On this episode, Jeff Downes and Graham O'Dwyer from the brilliant At The Flicks podcast discuss Kevin Costner's western epic, Horizon: An American Saga. We'll be putting our collective expertise to work as we explore Costner's latest directorial effort, examining its place within the western genre and its potential impact on cinema. So let's saddl…

Director Alejandro Brugués goes for old-fashioned chills and offers up some slow-burn horror with his excellent new horror, The Inheritance. It can be difficult to have sympathy for characters who have immense wealth and privilege – especially when you’re not supposed to like them. However, The Inheritance gets the balance just right – and along wi…

Written by Joe Russo and Chris LaMont, The Inheritance delivers old-fashioned chills and offers up some slow-burn horror. The quick pitch is to call the Alejandro Brugués directed film a well-balanced mix of Knives Out and The House On Haunted Hill by way of The Haunting Of Hill House and Succession. There’s a sophistication and understanding of th…

Shane Dax Taylor’s Murder Company is an old-fashioned World War II men on a mission movie. On Demand now in the U.S., the film stars William Moseley, Pooch Hall, Gilles Marini, Joe Anderson and Kelsey Grammer. The plot follows a group of US soldiers as they attempt to smuggle a member of the French resistance behind enemy lines so that he can assas…

Writer/director Jake Allyn's film Ride is now available On Demand in the US. It’s a wonderful modern day western that sees Allyn star alongside C. Thomas Howell, Annabeth Gish & Forrie J. Smith. It's a beautifully shot & exceptionally well acted film that has dramatic highs alongside some strong tension. Jake Allyn joins the Movies In Focus podcast…

Alexander Payne’s 1999 release Election was a film which took the filmmaker’s career to the next level. A biting satire, it features a great Matthew Broderick as a teacher with a grudge battling Reese Witherspoon‘s overly enthusiastic student, Tracy Flick. As part of a special look back at some of the films released in 1999 - a year many believe to…

Arrow Shorts is a showcase for great short-form film-making. From the scary to the bizarre, Arrow highlights the amazing work being created by filmmakers in a shorter-length medium. Film-maker Drew Maxwell Weiss joins this episode of the podcast to talk about his Giallo inspired short Anatomy Maestro. With nods to the bloody thrillers of the late ‘…

Arrow Shorts is a showcase for great short-form film-making. From the scary to the bizarre, Arrow highlights the amazing work being created by filmmakers in a shorter-length medium. Film-maker Alex Baro-Cayetano joins this episode of the podcast to talk about his small, but perfectly formed short, Keith. In the film, a little girl meets someone cal…

Darkness Of Man is a new action noir starring Jean Claude Van Damme as a former Interpol agent haunted by the actions of his past. Visually striking, Darkness Of Man sees Van Damme give a nuanced turn - and it’s once again an indicator that the action icon can deliver good performances alongside bullets and flying kicks. James Cullen Bressack, the …

Arrow Shorts is a showcase for great short-form film-making. From the scary to the bizarre, Arrow highlights the amazing work being created by film-makers in a shorter-length medium. Film-maker Ryan Iriving joins this episode of the podcast to talk about Bark, a witty, original and well-composed slasher pastiche which crams a lot into its short run…

Arrow Shorts is a showcase for great short-form film-making. From the scary to the bizarre, Arrow highlights the amazing work being created by filmmakers in a shorter-length medium. Film-maker Izzy Lee joins this episode of the podcast to talk about her incredibly fresh and original short film Meat Friend. Meat Friend was nominated for a 2023 Fango…

The Image Of You is the screen adaptation of Adele Parks’ novel of the same name. Directed by Jeff Fisher and adapted by screenwriter Chris Sivertson, the film stars Sasha Pieterse, Parker Young, Néstor Carbonell and Mira Sorvino. It’s something of an outlier - a modern take on the erotic thriller - one with particular nods to masters of the genre …

