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Mark Ayling

@markayling.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1.2K following 1.4K posts

Science fiction scribbling, horror loving, fantasy and crime consuming NHS herbivore bloke. Wrote a bit of film and book review guff over the years.

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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 50m
Finished the day off with this pre code melodrama about a bigamist, a blackmailer, a detective and a rich old sugar daddy. Not half bad.
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 4h
Another day, another Resident Evil movie… only this one is way better than all the others. Welcome to Raccoon City was good fun though, in its defence…
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 14h
Nothing like an early morning underwater creature feature to kickstart your day…
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 23h
Aka Jason Takes Vancouver, since most of it was shot there….
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 23h
Aka Carrie Vs Jason, which is nowhere near as much fun as that alternative title would suggest.
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Spent this birthday evening with Gothic horror favourite from my youth. The sets and costumes had me, the score, the hair, the rampant melodrama, the sneaky dark humour, all of it. Still plenty to like here…
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Happy birthday to me. Not sure what this evening’s film viewing will entail. Probably something messy. Or I might just have a read…
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vhsrevival.bsky.social @vhsrevival.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
#JohnMcNaughton's deeply disturbing docudrama Henry: Portrait of a serial killer was first screened #OTD Banned for 3 years until 1989, the #movie was critically reappraised by #RogerEbert Here's a deep dive & a look at the killer who inspired it 👇 vhsrevival.com/2022/05/06/s...
vhsrevival.com
Shaving the Bone: Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
In 1986, rookie director John McNaughton was approached by a Chicago home video executive eager to cash in on the low-budget slasher craze, expecting a money-spinning slice of exploitation for his …
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Plugging a massive Wes Craven shaped hole in my film viewing history with a home viewing of this rural slasher gem for #hooptober Ernest Borgnine stealing the show from under everyone…
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Meant to watch this however many years ago and finally watched it and having spent ten minutes picking my brain up off the floor I can honestly say, hand on heart ‘WTAF was that?’ Loved it though. #hooptober
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
If you are feeling tired of all the hard right wing anti this and that sentiment in the world today or if maybe you want to add a splash of colour to the weekend, why not indulge in a home screening of La Cage aux Folles… Tres bien indeed.
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Hilarious, full of warmth and smarts and invention and creativity. Way better than the last film I watched.
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Snips Movies @snipsmovies.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Great article by Megan Traynor just went up on the Let's Make Films Journal... www.letsmakefilms.co.uk/post/let-s-m...
letsmakefilms.co.uk
Let’s make films real again.
I was eight when Blockbuster was at its peak in 2004. I remember the smell of popcorn (not quite the kind you’d get at the cinema, but a cheap and cheerful bagged alternative) just as vividly as the b...
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Snips Movies @snipsmovies.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
It's Friday, so here are all the latest incomings at Snips Movies, on this weeks Inside The Video Store: youtu.be/eavshI8yRhA
youtu.be
Inside The Video Store: Episode 130 (Your weekly peek inside one of the last video stores in the UK)
YouTube video by Snips Movies
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vhsrevival.bsky.social @vhsrevival.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Is it a bird? Is it a Plane? Not in the cheapjack world of #CharlesBand, but 1992's priceless direct-to-video B-#movie #Dollman is a real treat This is the 'man with no name' with one hell of a twist Read all about it 👇 #90s #90smovies vhsrevival.com/2020/05/02/d...
vhsrevival.com
Dollman (1991)
Is it a bird? It couldn’t be a plane; it’s way too small. Though it did travel from another galaxy. Perhaps it’s an alien, the kind of terrifying practical effects creation that w…
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vhsrevival.bsky.social @vhsrevival.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Finally set up an Instagram account If you're a regular reader of @VHSRevival (or not), you can follow me here for more content 👇 It would be very much appreciated 😉 👍 #movies #moviereview #essays #80s #90s #horror #vhs www.instagram.com/vhsrevival_r...
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
This was something I watched.
