THE WAVE (2019)

3 stars

Miracle Media. Digital. 21st September.

We are informed that “Reality is a choice… man” and THE WAVE goes out of its way to bend and shape reality for Frank (Justin Long). He’s a corporate lawyer who is tasked to find ways to enable the company he works for to not pay out on life policies – and he just found a wrinkle that will save them millions.

His friend and work colleague Jeff (Donald Faison) wants Frank to come out and celebrate. But he passes and goes home instead. However his wife isn’t the mood and goes to bed early – left to his own devices he decides to meet up with his buddy in the city – at a somewhat sketchy part of town.

There’s lots of drinking and they meet Natalie (Katie Winter) and Theresa (Sheila Vand). They decamp to a party and Frank and Theresa are left together. Frank is somewhat uncomfortable with the situation. Trying to find a quiet corner he meets drug guru Aeolus (Tommy Flanagan) snorting away. He offers Frank a line.

Then he offers something better. A hallucogenic. Theresa is keen – just a small drop on the tongue and then she kisses Frank to give them both a hit. Big mistake!

Next thing he knows he is awake in the wrecked house and no one else is there and the house is covered in party detritus – and the owners arrive home. This is just the start of his problems – as things start to get freaky pretty rapidly. There are time jumps and Frank finds himself displaced to different locations.

He also discovers that Theresa – who might be able to explain what went on – is missing and his bank account has been cleared out.

This is a fun and quirky outing with Long playing a variation of the character he always seems to play. Enjoyably bizarre this has many unpredictable twists and turns, that are initially confusing but all come together at the end. Director Gille Klabin delivers plenty of psychedelic visuals along the way and the clever and at times weird script by Carl W. Lucas has a good central mystery as Frank and Jeff try to find out what has happened to Theresa.

Steve Kirkham

MOMO AND THE TIME THIEVES (2025)

4 stars

Signature Entertainment. Cinema. 14th August

Young, curly haired orphan Momo (Alexa Goodall) lives in an ancient amphitheater. She is friends with Bepo (Kim Bosnia), the groundskeeper. Also living in the city is Gino (Araloyin Osshunremi), a youngster who helps out his mum Liliana (Jennifer Amaka Pettersson) by delivering pizza’s from the family restaurant. He also earns extra money to support his mother and his two siblings, by taking tourists around the amphitheater.

There, one day, he notices Momo and finds her in her hideaway. He takes her home and introduces her to his family. She is a bit weird and claims she has always been around. Thing is, as she is a good listener, people gravitate towards her and soon a kind of community has sprung up around her.

Ever since his Dad died, Gino’s family has struggled financially. Out for her swim (the only real time she carves out for herself) Liliana is approached by an odd woman dressed all in grey (Laura Haddock). She ‘runs the numbers’ on the time that Liliana wastes and offers a solution. A bracelet that gives her the ability to save time – to use later.

Of course, all is not as it seems – as these “greys” are actually stealing time. They work for a large corporation (the film has something to say about modern life and how our time is sucked up by distractions).

Can Momo save the day – with the help of the children and Master Hora (Martin Freeman), master of time, who she is lead to by a cute tortoise which can show words on its shell. She finds herself up against the nefarious “greys” and their leader Richter (Claes Bang).

This is a nicely pitched, kid friendly, fantasy film based on the 1973 book by Michael Ende – probably best known for ‘The Neverending Story’. There have been previous adaptations – an Italian/German take in 1986, an Italian animation in 2001 and a German animated TV series in 2003.

Goodall is really good in the lead and this is gorgeously shot by Christian Rein. Writer/director Christian Ditter uses his beautiful location which is added to by the nicely realised production and set design which give the air of a fairytale at times. It even features a couple of Sam Ryder songs.

Steve Kirkham

OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR (2025)

4 stars

Signature Entertainment. Digital. 11th August.

OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR is built around two powerhouse performances from Jayden Martell and an almost unrecognisable Asa Butterfield.

