Anya Taylor-Joy Is Lucky!

Based on the best-selling book, Lucky is a crime-drama created by Jonathan Tropper and Reese Witherspoon, premiering July 15 on Apple TV. Starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Drew Starkey, Timothy Olyphant, and Annette Bening.

Draug (2018)

In 11th Century Sweden, a party escorting a missionary goes missing when travelling through the enormous forest of Ödmården, which divides the north from the south.

A rescue party sets out, led by Hakon (Ralf Beck) and his foster daughter, Nanna (Elna Karlsson), on her first real mission and her first visit back to the region where she was born.

Entering the forest, the initial problems the group encounters are all-to-human bandits, but after that things take a darker, more supernatural turn, as they uncover the true fate of the missing Christian emissary and his escorts.

"Ödmården is an ancient forest on Sweden's east coast, traditionally dividing the north from the south.

It used to take several days to pass through. Outlaws formed bands inside the forest where they resorted to pillaging any travellers daring to pass the long dark.

Also beasts and bears and wolves were growling and howling inside the vastness of Ödmården, frightening the people living outside its borders and soon stories of occult and darksome origin arose from the area.

And they still do."

- from the film's official website

A low-budget Swedish film, the trailer and poster for Draughad led me to expect a cocktail of History's Vikings and The Blair Witch Project... and it was that, but more.

There was a definite element of Apocalypse Now/Heart Of Darkness - a theme addressed similarly in 2009's bigger budgeted Valhalla Rising - but also traces of The Descent and a splash of J-horror ghost stories.

The movie's small budget means there are moments when Draug resembles a high-quality LARP or a Nordic cosplay, but the actors and scenery bring a gritty verisimilitude that soon dispels those random thoughts.

Shot on location, the film is tense and atmospheric, and only occasionally confusing when there's a variety of things kicking off in the shadows of the dark trees.

While not overly gruesome, this isn't one for the faint of heart as it dabbles in some taboo subjects (such as casual torture and infanticide) and one character has a nickname that makes Preacher's Arseface seem socially acceptable.

Smartly scripted and dripping with local folklore, Draug dishes up some unexpected moments of deliberate laugh-out-loud humour in early scenes that soon give way to screaming, insanity and dying as the adventuring party plunges deeper in to the legendary forest of Ödmården.

Supergirl Character Posters - Including Krypto!

Erik The Viking (1989)

It is the Age of Ragnarok, the skies are dark, and men are constantly at war with each other. Erik The Viking (Tim Robbins) is sick and tired of the endless cycle of marauding and looting to pay for the next expedition to go marauding and looting. He wants things to change.

Feeling guilty for the death of an innocent woman, Helga (Samantha Bond), he seeks the advice of mountain cave-dwelling soothsayer Freya (Eartha Kitt). 

Following her proclamations, he assembles a band of men to head to the mythical land of Hy-Brasil, to find a magical horn that will grant access to Asgard and the ability to awaken the gods, who will then drive off the giant wolf Fenrir that has swallowed the sun.

However, not only is the villainous Halfdan The Black (John Cleese) on his trail, but one of his party, Keitel Blacksmith (Gary Cady), has been persuaded to try and sabotage the mission by his weaselly assistant, the ominously-named Loki (Anthony Sher), because "Ragnarok is good for business". 

Unfortunately Erik The Viking, written and directed by Monty Python's Terry Jones (director of two of the greatest cinematic comedies of all-time, Monty Python and The Holy Grail and Life of Brian) is neither as funny nor as action-packed as one might have hoped.

Not to be confused with Erik The Conqueror or The Vikings, this archetypal British comedy-adventure embraces its Norse mythology wonderfully, yet through a cynical contemporary eye, giving the whole production a strongly surreal tone.

After an awkward pre-credits prologue that hasn't aged well, the story comes alive as we meet the violent Vikings of Ravens' Fjord and Erik sets about putting together his "adventuring party".

It's been decades since I'd last seen Erik The Viking, and the only thing I could truly remember from it was Erik's longship sailing over the edge of the world. And it turns out that, in reality, that scene is nowhere near as epic as the visuals in my head!

As you would hope from the genius of the late Terry Jones, there are strong moments in the 99-minute movie (such as his own performance as the King of Hy-Brasil that's classic Terry Jones, and the Christian missionary, Harald, played by Freddie Jones, who is oblivious to all the fantastical things Erik and his crew encounter).

There's also some delightful world-building, where Jones' academic side gets to shine, but all of this is  sadly few and far between.

Clearly there is ambition at play here, but the reality of Erik The Viking falls far short of its lofty goals, with a chaotic script devolving into a series of mildly amusing set-pieces.

Packed to the gunnels with a host of top-tier comedy thespians, there's an inescapable feeling that a film such as this should be more memorable than it actually is.

I guess I was expecting a bit more Python, maybe even a Viking-themed riff on Holy Grail?

The Blu-Ray of Erik The Viking, from Patriot, comes with - among its many extras - a 79-minute cut of the film, put together by Jones and his editor son, Bill, that supposedly distils the movie down to the creator's original vision for the story. So I guess I should check that out at some point. 

Excuse Me, Waiter, There's A Dinosaur In My Soup!

After a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports their neighbourhood to someplace unknown, the Platt family soon discovers that their very survival depends on them sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings.

