Rich Cross
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richcross.bsky.social
Rich Cross
@richcross.bsky.social
Writer & reviewer enthused by genre & cult TV, audio, books & film. Aficionado of classic 1970s British television drama in particular; Survivors above all else
My review of indie Hollywood satire Don't Trip is now up on @starburst.bsky.social - "There’s plenty of humour, and no little warmth, in what’s a promising calling-card for Kugelman" www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/dont...
DON'T TRIP - STARBURST Magazine
A young wannabe scriptwriter, who’s struggling to get attention for his first movie pitch, comes up with a high-risk plan to bypass the industry gatekeepers – befriending the wayward, slacker son of a...
www.starburstmagazine.com
January 7, 2026 at 10:05 PM
Reposted by Rich Cross
Our Autumn edition is nearly here, folks! Subscriber copies will start shipping later this week, so if you're a UK reader who'd like to get it delivered straight to your door (with free P&P!) before the Aug 29th release, head to our official store: starburstmagazine.store/products/sta...
August 19, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Reposted by Rich Cross
While we finish up work on Issue #491 (out Aug 29th!), we thought we'd sweeten the deal for those who haven't yet caught our current issue...

Order #490 and choose ANY other back issue for FREE! Just add both to your cart to access your discount!

Store: starburstmagazine.store/products/sta...
STARBURST Issue 490 [NEW!] (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith 20th Annive
The Summer edition of STARBURST MAGAZINE is here, and leading the charge is our bumper tribute to STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH on its 20th Anniversary! As always, the issue is chock full of exclusiv...
starburstmagazine.store
August 6, 2025 at 3:37 PM
My take on the ghostly (or is it?) thriller Bury Me When I'm Dead is published by @starburst.bsky.social

The film "toys with the question of whether the fateful consequences that follow a young woman’s death are supernatural or coincidental."

www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/bury...
BURY ME WHEN I'M DEAD - STARBURST Magazine
In indie thriller Bury Me When I'm Dead, the fateful consequences that follow a young woman’s death may be supernatural or coincidental.
www.starburstmagazine.com
July 22, 2025 at 4:57 PM
My review of indie what's-happening-in-the-woods thriller The Banished is published by @starburst.bsky.social

"it’s the handheld torchlit visuals of a hyperventilating Grace in the nighttime woods that deliver the nerve-jangling tension"

www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/the-...
THE BANISHED - STARBURST Magazine
Dark Australian folk-horror The Banished splices together evergreen genre tropes in a fresh take on the perils of going down to the woods.
www.starburstmagazine.com
July 22, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Issue 490 of Starburst Magazine @starburst.bsky.social is out now - chock-full of genre, sci-fi and fantasy goodness, including a mammoth retrospective of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.
June 1, 2025 at 10:46 AM
My review of Janine, the fifth episode of the final series of The Handmaid's Tale, is now up on @starburst.bsky.social

This halfway point explores "a world where deeply-held convictions threaten to exact a heavy price from all true believers"

www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/the-...
THE HANDMAID'S TALE, Season 6, Episode 5, JANINE - STARBURST Magazine
A tightly focused ‘mission’ episode, Janine is arguably the strongest yet of the final run.
www.starburstmagazine.com
May 28, 2025 at 7:44 PM
The first of my episode reviews for the second season of The Walking Dead: Dead City is up now on @starburst.bsky.social

Power Equals Power - "the weight of evidence here suggests that there’s still plenty of life in Dead City."

www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/the-...
THE WALKING DEAD: DEAD CITY, Season 2, Episode 1, POWER EQUALS POWER - STARBURST Magazine
Betrayal has become one of the recurring themes of many Walking Dead story arcs, with characters breaking the bonds of loyalty usually justifying their actions as the unavoidable cost of pursuing a hi...
www.starburstmagazine.com
May 28, 2025 at 7:39 PM
My review of Promotion, the fourth episode of the final series of The Handmaid's Tale, is up on @starburst.bsky.social

"Events are moving at pace... [as] New Bethlehem seems certain to become the battleground in which the dystopia’s fate will be settled."