Martell plays Balthazar (or Balty as he prefers to be called), a city rich kid with divorced parents. He has no real relationship with his Dad and is ignored by his socialite Mum, whilst he languishes in the luxury high rise where he and his mother live. He is even given short shrift by his life coach (something every over indulged kid should have clearly).

To assuage his loneliness, and to feel part of a community, he posts videos online – of himself crying, as he has the ability to turn on the waterworks at the drop of a hat! Not that he has any real interest in the things he is supposedly upset about.

At his school, during mass shooting preparedness training, which is an actual thing apparently, he becomes enamoured, even obsessed, with Eleanor (Pippa Knowles) who speaks out passionately about the very American problem of the proliferation of guns and mass shootings in education establishments. Statistically speaking youngsters are the number one targets for this kind of massacre!

Rebuffed by her, as he is more than a little bit weird, he determines to try and prevent such an incident and finds someone calling themselves ‘deathdealer_16’ (worrying that they have had to append that high a number after their identity), who claims they are going to carry out one such violent act.

By underhand means, he meets up with the possible shooter, who turns out to be Solomon (Butterfield) a loner, who lives with his grandma on a trailer park and has no real future. What unfolds is an uneasy, kind of strange, buddy movie.

Exploring one of the most troubling and endemic features of student life in present day America, this doesn’t hit you over the head with it’s messaging – but rather shows how, even in a time when we are supposedly more connected than ever, young men can spiral into dark places, where they think the only way out is brutal bloodshed.

Steve Kirkham

THIS TEMPTING MADNESS (2025)

3 stars

Plaion Pictures. Digital. 10th August.

Inspired by actual events (supposedly). Inspired is probably the right word here…

It has a striking opening. A woman in a bright orange flowy dress falling from a great height crashing to the ground.

Mia (Simone Ashley – who you may recognise from BRIDGERTON or THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2), awakens in hospital with serious injuries and a fractured memory.

A flashback or partial remembrance to her life before – with her husband Jake (Austin Stowell) and her young daughter. She asks her brother Ajay (Suraj Sharma) where Jake is – he tells her about the massive fall. She can’t speak so she writes.

It appears she was thrown from a balcony in an airport by her other half, who has been arrested and jailed. She is convinced he is not responsible – Detective Colton (Mojean Ara) is investigating what happened, but with her short term memory issues, he is going to have trouble establishing what actually went on.

As she has flashes of her past a more complex picture emerges, with her husband suffering from paranoia and all was not as idyllic as it first appeared. Is he abusive?

A psychological thriller, it is let down by the script from director Jennifer E. Montgomery and the film’s cinematographer Andrew Davis, with it becoming progressively more ridiculous and contrived and dipping into horror territory as it unfolds. But hey, it was based on true events! It is crisply shot and slickly made, with a visual style, aided by the setting in the big flashy house. Ashley fills her role capably.

Steve Kirkham

STÉPHANE (2023)

3 stars

Arrow Video. Blu ray. 3rd August

This is a weird sort of mocukumentary cum found footage which kind of dips into horror territory.

Timothée is busy shooting a film in a park. He directs a woman with a fake gun. At the same time as helming this tribute to American spy movies featuring two FBI agents, he also doing the making of for his latest “epic”.

Shooting various scenes the meet an older guy Stéphane (Lucas Pastor) who asks if there are any explosions — He offers to make things blow up. To do special FX. He also claims to be a stuntman.

Interested in the camera equipment he persuades Timothée to accompany him to the camera shop as he wants something so he can film himself doing stunts. Timothée’s new acquaintance soon shows he is a bit of a loose cannon. Somewhat crazy he gets angry in the shop.

Slowly but surely Stéphane inveigles his way into Timothée — and the amateur filmmaker begins to understandably wonder just what has got himself into, with this crazy character. Soon he has ditched his idea of a narrative and starts forming a documentary about his newly acquired compatriot.

