Witchy Flicks

If you are anything like me you are always keen for witchcraft on screen. Whether it is the story of a persecuted witch coming back through the centuries to wreak revenge, or a contemporary witch taking control of her powers, there is something very satisfying about a witch flick. So if you feel like you’ve

Classic Beach Reads to Revisit

“Indian summer is like a woman. Ripe, hotly passionate, but fickle, she comes and goes as she pleases so that one is never sure whether she will come at all, nor for how long she will stay.”  ― Grace Metalious, Peyton Place In 1956 the book that would spawn nine sequels, two movies, two television series and

Freaky Family Fun: Halloween movies for the whole household

Laura Macfehin lays out some spooky viewing suitable for the whole household. Halloween season is upon us (and yes, it is a season) and if you are considering a family movie night as part of your celebrations here are a couple of suggestions I think are suitable for a wide range of viewers… Frankenweenie (2012)

Late Bloomers: the screen classics that started out as box office bombs

Now hailed as one of the greatest sci-fi horrors of all time Joh Carpenter’s The Thing was a colossal bomb at the box office.  The amazing special effects by Rob Bottin are now considered some of the finest creature work ever done– Bottin worked so hard on them that he ended up in hospital with […]

Scary Sisters: New horror directed by women

Laura looks at the current batch of lady horror filmmakers and the terrifying films they are bringing fans! Genre films have always had a little more wriggle room for creators otherwise excluded from the mainstream… which is maybe one of the reasons women have a slightly higher representation as directors here than they have in

What Offred Watched Next

Laura looks at the essential viewing for fans of The Handmaid’s Tale ahead of season two of the award-winning show! I’ve been a sci-fi/fantasy nut since I could read and one of my favourite genres to watch is the protagonist-against-the-world in a dystopian future.  Anything that lets you wonder “what would I do under these

10 top podcasts to put in your ears!

Laura Macfehin listens in and reports back from the land of podcasting. If you’re not already familiar with podcasts you might ask “What the heck are they and why is that annoying guy at work always talking about them?” Put simply, podcasts are free audio programmes that you can download and listen to whenever you

What’s Shaking: Genever Juniper

Laura Macfehin tries three different New Zealand gins in three classic cocktails— the Gimlet, the Gibson and the dangerously coy Orange Blossom! After being almost completely replaced by vodka in the late sixties, gin has had a real upswing in popularity in the last decade. Crafty folks in distilleries around the globe have brought gin back

Small Screen Screams

Laura Macfehin retrieves some made-for-television goodness from the golden age of TV movies- resurrecting some her childhood faves and pointing fans to some seventies gems. Goggle Box There was a time when the television set was the central screen in most people’s lives, and broadcast television was what was on it. Before personal computers and