The FIRST House on the Left - Review of "The Virgin Spring"

Plot:

A young Christian girl, Karin (Birgitta Pettersson) embarks on a journey to take the candles to the local church - a task only befitting a virgin of pure spirit. She is accompanied for part of the journey by her pregnant foster sister, Ingeri (Gunnel Lindblom) who secretly worships the Norse god Odin and has jealously wished a curse on Karin. On the journey the two part company and Ingari encounters a one-eyed man who causes her to flee in terror. Meanwhile Karin encounters two shepherds and a boy. What follows is a cycle of vicious violence and retribution that will leave Karin's distraught father (played by Max Von Sydow) praying for redemption...

Review:

I feel I must apologise first for any spoilers I might inadvertently blurt out in my review/examination of this classic picture. However, in my humble defence this is a film based on a traditional moral tale and revealing the beginning middle and end is about as harmful as telling you the full plot of Cinderella before you see Disney's interpretation. This is really a film about how the story is portrayed, interpreted and executed than the actual plot.

Debunked! (Book Review)

Image by rexb via Flickr

Pseudoscience, conspiracy theories and superstition hits the general public at many different levels. However, despite a growing amount of excellent books used to argue the case for rationalism, logic and freethinking, they are easily outnumbered in the populist section of any bookstore or newsagent. So although the Michael Shermers, James Randis and David Aaronovitches of this world might be just about holding their own with middlebrow readerships and above, it is unlikely that your average reader of “Nuts” or “Heat” is going to be interested in their work. Even “Counterknowledge” by Damien Thompson and “How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World” by Francis Wheen seems more like short intellectual distraction than books intended for a typical undemanding readership. It is here where Richard Roeper truly triumphs with “Debunked”.