Actors & Directors
- Roland Monod
- Jacques Ertaud
- Charles Le Clainche
- François Leterrier
- Robert Bresson
- Maurice Beerblock
Release date: 1993-05-10 Run time: 95 min. Creator: André Devigny RRP: £15.99 Price: £24.99
Review A Man Escaped [1956] / Artificial Eye:"This story is true," reads the opening statement of A Man Escaped. "I give it as it is, without embellishment. " Based on the memoir by Andre Devigny, a member of the French Resistance imprisoned and sentenced to death by the Gestapo during the German occupation, director Robert Bresson (himself at one time a German POW) transforms Devigny's daring escape into an ascetic film of documentary detail. Kept in a tiny stone cell with a high window and a thick wooden door, the prisoner (renamed Fontaine in the film) makes himself intimate with his world-every surface of his room, every sound reverberating through the hall and every detail of the prison's layout that he can absorb in brief sojourns from his cell. Bresson magnifies every detail with insistent close-ups and detailed examinations of every step of Fontaine's plan, from constructing and hiding ropes and hooks to painstakingly carving out an exit in the heavy cell door, and provides a sort of Greek chorus of fellow prisoners. This is Bresson's first film to feature a completely non-professional cast drilled to master precise movements and deliver lines without dramatic inflection. The effect is a drama where the slightest gesture carries the weight of a confession. Bresson's films are not for everybody, and this austere picture hardly carries the visceral punch of The Great Escape, but it's a drama of profound power, with a gripping climax that's as absorbing and tense as any high-energy action film. -Sean Axmaker, Amazon. com.
Actors & Directors
- J. Patrick McNamara
- John Travolta
- Brian De Palma
- John Lithgow
- Dennis Franz
- Nancy Allen
Run time: 108 min. Creator: George Litto Price: £7.99
Review Blow Out / Orion VVD 471:This stylish Brian DePalma thriller plays off the theme of the unsuspecting witness who discovers a crime and is thereby put in grave danger, but with a novel twist. Jack is a sound-man who works on "Grade-B" horror movies. Late one evening, he is "sampling" sounds for use on his movies, when he hears something unexpected through his sound equipment and records it. Curiosity gets the better of him when the media become involved, and he begins to unravel the pieces of a nefarious conspiracy. As he struggles to survive against his shadowy enemies and expose the truth, he doesn't know who he can trust.
Actors & Directors
- Win Phelps
- Les Landau
- Marina Sirtis
- Wil Wheaton
- Jonathan Frakes
- Michael Dorn
- Patrick Stewart
Release date: 1991-04-08 Run time: 92 min. RRP: £10.99 Price: £9.49
Review Star Trek The Next Generation 11 : Symbiosis / Conspiracy [1988] / Paramount Home Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Alexis Arquette
- Tony Barry
- Bruno Lawrence
- Garth Maxwell
- Elizabeth Hawthorne
- Sarah Smuts-Kennedy
Release date: 1995-03-20 Run time: 91 min. Creator: Murray Newey RRP: £15.99 Price: £2.99
Review Jack Be Nimble [1993] / Tartan Video:
Actors & Directors
- James Spader
- Cynthia Gibb
- Jim Haynie
- Rod Loomis
- Rowdy Herrington
- Robert Picardo
Release date: 1993-09-20 Run time: 92 min. Creator: Tim Moore RRP: £8.99 Price: £8.99
Review Jack's Back [1987] / 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Bill Nighy
- Scott Speedman
- Shane Brolly
- Michael Sheen
- Len Wiseman
- Kate Beckinsale
Release date: 2004-02-16 Run time: 121 min. Creator: James McQuaide RRP: £5.99 Price: £3.77
Review Underworld [2003] / Entertainment in Video:Underworld is a hybrid thriller that rewrites the rulebook on werewolves and vampires-imagine Blade meets The Crow and The Matrix. It's a "cuisinart" movie (blend a lot of familiar ideas and hope something interesting happens) in which immortal vampire "death dealers" wage an ancient war against "Lycans" (werewolves), who've got centuries of revenge-and some rather ambitious genetic experiments-on their lycanthropic agenda. Given his preoccupation with gloomy architecture (mostly filmed in Budapest, Hungary), frenetic mayhem and Gothic costuming, it's no surprise that first-time director Len Wiseman gained experience in TV commercials and the art departments of Godzilla, Men in Black and Independence Day. His work is all surface, no substance, filled with derivative, grand-scale action as conflicted vampire Selene (Kate Beckinsale, who later became engaged to Wiseman) struggles to rescue an ill-fated human (Scott Speedman) from Lycan transformation. It's great looking all the way, and a guaranteed treat for horror buffs, who will eagerly dissect its many strengths and weaknesses. -Jeff Shannon.
