Good, contemporary horror films are scarce. Only a handful of exceptions avoid the bin containing wasted efforts; those horrors that are too often comprised of tired clichés and cheap, ineffective scare tactics, denying them any chance of lingering in the memory and opening the doorway for a slew of pointless sequels of varying crassness. It’s easier to search for old classics from the 70s/80s for worthy genre entries. Ones that come to mind are The Thing, The Omen, The Wicker Man, Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, plus others, for their ability to be equally shocking, subversive and entertaining. Perhaps a less viewed horror – yet with a well-known title – is ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ (1978 remake), a profoundly disturbing tale of alien possession that knows how to scare its audience without trying too hard.

I’d be hard-pressed to deny that Portsmouth is not one of the finest cities out there. Much of it is cluttered, noisy and unappealing, whether for business or living. That’s my limited experience, at least, on the Portsmouth environment. It’s no surprise that I confess I was not part of the Google Maps street view capture mission that began years ago – driving around every road the city has to offer with photography equipment in tow – so any marginalised vestiges of hope hidden away maybe counter my demeaning comments.

Taken is one of the rare films to receive the prestigious 10/10 from me. To put that in perspective, that’s 1% of everything I’ve ever seen. (Yes, it’s sad that I know that.) Given what Taken essentially is when examined, it would seem like an anomaly in my ratings; it doesn’t feature epic carnage like Mad Max, or contain the narrative scope and depth of The Godfather, nor the extraordinarily filmed visual thrills of Gravity. But I’ll explain why it’s one of my favourite films and how it earned that often elusive perfect score.

Through familiar territory I’ll make anchor on discovered shores, set sail through uncharted water and pinpoint locations of interest worth noting, or sink in an incendiary disaster for provoking something unconquerable…

Anyway, enough of the semantic field of seafaring… for now. But you get the point, I hope.

So, an introduction to my blog, its creation and purpose; what to expect and what not to.

I’m currently studying Film Industry and Creative Writing at Portsmouth University – Year 1. One of many units that comprise the course is Professional Writing, and with that comes a blogging task. I’ve been contemplating creating one for a while, but finally something forced my lazy hand. No excuses now. Regular blogging commences. All aboard!

‘The SS Criticism.’ Some wordplay using my initials, deriving from old ship names, but also as a fan of Steampunk, I’ve seen Steam Ship utilise the ‘SS’ initials, so couldn’t resist that. Topics to expect will be my general grievances about everyday annoyances. I’ll vaguely touch upon politics, but I’ll resist a nosedive into all that crap. And when I do inevitably link in modern politics, it’ll be diluted; there’ll be no politician-esque arguments or terminology, just surface level detail that befits a public perception of something. I don’t follow politics closely, but I can still express a moan or vent a common frustration, right?

Finally, expect full-length film reviews on a weekly basis. I watch too many films to review each and every one, but I’ll pick the ones I feel I have something substantial to talk about (positive or negative).

Courtesy of WordPress, the quote and picture below were provided for me as part of a beginners template. Since it smartly (or coincidentally) tapped into the theme I was aiming for, I’ll keep it.

Thanks for reading.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton