"Paris nous appartient" (1961) Anne (played by Betty Schneider) is a literature student living in Paris. Through her older brother Pierre (played by François Maistre) she meets an interesting group of people at a party. Gérard (played by Giani Esposito) is a theater director looking to stage performances of Shakespeare's tragedy "Pericles". Philip (played by Daniel Crohem) is an American prize-winning writer who left his country due to McCarthyism, having strong thoughts about corrupt and constantly monitoring governments. Terry (played by Françoise Prévost) is the femme fatale, who is currently in a relationship with Gérard and formerly the girlfriend of Philip seems to know something dealing with the mysterious figure Juan - a Spanish musician who was mysteriously died. Was it suicide? Was it murder? What had happened? What did he do? What did he know? Anne gets caught up in the mystery of Juan and at the same time...

"The Comfort of Strangers" (1990) Mary (played by Natasha Richardson) and Colin (played by Rupert Everett) are a couple on holiday in Venice trying to reclaim a fire in their relationship. Mary is constantly thinking about her two children in England staying with her mother and Colin is distracted with work. While out looking for a place to eat late at night, they run into Robert (played by Christopher Walken) - a dashing man in a white suit who offers to take them to a bar open at night. While there he introduces himself, talks to them, gives them some fine wine and comfort. Their night drinking at the bar and with Robert leads to the couple getting lost and eventually sleeping in an alleyway. When Robert finds out about their unfortunate night, he offers them service at his lavish home where he lives with his wife Caroline (played by Helen Mirren). But when the couples entangle, there is something much more sinister lurking towards Mary and Colin... Based on th...

La ragazza dal pigiama giallo (The Pyjama Girl Case, Flavio Mogherini, 1977) New South Wales, Australia. Following the discovery of a partially-burnt female corpse in an abandoned car on a beach, investigating detective Morris (Rod Mullinar) calls in retired detective Thompson (Ray Milland). Thompson clashes with Taylor, the younger, more corporate-minded lead detective on the case, who believes the dead woman – who suffered a gunshot wound to the head before being bludgeoned to death, her face shrouded with a towel, her body wrapped in yellow pyjamas and partially-burnt – was the victim of what he calls a ‘sex maniac’ with a ‘castration complex’. Thompson has a different opinion, believing there is a much more rational motivation behind the murder and accusing Taylor of being too obsessed with trendy psychoanalytic theory. The investigation is intercut with the story of Linda (Dalila di Lazzaro; named Glenda in the Italian version of the film), the murdered woman. Linda has three lovers:...

Oscar (Best Picture): Arthur Hornblow Jr. (nominated), Best Actor in a Leading Role: Charles Laughton (nominated), Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Elsa Lanchester (nominated), Best Director: Billy Wilder (nominated), Best Sound, Recording: Gordon Sawyer (nominated), and Best Film Editing: Daniel Mandell (nominated) - Academy Awards, 1958 Golden Globe (Best Supporting Actress): Elsa Lanchester (winner), Best Motion Picture - Drama (nominated), Best Actress - Drama: Marlene Dietrich (nominated), Best Actor - Drama: Charles Laughton (nominated), and Best Director: Billy Wilder (nominated) - Golden Globes, 1958 BAFTA Film Award (B...

"LBJ" (2016) Texas Senator and Democratic part leader Lyndon Johnson (played by Woody Harrelson) unsuccessfully ran for President in 1960, but was given an opportunity by popular young candidate John F. Kennedy (played by Jeffrey Donovan) to be his vice presidential running mate. Kennedy saw Johnson as a key to clinching the southern vote - a man strong and stubborn with conviction and with political power. A rejuvenated campaign successfully placed Kennedy in the White House with Johnson by his side, but power and politics as well as family would place Johnson in an uncomfortable position throughout the years, and with the assassination of Kennedy in 1963, Johnson's force upon role as President would take a greater meaning in uniting a torn country. Lyndon B. Johnson's story is a lengthy and complex tale. Born on August 27, 1908 in Stonewall, Texas, he would first take an elected position as a Congressman in 1937, onto becoming a Senator in 1948, who although was a Democrat had strong southern conservative values. H...