Adele Parks MBE has sold over 5 million plus copies and has been translated into over 30 different languages. Her 19th novel, The Image Of You has now been adapted for the screen by director Jeff Fisher and screenwriter Chris Sivertson. Starring Sasha Pieterse, Parker Young, Néstor Carbonell and Mira Sorvino, the film is a modern take on the erotic…

Sometimes a movie will come along and subvert expectations - and Francis Galluppi’s brilliant feature film debut, The Last Stop In Yuma County is one of the movies. The set-up is that a travelling salesman is caught up with a pair of bank robbers in a remote diner - we’ve all seen that type of thriller a dozen times before but Galluppi takes things…

As its title suggests, Stefon Bristol’s Breathe is a claustrophobic and tense film that will leave you gasping for air. A prescient science fiction piece, Breathe is set in the near future where the earth has a depleted oxygen supply. A small family eke out an existence, but when strangers arrive at their doorstep paranoia seeps into their lives. A…

Unfairly dismissed in 1998, Paul W.S. Anderson’s Soldier underperformed when it was released, grossing a paltry $14.5 million at the U.S. on a then substantial $60 million budget. In the UK the Kurt Russell starrer became the most expensive film to go straight to DVD/Video. Danny Stewart's book Soldier: From Script to Screen takes a serious deep di…

It’s usually hyperbole to say that someone does it all, but in the case of Larry Fessenden, it just so happens to be true. An award-winning actor, producer, writer, director and editor - Fessenden is a genre filmmaker with a real skill in delivering works that entertain but also have a fair amount of nuance and sophistication. Fessenden’s latest fi…

We are delighted to welcome Canon J. John to the Health Gospel Church podcast this week. J.John is an Evangelist, minister, speaker, broadcaster and writer. He has been in ministry for four decades. He has spoken in towns, cities and universities in 69 countries. J.John lives near London in England. He is married to Killy and is a father and grandf…

Our guest this week is Rev. Dr Paul Blackham. Leading since the summer of 2021, Jonathan, and the Blackham family, has been a part of Church plants around the country for the past decade. But at the centre of this life and current ministry is a love of Jesus, throughout all the bible! Ordained in 1997, Paul served at All Souls Langham Place as Asso…

Our guest this week is Graeme Shanks. Originally hailing from Glasgow, Graeme is married to Alex and they have 3 girls Chloe, Grace and Eve. Having qualified as a solicitor and worked in Commercial Property for a few years upon graduation he joined Bruntsfield Evangelical Church staff team back in 2012 and has been our Pastor since 2017. He has stu…

Based on E.O. Chirovici's novel, The Book of Mirrors, Sleeping Dogs is a twisty and entertaining thriller starring the mighty Russell Crowe. Crowe plays Roy Freeman, a former cop undergoing treatment for Alzheimer's disease who starts to dig into an old case in the hopes of exonerating an innocent man. The type of film that used to be Hollywood’s b…

Our guest today is Hannah Nation. Hannah Nation is a writer, editor, and content strategist. She currently serves as the Managing Director of the Center for House Church Theology and as the Content Director for China Partnership. She has published in Christianity Today, the Gospel Coalition, Comment, and Plough. ​Her topics of interest are: urban C…

Joe Stephenson's Doctor Jekyll was the first Hammer horror film released since the company was purchased by its new owner - the perfectly named John Gore. An entertaining throwback feature with a modern twist, this new imagining of Robert Louis Stephenson's iconic tale stars Eddie Izzard and Scott Chambers. Izzard is the titular Jekyll, while Chamb…

Chris Smart joins us this week on the Health Gospel Church Podcast. Chris was born and grew up in the Scottish Highlands. Chris' family didn't grow up in the church, but when he was 18 he went to study Chemistry in the city of Aberdeen and there through the witness of a fellow student, came to faith in Christ. After about a year he began to sense G…

Writer-director Gabriel Abrantes joins this episode of the Movies In Focus podcast to discuss his new film Amelia’s Children A slow-burning and delicately paced horror with Brigette Lundy-Paine, Carlota Cotta, Anabela Moreira, Alba Baptista, Amelia’s Children sees a New York-based musician discover that he has a long-lost mother and brother in Port…