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Currently avoiding my #hooptober commitments…
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A spiralling, alcoholic, morally bankrupt, violent, bleak and depressing nightmare of a road movie… Warren Oates is great though…
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I do like a good Gough ic…
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vhsrevival.bsky.social @vhsrevival.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Every #80s action fan loves #Commando, #Predator, #TheTerminator, but few still talk about #WalterHill's odd couple cop #thriller #RedHeat, starring #Arnie & #JimBelushi Is there a reason for that? @VHSRevival investigates 👇 #movies #80smovies #film vhsrevival.com/2023/06/21/c...
vhsrevival.com
Cops Are Cops All Over the World: Walter Hill’s Red Heat
Back in 1988, Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn’t only the premier action star in Hollywood, he was one of the biggest superstars in the entire world. Success came naturally to the industry’s …
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
A recent folk horror double bill… one of these films contains a strange imp like creature puking green milk and suckling on leg nipples. The other doesn’t…
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vhsrevival.bsky.social @vhsrevival.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
For my third new article this week I revisit Shane Meadows' brilliant, devastating revenge thriller-come-#slasher #DeadMansShoes If ever there was a #movie that's criminally underseen, this is it 👇 #horror #movies vhsrevival.com/2026/09/18/t...
vhsrevival.com
The Beast in Me: Dead Man’s Shoes is a Raw, Uncompromising Classic
Shane Meadows is one of the most neglected filmmakers on the planet. That’s because his movies inhabit a very distinct, everyday underbelly of Great Britain, one that rarely makes it to the s…
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vhsrevival.bsky.social @vhsrevival.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
It's been a while since I posted a new article, but here's one on the surprisingly progressive #VideoNasty Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker aka Night Warning, which features a knockout performance from the brilliant Susan Tyrrell 👇 #horror #slashers #80s vhsrevival.com/2026/09/15/b...
vhsrevival.com
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1981)
Poor Billy Lynch. If Norma Bates had in fact been an oppressive, knife-wielding killer, rather than the oedipal victim of son Norman’s lurid, bloodthirsty fantasies, her name would have been …
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vhsrevival.bsky.social @vhsrevival.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I'm on a bit of a roll so after a long absence I decided to write two new articles in two days. Here is my final entry in the #Fridaythe13th series, the anemic, thoroughly misleading #JasonTakesManhattan 👇 #horror #slasher #80s #movies #horrormovies vhsrevival.com/2026/09/16/n...
vhsrevival.com
New York, We Hardly Knew Ye: Jason Takes Manhattan
By 1989, horror fans, and even Friday the 13th fanatics, were becoming a little weary with Paramount’s most dependable, low-risk franchise. After hijacking the zeitgeist with 1980’s com…
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Snips Movies @snipsmovies.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Friday! youtu.be/fJYQEtNee84
youtu.be
Inside The Video Store: Episode 129 (Your weekly peek inside one of the last video stores in the UK)
YouTube video by Snips Movies
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Matty Budrewicz @mattybudrewicz.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
New Schlock Pit review! 🚨 And it’s me, swinging the bat for a much maligned horror anthology that I’ve always really liked: AMUSEMENT (2008) 🔗 theschlockpit.com/2026/09/16/a...
theschlockpit.com
Amusement (2008): Muhahaha!
Matty gives a lil’ sugar to an unfairly maligned horror anthology from the golden age of the DVD premiere.
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Having mentioned Psycho on 4k just want to say…Psycho on 4k. Masterful.
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Friday’s folksy frightener, after watching Psycho on 4k earlier was this relatively short effort. Features a creepy witch with bluish skin riding a coffin through the air like an undead sky surfer and the maddest final five or ten minutes I’ve seen in quite some time.
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Yes, it’s a slasher game changing classic. That said… I still can’t figure out how Nancy was able to rig up all those booby traps in under twenty minutes and have a chat to her mum before going to sleep and capturing Krueger. Takes me half an hour just to find my tools!