"40 Guns to Apache Pass" (1967) It is 1869 in the Arizona Territory. Captain Bruce Coburn (played by Audie Murphy) and his Army soldiers are rounding up as many white settlers to a safer area as possible, as the Apaches led by Cochise Michael Keep) vows to kill any white settlers in order to reclaim the land. Coburn is ready to protect everyone at all costs, and that also means pushing his soldiers to the limits, which results in confrontations with Corporal Bodine (played by Kenneth Tobey) including an all out brawl between the men. He also vows to his love Ellen (played by Laraine Stephens) that he would protect her younger brothers Doug (played by Michael Burns) and Mike (played by Michael Blodgett) on the front lines. But when Ellen's father is gunned down, Mike is captured, and Doug goes AWOL, Coburn's reputation and his heart take the toll... "40 Guns to Apa...

"Je t'aime moi non plus" (1976) Krassky (played by Joe Dallesandro) is a waste truck driver working in a rural area in the middle of nowhere. Along for the ride is his gay lover Padovan (played by Hugues Quester) in the passenger seat, though their relationship has been moving towards a crossroad. Padovan gets into frequent trouble with outbursts and confrontations with others, and Krassky is just about having enough of having to come into the rescue of his strong mouthed but weak minded partner. At a random truck stop, Krassky encounters a girl named Johnny (played by Jane Birkin) where she works reluctantly with her slobby boss Boris (played by Reinhard Kolldehoff). Johnny is a tomboy, with a short cut hair style, basic jeans and a tanktop fashion, and being fairly flat-chested she was even mistaken for a male by Krassky on first encounter. Even though the idea of being with a woman goes against his sexuality, Krassky starts seeing Johnny as a love interest, and their...

In trying to honor the dying wish of his father (Spartacus' Kirk Douglas), gangster Angelo "Snaps" Provolone (Rocky's Sylvester Stallone) has resolved to go straight by becoming a banker. His lack of participation in recent gangland activity, however, has raised more suspicions than it has quelled, with both rival Vendetti (Mean Streets' Richard Romanus) and fame-hungry police lieutenant Toomey (Robocop's Kurtwood Smith) believing on the flawed intel of a stuttering stool pigeon (Home Alone 2: Lost in New York's ...

The youngest of three siblings, Moll (Jessie Buckley) is taken for granted by her brother Harrison (Death Comes to Pemberley's Oliver Maltman) to babysit his daughter Jade (Snow White and the Huntsman's Hattie Gotobed) when he works late, by her mother Hilary (Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows's Geraldine James) to take care of her father who is suffering from early onset dementia, and even overshadowed by her happily-married sister Polly (Shannon Tarbet) announcing at her birthday party that she is expecting twins. Fleeing the party, Moll meets a guy (Charley Palmer Rothwell) at the local nightclub, but his attempt ...

1995 was an interesting year for John Carpenter because, for many fans, this was the turning point in his career. Setting aside “Memoirs of an Invisible Man” (1992) – which is more like a side quest on his career path, since he was a director for hire – Carpenter had a near-perfect run of features beginning with “Assault on Precinct 13” (1976) and ending with “In the Mouth of Madness” (1994, but the U.S. release came in February 1995). Just two months later, his remake of “Village of the Damned” (1995) hit theaters and divided fan opinion like no film before it. For the record, I was an impossibly stoked 13-year-old in 1995 who saw both of these films in a theater – I loved them then; I love them now. My gripes with Carpenter came the following year with “Escape from L.A.” (1996). Point being, most of his fans will agree there is little fat to cut over that 18-year period. “In the Mouth of Madness” (“ITMOM”) completed Carpenter’s unofficial Apocalypse Trilogy, which began with “...

There was a brief period in Hollywood when director Stephen Sommers was the king of big budget b-movies, making his name – and a mint – with “The Mummy” (1999), “The Mummy Returns” (2001), and “Van Helsing” (2004), a film that was not hugely successful and one I wish I could enjoy. But before hitting it big, Sommers delivered a movie every bit as over-the-top and effortlessly enjoyable with “Deep Rising” (1998) which, unfortunately, did not do much rising at the box office; its failure also scuttled plans for a much larger universe, which I’ll touch upon later. I have fond memories of this one, since it was playing in theaters when I worked as an usher at Edwards Cinemas. In pieces, I have probably seen “Deep Rising” a good dozen or so times; I’ve heard Treat Williams exclaim “now what?” twice as many. But after so many viewings so long ago it had been ages since I last gave this unsung crowd-pleaser a spin and you know what? It’s still a damn good times at the movies. John...

Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1989) Having separated herself from her childhood friend Betty Finn (Renee Estevez), Veronica (Winona Ryder) has allied herself with the Heathers, the self-described ‘most powerful clique in school’ – Wesberburg High. The Heathers consist of three young women who share the same first name: queen bee Heather Chandler (Kim Walker); cheerleader Heather McNamara (Lisanne Falk); and the slightly troubled but no less bitchy Heather Duke (Shannen Doherty). The Heathers enlist Veronica’s help in enacting their cruel pranks on fellow students, such as forging a note suggesting that jock Kurt Kelly (Lance Fenton) has a crush on frumpy Martha ‘Dumptruck’ Dunnstock (Carrie Lynn). Veronica’s eye is caught by a new arrival at the school, Jason ‘JD’ Dean (Christian Slater), who soon puts two bullies – Kurt and his buddy Ram (Patrick Labyorteaux) – in their place using a gun loaded with blanks. After Heather Chandler takes Veronica to a frat party where Veronica is nearly se...

Oscar (Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Color): Piero Gherardi (nominated) and Best Costume Design, Color: Piero Gherardi (nominated) - Academy Awards, 1967 Golden Globes : Italy (winner) - Golden Globes, 1966 David (Best Actress): Giulietta Masina (winner) - David di Donatello Awards, 1966 Juliet (The Nights of Cabiria's Giulietta Masina) is a housewife living in a modern villa in the countryside, with little to do than spend the day toiling with her maids (Elisabetta Gray and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie's Milena Vukotic) in preparation for her wedding anniversary. Her intended intimate dinner intimate dinner is not in the cards when he...

Back in the good ol’ glory days of VHS rentals, the films that wound up in my eager little hands were usually selected with little rhyme or reason. Cool cover art? Great, sold. I had less concern for continuity than I did with just seeing as much horror as I could, which is how I wound up seeing “Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead” (1994) before any of the others in the series. The same thing happened with “Return of the Living Dead Part II” (1988), another sequel seen before the original, which is vastly superior. This preface only serves to excuse some of the rose-colored tint on these nostalgia goggles, because while a recent reappraisal confirmed “Part II” is a pale imitation of the first go-round there are still many moments of which I am fond. Visually, director Ken Wiederhorn’s film isn’t such a slouch but in terms of character and content… it’s as rotten as its reanimated cast. A stoned military officer driving a truck full of Trioxin barrels hits a bump and doesn’t notice when one of the canisters flies off, winding up in a drainage pipe near a burgeoning suburban com...

If not for the brief involvement of mega-director James Cameron, “Piranha II: The Spawning” (1981) would be little more than a footnote in the annals of infamous Italian horror sequels. Cameron, by his own account, worked on the film for around three weeks before being unceremoniously fired by executive producer Ovidio Assonitis, who then took over helming the remainder of the production. None of the ingenuity and style for which Cameron is known can be seen in “Piranha II”, and the final product more closely resembles the aquatic horror of “Tentacles” (1977), another Assonitis film. Both films feature the same composer, Stelvio Cipriani, whose compositions elevate each tremendously, and a glance at the crew list would likely reveal a number of returning names, too. Point being, just because Cameron’s name remains on the final cut (which is due to a contractual obligation) it doesn’t mean it is his film. A couple’s underwater sex session is savagely cut short in the film’s opening double murder before we are introduced to the sta...

Confession time: for years I was completely dismissive of the film I blamed for breaking up director John Carpenter’s perfect run of features from 1976 until 1992 - when “Memoirs of an Invisible Man” was released. I was too young to see it in theaters at the time, and even though I became a Carpenter fan not long after it just always seemed… dumb, I guess. Chevy Chase in a Carpenter movie? It wouldn’t register. Then, when the film was finally released on DVD in 2003 I watched it – and promptly kicked myself in the ass. Despite the popular conception, this is not a bad movie. What it also isn’t, though, is a “John Carpenter” movie. How could it be? Chase commandeered this vehicle, after having secured the rights to H.F. Saint’s 1987 novel of the same name. Ivan Reitman was going to direct. The project was set up at Warner Brothers. The boys were back at it! Only Chase wanted to segue into more dramatic acting, something that didn’t sit right with Reitman. He left/was fired/who knows. ...

