Animal World (dir: Han Yan, 2018, cert 15)
A killer clown fantasy film based on the Manga series from Nobuyuki Fukumoto, Ultimate Survivor Kaiji, featuring a massive multiplayer game of rock paper scissors, a slyly nefarious villain in Michael Douglas and vertigo inducing visuals. Yes you heard right. It’s a staggering confection of effects and ideas that may be too much for some, and whilst it is a little raggedy around the edges if you can keep your dinner down it’s one hell of a ride.
Mon 23 Jul to Thu 26 Jul at The Mockingbird, Custard factory, Birmingham B9 4AA £5 veezi.com

Cape Fear (dir: J. Lee Thompson, 1962, cert 15)
Scorsese’s remake was a darkly effective thriller that cleverly shifted the nuance of the original into a collective grubfest, Thompson’s film works so effectively because its hero, Gregory Peck as lawyer Sam Bowden, is impeccably honest. Dubbed a pitiless shocker by the New York Times on its release, Cady’s (Robert Mitchum) relentless pursuit of Bowden and his family is as nerve shredding and frightening as ever. Part of the incredible Shock & Gore festival, check out or preview here.
Fri 27 Jul to Sat 4 Aug at Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £10.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

The Big Lebowski (dir: Joel and Ethan Coen, 1998, cert 15)
Has it really been 20 years since El Duderino first blearily stumbled through our screens clutching a White Russian and seeking redress for his spoiled carpet? “Well, sir, it’s this rug I had. It really tied the room together.” A perfect symphony of laughs, dialogue, soundtrack and that Coen magic movie dust. Part of the Mockingbird’s Friday night cult strain.
Fri 27 Jul 1035pm at The Mockingbird, Custard factory, Birmingham B9 4AA £3 veezi.com

The Addiction (dir: Abel Ferrara, 1995, cert 18)
Ferrara’s spin on the vampire fable contains all the motifs identified with one of cinema’s most transgressive artists whilst reflecting on drug addiction and the horror of AIDS. It’s a film that could only come from the New York director’s imagination, literary and brutal. Lili Taylor is hypnotic as the philosophy student bitten by Casanova and developing a fondness for blood and Nietzsche. Part of the incredible Shock & Gore festival, check out or preview here.
Fri 27 Jul 11pm at Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £10.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

Jubilee (dir: Derek Jarman, 1978, cert 15)
Starring a cacophony of punk rock superstars such as Adam Ant, Wayne County and Toyah, and on the receiving end of a contemporary kicking from the punk rock royalty excluded such as Vivienne Westwood. Jarman’s dystopian dysfunctional nightmare captures perfectly the division and hostility of Britain’s wretched social landscape that was about to get a thousand times worse with Thatcher’s impending election. Part of the incredible Shock & Gore festival, check out or preview here.
Sat 28 Jul 530pm at Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £10.50 www.theelectric.co.uk

Shock & Gore party night
One of the most eclectic and imaginative film festivals in the UK lands in the Electric for another week of stunningly curated cinema, we would wholeheartedly recommend every screening beyond the few listed here. Get in the Shock & Gore party mood by enjoying cocktails, big screen gaming and a choice of two classic movies, the Wesley Snipes vampire slasher Blade or Romero’s more sedate but no less powerful Night of the Living Dead.
Sat 28 Jul 1045pm at Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £10.50 Blade www.theelectric.co.uk or Night of the Living Dead www.theelectric.co.uk

Man Bites Dog (dir: Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde, 1992, cert 18)
An astonishing film that is by turns hilarious and utterly revolting, the extreme low budget mockumentary feel merely adds a nasty gloss to the endless procession of numbing violence, postmen in particular suffer heavily at the hands of the likeable serial killer Ben. Innovative and relentless with excruciating violence from the get go, you have been warned. Part of the incredible Shock & Gore festival, check out or preview here.
Sun 29 Jul 4.30pm at Electric, Station Street, Birmingham B5 4DY £10.50 www.theelectric.co.uk