Cast: Domhnall Gleeson, Ruth Wilson, Will Poulter, Liv Hill, Harry Hadden-Paton, Anna Madeley, Oliver Zetterstrom, Kathryn O’Reilly, Kate Phillips, Nicholas Burns, Josh Dylan, and Charlotte Rampling
Domhnall Gleeson: Peter Rabbit, Goodbye Christopher Robin, Mother!, Star Wars – The Last Jedi, American Made, The Revenant, Star Wars – The Force Awakens, Brooklyn, Ex-Machina, Frank, Calvary, About Time, Anna Karenina (2012), Dredd, Shadow Dancer, True Grit (2011), Never Let Me Go, Harry Potter 8: The Deathly Hallows 2, Harry Potter 7 – The Deathly Hallows 1, Perrier’s Bounty, Boys Eats Girl
Will Poulter: Midsommar, Maze Runner 3 – The Death Cure, Detroit, War Machine, The Revenant, Kids In Love, Maze Runner, Plastic, We’re The Millers, Wild Bill (2012), The Chronicles Of Narnia – Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, Son of Rambow
Harry Hadden-Paton: The Crown (TV), Downton Abbey (TV), Deep Blue Sea (2011), Ma Vie en Rose
Charlotte Rampling: Red Sparrow, The Sense of an Ending, Assassin’s Creed, The Forbidden Room, 45 Years, Broadchurch (TV), London Spy (TV), Dexter (TV), Night Train To Lisbon, The Sea, Nymphomaniac, Eye of the Storm, The Invisible Woman, I, Anna, Cleanskin, Melancholia, Never Let Me Go, Streetdance 3D, The Duchess, Babylon AD, Basic Instinct 2, Swimming Pool, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, Spy Game, Under The Sand, The Wings Of The Dove, Paris By Night, DOA (1987), Angel Heart, Max Mon Amour, The Verdict, Stardust Memories, Orca, Sherlock Holmes in New York (TV), Jackpot, Farewell My Lovely, Caravan to Vaccares, The Night Porter, Zardoz, Henry VIII and His Six Wives, Vanishing Point, Asylum, The Damned, Georgy Girl
Cast: Colin Holt, Sarah John, Jamie Knox, Doug Cooper, Jason Gregg, Ed Zephyr, Aaron Jeffcoate, Harriet Rees, Ryan Michaels, Joseph Blunt, Felicity Boylett, Jo Hart, and William Wolfe Hogan with Jared Morgan, Megan Lockhurst and Lee Bane
Director: Piotr Szkopiak (Doctors (TV) / Eastenders (TV) / Emmerdale (TV) / Coronation Street (TV))
Cast: Alex Pettyfer, Talulah Riley, Will Thorp, Robert Wieckiewicz, Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Gwilym Lee, Piotr Stramovski, Sam Marks, Anita Carey, Ian Midlane, Holly Aston, Bill Fellows, David Sterne, Adam Lawrence, Chris Walker, Charles De’Ath, and Michael Byrne with Luke de Woolfson, Oliver Ford Davies (voice) and Michael Gambon
Alex Pettyfer: Elvis & Nixon, Endless Love (2014), The Butler, Magic Mike, In Time, Beastly, I Am Number Four, Tormented, Wild Child, Alex Rider – Stormbreaker
Chris Walker: Doctors (TV), Red Riding (TV), The Bill (TV), Coronation Street (TV), Merseybeat (TV), Playing the Field (TV), The King is Alive, When Saturday Comes, Our Friends in the North (TV), Funny Man, Chernobyl – The Final Warning, The Manageress (TV)
Charles De’Ath: WPC56 (TV), The Last Detective (TV), Revenger’s Tragedy, Greenfingers, G:MT – Greenwich Mean Time, Feast of July, ID
Michael Byrne: Cuffs (TV), Mortdecai, Diana, Quartet, Outpost 2 – Black Sun, Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows – part 1, Blood – The Last Vampire, Beyond The Sea, Gangs Of New York, Apt Pupil, The Sum Of All Fears, Proof Of Life, Battlefield Earth, James Bond – Tomorrow Never Dies, Braveheart, Nostradamus (1994), Buster, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, Force 10 From Navarone, The Eagle Has Landed
Oliver Ford Davies: Christopher Robin, The Deep Blue Sea (2011), Heidi (2005), Star Wars – Revenge Of The Sith, Star Wars – Attack Of The Clones, The Mother, Johnny English, Star Wars – The Phantom Menace, An Ideal Husband, Blow Dry, Titanic Town, Mrs Dalloway, Mrs Brown