"Tarantula" (1955) In the rural Arizona town of Desert Rock a gruesome discovery is made with a deformed corpse of a man. Dr. Matt Hastings (played by John Agar) is called in to town by Sheriff Andrews (played by Nestor Paiva) to examine the body, as the man is identified as the scientist Dr. Eric Jacobs, a researcher working with Dr. Gerald Deemer (played by Leo G. Carroll) in the area. Deemer identifies the body and explains that Jacobs was suffering from acromegaly, which caused disfiguration and died of a heart attack. Hastings is suspicious of the situation as acromegaly cannot overtake a body so quickly, and he is not wrong. Deemer has been working on a formula that increases the mass of animals. In the laboratory, giant hamsters, rabbits, and even a tarantula are kept. It is learned that the formula was tested on humans - on both Jacobs and assistant Lund, who didn't start to grow but started mutating into deformed states. The deformed Lund takes revenge on Deemer, by attacking him and the laboratory while also...

"Razorback" (1984) American reporter Beth Winters (played by Judy Morris) takes a job looking into illegal hunting of wildlife and food processing in a town in rural Australia. The town is not particularly friendly to her poking around, but she persuades on including looking into a suspicious plant run by brothers Benny (played by Chris Haywood) and his Dicko (played by David Argue). But things turn to terror as the brothers ram her car off the road, and turns deadly when a massive razorback boar smashes into her vehicle and goring her to death. Beth's fiancee Carl (played by Gregory Harrison) receives word of her death which has gone as unexplained by the local authorities, but one man sees to know exactly how she died. Jake Cullen (played by Bill Kerr) saw the same thing happen to his grandson two years ago when the massive razorback slammed through and destroyed his home, killing the infant child in the process. While...

"The Man from Mo'Wax" (2018) Born on the 22nd of February 1974 to a musical family, James Lavelle's career in music would start at a fairly early age. Though it wasn't the classical stylings of his family that influenced him the most - it was hip hop and electronic music. "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash was the first album he ever bought. At 14 he was making money DJing at pubs to older crowds. But rather than just looking for new or obscure records to spin his dream was to discover acts and release their records, which led to the formation of Mo'Wax Records in 1992 when he was just 18. Inspired by the Bristol sound that was growing from The Wild Bunch collective (which would later turn into Massive Attack), Lavelle looked to find talent and release work from not just England but across the globe. He flew to America and Japan as the A&R fo...

Western Europe 1501: His city taken over while he was away at war, Arnolfini (The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue's Fernando Hilbeck) and his captain Harkwood (Breaker Morant's Jack Thompson ) assemble an army made up out of those soldiers and followers expelled and left behind by their own countries to overtake the city again, promising them as a reward twenty-four hours of raping and pillaging. When the city surrenders, Arnolfini changes his mind and orders Harkwood and the city's army to retrieve the pillaged riches and expel and disperse his former soldiers from the city. Although Harkwood resents such a betrayal of his word of honor, he is preoccupied with taking care of Clara (The Devil's Honey's ), a woman he accidentally dealt a debilitating skull wound to in the he...

Merry prankster Carter (The Possession of Michael King's Luke Baines) decides to throw one of his special parties for his best friends – med student Tyler (Flowers in the Attic's Mason Dye), his girlfriend Alex (Sharknado's Cassandra Scerbo), her childhood friend Maddie (General Hospital's Brytni Sarpy), rotund hipster fifth wheel Holt (General Education's Harvey Guillen), perennial party girl Addison (Power Rangers Megaforce's ...

Although born in Canada, Hindi-Canadian Sid (Pottersville's Debargo Sanyal) nevertheless feels like an alien in his own skin ("My body is a costume I cannot take off"). Splitting his waking hours between living as a man at work and visiting his parents (Look Who's Talking's Zena Darawalla and My Beautiful Laundrette's Gordon Warnecke) – mamaji is still sure that his being gay is just a phase – and living as a woman at home and with married friends Sylvia (Judy Virago) and Mira (C.T. Thorne), Sid is about to start undergoing hormone treatments for a sex change operation when he is tracked down by fourteen year old Ralph (Game On's ...

"Tender Mercies" (1983) Mac Sledge (played by Robert Duvall) was a fairly known country singer back in his earlier years, but has become a drifting drunkard over time, losing his career and his family. Finding himself stranded at a rural Texas motel and gas station with no money in his pockets, he asks the owner Rosa Lee (played by Tess Harper) if he could pay his rent by helping to work. Mac’s helping hand turns for some time turns to romance with Rosa Lee, and her young boy Sonny (played by Allan Hubbard) approves having Mac being a stepfather. Sobered up and living a quaint life, things start to change when a journalist comes to the motel saying he wants to do a story on Mac’s life from rise to fall. People start coming from afar to ask Mac to start playing music again which in some way delights him, but at the same time brings back old memories he would like to leave behind. Writer Horton Foote had success writing for stage and on television, as well as winnin...