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Right then… here we go. Sort of #hooptober ing if I can manage it… not got my full list together but this and last night’s viewing will feature. Maybe.
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Makes The Witchfinder General look like an episode of The Tweenies… a must see.
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Having filled my boots up with hauntological maritime folksy wyrdness this evening I am now off to crack open a jar of Ovaltine… highly recommended. Both the film, and the Ovaltine…
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More Movies @moremovies.co.uk · 13/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Jim Carrey as Lloyd Christmas: I Like It A Lot
Alt: Jim Carrey as Lloyd Christmas: I Like It A Lot
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Enjoyable, if a bit messy.
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Screwball noir? Why yes, I think I will thanks.
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The Legacy Of M @thelegacyofm.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xznf... Can't go wrong with some Alice Cooper.
youtube.com
Alice Cooper - He's Back (The Man Behind The Mask) (Movie Mix) (1986)
YouTube video by AORMelodic Rock and More
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Abandoning anything remotely like seriousness, this here Jason frolic was a bit of a tonic this evening…
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vhsrevival.bsky.social @vhsrevival.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
#PaulThomasAnderson’s dazzling depiction of the #porn industry’s golden age #BoogieNights screened at TIFF #OTD, riding an inspired line between balls-out comedy & downright despair @VHSRevival dives into one of the greatest #movies of the #90s 👇 #film vhsrevival.com/2021/12/26/t...
vhsrevival.com
The Seventies Unzipped: Dirk Diggler Shoots for the Stars in Boogie Nights
They say everyone has a special talent. Some are artistic. Others are practical or good with their hands. Many are born athletes, possessed by the kind of unwavering ambition that’s shared by…
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vhsrevival.bsky.social @vhsrevival.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Meta #Scream blueprint #WesCraven's #NewNightmare screened at #TIFF #OTD After years of second-rate sequels, Craven returned as director & quietly freshened the fold in a way that mainstream fans weren't quite ready for @VHSRevival investigates vhsrevival.com/2019/03/07/h...
vhsrevival.com
He’s Coming For You: New Nightmare’s Meta Experiment
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare is one of those movies that was simply lost on people. This was especially true for those who had caught Freddy fever during the character’s late 80s pomp, ma…
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Needed a bit of a re-set, and so no slashy-slashy teenaged terrors tonight thank you very much. Tonight, we watch Ernst Lubitsch’s subtly subversive put down of unbridled capitalism dressed as Xmas romantic comedy… The Shop Around the Corner.
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Pretty bland this one, but the scene with the redneck racing round on a bike shrieking wildly did briefly feel kind of relevant…
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Sunny Buns @sunnybuns.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
A fine, fine soundtrack
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More Movies @moremovies.co.uk · 07/09/2026
Well said! Love Mars Attacks! 🎬
static.klipy.com
Tom Jones Sings as Mars Attacks Aliens Dance
Alt: Tom Jones Sings as Mars Attacks Aliens Dance
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Brian 🇨🇦 Your Friendly Neighborhood Canadian @heslimedme.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Agree.
static.klipy.com
Mars Attacks! Aliens Scene
ALT: Mars Attacks! Aliens Scene
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
As killer bot movies go, this one is pretty way out there…
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Mars Attacks. In 4k. All I have to say about that really is Ack Ack Ack. Also, the why can’t we all just get along speech. As relevant now as it ever was and as poignant in its own unique way as any grandstanding cinematic oratory. Enjoy.
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The mythical story of a man, a horse, a dog, a bunch of swine, and the worst commute home in employee history… Loved it. #theodyssey
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Mark Ayling @markayling.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Had my doubts about this as I have a lot of comic book stuff lately but have to say, enjoying no it immensely.
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Snips Movies @snipsmovies.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
There's an absence of new movies on Inside The Video Store this week, so to pad out the already excessive running time, I took a little walk around the store... youtu.be/_HenqitCfCE
youtu.be
Inside The Video Store: Episode 127 (A Leisurely Walk Around the Video Store)
YouTube video by Snips Movies
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