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The slaughter of three generations of the same family is the topic for John Morris’ The Clydach Murders and it’s pretty gruesome stuff. For on a June night in 1999 a young mother, her two daughters and 80-year-old mother were bludgeoned to death in the small Welsh town of Clydach in a frenzied, merciless attack. Morris’ book recounts the events of that grisly night and sets out to prove that a miscarriage of justice subsequently occurred. Mandy Power was a vivacious and seemi

A crime spree which took place in 1940s London is the topic for the little-known Chicago Joe and the Showgirl. The film is based on events which occurred over just seven days in 1944 when an American GI met a good-time girl in a coffee house – a chance meeting which sparked a wave of crime a la Bonnie and Clyde and which shocked wartime Londoners bonded together by necessity. If you haven’t heard about this affair or the 1990 film, you’re probably not the only one. Some thoug

Stars n’ stripe flags that inexplicably flutter in zero gravity, shadows that also do not obey the laws of gravity, the conundrum presented by the Van Allen belt through to the complete absence of stars, the anomalies surrounding the Apollo moon landings are plentiful and well-documented. Did man really walk on the moon in 1969 or not? Or was it all an elaborate hoax convened so the United States could claim this landmark before Russia, thereby thwarting its implacable Cold W

Based on a true story which occurred in 1940s France, Claude Chabrol and Isabelle Huppert teamed up yet again for Une affaire de femmes (A Story of Women) - a director-leading lady dream team. This bleak but always fascinating offering from 1988 raises a similar moral dilemma presented in their other collaborations such as Violete Noziere (1978) and La Cérémonie (1995) wherein the viewer may wonder where and with whom his/her sympathies ought lie. Huppert plays downtrodden ho

What is it about second helpings? Le deuxieme visit to Paris somehow never quite manages to capture the exhilaration of that first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower or that first stroll down the Champs Elysees. That second beer never quite quenches like the first one. And what about that tricky little conundrum known as the second album/novel phenomenon? Shooting stars soon burn themselves out, precocious talent today, spud-peeler tomorrow. How then do you improve on a debut sensat

Storm Eunice was on its way declared the Internet and would hit the UK wreaking havoc in its wake. Days later, on 17 February the Met Office issued a red weather warning, which means that severe weather is expected and that measures should be taken to keep safe i.e. staying indoors, going out only if necessary. Things certainly started getting blustery in my neck of the woods. Somebody reported their garden shed had been uprooted. It was discovered later that same day on the

Patrick Hamilton has been enjoying somewhat of a renaissance in recent years – at least in literary terms, for the man himself died many years ago, finally succumbing to cirrhosis of the liver at the relatively young age of 58. Apparently, he rather liked a bottle of whiskey with his food did Mr Hamilton: a bottle with his breakfast, his lunch and his dinner. In his day – post war England – Hamilton was somewhat of a literary superstar, up there with the likes of George Orwel

A car crash late one evening in the English countryside signals the end of a story which director Joseph Losey’s film will via flashback reveal, layer by tense layer, what brought us to this harrowing moment. Back in time we go. Films which start at the end and work backwards always seem to have poignancy linear films struggle to attain; such is the way with Accident. Bringing to mind the similar car crash which opens the wonderful Les choses de la Vie (1970), it’s certainly

While readers might be aware of the Brit comedy film The Pope Must Die, it’s probably true that most if not all of that film’s fans have never read David Yallop’s actual story of a papal murder, In God’s Name. What? Did they really murder a Pope? You bet they did. Yallop’s meticulously researched book which topped the New York Times best-seller list upon its release in 1984 makes a rock-solid case that Pope John Paul I was indeed murdered after just 33 days in office. Albino