STACK Issue 151 May 2017

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British cult cinema has a long and distinguished history, with icons
like Ken Russell andTerry Gilliam at the forefront and directors like
Norman J.Warren and PeteWalker ruling the B-movie roost.Talking to
BenWheatley earlier this month (see page 14) got me to thinking about
other contemporary British filmmakers that put their own unique stamp
on different genres. Movie buffs who grew up on an esoteric and eclectic
diet of film and videotape usually make the best filmmakers (eg. Quentin
Tarantino, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro) because they make the movies
they want to see, flavour them with stylistic homages to the directors they
love, and singularly twist mainstream conventions to conform to their own
oddball visions.
Edgar Wright is a prime example.
His ‘Three Flavours Cornetto’ trilogy –
Shaun
of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007) and The
World’s End (2013) – is overflowing with filmic
references to everything and everyone from
George A. Romero, Lethal Weapon and Hammer
Horror. And in Hot Fuzz
you’ll spot a line-up of
actors memorable for their roles in some
of Wright’s favourite movies –
The Omen’s
Billie Whitelaw, The Wicker Man’s Edward
Woodward, and Raiders of the Lost Ark’s
Paul Freeman. Indeed, Wright’s latest film,
Baby Driver (due in cinemas August 10), is
indebted to seventies’ thrillers like
Straight
Time and Walter Hill’s The Driver – can’t
wait to check this one out.
34 MAY 2017
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Peter Strickland is another Brit who loves the
strange and offbeat, especially the more niche regions of
the cult movie spectrum. Berberian Sound Studio (2012), his
love letter to Italian filmmakers like Dario Argento and Mario
Bava, is a tour de force of suggestion and that drags a meek
British sound mixer (Toby Jones) out of his comfort zone and
into a vortex of David Lynchian
weirdness and giallo movie mayhem.
Strickland followed this up with another
tribute to fringe Euro-cult in the haunting The Duke
of Burgundy (2014), which masterfully references
the psychedelic/lesbian erotica of auteurs like Jess
Franco and Jean Rollin – albeit without any nudity
or lurid sex scenes! Fans of Borgen and Westworld
will want to check this out for the icy performance
by Sidse Babett Knudson, as the lepidopterist
whose sadomasochistic relationship with her lover
is not all that it appears to be.
Neil Marshall is another notable player
in the Brit cult landscape, even if he mostly directs
episodes of Game of Thrones and Black Sails these
days. Marshall’s low
budget werewolf movie
Dog Soldiers (2002) made
horror fans sit up and take
notice, but it was his follow-up
feature The Descent (2005) that
cemented his credentials as a dependable genre
filmmaker. He also directed the underrated
historical actioner Centurion (2010), which
delivered more than its Gladiator knock-off title
would suggest – pitting Michael Fassbender’s
Roman soldier against Olga Kurylenko’s feral Pict
huntress. Marshall has also helmed the Roger
Cormanesque future shocker Doomsday (2008), as well as the carnivorous
jack-o'-lantern segment of 2015 horror anthology
Tales of Halloween .
Joe Cornish may not have the resume of
his peers, but his sole film as director to date is an
absolute belter. Cornish co-scripted Spielberg’s
The
Adventures of Tintin (with Steven Moffat and Edgar
Wright) before writing and directing
Attack the
Block (2011), a cheeky sci-fi comedy that unleashes
a horde of shaggy
extraterrestrial beasts on a
South London housing estate (a
setting usually reserved for heavy dramas by
Ken Loach and Mike Leigh). All that stands
between the invaders and the residents is a
gang of delinquent youths, led by a pre-Star
Wars John Boyega. With its snappy aliens,
snappier dialogue, and a tailor-made guest spot
for Nick Frost (as the building’s resident drug
dealer), Attack the Block is a five-star hoot. Look
out, too, for Broadchurch ’s Jodie Whittaker and
Fortitude’s Luke Treadaway amongst the cast.
Despite the cult following for Attack the Block, Cornish has yet to step behind
the camera again, although he was in the running to helm
Star Trek Beyond
and Kong: Skull Island. Note to Hollywood: Give this guy another gig, pronto!
THE NEW GENERATION OF
BRITISH CULT DIRECTORS
Introducing fantastic
filmmakers and movie
madness that may have
slipped under your radar.
Words: Scott Hocking
[Note: Titles in bold are available from JB Hi-Fi at the time of writing.]