About Me

I watch a lot of movies. I don't watch all the movies, and I don't review all the ones I do watch, but I have watched all the ones I've reviewed. Sometimes twice.

I mainly go for the horror, SF, action and thrillers - genre movies. I don't usually go to romantic comedies because I generally go to the cinema on my own and there's something a bit sad and pathetic about going to what are essentially date movies by yourself. And I don't usually go to kids' films either because there's something more than a little creepy about a single grown adult going into a cinema full of children to watch something aimed at toddlers. Sometimes, if it's a PG which means there's something slightly darker going on, but most U-certificate animations pass me by. That's okay, because there aren't enough hours in the day, you can't watch everything and you have to make choices.

I do end up watching a lot of junk despite the obvious warning signs. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Any fool can watch Lawrence Of Arabia* but it takes something else, something more to watch Sorority House Massacre or The Corpse Grinders**.

My favourite films of all time are Blade Runner, Dawn Of The Dead and Aliens (all of them the original release versions and not subsequent re-edits, directors' cuts and international rescored versions). I love horror films, even while recognising that a lot of them are terrible, and have been attending horror movie festivals since 1987.

I used to be a huge soundtracks buff: my favourite composer was and still is the mighty Jerry Goldsmith. I still collect some scores by him, John Williams, John Barry, Henry Mancini, Bernard Herrmann and others, but modern film music leaves me cold.

I also play the keyboard. Astonishingly badly. Performances of my song cycles are banned under human rights legislation.

If you use your phone in a cinema while the film is on, there is something medically wrong with you. Stop it.




* I have never actually seen Lawrence Of Arabia.

** I have seen The Corpse Grinders. Twice. It wasn't any better the second time.