"Jagko" <짝코> (1980) Song Gi-yeon (played by Choi Yoon-seok) is an aging homeless man that is picked up by the police and brought to the a rehabilitation and detention center where he reunites with a man he has been chasing for decades. A former riot police officer during the Korean War, he captured the communist guerrilla leader Baek Gong-san nicknamed "Jagko" (played by Kim Hee-ra) who escaped due to Song's negligence. While all the other detainees laugh at the notion that the sickly Baek could be a communist leader and label the newbie as crazy. But Song is certain of the identity, and Jagko remembers who Song is exactly. Through flashbacks the story of Song in his earlier years as a loving father and husband and a determined officer is uncovered, as is Jagko's deeds as an opposition leader with the two men's intertwining encounters of the years led to each of their downfalls . But with the men in a prison environment and no one to help one another, are they able to find common ground or are they to face inevitable lonely lives leading nowhere? ...

A Gentle Creature (Sergei Loznitsa, 2017) An unnamed woman (Vasilini Makovtseva), who lives in an isolated house in the Russian countryside, is distraught to find that the parcel she sent to her husband, who is in prison for an unidentified crime, has been returned to her. Unsure why the parcel has been returned, the woman takes a break from her profoundly proletarian job (as a nightwatchman for a rural petrol station) and makes the long journey to the prison in order to hand over the parcel in person. There, she is subjected to a humiliating body search before being told that her parcel cannot be passed on to her husband. She is not given an explanation as to why this should be the case, but she is told to ‘file an enquiry’ with an outside agency. Then her case may be investigated. A local woman, Zdinka, offers the protagonist a place to stay, but when the protagonist arrives at Zdinka’s place, she realises it is a brothel. However, Zdinka introduces the protagonist to a man who claims he may be able to help her to see her husband – but insinuates that he will only do this in exchange for sexual favours. After being int...

Oh, to be young, horny and attractive as all of the participants in Paul Verhoeven’s coming of age story "Spetters" (a Dutch slang term with many different definitions, but essentially Hot Shot in English, but also it can mean splatter such as when Fientje is making French fries) set in Rotterdam in the ever loving hey days of youthful indiscretion, the early 80’s. Everyone here is attractive, but especially the three main male characters: Rien (Hans van Tongeren), Eef (Toon Agterberg) and Hans (Maarten Spanjer), and they are lining up like sex starved idiots when they get an eyeful of new hottie in town, Fientje (Renée Soutendijk) with her curly blonde locks and pert breasts on display as she slings hash in a camper outfit that is manned by her and her brother (Peter Tuinman). And did I mention that there is plenty of sexuality on display here; all kinds and types, and those blatant instances of sexuality came under fire as Verhoeven managed...

Director Stefan Uher's The Miraculous Virgin – based on a novel by Dominik Tatarka, who also scripted – is a massive departure from his Italian Neorealist-inspired and popular The Sun in a Net and his historically situated The Organ into Jean Cocteau-esque surrealistic cinema – with even less literary context – a genre then unpopular in Communist regime but then possible during the brief period of liberalization in the late sixties before the Soviet clamp-down. The beguiling Anabella (Knife in the Water's Jolanta Umecka) arrives in a foreign city unaccompanied and without papers ostensibly to enroll in a university and becomes all things to all of the men she meets. Is she a ghost? A muse? A vampire or succu...

Oscar (Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written Directly for the Screen): Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano, and Tullio Pinelli (nominated) - Academy Awards, 1958 NYFCC Award (Best Foreign Language Film): I Vitelloni (nominated) - New York Film Critics Circle Awards, 1956 Silver Lion: Federico Fellini (winner) and Golden Lion: Federico Fellini (nominated) - Venice Film Festival, 1953 The residents of an Italian seaside town celebrate the end of the summer with the Miss Mermaid 1953 beauty contest, including a quintet of "young bucks" – dashing leader Fausto (Le Amiche's Franco Fabrizi), fellow skirt chaser Alberto (The White Sheik's ), in...

