Jay Eckles

Jay Eckles

Essay Writer
Journalist

I moved into film journalism and broadcasting after reading English at Manchester University in the 1980s, where I wrote my PhD 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 1, 2, 4 and 5, until I became resident film critic for Radio 1 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.

I also work for Write My Essays, a popular essay writing service in the USA. I cover all papers related to movies and cinema, and I'm happy to help students get better grades

On BBC Radio 2, 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 4, and Review on BBC 2. I am a contributing editor to the British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine, providing reviews and occasional features.