits well with del Toro’s previous work in tone and style and in terms of gothic sensibilities, could be seen as an extension of Crimson Peak and like its predecessor, I’m sure Frankenstein will also bear multiple viewings.

At the time of writing, Frankenstein is available to watch in selected theatres and streaming on Netflix. And as always, I highly recommend the big screen experience.

One Battle After Another – Spoiler Free

04 Oct 2025 Leave a comment

by Debra Manskey in Movie Review, Writing Tags: , , , , , ,

One Battle After Another (2025)

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Screenplay by Paul Thomas Anderson, inspired by the novel “Vineland” by Thomas Pynchon.

It’s hard to know where to start discussing this epic work without spoilers, so if this review seems particularly sketchy, I’m not offering apologies. It’s personal preference but most of my friends and I like to go in blind to a film rather than know what’s going on before it happens.

One Battle After Another is an interwoven tale of revolutionaries, lust, love and loss, overlaid with a strong political thread. But rather than a straight up political drama, it is by turns a heartbreaking family drama, a fabulous action movie and above all, a truly edge-of-the-seat thriller, punctuated by some nice, dry comedic beats (mostly from Leonardo DiCaprio, who at times channels his inner Jeff Bridges).

I remember reading Vineland in the early 90s and being put off by some the blatant stereotypes Pynchon employed. I need to go back and reread the book, but I was struck by the difference here of strong character development (especially of DiCaprio and Chase Infiniti’s characters) across the film. The cast are absolutely on point throughout, Sean Penn is creepy as hell, Benicio Del Toro has never been cooler and I think this might be my favourite Leonardo DiCaprio role. Teyana Taylor, Regina Hall and especially Chase Infiniti (in her first feature film role) are all excellent.

At 2 hr 41 mins this is a long film but the editing by Andy Jurgensen is so beautifully executed, I really didn’t notice or mind. Similarly, DoP Michael Bauman does great work, bringing one of the most visceral and inventive car chases I’ve seen in a very long time. The original score by the masterful Jonny Greenwood gives tremendous support to the action and often says more than pages of dialogue could.

Above all, I think this is a very brave film and an important one, made at an extremely difficult period in US and world history. I predict it will become something of a touchstone for these insane times we live in – at least that’s my hope.

One Battle After Another is currently in wide cinema release globally. Very highly recommended. Go and see it!

Eddington – Spoiler Free

31 Aug 2025 Leave a comment

by Debra Manskey in Movie Review, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Eddington (2025)

Written & directed by Ari Aster

There’s a meme currently doing the rounds of social media regarding Ari Aster and the text goes something like this. “Hereditary – don’t watch with your mother; Midsommar – don’t watch with your girlfriend; Eddington – don’t watch”. For me, social media telling me not to watch something is like a red rag to a bull, and strangely plays into this incredible, messy, fever dream of a movie. After seeing it earlier today, my prediction is that Eddington will be one of the most divisive movies of the year.

The film is set in the small New Mexico town of Eddington in that most uncertain year of 2020. Social media plays an important role here, with a global pandemic, disaffected youth, the black lives matter movement and homelessness mixing it with conspiracy theorists, corporate interests and anti-vax/anti-mask rhetoric. Add in the world’s need to upload everything live to Instagram and things get very muddled very quickly. The town sheriff, (superbly played by Joachim Phoenix) is at loggerheads with the mayor (portrayed by the always excellent Pedro Pascal) and the tension builds quickly.

Without spoiling anything, in my opinion there are many things wrong with this film. First, at two and a half hours, it’s way too long and the last hour drags dreadfully. Second, I felt like Aster was trying to do too much within the confines of a single feature film – there are literally too many stories crammed in here and it seemed he only scratched the surface with most of them. This means we only see glimpses of characters who had untapped and doubtless fascinating stories, especially Emma Stone as the sheriff’s wife, Louise, William Belleau as Butterfly Jimenez and Micheal Ward as Deputy Michael Cooke.

On the other hand, there are some wonderful things about this movie. The anxiety Aster builds is stellar, my friends and I were on the edge of our seats for a good deal of the film. The cinematography, framing and lighting are exceptionally good, DoP Darius Khondji did an excellent job. Similarly, the original music by Bobby Krlic and Daniel Pemberton is absolutely on point and doesn’t get in the way. There are some truly lovely satiric touches throughout, both verbal and visual blink-and-you’ll-miss-it gems that are worth seeing. The cast are uniformly solid, though as mentioned above, often underused. But above all, Joachim Phoenix is absolutely wonderful as the increasingly paranoid, perplexed and out of his depth sheriff, Joe Cross. If nothing else, it’s worth seeing Eddington for his incredible performance.