Michael Gambon:Johnny English 3 – Reborn, King of Thieves, Victoria and Abdul, Paddington 2 (voice), Kingsman 2, Mad To Be Normal, Viceroy’s House, Dad’s Army (2016), Paddington (voice), Fortitude (TV), Quartet, The King’s Speech, St, Harry Potter – parts 3-8, The Book Of Eli, Fantastic Mr Fox (voice), Brideshead Revisited (2008), The Good Night, The Good Shepherd, The Omen (2006), The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Layer Cake, Sky Captain and The World Of Tomorrow, Sylvia, Open Range, The Actors, Ali G In Da House, Charlotte Gray, Gosford Park, High Heels and Low Lifes, Sleepy Hollow, The insider, Plunkett & Macleane, Dancing at Lughnasa, The Gambler, Wings Of The Dove, Mary Reilly, The Innocent Sleep, Two Deaths, Nothing Personal, A Man Of No Importance, The Browning Version (1994), Toys, Mobsters, The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover, A Dry White Season, The Rachel Papers, Paris By Night, The Singing Detective (TV)
David Bradley: Await Further Instructions, Doctor Who (TV), Game of Thrones (TV), Prisoner’s Wives (TV), Broadchurch (TV), The World’s End, The Holding, Harry Potter 8 – The Death Hallows 2, Harry Potter 7 – The Deathly Hallows 1, Harry Potter 6 – The Half Blood Prince, Another Year, Harry Potter 5 – The Order of the Phoenix, Harry Brown, Harry Potter 4 – The Goblet of Fire, Exorcist – The Beginning, Harry Potter 3 – The Prisoner of Azkhaban, Nicholas Nickleby (2002), Harry Potter 2 – The Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone, This Is Not a Love Song, Hot Fuzz, The King Is Alive, Tom’s Midnight Garden, Vanity Fair (TV), Our Mutual Friend (TV), Our Friends In The North (TV), Buddha of Surburbia (TV)
Cast: Gabriel Byrne, Sibylla Deen, Mark Addy, Jan Uddin, Reece Ritchie, Emily Atack, Danica Johnson, Sonia Kaur, Manzir Sehbai, Harvey Virdi, Neet Mohan, Aqib Khan, Amer Nazir, with Harish Patel and Nicholas Farrell with Gina McKee, Toyah Willcox and Harvey Keitel
Gabriel Byrne: Hereditary, Mad To Be Normal, Louder The Bombs, The 33, Vampire Academy, All Things To All Men, I Anna, In Treatment (TV), Jindabyne, Wah-Wah, Assault On Precinct 13 (2005), Ghost Ship, Spider, End Of Days, Stigmata, Enemy Of The State, The Man In The Iron Mask (1998), This Is The Sea, The End Of Violence, Smilla’s Feeling For Snow, Last Of The High Kings, Trigger Happy, Dead Man, The Usual Suspects, Little Women (1994), Trial By Jury, A Dangerous Woman, The Assassin, Into The West, Cool World, Miller’s Crossing, Diamond Skulls, Siesta, The Keep, Excalibur
Sibylla Deen: Home and Away (TV)
Mark Addy: Trollied (TV), Game of Thrones (TV), It’s a Wonderful Afterlife, Robin Hood (2010), Barney’s Version, Heartlands, The Time Machine, A Knight’s Tale, Down To Earth, The Flintstones 2 – Viva Rock Vegas The Last Yellow, Jack Frost, The Full Monty
Gina McKee: Phantom Thread, Hector, Line of Duty (TV), In The Loop, When Was The Last Time You Saw Your Father, Atonement, Scenes of a Sexual Nature, The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby, Mirrormask, The Forsyte Saga (TV), The Lost Prince, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, There’s Only One Jimmy Grimble, Wonderland (2000), Notting Hill, The Loss of Sexual Innocence, Croupier, Brass Eye (TV), Our Friends In The North (TV), Naked, Wilt, The Rachel Papers, The Lenny Henry Show (TV), The Lair of the White Worm
Toyah Willcox:Aaaaaaaah!, Secret Diary of a Call Girl (TV), Teletubbies (voice)(TV), The Most Fertile Man In Ireland, Julie & The Cadillacs, Anchoress, The Tempest, Quadrophenia, The Quatermass Conclusion, Jubilee
Harvey Keitel: The Irishman, Isle of Dogs (2018) (voice), Youth (2016), The Ridiculous 6, By The Gun, Rio I Love You, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Congress, Moonrise Kingdom, Meet The Parents 3 – Little Fockers, National Treasure 2, Be Cool, National Treasure, Red Dragon, Little Nicky, U-571, Holy Smoke, Fairytale – A True Story, Copland, City of Industry, Head Above Water, From Dusk Till Dawn, Ulysses’ Gaze, Blue In The Face, Smoke, Imaginary Crimes, Somebody To Love, Pulp Fiction, Monkey Trouble, The Young Americans, Dangerous Game, Rising Sun, The Piano, The Assassin (1993), Bad Lieutenant, Sister Act, Reservoir Dogs, Bugsy, Thelma & Louise, Mortal Thoughts, The Two Jakes, The January Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Pick Up Artist, Wise Guys, Saturn 3, The Duellists, Mother Jugs & Speed, Taxi Driver, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Mean Streets
Matthew Macfadyen: The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, The Current War, Howard’s End (TV), Ripper Street (TV), Ambassadors (TV), Anna Karenina (2012), The Three Musketeers (2011), Robin Hood (2010), Frost/Nixon, In My Father’s Den, Death At a Funeral (2007), Incendiary,Pride and Prejudice (2005), Maybe Baby, Spooks (TV)
Noah Taylor: Paddington 2, Free Fire, Preacher (TV), Peaky Blinders (TV), Lost In Karastan, Predestination, The Edge of Tomorrow, Game of Thrones (TV), The Double (2014), Lawless, Submarine, Red Dog, Red White and Blue, The New World, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (2005), The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Tomb Raider 2, Max, Vanilla Sky, Tomb Raider, Almost Famous, Simon Magus, Shine, The Nostradamus Kid, Secrets, Flirting, The Year My Voice Broke
Cast: Bill Nighy, Olivia Cooke, Douglas Booth, Daniel Mays, Sam Reid, Maria Valverde, Henry Goodman, Morgan Watkins, David Bamber, Peter Sullivan, Clive Russell, Nicholas Woodeson, Paul Ritter, Graham Hughes and Eddie Marsan
The Limehouse Golem is old hat. It’s like those movies the British made in the mid-1990s that usually starred someone like James Wilby or Aidan Quinn and generally had to settle for a 2 out of 5 rating in Empire or Film Review. Well, the once adventurous producer Stephen Woolley (formerly of Palace Pictures) goes back in time like those turgid, snoozers of the 1990s never happened and teams up with Hollywood hack screenwriter Jane Goldman (Kingsman / The Woman In Black etc) to deliver this plod of a horror/police procedural. Based on a novel by Peter Ackroyd called ‘Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem’ this is about as juicy and lurid as dried out old stewing steak with even less flavour.
Bill Nighy’s (RANGO) Detective Inspector Kildare of Scotland Yard is on the trail of a serial killer in late 19th century London. His enquiries lead him to the doorstep of a music hall where famous actor Dan Leno (DOUGLAS BOOTH – JUPITER ASCENDING) is amongst a procession of high profile suspects including George Gissing and Karl Marx. Meanwhile, a parallel case involving an actress (OLIVIA COOKE – OUIJA) who is suspected of poisoning her husband could have a connection to the killings. The killer’s identity remains in the shadows but you won’t be surprised at the outcome as Bill Nighy’s sleepy cop puts the pieces together. There’s an ill thought-out and badly plotted sub-story about his repressed homosexuality which seems bolted on for no reason other than to say, ‘Hey look gay people were around over hundred years ago….’ Gosh.