Is this guy for real or a fantasist, with his stories of the famous he has known and, back of his house, his odd collection of costumes including Nazi uniforms. He clearly is a right nutter…

Tagged as a comedy, I didn’t really find it funny, but it is also so being described a s horror. But is it? The filming style is somewhat annoying though I do have a low tolerance for this type of production. As a sturdy of an eccentric character it works, with Pastor embracing his part. Is it trying to say something? Ultimately not sure it added up to much.

Steve Kirkham

EXTRAS

Brand new audio commentary with co-writer/directors Timothée Hochet & Lucas Pastor, recorded exclusively for Arrow Video in 2025

Eight never-before-seen deleted scenes with optional commentary by co-writer/directors Timothée Hochet & Lucas Pastor

Original trailer and Arrow Video trailer

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Beth Morris and Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Sean Hogan and Jennie Kermode

THE HOURGLASS SANITORIUM (1973)

4 stars

Radiance Films. Limited Edition UHD/Blu Ray. 3rd August

Original title: Sanatorium pod klepsydra

Also known as The Sandglass

If you fancy a slice of surreal insanity then welcome to THE HOURGLASS SANITORIUM from Poland, written and directed by Wojciech Has. I can’t say I am familiar with his work – Radiance are releasing his other well known film THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT in October – so an ideal opportunity to catch up, as it were.

This was adapted from a story collection ‘Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass’ by Polish-Jewish writer Bruno Schulz and was banned by the commie authorities. It was sneaked into the Cannes Film Festival and won the Jury Prize.

We start on a train. Strange, dissonant music on the soundtrack. Striking tableau full of interesting faces. Józef (Jan Nowicki) arrives at his destination and walks through the snowy landscape to an old, seemingly abandoned, decrepit building – the asylum of the title.

Eventually a somewhat disheveled nurse appears. He is there to visit his father and has booked a room to stay there a while. Everyone is sleeping. “… night never comes”, the nurse says. Not weird at all.

When he meets the doctor he is told his father is dead, but he can go and see him as the building has some kind of time warp in it, where his dad has traveled back in time to before his death.

Out of a window Józef sees himself arriving as he had done earlier. Utterly surreal…

Captivatingly bizarre and dreamlike, with a somewhat bonkers script by director Wojciech Has, this is visually stunning with gorgeous cinematography by Witold Sobocinski, and fabulous design from art director Andrezej Halinski alongside production designers Andrzej Płocki and Jerry Skarzynski.

Are these memories? Dreams? Nightmares? Hallucinations? The narrative wanders about without feeling the need to explain the ambiguity on show. It is filled with strange, weird characters and striking imagery. Both astonishing and confusing in equal measures – you will either be taken in by it or left scratching your head.

I look forward to seeing THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT in due course…

Steve Kirkham

EXTRAS

New audio commentary by Polish film expert Michael Brooke (2026)

Archival interview with production designer Jerzy Skarzynski by filmmaker Jerzy Wójcik (1997, 15 mins)

Accordion – acclaimed early short film from Wojciech Has (1947, 12 mins)

Plus reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow; Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by critic Ela Bittencourt and archival writing from Annette Insdor

Limited edition of 5000 copies.

SOYLENT GREEN (1973)

4 stars

Arrow Video. Limited edition 4K. Limited edition Blu. 27th July.

Based on the novel by Harry Harrison called “Make Room! Make Room!”, SOYLENT GREEN is one of those movies that is kind of difficult to write about as surely everyone knows the surprise twist.

The film opens with a photo montage showing how there has been a gradual, man-made environmental destruction to our planet (still relevant today, perhaps more so), accompanied by Fred Myrow’s jazzy score

We are in the future world (at least at the time of the film’s production) of 2022 in New York City. Overcrowded to the point where you have to step over people – with a 40,000,000 population!

Real food is in short supply so instead sustenance is provided with Soylent Red and Soylent Yellow high energy vegetable concentrate and now the new, apparently delicious Soylent Green – supposedly created from plankton from the oceans. But we all know the truth. However, this more recent variant is in short supply so is only available on one day a week, which is Soylent Green day.

