32 h. ago The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup

Awakened by Laura Elliott; Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by VE Schwab; Immaculate Conception by Ling Ling Huang; Esperance by Adam Oyebanji; The Quiet by Barnaby MartinAwakened by Laura Elliott (Angry Robot, £9.99)A debut novel set in an apocalyptic 2055, following the development of a neural chip dispensing with the need for sleep. At first it seemed a blessing: it ramped up people’s metabolisms, made them stronger and more productive workers, but when they ignored the advice to turn it off and sleep for at least a few hours a week, they turned into ravenous monsters. Thea is one of a group of scientists who developed the chip and are now barricaded in the Tower of London, struggling to reverse the damage they have caused, when two survivors turn up seeking shelter: a silent, traumatised woman and her protector, a nameless man who shows signs of having once been Sleepless himself. Thea comes to question her own values and past actions in a dark and gripping gothic tale with e...

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7 d. ago 'Dangerous Animals' review: Yellowstone starlet in sharks horror up there with Jaws

Jai Courtney stars in "Dangerous Animals," a movie about sharks that also features a serial killer. The film is a worthy birthday present to "Jaws," celebrating its 50th anniversary this summer.

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8 d. ago MOVIE REVIEW: We see if 'Final Destination: Bloodlines' breathes new life into horror franchise

Sixth instalment honours series' legacy as well as adding to its lore.

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8 d. ago Gary Clarke Company: Detention review – horror and humour in stand against Section 28

The Place, London The Yorkshire-born dance artist concludes his social historical trilogy on the Thatcher era by celebrating resistance to homophobiaGary Clarke grew up in a Yorkshire mining village in the 1980s and 90s, and the scars left by Margaret Thatcher’s government (and her Tory successors) have informed an impressive dance theatre trilogy that lies somewhere between social history project and cri de coeur. Detention is the final part of the trilogy that began with Coal, looking at the mining industry, followed by Wasteland, about the nascent rave culture that sucked in disaffected youth in the midst of those mines’ closures. Detention focuses on the Section 28 legislation brought in in 1988, forbidding the “promotion” of homosexuality. This is the backdrop against which Clarke, and every other young gay man and woman at that time grew up. We see dehumanising political speeches, the bullying, the self-hatred; the bleakness is tangible.Yet while Detention is about the effects...

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3 w. ago MOVIE REVIEW: We see if 'It Feeds' satisfies horror fans' taste buds

Little originality on show but still works. on its own merits - just.

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3 w. ago The Rocky Horror Show review: Jason Donovan deals with malfunction like a true pro in flawless show

Review: The Rocky Horror Show was being played at

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3 w. ago Alpha review – Julia Ducournau’s disjointed body horror is an absolute gamma

Cannes film festivalThe winner of the Palme d’Or for Titane delivers Cannes’ first true turkey: the tonally inept tale of a girl with a dodgy tattoo and a disease that turns people to marbleStrident, oppressive, incoherent and weirdly pointless from first to last Julia Ducournau’s new film Alpha has to be the most bewildering disappointment of this year’s Cannes competition; even an honest lead performance from Mélissa Boros can’t retrieve it.I admit I was agnostic about her much-acclaimed Palme d’Or winner Titane from 2021 but that had an energised purpose lacking in Alpha and Ducournau’s excellent 2016 debut Raw is still easily her best work. Continue reading...

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