Bill Nighy is a fine actor and it seems unfair to call him out for this film, but he’s been woefully miscast here. At no point does he convince me that he’s a grizzled, high-ranking police officer and his performance is over cooked and not very interesting. He’s matched by Olivia Cooke who’s damsel in distress is more annoying than alluring as she recounts her recent history. Down the cast the support offer solid work in a bunch of cliches and well-worn stock-types. Douglas Booth is probably the best on this occasion, and he’s backed up many stalwarts of good British cinema like Eddie Marsan (HANCOCK), Henry Goodman (QUEEN OF HEARTS) and Daniel Mays (STAR WARS – ROGUE ONE). It’s a big shame the The Limehouse Golem adds up to one great raspberry only drier. There’s no life or vitality in a single frame, it just wanders around like the main character like a well-dressed tit in a trance. Not many big-budget films are this lifeless, but sadly it limps onto the big screen and collapses into a heap, dead on arrival. Dry and boring.
3 out of 10 – Clunky, slow, uninteresting and unlikely to entertain even the most forgiving Bill Nighy fan. Flat as Norfolk.
WHAT HAVE I SEEN THAT ACTOR IN BEFORE?
Bill Nighy: Heidi – Queen of the Mountain, The Kindness of Strangers, Emma (2020), StarDog and TurboCat (voice), Sometimes Always Never, Pokemon Detective Pikachu, The Bookshop, Their Finest, Dad’s Army (2016), Second Best Marigold Hotel, Pride (2014), I Frankenstein, About Time, The World’s End (voice), Jack The Giant Slayer, Total Recall (2012), Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Wrath Of The Titans, Chalet Girl, Rango (voice), Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows- part 1, Wild Target (2010), Glorious 39, The Boat That Rocked, Underworld 3, Valkyrie, Pirates Of The Caribbean 3, Hot Fuzz, Notes On a Scandal, Flushed Away (voice), Alex Rider- Stormbreaker, Pirates Of The Caribbean 2, Underworld 2, The Constant Gardner, A Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (2006), The Magic Roundabout (voice), Enduring Love, Shaun Of The Dead, Underworld, Love Actually, State Of Play (TV), I Capture The Castle, Auf Wierdesen Pet! (TV), The Lost Prince (TV), Lucky Break, The Lawless Heart, Blow Dry, Guest House Paradiso, Still Crazy, Alive and Kicking (1996), Being Human, True Blue
Olivia Cooke: Sound of Metal, Vanity Fair (TV), Ready Player One, Thoroughbreds, Bates Hotel (TV), Me Earl and The Dying Girl, The Signal, Ouija, The Quiet Ones
Henry Goodman: Watership Down (voice)(TV), Their Finest, Burnt, Woman In Gold, Agents of SHIELD (TV), Avengers 2, Captain America 2, Yes Prime Minister (TV), Taking Woodstock, The Damned United, Green Street, Churchill – The Hollywood Years, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, Notting Hill, The Saint (1997), Private Parts, Mary Reilly, Karaoke / Cold Lazarus (TV), Son of the Pink Panther, Queen of Hearts
David Bamber:Peterloo, A Very English Scandal (TV), Chubby Funny, Darkest Hour, Borg vs. McEnroe, Mad To Be Normal, Psychoville (TV), Valkyrie, The All Together, Rome (TV), Miss Potter, I Capture The Castle, Pride & Prejudice (1995) (TV), Buddha of Suburbia (TV), Dakota Road, High Hopes, The Doctor and the Devils, Privates On Parade
Peter Sullivan: Cuffs (TV), The Borgias (TV), The Hour (TV), Wire In The Blood (TV), Puritan, The Bill (TV)
Clive Russell: Doc Martin (TV), Mary Queen of Scots (2019), Supervized, Curfew (TV), Outlaw King, Rellik (TV), The Hatton Garden Job, Ripper Street (TV), Game of Thrones (TV), Still, Thor 2 – The Dark World, Outpost 2, The Wicker Tree, Sherlock Holmes 2- Game of Shadows, Sherlock Holmes (2009), Coronation St (TV), The Wolfman (2009), Ladies In Lavender, Festival, Mr In-Between, The 13th Warrior, Oscar & Lucinda, Margaret’s Museum, The Hawk, Neverwhere (TV), Soft Top – Hard Shoulder
