Slomatics:Canyons.

While not quite so mortally bombastic and evilly primordial as Conan, deeply immersive emerald isle riff shamans Slomatics heftily deliver some expansively heavy, trance-like doom-shapes. Fungoid, smotheringly dense guitars exude a darkly resinous tone, like the slowly coagulating gore accumulating thickly at the monstrous, blood-glutted mouth of a slaughterhouse drain.

 Head Hunter (1988) – Francis Schaeffer.

A gruesome, Nigerian-borne, head-loppingly evil entity is running bloodily amok in Miami, and it is down to distractingly delicious cop Kay Lenz and her permanently angsty, pleasingly moustachioed partner Wayne Crawford to arrest its grisly shenanigans. Instant forgotten 80s cult classic, with a truly mental chainsaw chooglin' finale NO ONE ever mentions!!!!! While there is argument suggesting Head Hunter acts as a close rival to fellow voodoo slasher 'The First Power', there can be absolutely no doubt as to the brilliance of Kay Lenz's sublime acting performance! My appreciation of Schaeffer's enterprising shocker is somewhat heightened due to Wayne Crawford's deliciously delivered line 'All right, Ooga Booga, let's dance!!!!!.

 Urbania (2000) - Jon Shear.

'Heard any good stories lately?

A young gay man's (Dan Futterman) lover is brutally murdered, leading him on a boozily self-destructive odyssey through the seamier vectors of NY night life. I hadn't seen this exceptionally fine drama since its original release date, and, happily, Urbania has lost little of its dazzling intensity. The raven dark, hugely compelling narrative is both emotionally wrenching, and frequently very bloody funny indeed, blessed with a fascinatingly charged performance by Dan Futterman. I have a tremendous affinity for cinema based on plays, since they quite often display a deliciously acidic wit, and Urbania's expressly lively text doesn't disappoint,'I wouldn't kick him out of my ass!' being one of my favourites!

 Bunman: The Untold Story (1993) – Herman Yau.

Herman Yau's spectacularly mean-spirited Cat III splatter sensation is one of the few unrepentantly depraved examples of extreme gore that remains a gourmet gut-spiller! Featuring Hong Kong's most notorious meat-maker, Anthony Wong's ferocious charisma makes his bun-making maniac horribly compelling! The bespectacled boogeyman's depravity is legendary, his absolute contempt for human life greatly heightens the ghoulish intensity of these visceral annihilations. Arguably still one of the most unhinged serial killer shockers ever produced, this deliciously demented HK classic is wholly deserving of its revered status, especially since The Untold Story gorily expresses a shockingly explicit nihilism few horror films can match! You just gotta love any skeevey chunkblower wherein a blazingly bonkers, boggle-eyed misfit callously chops up tiny tots, turning them into snackable cannibal treats! The pristine-looking 88 Blu-ray of 'The Untold Story' is a must-have for avid gore-hounds that have long esteemed this scintillatingly savage 90s bloodbath.

 Demonia (1990) – Lucio Fulci.

Archaeologists excavating Greek ruins in Sicily fatefully disturbs the vengeful spirit of a demonically drooling nun in Fulci's gleefully gory gothic chiller Demonia. The palpable lack of budget lessens the film's overall efficacy, but there are a number of bravura set-pieces that harken to the iconic maestro's gory days! The pristine HD edition is a mixed bag, while manifestly an improvement over the VHS/DVD, the unflinching clarity does, sadly, heighten the film's occasional lapses of finesse, that being said, in truth, even a lesser, latter-day Fulci frequently provides far more entertainment than the blandly recycled horror bilge of today. Never a great favourite of mine, but the historical locations are appealing, its always a treat seeing Fulci the actor, and the gruesome meat locker slaying delivers some vintage Fulci nastiness!!!

 Killing (2018) – Shinya Tsukamoto.

I'm a life-long admirer of inventive iconoclast Shinya Tsukamoto and, for me, his spare, brutalist, fascinatingly contemplative take on the samurai genre is one of his very best. As always, the film-making chops are exemplary, but I must applaud both the dynamic performances which are truly mesmerising, and the utterly fantastic score by the greatly missed sonic genius Chu Ishikawa.

 By a man's face you shall know him. (1966) – Tai Kato.

I have to hand it to Radiance, since they keep on putting out exemplary titles that I haven't seen before, that almost invariably become firm favourites. I was hugely impressed by Tai Kato's film-making prowess, a gripping narrative, well told, and the vibrant performances are no less astonishing.