Movie reviews of Eric Hillis

Carry-On ticks all the boxes of a Die Hard clone, but there's one key element that's disappointingly missing - the asshole. Review

What ensues is a cross between a 1930s screwball comedy and a "one crazy night" narrative in the manner of the Safdie brothers. Review

Much like the enigmatic young object of Lee's obsession, you may find Queer entrancing to gaze at, but you'll be frustrated by its emotional distance. Review

Though Hitchcock would really become the filmmaker we associate with his name in the sound era, there's enough in The Manxman to make you wonder what he might have delivered had the silent era carried on a little longer, as it clearly demonstrates that he had mastered the medium by that point. Review

Of course, even a bad Hitchcock movie has its moments of visual invention. Review

The cast seem to be having a blast here, with Blanchett an unsurprising standout, but after a while it becomes less fun for the audience as the movie struggles to make hay with its potentially great scenario. Review

The young cast members seem confused regarding what tone they're expected to register, and so their performances all come off as flat and monotone. Review

Though rare, there are moments where Hitchcock works his magic here. Review

It's a shame Kerr deploys her supporting characters largely as human props, as in Beth, Ben and Stacy she has created three of the most human and relatable leads you could hope to find. Review

The Girl with the Needle highlights how a society shifting through the rubble of a war allows evil to go unnoticed. Review

In a year that's given us a host of great performances from women in horror, Marks is up there with the best. Review

If the lack of nuance keeps us from becoming fully engaged with the overall narrative, Hitchcock's skill in crafting individual sequences means there is plenty to keep us gripped in The Ring. Review

As you would expect, Dupieux has once again come up with an arresting premise, but the French auteur takes what might have been a winning formula for a comedy of manners and derails it with the sort of meta elements that no longer feel fresh in 2024. Review

Between Bouzerau's penetrative analysis and Mitchell's vocal cheerleading, Becoming Hitchcock may well have you programming your own Hitchcock season when the credits roll. Review

This lack of passion in the storytelling jars with the soapiness of the plot. For all its sombre seriousness, Conclave is a very silly movie, and it's to its detriment that it refuses to accept that it's really just Dallas in the Vatican with JR (the traditionalists) battling Bobby (the liberals) over who gets to inherit Southfork. Review

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl marks the acting debut of Zambian-British model Chardy, who comes out of the gate with one of the year's most engaging performances. Review

With The Man in the White Van Skeels has created less a love letter to '70s American horror cinema, more a heavy breathing phone call that will unnerve you in how it plays out its terror in an everyday setting. Review

And yet for all its issues, Blitz is never dull. Review

For all Van Dien's gamey performance, Ella just isn't a compelling protagonist, and you might find yourself wishing the film had rejected its Young Adult trappings in favour of something darker ala Species or Cronenberg's Rabid. If you have pangs for a gripping sci-fi thriller, you won't get your fix here. Review

Even in the early scenes before Eric has conceived of his film, it often feels like we're watching the actors rather than their characters, and there are moments where their stifled smirks betray a sense that it's just two bored creative people having a lark. Review

Bustamente is keen to point the finger of blame at the entire adult world that has failed girls like Rita, for whom there is sadly no fairy-tale ending. Review

Your Monster brushes up against some uncomfortable truths regarding relationships, but it ultimately sweeps them aside for a broadly played slay queen fantasy. Review

It lacks awe-inspiring visuals, a commanding central performance, entertaining villains and a narrative we can get behind from the start. Like the real life Coliseum, it's impressive that it got made, but Gladiator II leaves us dreaming about the past. Review

A small miracle of a film, Colin Hickey's intensely personal Perennial Light, with its elegiac musings on existence, death and time, provides a profound cinematic experience. Review