The Big Picture MagazineKieron is a writer and filmmaker from Manchester. By day he works for a theatre publisher, by evening he’s a freelance writer and independent filmmaker, and by night he’s very tired (but usually has time for a movie or a classic Deep Space Nine episode on Netflix).
If there’s one sci-fi film that comes to mind at the mention of George Lucas, it’s Star Wars. And yet, six years before his grand space opera undeniably changed the course of the genre, Lucas gave us THX-1138, a lower key and much more cerebral piece of science fiction. Despite both commercial and critical failure […]
Kieron Moore looks on in horror as a romantic caravanning holiday in the north of England descends into violent mayhem in Ben Wheatley’s idiosyncratic black comedy. What would Terence Malick’s Badlands (1973) be like were it set around the tourist spots of Northern England? It’s an unusual pitch, but the answer is Sightseers (Ben Wheatley, […]
Our relationship with the countryside is a theme that runs strongly throughout British horror cinema. The isolation of a remote community can be used to create a frightening atmosphere, as behind the pastoral veils of village life lay dark and dangerous secrets. Travel with Kieron Moore as he explores some of the darkest depictions of […]
Coming soon after his work as special effects supervisor on 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Douglas Trumbull’s Silent Running is his own take on the same space-bound genre. While it has its fans among sci-fi circles, the film was criticised by many for the blunt sentimentality of its story and ecological message. It never achieved […]
Through the years, science fiction posters and subtlety have not been the best of pairings. Forbidden Planet gave us one of many over-saturated and melodramatic visual spectacles: the eye-catching (if absent from the film) scene of Robbie the Robot kidnapping a scantily-clad woman, and the word ‘AMAZING!’ stamped on top. Star Wars started a trend […]
“It’s a fucking fairytale town, isn’t it? How can a fairytale town not be somebody’s fucking thing?” asks Ralph Fiennes’ cockney gangster Harry (Ralph Finnes) in Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges. A favourite childhood retreat of Harry’s, Bruges is the hideout to which he has sent hitmen Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) after Ray’s […]