The Herald - The Herald Magazine
THIS WEEK’S BEST FILMS
save his best friend from annihilation.
February (2015) (Film4, 12.15am) .
Kiernan Shipka and Lucy Boynton star in this horror as two boardingschool students whose parents mysteriously fail to pick them up for the winter break. As the girls rattle around in the isolated building, they experience a series of increasingly creepy events. Some horror buffs may wish this film (which is also know as The Blackcoat’s Daughter) had concentrated slightly less on creating an air of slow-burning dread and more on the plot, but it’s undoubtedly atmospheric and the three talented young leads add to the tension.
WEDNESDAY The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) (ITV4, 9pm)
Missouri farmer Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood, who also directs) vows revenge after his family is slaughtered by maverick soldiers during the American Civil War. While tracking down those responsible, he becomes an outlaw, much-feared by those who’ve heard of his ruthless ways. As time passes and the conflict ends, Josey becomes a wanted man, but despite his efforts to remain a loner, he unwittingly creates a new family from a bunch of disenfranchised souls.
28 Days Later (2002) (Paramount Network, 10pm)
After monkeys carrying a deadly contagion are released by animalrights activists, almost the entire British population is transformed into slavering, blood-spewing zombies. A fateful 28 days after the initial outbreak, coma patient Jim (Cillian Murphy) awakes in a London hospital to find a city deserted of all human life. He later
meets two uninfected survivors, Mark (Noah Huntley) and Selena (Naomie Harris), who try to guide him to safety. Pulling few punches in terms of violence, audiences of a nervous disposition will find some scenes hard to stomach.
THURSDAY King Kong (1933) (BBC2, 2.55pm)
A film producer and his crew visit a remote island where they encounter a 50ft ape which takes a shine to their leading lady - but taking the creature back to America turns out
to be a bad idea. Original scream queen Fay Wray gives a memorable performance as the object of Kong’s affections, while Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot also star in this unmissable classic monster movie, most famous for the memorable final stand atop the Empire State Building. Beetlejuice (1988) (5STAR, 8pm)
After Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara Maitland (Geena Davis) are killed in a car crash, they discover they will be stuck haunting their beloved home for the next 125 years. That wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the fact their house has been purchased by an obnoxious real-estate developer (Jeffrey Jones), his sculptor wife (Catherine O’Hara) and goth daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder in a star-making performance). When the Maitlands fail to scare the interlopers away, they turn to ‘bio-exorcist’ Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton) for help.
FRIDAY World War Z (2013) (Film4, 9pm)
Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) is a retired United Nations investigator who devotes his time to his wife Karin (Mireille Enos) and daughters. During a drive through Philadelphia, the Lanes witness the spread of a disease, which transforms people into merciless predators with a single bite. Gerry’s old boss at the UN, Thierry Umutoni (Fana Mokoena), guarantees Karin, Constance and Rachel safe passage on an aircraft carrier if Gerry agrees to travel behind enemy lines to discover the source of the outbreak.
Interview with the Vampire (1994) (Paramount Network, 9pm)
Neil Jordan’s sumptuous drama begins as enigmatic Louis (Brad Pitt) tells modern-day reporter Daniel (Christian Slater) about his life. He reveals how, as an 18thcentury plantation owner, he fell under the spell of sensual and selfish bloodsucker Lestat (Tom Cruise). Together, they lorded it over their human prey, picking up young child Claudia (the extraordinary Kirsten Dunst) and turning her into one of their kind too. However, as the decades passed, Louis grew weary of their half-life, and tried to escape Lestat - with tragic consequences.