In conclusion, Eddington (like all films) won’t be everyone’s cup of tea and it really is very messy but if that’s accidental or by design is up for debate. Despite what I consider a failure, I can see what Aster was aiming for and I think he has to be applauded for trying what most directors wouldn’t dare attempt. I honestly cannot say any of us enjoyed this movie but my friends and I had to indulge in a lengthy lunch afterwards to debrief, so there’s another bonus! Make of that what you will, but anytime a film generates discussion like this is a good thing in my opinion.

Eddington is currently in wide cinema release globally. Please let me know if you see it and what you think of it.

Bring Her Back – Spoiler Free

04 Jun 2025 Leave a comment

by Debra Manskey in Movie Review, Writing Tags: , , , , , , ,

Bring Her Back (2025)

Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou. Written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman

Going into this sophomore feature from the Philippou brothers, I knew next to nothing about it, and I recommend that as a default position for watching most film. So I’m going to give as little away as possible, in the hope that many of you will go and see this on the big screen and be as surprised and ultimately, entertained as I was.

I did know it was an uncomfortable watch for many people and it stars Sally Hawkins, whose work is diverse and always top notch in my opinion. As Laura, she is a force of nature and the ticket price is worth it just for her heartfelt and at times, downright desperate performance. The younger cast members are also excellent, vision impaired Sora Wong is particularly good, especially considering her lack of previous acting experience.

Bring Her Back is very intense, doesn’t shy away from depictions of gore (I can see the influence of French New Extremity clearly here) so it’s not for the squeamish. The intensity is accentuated by some great camera work (hats off to DoP Aaron McLisky), the use of tight framing that creates a claustrophobic atmosphere and the simplicity of diegetic sound, especially rain falling. The score by award-winning screen composer, Cornel Wilczek is unobtrusive and helps build audience anxiety, and at a tight 104 minutes, this film doesn’t outstay it’s welcome.

At it’s core, this is an exploration of grief from a variety of viewpoints. From the superficiality of contemporary funeral rites to the depths of darkness, guilt and depression. (As an aside, I’d love to hear US mortician Caitlin Doughty discuss and critique various funeral practices in contemporary horror, I think it’d make an excellent video essay.) The tension is maintained through a combination of great script, visuals and sound, excellent editing and exceptional performances – both in front and behind the camera.

Ultimately, I can’t describe this as an enjoyable watch, but as a lifelong horror fan I do consider it entertaining. It’s caused me to consider people I’ve lost along the way and how I’ve processed/still processing the grief, something I consider a healthy use of my time. I haven’t watched the Philippou brothers first feature, Talk To Me (2022) but after seeing Bring Her Back, I’ll be rectifying that very soon.

Bring Her Back is currently in wide distribution globally. Highly recommended.

Nosferatu – Spoiler Free

12 Jan 2025 Leave a comment

by Debra Manskey in Movie Review, Writing Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Nosferatu 2024

Written and directed by Robert Eggers

Its been a shaky start to 2025 so I’m a little late to the party, but I finally got to see Nosferatu yesterday at my local, the State Cinema in North Hobart. This was perhaps my most anticipated release for the last year or more and I’m a big fan of Eggers’ work, my favourite being The Lighthouse (2019).

This is Eggers’ fourth feature and I feel he’s firmly secured his niche in folk horror, especially retelling of mythic stories for modern audiences. However, I felt this remake of F. W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic wasn’t quite up to par. There are several interconnected factors here, which I’ll try to tease out without spoiling anything.

On the plus side, Eggers’ regular cinematographer, Jarin Blaschke is back, creating darkly beautiful and quite memorable visuals – I really can’t fault his work! As with his previous features, the framing and lighting are superb, creating painterly, gothic scenes that stay in the mind long after leaving the cinema. Similarly, the art direction (Robert Cowper, Paul Ghirandani), set decoration (Beatrice Brentnerova) and costume design (Linda Muir) are near perfect.

The sound design is, for the most part quite good. There is a visceral quality to the diegetic and foley sound in some scenes that adds depth to the horror but the soundtrack by Robin Carolan is disappointing. At times overbearing, it often makes the classic mistake of telegraphing to the audience “this is what you must feel &/or think” in key scenes. As a musician, this is one of my pet peeves, and it displays a lack of trust from the filmmaker that audiences can discern what’s going on without being beaten over the head by aural as well as visual cues. For the most part 21st century audiences are a lot more cineliterate than filmmakers give them credit for!