Actors & Directors
- John Ireland
- Robert Mitchum
- Anthony Zerbe
- Charlotte Rampling
- Dick Richards
- Sylvia Miles
Release date: 2000-02-28 Run time: 99 min. RRP: £5.99 Price: £2.29
Review Farewell My Lovely [1975] / ITV DVD:Of all the Philip Marlowes, Robert Mitchum's in Farewell, My Lovely resonates most deeply. That's because this is Marlowe past his prime, and Mitchum imbues Raymond Chandler's legendary private detective with a sense of maturity as well as a melancholy spirit. And yet there is plenty of Mitchum's renowned self-deprecating humour and charismatic charm to remind us of his own iconic presence. As in the previous 1944 film version, Murder, My Sweet, Marlowe searches all over L. A. for the elusive girlfriend of ex-con Moose Malloy, a loveable giant who might as well be King Kong. In typical Chandler fashion, the weary Marlowe uncovers a hotbed of lust, corruption and betrayal. Like Malloy, he's disillusioned by it all, despite his tough exterior, and possesses a tinge of sentimentality for the good old days. About the only current dream he can hold onto is Joe DiMaggio and his fabulous hitting streak. Made in 1975, a year after Chinatown (shot by the same cinematographer, John Alonzo), Farewell, My Lovely is more straightforward and nostalgic, but still possesses a requisite hard-boiled edge, and the best kind of angst the 1970s had to offer. [+]
(By the way, you will notice Sylvester Stallone in a rather violent cameo, a year before his Rocky breakthrough. ) -Bill Desowitz, Amazon. com.
Actors & Directors
- Adrien Brody
- Spike Lee
- Jennifer Esposito
- Mira Sorvino
- Michael Rispoli
- John Leguizamo
Release date: 2001-01-29 Run time: 136 min. Creator: Victor Colicchio RRP: £7.99 Price: £2.50
Review Summer Of Sam [2000] / MGM Entertainment:It's important to note that Spike Lee's drama is not titled Son of Sam. Summer of Sam doesn't chronicle the killer as much as the times: the blistering hot summer of 1977 when the Big Apple's psyche was taken hostage by the lone gunman. We spot the killer (Michael Badalucco) in his mad ramblings but the film centres on two friends from the Bronx: Vinny and Ritchie (John Leguizamo and Adrien Brody). Vinny and his wife, Dionna (Mira Sorvino), bury a bad marriage (he cheats at a drop of a hat) in the disco halls of the area. Ritchie returns to the neighbourhood sporting punk hair, punk clothes and a British accent that immediately infuriates the neighbourhood boys oozing far too much testosterone. Cops, local mob leaders and the guys on the street all have ideas who the killer is: everyone from neighbourhood loners to Reggie Jackson (in the midst of World Series heroism) are on their misguided lists of suspects. When the film looks at how the citizens faced the fearful times, Lee scores with his energetic camerawork and pop soundtrack. Yet the film is banal in its domestic dramatics, taking large detours into Vinny's home sex life (stagnant) and Ritchie's extracurricular activities. One of the marriage arguments-though real and well acted-is so long and cliché-ridden you wonder if someone fell asleep in the editing booth. Add the point-blank killings and non-stop vulgarity and you have Lee's most unpleasant film. [+]
-Doug Thomas.