www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/the-...
THE HANDMAID'S TALE, Season 6, Episode 4: PROMOTION - STARBURST Magazine
It’s an irony that confronts any dystopian state hoping to attract new visitors enticed by unproven promises of reform: relaxing border controls increases the authorities’ vulnerability to attack by i...
www.starburstmagazine.com
May 12, 2025 at 9:22 PM
My review of "Exile", episode two of series six of The Handmaid's Tale is published today on @starburst.bsky.social

"The fateful reckoning between oppressors and oppressed that the series six promises already feels like it’s in motion."

www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/the-...
THE HANDMAID'S TALE, Season 6, Episode 2: EXILE - STARBURST Magazine
Exploring the parallel stories of June and Serena following their enforced separation in the dramatic finale of Train, second episode Exile examines choices their characters make in circumstances that...
www.starburstmagazine.com
May 1, 2025 at 8:40 PM
My review of indie movie Sew Torn is published on @starburst.bsky.social - "what entertains throughout... are the elaborate ruses, traps, and set-pieces that Barbara improvises from her sewing kit"

www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/sew-...
SEW TORN - STARBURST Magazine
Adapted from his own short film by writer-director Freddy MacDonald, the plot of this indie comedy-thriller is threaded through an inspired conceit – imagining just how far the talents of a nimble sea...
www.starburstmagazine.com
April 22, 2025 at 3:02 PM
"An immersive meditation on the themes of grief and loss" which "adopts the motifs of a whodunnit thriller". My review of Shudderbugs, now published by @starburst.bsky.social

www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/shud...
SHUDDERBUGS - STARBURST Magazine
An immersive meditation on the themes of grief and loss, Shudderbugs adopts the motifs of a whodunnit thriller to explore a daughter’s reaction to the unexpected and potentially suspicious death of he...
www.starburstmagazine.com
April 1, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Die Alone writer-director Lowell Dean is "an auteur with an eye for the twisted and macabre". What a perceptive and quotable reviewer @starburst.bsky.social assigned to this one... www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/die-...
March 14, 2025 at 7:59 PM
My review of ho-hum psych thriller Blackwater Lane is up on @starburst.bsky.social. The film's conclusion "draws heavily on the Scooby Doo school of criminal deduction" www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/blac...
BLACKWATER LANE - STARBURST Magazine
Adapted from BA Paris’s 2017 novel The Breakdown, this less-than-thrilling psychological mystery has the unthreatening ambience of a made-for-TV movie. Blackwater Lane lacks tension or much in the way...
www.starburstmagazine.com
January 27, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Into the Deep - a new shark flick that lacks bite (even with the involvement of Richard Dreyfuss). My review in @starburst.bsky.social www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/into...
INTO THE DEEP - STARBURST Magazine
The tidal wave of new shark movies shows no signs of slowing, with many small-budget films eager to use increasingly affordable CGI technology to render Great White antagonists on screen. Many recent ...
www.starburstmagazine.com
January 24, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Come Home - an interesting, if oblique and discombobulating, take on the cabin-in-the-woods flick. My review in @starburst.bsky.social www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/come...
COME HOME - STARBURST Magazine
An atypical take on the cabin-in-the-woods premise, small-scale ensemble indie flick Come Home eschews all the predictable through-the-window voyeurism and serial killer ‘jump scare’ clichés to offer ...
www.starburstmagazine.com
January 24, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Reposted by Rich Cross
Before Anthony Mackie suits up as Captain America later this year, he'll be on monster-hunting duty in Prime Video's Elevation, out Jan 28th. Read our review here: www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/elev...
ELEVATION - STARBURST Magazine
Imbued with the aesthetic of a 1990s monster movie, post-apocalyptic creature-feature Elevation is a high-concept actioner which recognises the value of injecting interesting character dynamics into e...
www.starburstmagazine.com
January 6, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Read a free sample of my Obverse Books Silver Archive on the classic third series Survivors episode Mad Dog.
November 15, 2024 at 2:58 PM
Well, it's "Rich Cross" (not Rick Cross) and "Mad Dog" (not Mad Dogs), but I appreciate the plug!
November 15, 2024 at 2:57 PM