In this episode of the Movies In Focus podcast, film director Andrew Davis talks about his long and prestigious career. Best known for directing the hugely acclaimed blockbuster The Fugitive with Harrison Ford, Davis’ career has been as eclectic as it has been successful. From his excellent jazz-fused 1978 debut, Stony Island through to The Package…

Our first guest of the new season is Derek Lamont. Derek has ben a minister for 33 years spending 22 of them in the centre of Edinburgh as minister of St Columba's Free Church. During his time there St Columba's planted four new churches and now Derek has decided to get stuck in himself and plant a new church in Leith. Derek is married to Catriona …

Ruthless is a bone-crunching thriller starring an against-type Dermot Mulroney as a teacher trying to rescue one of his students from a gang of human traffickers. Eschewing preaching for entertainment, Ruthless is an enjoyable, no-frills throwback revenge thriller with a good turn from Mulroney. Best known for his romantic leads, Mulroney sells the…

Director Phillip Noyce and Morena Baccarin join the Movies In Focus podcast to talk about their new film, Fast Charlie. Brutal when it needs to be, funny when it wants to be and heartfelt when you least expect it, Fast Charlie is first-class entertainment for grown-ups. Master-craftsman Noyce has built a well-constructed revenge thriller around sta…

It’s A Wonderful Knife is an entertaining slasher flick - with a difference. As the title indicates, the film is a riff on Frank Capra’s 1946 Christmas classic, It's A Wonderful Life. Starring Jane Widdop, Joel McHale and Justin Long, the film has heart and laughs wrapped up against the film's bloody kills. A year after saving her small town from a…

This week's guest is Rev. Alex MacDonald. Alex was brought up in the Highlands of Scotland and is a former Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland, having served as minister in Bishopbirggs Free Church, Bon Accord Free Church and Buccleuch Free Church. This week's theme is "A Life in Ministry" Topics include: Highland Clearances Tackling Social Is…

This week's guest is Confex Makhalira. Confex Makhalira is an ordained minister and a missionary of Mission to the World (MTW). Currently, he is serving as a pastor and church planter of Christ Presbyterian Church in Blantyre, Malawi. He is married to Mwai, and together they have two amazing daughters. This week's theme is "The Church in Africa" To…

Belfast-based director Dominic O’Neill joins the Movies In Focus podcast to discuss his new comedy horror, Haunted Ulster Live. A comedy of errors, Haunted Ulster Live uses the famed UK mockumentary Ghostwatch as a stepping-off point. Taking place in a supposedly haunted house, the broadcast is interrupted by things that go bump in the night – as w…

This week's guest is Anne MacDonald. Anne is the Student and Young Adults Worker at Bon Accord Free Church in Aberdeen. This week's theme is "Students and Young People" Topics include: Women in ministry When to employ a youth worker Issues facing young people today How do we make disciples? Finding a balance between church service and family life O…

Writer, film critic and visual artist Jaylan Salah joins this episode of the Movies In Focus podcast. A woman of many talents, Jaylan is a passionate film lover with a keen insight into multiple genres. Delving deep into what frightens her, Jaylan discusses a selection of thrilling films including Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead, Werner Herzog’s Nosferat…

This week's guest is Thomas Davis. Thomas Davis is a minister in the Free Church of Scotland who has served as an assistant at St Columba’s Free Church in Edinburgh and is now minister of Carloway Free Church on the Isle of Lewis. He is also a visiting lecturer in Systematic Theology and Church History at Edinburgh Theological Seminary. He is marri…

Douglas Schulze has been a friend of Movies In Focus since 2009, in the lead-up to the release of his David Carradine starring horror film Dark Fields - or The Rain as it was then called. Films like Mimesis: Night Of The Living Dead, Mimesis: Nosferatu and his experimental thriller The Dark Below show a director who wants to push the boundaries of …