Actors & Directors
- Monica Swinn
- Jesus Franco
- Lina Romay
- Alice Arno
- Jesus Franco
- Jack Taylor
Release date: 1994-05-16 Run time: 92 min. Creator: Gérard Brisseau Price: £12.99
Review Female Vampire [1973] / Redemption Films:Eurotrash sex/horror auteur Jesus Franco's Female Vampire delivers nudity, drinking of human body fluids, plentiful zoom shots, languorous music, a vestigial storyline and the odd moment of surrealism (a flapping bat car ornament). It opens with a soulful-eyed brunette (Lina Romay) striding through misty woods wearing only thigh-boots, a leather belt and a black cloak, then chancing across a breeder of tropical birds upon whom she performs an act of oral sex that winds up painfully and fatally for the poor chump. One of Franco's better films, this still has an extremely leisurely pace which means that the story drifts dreamlike (or tediously, depending on your point of view) between protracted but unappealing sexual encounters as a smitten fellow with the requisite 70s porno moustache (Jack Taylor), a vampire-hating doctor (director Franco) and a blind coroner pursue the gloomy Countess for their own reasons. The vampire is mute but has an Anne Rice-style whining voice-over, and the dubbing means that everyone else seems equally dissociated from the words that fail to approximate their lip movements. Fans of Lina's frustrated naked writhings get to see her do the thing on top of several men and women, a bed, a tree and in a bath of blood. To Franco-philes, it's a masterpiece; to everyone else, wearisome tat. On the DVD: Female Vampire on disc comes with a nice widescreen transfer of a print that goes on longer than any previous UK release (though it runs 94 mins, not the 101 listed on the cover); an alternate opening sequence (with the title The Bare Breasted Countess); a fairly complete list of Franco credits; a French trailer (for La Comtesse aux Seins Nus); and four brief alternate scenes from a version of the film with less explicit sex but more blood (i. e. , necks are bitten but not private parts). -Kim Newman.
Actors & Directors
- Michael Vejar
- LeVar Burton
- Rob Bowman
- Marina Sirtis
- Wil Wheaton
- Jonathan Frakes
- Patrick Stewart
Run time: 91 min. RRP: £10.99 Price: £9.48
Review Star Trek The Next Generation 10 : Coming Of Age / Heart Of Glory [1987] / Paramount Home Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Bill Moseley
- Karen Black
- Chris Hardwick
- Sheri Moon Zombie
- Rob Zombie
- Sid Haig
Release date: 2004-03-29 Run time: 85 min. Creator: Robert K. Lambert RRP: £12.99 Price: £10.00
Review House Of 1000 Corpses [2003] / Tartan Video:It's sick! It's twisted! It's House of 1,000 Corpses, and it's more fun than a wholesome bowl of "Agatha Crispies"! Dropped by two studios (Universal and MGM) and doomed to obscurity until Lions Gate Films gave it a limited theatrical release, Rob Zombie's gonzo horror flick is a blood-spattered throwback to the gore-fests of the 70s, lending new meaning to the term "box-office gross". Most critics misunderstood this unbridled exercise in graphic style and violence, but for devoted horror buffs it's a refreshing rebuttal to the comparatively "polite" frights of the post-Scream era. While paying homage to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House on the Left, Motel Hell and other gory classics, Zombie's ramshackle plot (two young couples are terrorized by an inbred family of homicidal maniacs) lacks a crucial sense of dread, but his pastiche of vivid colours, grainy fetish-films and photo-negative imagery is guaranteed to hold your attention. A bona-fide cult item, this House is definitely worth a visit. if you dare. -Jeff Shannon.
