Dr Mark Kermode

English
School of Humanities
Avenue Campus
University of Southampton
SOUTHAMPTON
SO17 1BJ

Position: Visiting Fellow

Biographical notes

I  moved into film journalism and broadcasting after reading English at Manchester University in the 1980s, where I wrote my Ph.D thesis on horror fiction. I began my film work as a print journalist, writing for City Life in Manchester, and then for Time Out and the NME in London. I have since written for a wide range of magazines, journals, and newspapers, including The Independent, The Guardian, Vox, Empire, Flicks, Fangoria, and Neon. In the early 1990s I moved into radio broadcasting, contributing to and presenting programmes on BBC Radio One, Two, Four, and Five, until I became resident film critic for Radio One FM, presenting film programmes such as Clingfilm and Movie Update, and contributing to the Mark Radcliffe show, the Simon Mayo show, and the Evening Session.

I am currently employed as a resident film critic and presenter for Film Four / Channel 4 television. I present the weekly 'Extreme Cinema' strand, introducing films of particular notoriety on Film Four, and I write, research, and present long-form documentaries for Channel 4. These have recently included In Search of the Blair Witch, On the Edge of Blade Runner, and Scream and Scream Again: A History of the American Slasher Movie. I am currently working on documentaries about The Devils, The Wicker Man, and the Alien quartet. My previous documentaries for the BBC include The Fear of God: 25 Years of the Exorcist and Poughkeepsie Shuffle: Tracing the French Connection.

On Radio Two, I write and present two ongoing series, The Directors and Celluloid Jukebox, both of which run for six weeks a year. I am a regular contributor to Front Row on Radio Four, and Review on BBC Two. I am a contributing editor to the British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine, providing reviews and occasional features.