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Directors Lee Hardcastle and Jake West on horror anthology The ABCs of Death
16 May 2013
The film also features short, sharp shocks from Ben Wheatley, Xavier Gens and Ti West
‘It’s a horror film anthology made up of 26 chapters, each directed by a separate director. Each segment is represented by a letter of the alphabet; the letter of the alphabet stands for a word which is relevant to that segment and that death.’ Lee…
Neil Young: Journeys
16 May 2013
An intimate homecoming documentary by the country rock legend, shot by Jonathan Demme
‘This is a town in North Ontario,’ are the first interview words uttered by Neil Young in this Jonathan Demme-directed documentary, and it’s probable that he’s consciously referencing the lyric of his own song ‘Helpless’. In the opening few minutes of…
Nothing but the Truth
16 May 2013
Serviceable political thriller starring Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, David Schwimmer and Alan Alda
It’s amazing how many films with big name casts slink out direct to DVD. Take Nothing But the Truth, featuring Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Angela Bassett, David Schwimmer and Alan Alda. To be fair, NBT was a victim of circumstance rather than some…
Billy Liar
19 Apr 2013
John Schlesinger’s classic British New Wave comedy has a warm and light touch
Not many classic films have also enjoyed success as a book, play, sitcom and musical. It’s testament to the timelessness of Keith Waterhouse’s source novel, about a 19-year-old lad who ‘can’t say two words to anybody without telling a lie’, that the…
Director Hal Hartley discusses the legacy of his 1990s indie masterpieces
18 Apr 2013
His early films Amateur, The Unbelievable Truth and Simple Men are set for DVD and Blu-ray release
To those who recognise it, the influence of Hal Hartley can be discerned in the work of many a current filmmaker who came to maturity in the 90s, from mainstream comedies through arty Oscar-baiters to the indiest of hipster indies. Though Hartley is too…
Baise-Moi
22 Mar 2013
The low budget, sex and violence-filled movie is available uncut in the UK for the first time
When it comes to splitting opinion straight down the midriff, few films from the last couple of decades have been quite so marmite as Baise-Moi. For some, this low-budget French movie from 2000 was simply a porno with a bit more story than usual. For…
Mission to Lars
22 Mar 2013
Documentary about a Fragile X Syndrome sufferer's obsession with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich
This isn’t really a film about Metallica. Even though the metal behemoth’s shadow looms large over the entire documentary, don’t expect the warts and all melodrama of Some Kind of Monster. However if you do love the mighty ‘tallica you might find even…
LGBT DVD round-up - Christmas 2012
19 Dec 2012
Yossi, Beauty, Hit So Hard and Co-Dependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same reviewed
If your ideal Christmas involves spending the day on the sofa, a glass of sparkly in one hand and the remote in the other, it’s worth sourcing your entertainment from Peccadillo Pictures, the UK’s only LGBT-interest DVD distributor. Their latest batch…
Manborg
13 Dec 2012
This movie made for $1000 is endearingly lo-fi DIY entertainment
Can you really make a movie for $1000? Director/writer/editor/actor Steven Kostanski certainly gives it his best shot with the ultra low budget Manborg. Made with a lot of love and sticky back plastic over three years it’s purposefully ridiculous – this…
Forbidden Games
13 Dec 2012
DVD release of Rene Clement's beautiful but melancholy film sheds light on the director's career
Despite picking up an Oscar (Best Foreign Language Film), a BAFTA and the Golden Lion in Venice on release in 1952, Forbidden Games has slipped off the radar. It’s unsurprising in some ways as it’s a beautiful but melancholy film. Fleeing war torn…
Tekken: Blood Vengeance
1 Feb 2012
Fluid but uneven CGI movie based on the popular games franchise
This is actually the third movie based on the immensely popular fighting games, but Tekken: Blood Vengeance (Manga Entertainment) is the first fully computer animated version and was originally available as part of the Tekken Hybrid package. It looks…
La Planete Sauvage, The Funhouse, Tenebrae and Pulp Fiction rereleased
21 Oct 2011
Blu-ray releases round-up
While inevitably the picture quality and audio track are vastly improved by the high definition offered by Blu-ray another bonus is the extra features you can cram on to the format. Trippy animated sci-fi allegory La Planete Sauvage (Eureka!) ●●●● is…
US TV boxsets: DVD round-up