There is also a permanent heatwave – talk of the greenhouse effect even then (appropriately enough I watched this during the latest round of high temperatures in the UK).

Charlton Heston plays Thorn a cop. He lives with the older Sol (Edward G Robinson in his last feature film role) who helps him on cases. He is known as a ‘Book’, as he knows stuff from before. Inevitably, the rich elite live in luxury whilst the general populace suffer – some things never change I guess (ooh political)

Our detective is called in to investigate the murder of the wealthy William R Simonson (Joseph Cotten) who was on the Soylent Corporation board. Theresa he meets Shirl (Leigh Taylor Young), the dead man’s sex slave companion (they are disparagingly called furniture – I guess because they come with the apartment).

As he looks into the case, which his chief wants to shut down before he has completed his inquiries, he begins to uncover something that he clearly shouldn’t be delving into.

Ol’ Chuck, perhaps better known for his epics, was on a bit of a mini science fiction run in the lat sixties, early seventies, what with two PLANET OF THE APES (1968/1970) movies, the actually pretty good THE OMEGA MAN (1971) and this outing.

Laced with social commentary, the film does a good job of showing the overcrowding of the city with people living in the streets and in their cars (shot on the MGM backlot). Of course, inevitably, some aspects date it – the crude video game for instance and old school telephones. Heston is great in the central role, well supported by Edward G, who apparently was so deaf his scenes had to be shot several times over. He also knew he was dying – he passed away on January 26, 1973, several months before the film was released. This 4K release looks impressively crisp, capturing the sweaty existence depicted in the production.

Steve Kirkham

EXTRAS

Two audio commentaries: one with director Richard Fleischer and star Leigh Taylor-Young and a new one with film historian Michael Brooke and author Johnny Mains

Two on stage interviews at the BFI with Charlton Heston and director Richard Fleisher

Two vintage featurettes

Theatrical trailer and Image galleries

Plus reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanael Marsh and collectors’ booklet featuring new writing by Frank Collins and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

DEEP WATER (2026)

3 stars

Signature Entertainment. Digital. 20th July.

Recently airlines have been highlighting the dangers of power packs for charging things like phones – if you watch DEEP WATER then you will see what could happen!

At the airport, outside, a passenger Dan (Angus Sampson) is smoking and stuffs his various devices in his case – with the charging lead sparking as it is attached to an external battery. Disaster beckons…

Captain Rich (Ben Kingsley. Sir Ben to you) and his first officer/co pilot Ben (Aaron Eckhart) are heading for their next flight together. We start to be introduced to various passengers on the night flight to Shanghai — the usual cross section of society.

Of course it isn’t long before the power bank in the suitcase starts a fire in the hold and alarms go off in the cockpit. Ben calls it in but the closest airport is miles away. Into the hold to try and put out the flames but they are raging. Causing explosions which burst through the passenger cabin causing extensive damage. Masks drop as the Captain takes the aircraft down to a safe altitude.

Then total disaster as the plane is ripped apart. Lost engine. A hole in the hull. No power. They have no choice but to ditch in the ocean. The plane is in pieces in the sea – there are survivors but many are dead. Then, as the few that are left cling to the metallic wreckage, they realise there are deadly sharks in the water that want them for lunch – of course there are!

Finnish director Renny Harlin is best known for action movies like DIE HARD 2 (1990) and CLIFFHANGER (1993) and has also played with sharks before in DEEP BLUE SEA (1999). His career has been a bit hit and miss – more recently he gave us THE STRANGERS trilogy of horror movies.

He does manage to generate tension with the scenes of destruction well staged, though some of the action sequences do verge on the ridiculous. Eckhart makes for a stoic, no nonsense hero, but the cast are saddled with a wildly predictable script. Enjoyable in a throwaway, don’t think about it too much kind of way.

Steve Kirkham

THE DOUBLE (1971)

3 stars

Radiance Films. 4K UHD. 20th July

Italian title: La controfigura

THE DOUBLE is a weird one, as it is often described as a giallo thriller, but for much of it it plays out more like a soap opera!

