Behind the Couch

When Max is murdered by a mysterious demon-worshipping cult, his partner Jay (Zarif) and best friend Aria (Cassie Hamilton) set out to avenge his death. Directed by prolific Aussie filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay, and co-written by Mackay, Cassie Hamilton and Benjamin Pahl Robinson, Satranic Panic is a low-budget, character-driven, comedy-horror road movie. Quite similar in tone to Mackay’s previous feature, T-Blockers , Satranic Panic also unfurls as a love letter to schlocky b-movie horrors and features transgender characters who make a defiant stand against intolerance. And demons. Retaining most of the crew from T-Blockers , including cinematographer/editor Aaron Schuppan, composer Alex Taylor and sound designer Roisin Gleeson, Mackay’s approach is as bold as it was on her earlier film, but with slightly higher production values. While Satranic Panic is still a very low budget affair, it’s just as much a labour of love and exhibits an equally off-kilter yet exuberant tone. The low b...

Dormant alien parasites are unleashed in a small Australian town after an earthquake. They begin infecting and possessing susceptible locals, including a group of incels, intensifying their hatred and aggression, turning them into violent, zombie-like creatures hellbent on eliminating anyone who isn’t like them. Young trans filmmaker Sophie finds herself caught up in the horror when she and her friends are targeted by the possessed mob. Written and directed by Alice Maio Mackay, T-Blockers is an ultralow-budget horror and a spirited pastiche of B-movie tropes. It utilises an Invasion of the Body Snatchers -style narrative to explore contemporaneous prejudice and transphobia. What she lacks in budget, Mackay makes up for with a striking sense of style (it’s all neon lighting and retro-wave inspired aesthetics), incisive social observations and scathing humour. Her third feature, T-Blockers exudes a real punk sensibility: anarchic, rebellious, and reminiscent of Gregg Araki and early J...

Directed by Leigh Whannell, Wolf Man is a reboot of the 1940s classic The Wolf Man , starring Lon Chaney Jr. It tells of a family stranded at a remote forest cabin who are attacked by a werewolf. As it prowls around outside the cabin, they face another deadly threat from within, as the wounded father begins to transform into a slathering beast...  Throughout folklore, literature and cinema, the figure of the werewolf has been used to explore ideas of mankind's innate savagery; the unleashing of an inner beast, primitive, instinctual, stripped of logic and reason, unshackled from centuries of civilisation and societal conformity. Many of the conventions of the werewolf film were established by Hollywood films: the use of silver to destroy the werewolf, the influence of the full moon on transformation, and the contagious nature of lycanthropy. Aside from the latter, Whannell's film dispenses with these conventions and attempts to establish a sense of realism. While the screenpla...

“I learned that just beneath the surface there’s another world, and still different worlds as you dig deeper. I knew it as a kid, but I couldn’t find the proof. It was just a kind of feeling. There is goodness in blue skies and flowers, but another force – a wild pain and decay – also accompanies everything.” David Lynch, the artist and filmmaker whose works include Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks  and Mulholland Drive , has died aged 78. His family announced his death on Facebook, saying 'There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, “Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.” It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.'  Lynch was an artist, his abstract canvas extending into film, music and television. His visions are imbued with a deeply haunting, dreamy quality, both wonderful and strange. From his feature debut Eraserhead - his “dream of dark and troubling things” - to the small town horrors of Twin Peak...

Written, directed, co-edited and produced by French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat, The Substance is a vicious and gruesome body-horror satire about ageing, identity and the impossible standards women are held to by a society obsessed with youth and beauty. It has divided critical opinion, with some lauding it as a feminist horror masterpiece, and others accusing it of pandering to the male gaze (those lingering shots of Sue's body in her fitted Lycra leotard), and exploiting old horror tropes (rendering the female body – especially older bodies - a source of terror). It tells of Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a faded film star, who, on her 50th birthday, is fired from her hit aerobics TV show by her producer, who wants to replace her with a younger host. A despairing Elizabeth decides to try a new experimental drug that will create a younger replica of herself, with deeply horrifying results... When Elizabeth's replica, Sue (Margaret Qualley), finds success and fame as her replac...