David Cairns

Twisted Tales is a dark and stylish comedy drama series. With intense scripts written by a mix of established writers and upcoming talent, each story is a self-contained episode with a mysterious twist. The tales set out to spook the brain and tickle the funny bone, so be prepared to expect the unexpected. The series is very closely related to Spine Chillers, an earlier BBC Three series. In effect, Twisted Tales is a rebranded second series of the earlier successful production.

Rachel, a rookie cop, is about to begin her first night shift in a neglected police station in a Scottish, backwater town. The kind of place where the tide has gone out and stranded a motley bunch of the aimless, the forgotten, the bitter-and-twisted who all think that, really, they deserve to be somewhere else. They all think they're there by accident and that, with a little luck, life is going to get better. Wrong, on both counts. Six is about to arrive - and All Hell Will Break Loose!

When Evil Calls centers around the mysterious appearance of a text message that grants the students of Wilburn High School their wildest desires.

A feature-length documentary on the life and work of Wisconsin grindhouse cinema auteur Bill Rebane, featuring historians, critics, and filmmakers, plus cast and crew members who worked with Rebane himself.

During WWII unusual experiments take place in a secret military bunker.

Natan tells the remarkable story of Bernard Natan, a Romanian immigrant who came to Paris in 1905 and was involved almost immediately with French cinema. He took control of the Pathe film group in the late 1920s and went on to produce epic films such as Les Miserables. But Natan has become largely written out of French film history for various different reasons. Little attention is paid to him centres on his alleged career as a pioneer and performer in early gay and BDSM porn? The story is an excellent one, suffice to say that his ethnicity and subsequent rumours plagued Natan almost from the start of his career. His ‘comeuppance’ for his alleged transgressions is at the heart of this devastating documentary.

Frantic knockabout tragedy ensues when Bobo is sent to clown prison for committing a daring but silly crime. Can he escape in time to prevent his family from bringing shame on all clowndom?

Video essay about the 1927 film 'The Cat and the Canary'.

Overlapping tales of the lives of the residents and visitors of one particular building.

A video essay by critic and filmmaker David Cairns examining Roger Corman’s adaptation of 'The Fall of the House of Usher' in relation to Poe’s story.

A visual essay by filmmaker and critic David Cairns. Recorded for Arrow Video in 2023. Included as a special feature on the 2024 Limited Edition Blu-ray and DVD release of The Shootist.

A video essay about Elaine May's 'A New Leaf' by critic David Cairns.

Video essay about the 1928 film 'The Man Who Laughs'.

A man does battle with a house fly.

A musical take on the story of the infamous Edinburgh graverobbers.

Over a candid interview with its subject, a documentary concerning the life and work of film director Mike Hodges.

A comic illustrator thinks he's going mad.

Young Gavin is about to learn what it means to be an adult.

Robert Louis Stevenson's supernatural chiller is updated to present day Edinburgh.

An unemployed pirate attempts to find a new job.