PaulLondon

Some things become 'cult' items because they really are quirky, fascinating one offs. Case in point was the brilliant 60s TV series The Prisoner which took the very popular spy genre of the time and threw it into a psychedelic whirlpool of eccentricity. The result is delirious! A gloriously of its time piece of pop art TV. And then there's the remake. Jim Cavaziel said that he didn't watch the original prior to shooting. Maybe he should have done and then he could have seen what a pigs ear all concerned were making with this banal TV by numbers dirge. Where the original was playful, occasionally silly and constantly creative; this feels like TV by committee. Dull and misguided. Whatever next? A remake of the Wicker Man? Oh......

Ridley's first film in way too many years is a dark urban fairytale about a young photographer who encounters murderous demons on the streets of London. Firstly, I have to admit to being a huge fan of Ridley's work and The Reflecting Skin is in my personal Top 10 movies of all time, so I have to say I loved this genre-playing horror film.

Heartless is, to my mind, Ridley's most conventional film to date as it is the first truly genre-based film he has made, but, underneath the conventions of the horror film we find his usual philosophical musings on death, beauty, existentialism, good and evil, chaos and the individual's struggle to make sense of the world.

Heartless is a step towards the mainstream for Ridley and that may well be its commercial undoing; too "mainstream" genre for the art-house crowd, too cerebral for the thrill loving multiplex gore-hound.

Ultimately, this is a serious film, a dark and often beautiful film that haunts the mind after viewing and already demands a second viewing of me to unravel some of its dark mysteries. Intelligent, moving, sometimes shocking and occasionally funny this is an engrossing and enjoyable piece of work that gives food for thought as well as an entertaining ghost train of a ride. Approach this one with an open mind and you will be rewarded with a strong contemporary horror film with some real depth and intelligence.

Just when you get sick of the barrage of reality TV and the dispiritingly banal shows that seem to make up the majority of TV it comes as a real pleasure to come across a TV drama like this. A deceptively straight-forward account of the affair between Tony Hancock and Joan Le Mesurier (wife of the wonderful John) the film follows their relationship from its tentative beginnings through the problems with Hancock's chronic alcoholism, and its devastating impact on both their lives, to the inevitable ending. This is a well written piece that rarely puts a foot wrong but the real heart and soul of the film are the outstanding performances from Stott and Peake who are both exceptional. Indeed, both their performances deserve to get noticed come the next BAFTA awards.