Nicholas Woodeson:Disobedience, Death of Stalin, Taboo (TV), Race, Rome (TV), Mad Cows, Topsy-Turvy, The Man Who Knew Too Little, Shooting Fish, Mr Wroe’s Virgins (TV), The Russia House
Paul Ritter:Their Finest, Friday Night Dinner (TV)
Eddie Marsan: Ray Donovan (TV), The Gentlemen, Fast & Furious – Hobbs & Shaw, The Professor & The Madman, Vice, Mowgli – Legend of the Jungle (voice), White Boy Rick, 7 Days In Entebbe, Mark Felt – The Man Who Who Brought Down The White House, Deadpool 2, The Exception, Atomic Blonde, Their Finest, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (TV), Concussion, X+Y,Still Life, God’s Pocket, Filth, The World’s End , I Anna, Snow White & The Huntsman, War Horse, Sherlock Holmes 2, Tyrannosaur, Junkhearts, The Disappearance Of Alice Creed, Heartless, London Boulevard, Sherlock Holmes (2009), Hancock, Happy Go Lucky, Faintheart, The Illusionist (2007), Pierrepoint, Mission Impossible III, Miami Vice, 21 Grams,The New World, Grown Your Own, Vera Drake, Gangster No.1, Gangs Of New York, The Bunker, Janice Beard 45wpm
Cast: Douglas Booth, Saoirse Ronan, Jerome Flynn, Eleanor Tomlinson, Helen McCrory, Aidan Turner, John Sessions, Robin Hodges, Joe Stuckey, James Greene, Martin Herdman, Bill Thomas, Cezary Lukaszewicz with Chris O’Dowd and Robert Gulaczyk
Writer: Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman & Jacek Dehnel
Saoirse Ronan: Ammonite, The French Dispatch, Little Women (2019), Mary Queen of Scots (2019), The Seagull, On Chesil Beach, Ladybird, Brooklyn, Lost River, The Grand Budapest Hotel, How I Live Now, Byzantium, The Host (2013), Hanna, The Way Back, The Lovely Bones, City Of Ember, Death Defying Acts, Atonement,The Clinic (TV)
Jerome Flynn: John Wick 3 – Parabellum, Game of Thrones (TV), Ripper Street (TV), Best, Soldier Soldier (TV), Between the Lines (TV), Edward II, To Kill a Priest, London’s Burning
Eleanor Tomlinson: War of the Worlds (TV), Colette, Poldark (TV), Alleycats, Death Comes To Pemberly (TV), The White Queen (TV), Jack The Giant Slayer, Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging
Helen McCrory: Peaky Blinders (TV), Their Finest, Penny Dreadful (TV), Bill, A Little Chaos, The Woman In Black 2 – Angel of Death, Flying Blind, James Bond- Skyfall, We’ll Take Manhattan, Hugo, Harry Potter 8 – The Deathly Hallows 2, Harry Potter 7 – The Deathly Hallows 1, 4-3-2-1, The Fantastic Mr Fox (voice), Harry Potter 6 – The Half-Blood Prince, Flashbacks Of a Fool, Becoming Jane, The Queen, Enduring Love, Charlotte Gray, The Count Of Monte Cristo (2002), Dad Savage, The James Gang
Aidan Turner: The Secret Scripture, Poldark (TV), The Hobbit – Battle of the Five Armies, The Hobbit – The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey, The Mortal Instruments, Being Human (TV), The Clinic (TV)
Martin Herdman:Sink, Revolver, Coronation Street (TV)
Bill Thomas: Cutting It (TV), House of Elliot (TV)
Chris O’Dowd: How To Build a Girl, Mary Poppins Returns (voice), Juliet Naked, Cloverfield 3 – Paradox, Molly’s Game, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Unusual Children, The Program, Calvary, The Double (2014), Cuban Fury, Moone Boy (TV), Thor 2 – The Dark World, The IT Crowd (TV), Epic (voice), This Is 40, The Sapphires, Friends With Kids, Bridesmaids, Gulliver’s Travels (2010), Dinner For Schmucks, The Boat That Rocked, Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel, How To Lose Friends and Alienate People, Festival
Christopher Fairbank: Journey To China, Taboo (TV), Dickensian (TV), Orthodox, Dragonheart 3, Hercules (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy, Jack The Giant Slayer, Little Deaths, Pirates Of The Caribbean 4, Goal 3, Mindflesh, Goal 2, Goal, Below, The Bunker, The Fifth Element, Alien 3, Batman (1989), Auf Wierdesen Pet! (TV)
RISE OF THE ZOMBIE HOOLIGAN FILMS 