Director Romolo Guerreri had previously explored this sub genre in 1968’s THE SWEET BODY OF DEBORAH. The film under review here has a screenplay by Alessandro Continenza and Sauro Scavolini based on the novel ‘La controfigura’ by Libero Bigiaretti.

Intriguingly it starts with Giovanni (Jean Sorel) driving his car into an underground car park – there a mysterious, frightened looking man pulls out a gun and shoots him. As he falls to the ground in slow motion, Giovanni’s life flashes before him…

He is on holiday with his wife Lucia (the gorgeous Ewa Aulin), on a beach in Morocco. They go nude swimming and make love (hope they don’t get sand anywhere unnecessary). Whilst there they spot hippie type Eddie (Sergio Doria) who has setup his tent with his funky VW Beetle. Lucia seems fascinated by him, which makes her husband jealous and angry and leads to an argument.

Somewhat confusingly a dead body is found on the beach which looks like Eddie but isn’t. This is already doing my head in!

They hang out with their friends Roger (Silvano Tranquilli) and Marie (Marilù Tolo) which much flirting going on. Then Lucia’s mother Nora (Lucia Bosè) turns up, with Giovanni finding her attractive. Meanwhile Eddie keeps popping up in the background.

What’s going on? The storyline jumps about with little cohesion and appears to be more about who is hooking up with who than anything resembling a thriller with a mystery – though it does keep cutting back to Giovanni in his death throes in the subterranean garage.

Fascinatingly odd in many ways, it is attractive to look at, even if the script doesn’t make much sense. Who is the bearded man from the opener and why has he targeted Giovanni? Partway through things do flip, though I am not going to spoil it here – it is still isn’t very coherent. The music score by Armando Trovajoli is notable

Steve Kirkham

EXTRAS

Audio commentary by Tim Lucas

Archival interview with director Romolo Guerrieri and star Eva Aulin newly edited for this release

Appreciation by author Stephen Thrower

Easter egg

Plus Reversible sleeve featuring artwork based on original posters and limited edition booklet featuring new writing by author and critic Nathaniel Thompson

Limited edition of 3000 copies

BLACK BOX: FLIGHT 298

4 stars

Signature Entertainment. Digital. 6th July

This fun sci fi horror thriller opens with a worrying text screen saying the American FAA doesn’t publicly acknowledge the percentage of domestic flights that lose contact with ground control. It could be as much as 80 per cent… Immediately setting up a sense of paranoia – especially if you are wary of flying.

We are on a domestic flight from Seattle. Various characters settling in (including one who fashions a hat out tin foil – that will protect you from what is to come. Not). Cruising at 33000 feet. Strapped in. Sleeping. Watching or using their devices.

An old boy coughing and spluttering in the toilet. He is a long time, so the concerned stewardesses start to knock – he eventually comes out saying he is so hot. He keeps coughing back in his seat. They are flying through a storm, when the old guy sees something and starts saying “it’s not safe – we’re all going to die up here”. People start to panic (and of course others film it).

The on board Air Marshall tries to stop him – but then he starts to spit up blood and stops breathing, and they now have a dead body to contend with. This will soon be the least of their worries.

With a brewing large hurricane ahead, strange lights are spotted in the sky and the instrumentation in the cockpit goes haywire – and of course they lose contact.

And then calm… as if the plane has stopped in the air – then they realise something is trying to get on board!

Using the enclosed environment of a metal tube flying (or in this case ultimately stuck) at high altitude is a great setting for a tense outing, even if the beats within the script by Stephen Susco aren’t exactly original. This is like one of those TV movies from the 70s or indeed a modern take on a Twilight Zone episode and is directed with a sure hand by Steven Quale, who has worked on several films with James Cameron and also helmed the rather good FINAL DESTINATION 5. Take it for what it is, basically a schlock monster B-movie, and you will enjoy it.

Steve Kirkham