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Warning: contains spoilers for Luther Series 5.

There are many things that set Luther apart from the plethora of UK prime-time detective shows, but two things, in particular, stand out: shock value, and its willingness to embrace proper horror.

While Luther’s series arcs—his run-ins with other police departments, his bitter feud with gangster George Cornelius (Patrick Malahide), and his twisted relationship with nemesis Alice (Ruth Wilson), to name a few—offer a deep dive into the character and psyche of Idris Elba’s antiheroic cop, it’s the killer-of-the-week plots that really up the fear factor.

Take series two’s Cameron Pell (Lee Ingleby), for example: a sadistic art student turned serial killer who wears a Mr Punch puppet mask and terrorises the streets of London with his trusty machete in the vein of notorious Victorian bogeyman, Spring-Heeled Jack. Or series three baddie Paul Ellis (Kevin Fuller), a fetishistic...

Prince William and Kate Middleton made their first official visit to Wales with their newly minted titles. On Tuesday, the Prince and Princess of Wales held a series of engagements that saw them meeting with people in the community as well as learning about and visiting local charitable organizations.

The trip also marked the end of the official royal mourning period — following the death of Queen Elizabeth II. William, 40, wore a smart blue suit for the occasion, while Kate, 40, wore a red coat over an all-black shirt-and-pants ensemble.

Photo: Samir Hussein/WireImage

The prince and princess were greeted by well-wishers as they arrived in Anglesey, where they visited the Rnli Holyhead Lifeboat Station. William and Kate then showed up at Swansea, where they made a stop at St. Thomas Church, which was redeveloped and has become a food bank facility and a café for the unhoused.

Photo: Paul Ellis – Wpa...

The tried and true way to break viewers’ hearts is to make them care deeply. “Aftershock” wastes no time in doing just that. Filmmaking duo Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee begin their emotionally resonant, statistically chilling documentary about the dramatically increased numbers of maternal death and morbidity among Black women in the U.S. with montages of two lives. Shamony Gibson and Amber Rose Isaac were two young, healthy women who went to hospitals to have their babies and died. Starting with life-affirming scenes of the two vibrant, engaging young women is a decidedly “say her name” salvo.

Who was lost and who they left behind is one of the most powerful ways for storytellers to connect us to tragedies that result from systemic failures. “Aftershock” is the word Shamony’s mother, Shawnee Benton Gibson, used to describe what her feelings were after the unexpected death of her daughter.

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“Exploitation At Its Wor—ER, Finest!”

By Raymond Benson

There have always been what have been termed in the motion picture industry “exploitation films,” even back in the silent days. The late 1930s and much of the 1940s, however, saw a deluge of cheap, not-even-“B” pictures made, usually independently of Hollywood and marketed in guerilla fashion as “educational” adult fare. You know the type. Reefer Madness. Child Bride. Mom and Dad.

Dwain Esper was one of the most notorious directors who made these types of pictures in the 1930s. He was assuredly the Ed Wood of that decade. He purposely chose sensational subjects—drug use, sexuality—and produced them independently of Hollywood. The Production Code was in full force during most of his working years, so distribution had to be done in creative ways—renting theaters and advertising locally that the films...