16 Sep 2011
Bored to Death, The Killing, Weeds and In Treatment reviewed
If you thought that Ted Danson had delivered career-remoulding performances as ‘himself’ in Curb Your Enthusiasm, you should check out the dazzle he brings to the first series of Bored to Death (Warner Home Video ●●●●). Jonathan Ames’ Brooklyn-set…
DVD reviews: The Kingdom, Giallo, The Pack, Bloodrayne 3, Evil Rising and Lake Mungo
18 Jul 2011
Summer horror DVD round-up
Forget Hollywood – this month we embark on a European horror odyssey. First up, Lars von Trier's superlative haunted hospital drama The Kingdom (Second Sight ●●●●). Collecting both of his four-part Danish TV series into one boxed set for the first time…
The Governor, Being Human and Traffik among DVD highlghts
29 Jun 2011
The old school fares well against newbies in TV drama releases
The Governor ●●●● features a curious performance from Janet McTeer, just four years before her 1999 Oscar nomination for Tumbleweeds. In the first season of Lynda La Plante’s excellent prison drama, she switches between giggling schoolgirl and feisty…
DVD review - Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle
28 Jun 2011
Uncompromising, awkward and confrontational style and content cements reputation
(2entertain) The second series of Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle will do very little to alter the entrenched opinions on both sides of his critical fence. Those detractors will switch off in their droves at the uncompromising, awkward and…
DVD reviews: Amer, My Soul to Take, Season of the Witch, The Resident and more on DVD
24 Jun 2011
Horror DVD round-up
Time for another dastardly delve into the horror DVD pile. We’ll start on a highnote. Amer (Anchor Bay) is actually French but is a studied homage to Italian 70s gialo filmmaking, more concerned with sound, colour, style and mood than coherent…
DVD Box sets of work by Terence Rattigan, Andrei Tarkovsky and Danny Boyle
21 Jun 2011
Abbas Kiarostami and David Leland collections also released in June
If you are still buying DVDs in these straightened, downloaded times then you are going to want a bit of bang for your buck. Box sets are the way forward and late June and July are surprisingly full of intriguing new releases. The Terence Rattigan…
Bare Behind Bars, Sea Purple, Here Come the Girls 3 and Dare
27 May 2011
LGBT DVD Roundup
If it’s a quiet night on the sofa you’re after, beware Bare Behind Bars (Arrow Video ●●●●). Described as a ‘chicks in chains grindhouse explosion’, we’re given sadistic lesbian guards, a permanently aroused screwball nurse and convicts with cabin fever…
Age of the Dragons
7 Apr 2011
Flawed take on Moby Dick a sea of flat performances hampered concessions to original text
(12A) 90min This loose retelling of Moby Dick boasts some sumptuous cinematography and the unlikely star pairing of Danny Glover and Vinnie Jones. But transplanting the action to a fantasy land (an effectively shot Utah) and swapping dragons for…
Profile: Simon Hynd, director of horror thriller Senseless
24 Mar 2011
Jason Behr plays US businessman who is kidnapped
Born 20 January, 1974, Edinburgh Background Hynd studied Film & Television at Napier, making a few shorts that got him noticed by the Scottish film industry, going on to win a Scottish BAFTA for his short Tumshie Mcfadgen’s Bid for Ultimate…
DVD: Phenomena, The Beyond, Senseless, Blooded, Skyline, Primal, Island of Death
24 Mar 2011
Recent horror DVD releases reviewed
Italian horror from the 1970s and 80s is finally getting the recognition it deserves. Dario Argento is on familiar ground in Phenomena (Arrow Video) ●●●● as a killer stalks an isolated girls school, but with a twist, as a young Jennifer Connolly uses…
Buried, Puppet Master: Axis of Evil and Shock Labyrinth released on DVD
2 Mar 2011
Horror DVD round-up
Over the years some of the greatest horror films have found love and longevity amongst the classics of the genre despite their direct-to-video origins. Unfortunately that’s not always the case as The Open Door (Second Sight) ● proves. Taking the vague…
Stone and Who Loves the Sun among DVD release highlights
2 Mar 2011
Featuring boxsets of Akira Kurosawa, Richard Woolley and Luis Buñuel
Here’s what may be of interest on DVD and Blu-ray that’s coming out in March. An Unflinching Eye: The Films of Richard Woolley (BFI ●●●●) brings together the almost complete short and feature work of this overlooked British filmmaker whose films were as…
DVD: The Flying Scotsman
17 Feb 2011
1929 Romantic comedy thriller is silent film with dialogue added
Classic 1929 action-romance set on the titular train, with amazing stunts and future Oscar-winner Ray Milland.
