BFI Archives - Desperate Living

The Week In Awfulness Part 2: Network Off-Air

Why the demise of the label behind most of the vintage TV releases in Britain is a tragedy – and perhaps a sign of things to come.

Cataloguing Two Decades Of Obscure British Horror Films

2 Comments.

One man’s mission to watch, review or simply acknowledge the existence of the endless number of zero-budget British horror films made – so far – during the 21st Century.

The Greatest Film Of All Time? Well…

5 Comments.

Digging into the shock announcement of this decade’s Sight and Sound Greatest Film poll winner.

Make Your Appointment With Mayhem

2 Comments.

This year’s Midland cult film festival includes ghostly cats, deranged birds and bloodthirsty unicorns.

The Magnificent Seven Samurai

1 Comment

Akira Kurosawa’s action movie masterpiece remains one of the most thrilling movie experiences ever made.

Remembering Norman J. Warren

Looking back at the much-loved British horror film director and his remarkable body of work.

The Historical Warnings Of Night Will Fall

Sidney Bernstein’s documentary of concentration camp footage and the reconstructed version of the long-suppressed film.

Desperate Hours: The Nihilistic Genius Of French Noir Classe Tous Risques

1 Comment

A generational culture clash between the old and new wave in this French crime masterpiece.

Phantoms Of The Opera – The Various Versions Of The Lon Chaney Masterpiece

1 Comment

Edited, reshot, reconstructed and rearranged, the 1925 version of Gaston Leroux‘s gothic shocker remains the best.

The Boy From Space: BBC Juvenile Science Fiction

The vintage children’s TV science fiction show from the 1970s.

Stories From The Club Of The Damned: Looking Back At British TV Series Supernatural

1 Comment

The BBC horror anthology serial is more interesting than the poor production values and theatrical performances make it seem.

The Great Western Express Music Festival Of 1972

A rare document of the culture clash between the straights and the freaks.