BOOK REVIEW: The Case Against Satan (Ray Russell)

Written in 1962 before the term "exorcist" was as ubiquitous as it is today, The Case Against Satan is the story of a Catholic priest tasked with saving a young girl who claims to be possessed by the Devil himself.

In much the same way that Peter Benchley's Jaws (and Steven Spielberg's movie) brought the potential danger of sharks into the paranoid consciousness of the general public, so Ray Russell's The Case Against Satan reopened the door for the almost-forgotten Catholic practice of exorcism to become a media phenomenon.

While Russell's book shares some similarities to William Peter Blatty's 1971 novel and 1973 screenplay of The Exorcist, the parity is largely from the set-up rather than the execution.

Young priest Father Gregory Sargent - who may have a drinking problem, but definitely embraces modern, scientific ideas - is moved to a new parish in the city, where one of his first encounters is with widower Robert Garth and his oddly-behaving teenage daughter, Susan.

After a lifetime as a "clean-talking sweet little girl", she has suddenly developed an aversion to churches, a penchant for foul language, and - on one occasion - stripping in front of a priest and violently sticking her nails into his throat.

Garth refuses to take his daughter to a psychiatrist, and so Fr Sargent, aided by his superior, Bishop Conrad Crimmings, try talking to the girl instead.

Eventually, they are led to believe she may be possessed and so Crimmings instructs Sargent to conduct an exorcism on her.

Clearly The Case Against Satan lays the groundwork for The Exorcist, but unlike that game-changing movie, it is far more cerebral and less cinematic in its approach.

That's not to say there aren't horrific descriptions of the restrained Susan's contortions and pleas as the holy men try to exorcise the "demon" from within her.

But here the dynamics are delivered through dialogue, as the priest and the Bishop discuss their different takes on the situation, while verbally jousting with the "demon" (if that's even what it is).

Along the way we are introduced to a number of side characters, who all have their own input on the scenario, ultimately creating a tone more akin to a hardboiled crime novel than an out-and-out horror story.

Coming in at 140-pages, this is an engaging - and fascinating - read, like discovering a story about an island under siege from a predatory shark before Benchley's bestseller saw print.

The Monster Rises On Talking Pictures TV

Horror movie icon Peter Cushing stars in 1974's Frankenstein and The Monster from Hell, which airs in the UK on Talking Pictures TV on Thursday, June 18, at 9.20pm.

Erik The Conqueror (1961)

In the late Eighth Century, invading Vikings are driven away from British shores by the forces of King Loter (Franco Ressel).

However during the battle, Loter is assassinated by the machinations of treacherous Sir Rutford (Andrea Checchi), while the leader of the Vikings, King Harald (Folco Lulli) is also killed, stranding his two young twin sons, Erik and Eron.

While Eron is whisked away by his fellow Vikings, young Erik is left alone, floating in the sea, only to be later found and adopted by the widowed Queen of England, Alice (Françoise Christophe).

It has to be said that in the few shots of young Erik in the sea, child actor Loris Loddi looks genuinely distressed and it is actually quite upsetting.

The story then jumps ahead 20 years, and we watch as Eron (The High Chaparral's Cameron Mitchell, who has an air of Daniel Craig and early Robert Shaw about him) is named as Viking war chief to lead a mass raid on Britain, while simultaneously Erik (Giorgio Ardisson) is named Duke of Helford and leader of the English sea forces (to defend against the impending Viking invasion).

In their first sea battle, Erik's ship is sabotaged by Sir Rutford (who is pissed that Erik has taken his job, and has eyes on marrying The Queen in a power grab) and sinks.

Erik washes up on the shores of "the land of the Vikings" and is rescued by priestess Rama (Alice Kessler), the identical twin sister of Eron's beloved, the priestess Daya (Ellen Kesler).

Unfortunately, Erik is captured when he sneaks into Eron's wedding ceremony and mistakes Eron's bride for his own love interest.

Eventually, Erik escapes with Rama, and the kidnapped Queen Alice, makes it back to England where he teams up with some Scottish nobles to besiege the castle of the treacherous Sir Rutford.

Only to find Eron and his Vikings are already there, and seemingly in league with Rutford.

Not to be confused with Erik The Viking, Erik The Conqueror is a 1961 Italian rip-off the fantastic 1958 Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis film, The Vikings.

Much to my surprise though, given that this is the work of Mario Brava, who is primarily known for his work in the overrated giallo genre, Erik The Conqueror is a pretty decent, low-budget swashbuckling romp. 

However, it veers way more towards fantasy than pseudohistory, particularly in its depictions of the Vikings, with their cavernous, subterranean palace and decidedly un-Viking "Vestal Virgins" (Brava clearly drawing on his Italian heritage here).

And while there are elements clearly lifted direct from the far superior earlier film, The Vikings - from the story of two estranged brothers to the climactic confrontation, and resolution - Erik The Conqueror also charts its own course on occasions or tries to obfuscate its lifts with minor changes (for example, the legendary axe climb of the original film is a ridiculous arrow climb here).

A fun, 90-minute non-stop action movie (with pretty decent dubbing on the English language version and glorious crisp imagery on the Arrow Video blu-ray), Erik The Conqueror is an enjoyable - very unhistorical and not wholly original - Viking yarn.

MUSICAL MONDAY: Dream A Little Dream Of Me (Li Jun Li)

Li Jun Li's cover version of Dream A Little Dream Of Me, from Spider-Noir, currently streaming on Prime Video.