In our autumn issue we look at cruel games, from the politics of human blood sport in the Corman-produced ultra-violent Death Race, to sadistic power play in the disturbingly funny Korean thriller A Bloody Aria, fascist games in German hit The Wave and Stanley Kubrick’s career-long fascination with game-playing. Plus: interview with comic book master Charles Burns about the stunning animated film Fear(s) of the Dark, preview of the Raindance Festival, reviews of Tarsem’s The Fall and Wong Kar Wai’s Ashes of Time Redux. And don’t miss our fantastic London Film Festival comic strip, which surely is alone worth the price of the issue!

Also in this issue: Compass of Mystery Festival, Carl Dreyer’s Vampyr, Jan Å vankmajer’s Alice and a Seeing Double review of Alex Proyas’s Dark City!