Actors & Directors
- Danny Glover
- Monica Potter
- James Wan
- Cary Elwes
- Ken Leung
- Michael Emerson
Release date: 2005-02-21 Run time: 100 min. RRP: £12.99 Price: £4.98
Review Saw [2004] / Entertainment in Video:
Actors & Directors
- Lenore Zann
- Norm Spencer
- Cedric Smith
- Cathal J. Dodd
- George Buza
Release date: 2000-08-21 Run time: 117 min. Creator: Stan Lee RRP: £9.99 Price: £6.99
Review X-Men Tape 2 - Savage Land Strange Heart (Parts 1 And 2)/Dark Phoenix Saga (Parts 1-4) [1995] / Universal Pictures UK:It took a while for Marvel Comics' X-Men to make it onto the big screen, but in retrospect they were always an obvious target for kids TV. Theirs is the classic tale of teenage alienation, given a comic book twist: when puberty hits, as their peers grow hair in funny places and discover the joys of the opposite sex, certain young people begin to manifest strange super powers. Dubbed "mutants", they find themselves with any number of abilities that set them apart from their human peers. Some can fly, some can fire force-beams from their eyes, some can read minds, some are super-strong, some sprout wings; there are as many different powers as there are mutants. However, normal humans are jealous of mutants, and mutants find themselves hunted and/or ostracised by society. In order to fight this prejudice, the heroic X-Men were brought together as teenagers by the telepathic Professor X and trained to use their powers for the good of all humanity. The animated X-Men series, which first debuted in the early 1990s, remained fairly faithful to the classic comic book series, inheriting several of the more popular characters (Wolverine, Cyclops, Rogue, Gambit, Storm, The Beast, etc) and, for the most part, leaving their personalities intact. Wolverine is still a surly little thug with a heart of gold, although his razor-sharp claws are now mainly used to slice up robots and other machines (less blood that way); Cyclops is their relatively square leader; The Beast is a bookworm, prone to literary quotations at random points in his conversation; and Gambit is the charming Cajun rogue. In Savage Land / Dark Phoenix Saga, Storm is kidnapped and taken to the Savage Land, a hidden region in Antarctica where dinosaurs survived extinction. Then, in a retelling of the now classic comic storyline, the X-Men go off into space to fight for their teammate, Jean Grey, who has been possessed by the destructive and powerful Dark Phoenix. [+]
Unfortunately, the animation of X-Men is, quite frankly, just not up to scratch, especially when judged against the much more stylish Batman: The Animated Series, which was on televisions at the same time. Moreover, the pacing of X-Men is, at times, painfully slow, so the action sequences plod along at a speed that would probably bore most Pokemon addicts. -Robert Burrow.
Run time: 134 min. Price: £10.99
Review Doctor Who - The Talons Of Weng-Chiang / 2 Entertain Video:
Actors & Directors
- Kim Manners
- Patrick Stewart
- Michael Dorn
- LeVar Burton
- Jonathan Frakes
- Wil Wheaton
- Corey Allen
Release date: 1991-02-04 Run time: 89 min. RRP: £10.99 Price: £3.00
Review Star Trek The Next Generation 9 : When The Bough Breaks / Home Soil [1987] / Paramount Home Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- William Petersen
- Joan Allen
- Brian Cox
- Dennis Farina
- Michael Mann
- Kim Greist
Release date: 2001-08-06 Run time: 115 min. Creator: Thomas Harris RRP: £5.99 Price: £2.99
Review Manhunter [1989] / 4 Front Video:Released to box-office indifference in 1986, Manhunter introduced Hannibal Lecter and established the rules of the modern race to find serial killer thriller five years before The Silence of the Lambs packed cinemas everywhere. This was Michael Mann's third feature, reuniting William L Petersen and Dennis Farina from his debut Thief (1981) as FBI agents hunting the killer dubbed "The Tooth Fairy". Petersen's Will Graham is the man who put Lecktor (as it is spelt here) behind bars, and as in Lambs consults with the Doctor, played with understated malevolence by Brian Cox. Manhunter is an exceptionally well-photographed film: Mann's regular cinematographer Dante Spinotti created sparse, elegantly framed, often mono-chromatically lit compositions which are essential to the shifting psychological moods. The performances are very good, and the typically 1980s, Vangelis-esque electronic score effectively sustains tension. Once the killer is introduced the scenes with Joan Allen have a genuinely unsettling, almost surreal quality. There is at least one serious plot flaw-how does "The Red Dragon" get his letter to Lecktor? Manhunter never packs the sheer excitement of Lambs, nevertheless, it is a powerful and compelling thriller which remains far superior to the third instalment in the series, Hannibal (2001). On the DVD: In addition to the trailer there is a revealing 10-minute conversation with Dante Spinotti in which he explains how he created the very distinctive look of Manhunter. Also included is a more general 17-minute retrospective "making-of" documentary. This is good but too short, the extras failing to live up to the wealth of material on the Lambs and Hannibal DVDs. [+]
The anamorphically enhanced 2. 35:1 image is generally very good, being just a little soft in one or two early scenes. The sound is listed as Dolby Digital 5. 1, but appears to replicate the main stereo signal in the rear channels. Audio is none the less powerful and clear, though lacks the sheer edge and atmospherics of some more recent thrillers. -Gary S Dalkin.