I suspect one of the reasons Carolan’s score is so bombastic is to push the action. Nosferatu is a slow and cumbersome beast to begin with, mostly I suspect because Eggers is trying to do justice to not only the Murnau version but Bram Stoker’s original novel and the multitude of media objects and resultant tropes that have arisen from such an iconic and foundational story in folk horror. This is also evident in the pacing and I take off my hat to film editor, Louise Ford (another Eggers regular), this would’ve been a nightmare to edit! I also wonder if this is why Eggers relied so heavily on jump scares, particularly in the first half of the film.

For the most part, the cast are excellent, with Nicholas Hoult showing yet again what an accomplished actor he’s become. Emma Corrin, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Inerson and Willem Dafoe are all fine and, although he was under a lot of make up and prosthetics, Bill Skarsgard was suitably overbearing and downright horrible as Count Orlok. (By the way, I loved Orlok’s ‘tash – it was appropriate to the period and place.)

Sadly, the glaring exception is Lily-Rose Depp. Visually, she fits the part of Ellen Hutter superbly – she is the perfect poster girl for gothic loveliness and Jarin Blaschke’s camera loves her! Unfortunately, as soon as she opens her mouth, all bets are off as she chews the scenery with way too much vigour. Ellen is (with Orlok) arguably the central character and I’m aware that it’s a lot to ask of any actor but I feel this was just a step too far out of her range. To add insult, there is negligible chemistry between her and on-screen husband Nicholas Hoult as well as Bill Skarsgard’s Count and I was continually pulled out of the story by this.

Nevertheless, Nosferatu is obviously a passion project for Eggers and a wildly ambitious one at that. When it works, it’s great and, for the most part, (especially visually) it works. Its not perfect – but then, nothing is.

Nosferatu is currently in wide cinema release globally and I encourage everyone to see it just for the gorgeous cinematography. Let me know what you think!

The Substance – Spoiler Free

19 Oct 2024 Leave a comment

by Debra Manskey in Movie Review, Writing Tags: , , , , , ,

The Substance 2024
written and directed by Coralie Fargeat

I feel I’m late to the party, but I finally got to see this today. Going in cold is my favourite way to see films, and against all odds, I managed to avoid any trailers and spoilers for this one. No mean feat for one of the most touted and talked about films of the year!

Written and directed by French filmmaker, Coralie Fargeat, (Revenge, 2017) The Substance is one helluva ride. By turns stark body horror, social commentary and darkly comedic, there are surreal elements here that reminded me of Yorgos Lanthimos and callbacks to Fargeat’s earlier French language short, Reality+ (2014). The cast are uniformly good but Demi Moore is utterly astonishing as Elisabeth Sparkle. It’s an incredibly brave performance and worth seeing just for Moore. Above all, I hope this heralds a resurgence in her career.

The use of extreme close-ups in some scenes are very effective and designed to disturb and even disgust. The cinematography, sound design and costuming are all gloriously technicolour and appropriately over the top. But while the film is good, it doesn’t reach greatness for me. There’s a lag in the last act which almost lost me but the ending is outrageously superb – particularly for horror fans.

There’s no subtlety about The Substance but it contains multiple little nods to other horror directors and films that pleased me greatly. It’s not necessary to understand them to enjoy the film but I hope younger horror fans will seek out the likes of Kubrick, Lynch and Cronenberg as a result of seeing this.

The Substance is currently in wide cinematic release globally and if you’re interested in Fargeat’s other work, both Reality+ and Revenge are currently playing on MUBI in Australia.

Alien: Romulus – Spoiler Free

25 Aug 2024 Leave a comment

by Debra Manskey in Biography, Movie Review, Writing Tags: , , , , , ,

Alien: Romulus (2024)

I’m old enough to remember going to see Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) on first release and being totally blindsided by how such a simple Hitchcockian premise could deliver so much. It’s become one of my all time favourites and I watch it at least once a year. Aliens (1986) directed by James Cameron (the undisputed king of sequels) is an excellent war movie, though I don’t rate it as highly as some. Even Alien 3 (1992) had moments, though I’m sure David Fincher would disagree! Beyond that, it all turns to mush in my mind.

So, given my increasing disillusionment with recent entries into the franchise, I went into this with some reservations. However, there’s much to commend this film. The cast are good, particularly David Jonsson in the pivotal role of Andy, the sound design is excellent and director Fede Alvarez’s rule of using practical effects wherever possible really improves the visual aesthetic. While the cinematography from Galo Olivarez is mostly on point, at times the lighting is abysmal and it’s difficult to distinguish what we’re supposed to be focusing on. More than once, I found my eyes wandering away from centre frame and them scrambling to catch up with the action. This also served to diffuse rather than enhance tension.

