Contributions from Anton Bitel | Little White Lies

Contributor Anton Bitel

Two people embracing passionately whilst wearing red coats in a dimly lit room.
Home Ents

Discover the final horror from one of the genre’s unsung greats

by Anton Bitel

José Ramón Larraz’s slasher swansong, Deadly Manor, features some playfully misdirection and an insane ending.
Blue cartoon hedgehog character holding a handheld mirror, surrounded by colourful rubber band balls.
Review

Sonic the Hedgehog

by Anton Bitel

A scene-stealing Jim Carrey just about sustains this fast, fun and forgettable video game crossover.

3
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
3
In Retrospect
Two people, a man and a woman, in a warehouse holding a gun.
Review

First Love

by Anton Bitel

A young romance blooms one wild night in Tokyo in director Takashi Miike’s high-energy caper.

3
Anticipation
4
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
Two young males, one with short dark hair and the other with longer hair, face each other intently with serious expressions against a blue background.
Review

Daniel Isn’t Real

by Anton Bitel

A traumatised man summons his former imaginary friend in Adam Egypt Mortimer’s knotty psychological thriller.

3
Anticipation
5
Enjoyment
5
In Retrospect
Close-up of a woman's face, mouth open in a scream, with red paint or blood splattered across her features. Dramatic expression of fear or horror, amid a blurred, stormy background.
Home Ents

Discover this classic ’80s slasher with a contemporary twist

by Anton Bitel

José Ramón Larraz’s Edge of the Axe buries several over-used tropes of the genre.
A woman with blond, shaggy hair wearing a burgundy jumper, standing in a misty, forested landscape with a body of water in the background.
Review

The Turning

by Anton Bitel

Floria Sigismondi’s long-delayed update of ​‘The Turn of the Screw’ finally surfaces – was the wait worth it?

2
Anticipation
3
Enjoyment
4
In Retrospect
A close-up portrait of a blonde woman with intense gaze against a dark background.
Home Ents

Discover the ocular nightmare of this cult Lucio Fulci horror

by Anton Bitel

The visionary Italian director’s 1981 film The Beyond remains one of his most unnerving, transgressive works.
Close-up of a weathered, middle-aged man with glowing yellow eyes in a dark setting.
Home Ents

Why The Exorcist III remains a fascinating, flawed horror sequel

by Anton Bitel

A sense of creative conflict infuses William Peter Blatty’s spiritual follow-up to William Friedkin’s 1973 classic.
A woman with curly blond hair wearing a yellow top standing in a room with shelves and jars in the background.
Home Ents

Revisiting Paul Verhoeven’s sexually explicit answer to Grease

by Anton Bitel

The 1980 coming-of-ager Spetters is one of the Dutch master’s most uncompromising and controversial works.
An image of a close-up of a person's face with the text "HITCH HIKE TO HELL" written across their forehead in red lettering.
Home Ents

Discover the sleazy cautionary tale of this hitchhiking thriller

by Anton Bitel

Irvin Berwick’s cult 1983 film Hitch Hike to Hell is an American nightmare writ large.