Actors & Directors
- Robert Davi
- John Glen
- Talisa Soto
- Anthony Zerbe
- Carey Lowell
- Timothy Dalton
Release date: 1996-05-28 Run time: 127 min. Creator: Richard Maibaum RRP: £9.99 Price: £2.24
Review Licence To Kill [1989] / MGM Entertainment:Timothy Dalton's second and last James Bond assignment in Licence to Kill is darker and harder-edged than anything from the Roger Moore years, dropping the sometimes excruciating in-jokes that had begun to dominate the series in favour of gritty, semi-realistic action. When CIA colleague and close friend Felix Leiter (David Hedison) gets married immediately after arresting villainous drug baron Franz Sanchez (with a little help from Bond), the crime lord's retribution is swift and terrible. Bond goes on a personal vendetta against Sanchez after his licence to kill is revoked. There are plenty of spectacular stunt scenes, of course, but the meaty story of revenge is this film's distinguishing feature. Dalton's portrayal of the iconic hero as tough but flawed was a brave decision that the producers subsequently retreated from after Licence to Kill's relatively poor box-office showing. On the DVD: Timothy Dalton's insistence that Bond was a man not a superhero, and "a tarnished man" at that encouraged the producers to redefine Bond with a tougher edge more in keeping with Fleming's original conception of the character. Licence to Kill is Bond's darkest assignment. The production team experienced their usual difficulties in bringing it to the screen, the "making-of" documentary reveals, including a haunted road in Mexico and a mysterious flaming hand that appeared out of the fire during the climactic tanker explosion. There are two commentaries here, both montage selections of interviews from cast and crew. The first features director John Glen and many of the actors; the second has producer Michael G Wilson and the production team. [+]
Gladys Knight pops up in the first music video, Patte La Belle in the second ("If You Asked Me To"). There are the usual trailers, gallery of stills and a feature on the Kenworth trucks specially adapted for the movie's stunt work. -Mark Walker.