This week's guest is Melissa Kruger. Melissa serves as vice president of discipleship programming at The Gospel Coalition. She is the author of The Envy of Eve: Finding Contentment in a Covetous World, Walking with God in the Season of Motherhood, In All Things: A Nine-Week Devotional Bible Study on Unshakeable Joy, Growing Together: Taking Mentori…

Belgian filmmaker Daphné Baiwir's King On Screen is an excellent documentary that puts the focus on the many film and television adaptations that have been based on the work of Stephen King. A must-see for King fans, Baiwir looks at these adaptations from the perspective of people who made them - and the film features interviews with the likes of F…

Join us on this week's episode as we welcome Rev. Callum Macleod. Callum is the minister of Shawbost Free Church in the Isle of Lewis and the Principal Clerk of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland. This week's theme is "Ministry Life" Topics include: Entering ministry later in life Confirming the call to ministry Community ministry …

On this episode of the Movies In Focus podcast, director Yuval Adler talks about his latest film, Sympathy For The Devilstarring Nicolas Cage and Joel Kinnaman. Carter Smith also joins the show to talk about his latest Blumhouse release, The Passenger. Sympathy For The Devil is a Las Vegas set modern noir. It features an exceptional turn from Nicol…

Join us on this week's episode as we welcome Lewis and Sarah Allen. Lewis pastored Gunnersbury Baptist Church in London for over twelve years, and in 2010 was called to plant what is now Hope Church Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, where he is now Senior Pastor. Sarah read English at Cambridge and now works part-time as an English Teacher as well as b…

Writer, producer, director and podcaster Joe Russo joins the Movies In Focus podcast to discuss the current strike by the Writer’s Guild of America. An up and coming genre filmmaker, Russo has written a host of well regarded screenplays with his partner Chris LaMont, as well as directing the thriller, The Au Pair Nightmare. He also produced the hor…

Get The Gringo and Rambo: Last Blood director, Adrian Grünberg joins the Movies In Focus podcast to talk about his new film,The Black Demon. The killer shark movie stars Josh Lucas as an oil company employee struggling to protect his family from a megalodon shark after they become stranded on a disused oil rig. An entertaining horror-thriller, The …

City University of New York lecturer and film historian James Kenney once again joins the Movies In Focus podcast. The last time he was on the show he talked about discovering the original cut of Peter Bogdanovich’s Squirrels To The Nuts - and this time round he discusses Gee Malik Linton’s surrealist religious drama, Daughter Of God. Starring Kean…

Running on HBO for seven seasons and 93 episodes from 1989 to 1996, Tales From The Crypt was a wonderfully ghoulish show that was based on Bill Gaines’ EC Comics imprint of the same name. Executive produced by Joel Silver, Richard Donner, Robert Zemeckis, Walter Hill and David Giler, the show was a huge success due to its dark tales and even darker…

Japanese-American director Yoko Okumura makes a punchy feature film debut with Unseen, a new genre-bending comedy-thriller from Blumhouse Productions. Running a tight eighty minutes, Unseen stars Midori Francis as Emily, a woman escaping from a boyfriend who wants to kill her. Lost in the woods, and without her prescription glasses, she relies on t…

Ivor has been minister of Hope Church since July 2012. He trained for the ministry at Aberdeen University and Westminster Theological Seminary and served congregations in Lewis and Skye before coming to Coatbridge. Official Site: https://www.freechurch.org/ Healthy Gospel Church Vision: https://freechurch.org/healthy-gospel-church/…

Corey Deshon, the talented multi-hyphenate writer-director joins the Movies In Focus podcast to talk about his new film, Daughter. Daughter is an intense psychological thriller that stars Vivien Ngô as a young woman who is abducted and then inducted into a family as their new daughter. Casper Van Dien plays the mysterious Father, the man who will s…

Steve graduated in History and Politics from the University of Liverpool, where he met his wife Rachel. After this, he completed a Religious Studies & Philosophy PGCE and embarked on a short-lived career as a secondary school teacher. Steve then completed an MA in Theology before becoming a self-employed researcher serving the recruitment sector. H…