There are the mandatory jump scares and plenty of Alienesque gore but in the final analysis, it’s the script that lets everything down, with too many incredibly cheap jump scares and even cheaper call backs to much better films.

I’ve heard Alien: Romulus described as a greatest hits album performed by a cover band. This is probably a little harsh but ultimately, I did find it a disappointment. Nevertheless, I always encourage people to go and see it yourselves and make up your own mind.

Alien: Romulus is currently in wide cinematic release globally

Longlegs – Spoiler Free

06 Aug 2024 4 Comments

by Debra Manskey in Movie Review, Writing Tags: , , , ,

It’s been a long time since I’ve uploaded a movie review. Ill health, different projects, life and other catastrophes have got in the way – but now I’m back! I hope you enjoy what I have to offer….

I love Nicolas Cage, particularly his recent films – Colour Out of Space (2019), the hilarious self-parody The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022) and the incomparable Mandy (2018), but I’m really unsure about his latest vehicle, Longlegs (2024).

It’s been promoted as the scariest horror movie of the year (mostly I suspect by the movie’s marketing department) but I just don’t buy it. Admittedly, I’m a huge horror fan, so perhaps I’m hardened to such things, but I feel Longlegs is a movie that promises much but falters at crucial points.

The main protagonist, FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is immediately endearing through her extreme social awkwardness and I like her character arc throughout. Harker is brought in to assist with investigations into a series of murders and it’s obvious she has some kind of extra sensory perception and her own family issues. However, combining this strong police procedural with threads of the supernatural ,satanic practices, jump scares and slasher movie mentality, unfortunately makes for something of a mess.

Nevertheless, Longlegs has much to commend it. The sound design and score are excellent and the cinematography evokes a bleakness that is quite chilling. The first act especially is very, very good, full of tension that seems to fade as the film progresses. It was written and directed by Osgood “Oz” Perkins who has been very open about his struggles with his own family, and I feel some of that bleeds into this film. But Cage’s turn is so over the top, I struggled to stifle a laugh when the character is first introduced. Having said that, the character of Longlegs is scary but very much in an evil clown kind of way (full disclosure, I detest clowns). Covered in prosthetics and a wig, Cage is almost unrecognisable and plays it to the hilt, a deranged, burnt out, glam-rock nightmare of Tiny Tim. While I applaud his commitment, Cage has reportedly said he based his performance on his own mother, which speaks volumes!

Ultimately, this incredibly ambitions film is less than the sum of its parts but nevertheless, entertaining. Perkins is a director I’ll watch in the future with great interest, I’d far sooner watch something that pushes boundaries than plays safe.

And I still love Nicolas Cage.

Longlegs is currently in wide cinematic release globally.

Vampyr

23 May 2022 Leave a comment

by Debra Manskey in Movie Review, Writing Tags: , , , ,

Before I start, a quick update and apology. I haven’t been particularly active on this blog for the last few weeks because we’ve been in full election mode here in Australia. I’m extremely pleased to say the very conservative previous office holders have been ousted (mostly by very angry women) and replaced by a more moderate bunch who (I sincerely hope) will make some real changes to improve the lot of ordinary Australians, address our very real concerns around climate change and start to bring funding back to the sorely depleted arts sector.

Consequently, I’ve a veritable backlog of movies to review and hopefully, I’ll get through it soon ❤️

Vampyr (1932)

Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer. Screenplay by Christian Hul and Carl Theodor Dreyer (loosely based on stories by J. Sheridan Le Fanu).

Released a decade after F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922), this vampire tale was Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer’s follow up to the incredible The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928). It was also Dreyer’s first talking picture, though it still relied heavily on title cards and only used minimal dialogue. This was primarily because of the multinational cast and crew but I think this works very much in the film’s favour, especially compared to the extended theatrical silences in Tod Browning’s Dracula (1931).

Very loosely based on Le Fanu’s book of five stories, “In a Glass Darkly”, the film concerns Allan Grey, an aimless young man with a strong interest in the occult, who wanders into a village where a vampire has several people in its thrall – including the beautiful daughter of the local lord. What ensues is like a surreal nightmare, enhanced by the soft focus filming of Rudolph Maté. Throughout, the framing is quite superb but it particularly stands out in scenes with Léone, the lord’s gravely ill daughter (played beautifully by the tragic Sybille Schmitz) and Allan’s dream of his own burial.

By modern standards, Vampyr isn’t really horrifying but certainly full of atmosphere. Nevertheless, this 90 year old film still holds up, managing to simultaneously entertain and make me feel uncomfortable, like a dream I can’t quite wake from.

Vampyr is available to watch on YouTube and with a run time of merely 74 minutes, well worth the time investment.

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