Actors & Directors
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Jonathan Mostow
Release date: 2003-11-28 Run time: 104 min. RRP: £15.99 Price: £0.01
Review Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines [2003] / Uca Catalogue:Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines starts in high gear and never slows down. The apocalyptic "Judgment Day" of T2 was never prevented, only postponed: John Connor (Nick Stahl, replacing T2's Edward Furlong), now 22 and disconnected from society, is being pursued yet again, this time by the advanced T-X, a sleek "Terminatrix" (coldly expressionless Kristanna Loken) programmed to stop Connor from becoming the saviour of humankind. Originally programmed as an assassin, a disadvantaged T-101 cyborg (Arnold Schwarzenegger, bidding fond farewell to his signature role) arrives from the future to join Connor and future wife Kate (Claire Danes) in thwarting the T-X's relentless pursuit. The plot presents a logical fulfilment of T2's prophecy, disposing of Connor's mother (Linda Hamilton is sorely missed) while computer-driven machines assume control, launching a nuclear nightmare that Connor must survive. With Breakdown and U-571 serving as rehearsals for this cautionary epic of mass destruction, director Jonathan Mostow wisely avoids any stylistic connection to James Cameron's classics; instead he's crafted a fun, exciting popcorn thriller, humorous and yet still effectively nihilistic, and comparable to Jurassic Park III in returning the Terminator franchise to its potent B-movie roots. -Jeff Shannon On the DVD: Terminator 3 two-disc set has only one deleted scene, but it's first-class. The "Sgt Candy Scene" is a must-see and, unfortunately, the best thing on the second disc. The rushed HBO documentary shows us far more flash than substance. Better is the Visual Effects Lab that goes more in-depth with four sequences, although you need to wade through a weak interface for each segment. Making your "own" effects isn't that much fun; you can only choose a few effects that change in two scenes. [+]
Anyone looking to get the complicated backstory of the trilogy figured out should dig into the "Sky Net Database" and an intricate timeline. Disc 1 has a 30-second intro from the Governator himself, plus two commentary tracks: director Jonathan Mostow goes into great detail on how the little things (from lighting street scenes to tricks for destroying buildings) count; the second track is pieced together from the actors recorded separately-here Mostow appears with actress Claire Danes doing her first commentary track. The anamorphic 2. 40:1 widescreen picture and thunderous DTS 5. 1 or Dolby Digital 5. 1 sound options deliver everything you would expect. -Doug Thomas.
Actors & Directors
- Peter Cushing
- Val Guest
- Maureen Connell
- Forrest Tucker
- Richard Wattis
- Robert Brown
Release date: 2003-05-26 Run time: 86 min. Creator: Nigel Kneale Price: £15.99
Review The Abominable Snowman [1957] / Dd Home Entertainment:
Actors & Directors
- Anne Heche
- Jennifer Love Hewitt
- Jim Gillespie
- Sarah Michelle Gellar
- Freddie Prinze Jr.
- Ryan Phillippe
Release date: 1998-11-02 Run time: 96 min. Creator: Lois Duncan RRP: £5.99 Price: £1.95
Review I Know What You Did Last Summer [1997] / Entertainment in Video:Just what the world needs, another riff on that post-Psycho horror cliché: the slasher movie. In this version, which considerably dumbs down the Lois Duncan book, the bad guy chases naughty teenagers with a hook, all the while dressed as a dark version of the Gorton's fisherman. They seem to have killed someone in a car accident while out partying, and a price must be paid. Nothing new is added to the genre by I Know What You Did Last Summer, though it would be unfair not to note that this does have some scary moments. That is about all it has, because as much as this wanted to be another Scream, it hasn't the heart or the script. It does, however, have the requisite cast of small-screen stars (including Party of Five's Jennifer Love Hewitt and Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar) to have snagged box-office success, spawning a sequel. -Rochelle O'Gorman.
| Browse Horror & Suspense:
Models & Brands: A Man Escaped [1956], Blow Out, Star Trek The Next Generation 11 : Symbiosis / Conspiracy [1988], Jack Be Nimble [1993], Jack's Back [1987], Underworld [2003], Farewell My Lovely [1975], Summer Of Sam [2000], Female Vampire [1973], Star Trek The Next Generation 10 : Coming Of Age / Heart Of Glory [1987], House Of 1000 Corpses [2003], Saw [2004], X-Men Tape 2 - Savage Land Strange Heart (Parts 1 And 2)/Dark Phoenix Saga (Parts 1-4) [1995], Doctor Who - The Talons Of Weng-Chiang, Star Trek The Next Generation 9 : When The Bough Breaks / Home Soil [1987], Manhunter [1989], Licence To Kill [1989], Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines [2003], The Abominable Snowman [1957], I Know What You Did Last Summer [1997] |