Hal C F Astell

While he still has a day job, Hal C. F. Astell is a teacher by blood and a writer by the grace of the dread lord, which gradually transformed him into a film critic. He reviews movies at his own site, Apocalypse Later, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2017, but has written for various others. He writes book reviews for the Nameless Zine. He added music reviews to Apocalypse Later in 2019, covering two albums every weekday. The Apocalypse Later Empire grew from a film review site to encompass a publishing imprint (Apocalypse Later Press), a genre film festival in the fifth largest city in the US (the Apocalypse Later International Fantastic Film Festival in Phoenix) and a roadshow of mini-film festivals at conventions across the southwest (including Phoenix Comicon, Westercon, San Diego Comic-Fest, Wild Wild West Con, Gaslight Steampunk Expo, LepreCon, CopperCon, DarkCon etc.). Born and raised in the rain of England, he’s still learning about the word “heat” over a decade after he moved to Phoenix, AZ, where he lives with Dee, his much better half, in a house full of assorted critters and oddities; a library with a guard ferret and a growing number of secret panels; and more obscure DVDs than can comfortably be imagined. Oh, and he can imagine quite a lot. Just in case you care, his favourite movie is Peter Jackson’s debut, Bad Taste; his favourite actor is Warren William; and he thinks Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc is the greatest movie ever made. He’s always happy to talk your ears off about the joys of odd and interesting films and their makers, whether they’re pre-codes, fifties B-movies, obscure Asian horror flicks or whatever. He’s usually easy to find at film festivals, conventions and events because he’s likely to be the only one there in a kilt and his fading English accent is instantly recognisable on podcasts and panels. He is friendly and doesn’t bite unless asked.