What if Samuel Beckett had loved Spaghetti Westerns and then wrote a screenplay to a Twilight Zone episode? The results would probably be something close to Alex Cox’s third film, "Straight to Hell"; a parody of the Westerns that Cox loved, but that the great majority of film goers just didn’t get. So here we are now, twenty three years later, with a slightly revised "Director’s Cut" of the film and it looks much better than it did when I first saw it on VHS back in the day. From a script written by both Cox and co-written by "Repo Man" (1984) scribe Dick Rude in just three days and filmed in a mere five weeks shooting time with an odd cast of Cox regulars and more musicians than you can count. Cox was a man ahead of his time as he unleashed this homage to bloody Spaghetti Westerns on an unsuspecting public. Where else do you find a black and white hit man duo dressed in black suits and white shirts and skinny ties? This film is a love letter to previous cinematic outings such as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966), "Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot!" (1967), "Point Blank" ...

"The Soldier" is a film heavy on action but light on plot sensibility; a typical 80’s action film featuring numerous explosions, a turgid acting style, various characters being shot with a variety of weapons, and a dangerous Russian madman named Ivan (Jeremiah Sullivan). The soldier in question is portrayed by Ken Wahl, a former television actor who doesn’t really emote very much and portrays a furtive CIA assassin tracking down stolen nuclear arms. Director James Glickenhaus obviously knows his way around a film set and there was enough money in the budget to do some globe hopping with scenes shot in Philadelphia, West Berlin, Israel, and Austria, and they even manage to squeeze Klaus Kinski in a cameo and give him five minutes of screen time as well, but otherwise this is a yawn inducing production. The cover on the film proclaims that this film was newly mastered in HD, but I was left wondering just exactly who was clambering for this tiresome effort and why Kino Lorber was wasting its money on this junk? The plot is overly familiar:...

At a Catholic boys' school, domineering disciplinarian Father Goddard (Richard Burton, Look Back in Anger, The Spy Who Came In from the Cold) rules over his pupils with an iron hand. When one of his teenage charges confesses to murder, the dogmatic but deeply repressed Goddard finds his faith challenged and his life spiralling dangerously out of control. Also starring Billy Connolly (in his first feature-film role), Dominic Guard (The Go-Between, The Picnic at Hanging Rock) Kes star Dai Bradley, and the inimitable Brian Glover (Kes, Jabberwocky, Alien 3), and written by the great Anthony Shaffer (The Wicker Man, Sleuth), Absolution is one of British cinema’s most underrated chillers, not least for a towering central performance by Burton....

This tense real-life political drama about the 1973 kidnap and murder in Chile of young American journalist Charles Horman, directed by provocateur Costa-Gavras (Z, State of Siege, Betrayal), follows the efforts of the journalist's wife (Sissy Spacek - Carrie, The Coal Miner's Daughter) and father (Jack Lemmon - Some Like It Hot, The China Syndrome) to uncover the crime and bring those responsible to justice. Causing controversy upon its release (prompting the US government to condemn the film), this powerful indictment of US foreign policy went on to win an Academy Award® for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as nominations for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Picture....

Set during Blitz-torn wartime England, Ray Milland (Dial M for Murder, The Lost Weekend) stars as a man just released from a sanatorium who stumbles into an elaborate and murderous Nazi plot. Reminiscent of Lang's early expressionist films (The Spiders, Dr Mabuse the Gambler, M) and full of bravura set pieces and hallucinatory visuals, Ministry of Fear is one of Lang’s finest films – a mature and beautifully crafted thriller, a vivid adaptation of Graham Greene’s celebrated novel....

Based on a best-selling novel by Charles Eric Maine, Amicus Productions’ The Mind of Mr. Soames is a contemporary reworking of the Frankenstein story. Terence Stamp (The Collector, Far from the Madding Crowd) is a young man left comatose from birth, who is awakened live on TV into a world he can’t comprehend, and exploited as a living curiosity. Remarkably prescient in its depiction of reality television and media turpitude, the film also boasts a superb supporting cast, including Robert Vaughn, Nigel Davenport, Christian Roberts, Donal Donnelly and Vickery Turner, and features luminous cinematography by the great Billy Williams (Women in Love, The Wind and the Lion, Gandhi)....

Based on his own controversial and incendiary stage play about a young college student who accuses her much older professor of sexual harassment, David Mamet’s riveting drama features two grandstand performances from leads William H Macy (Fargo, Magnolia) and Debra Eisenstadt. Now more relevant and provocative than ever, Oleanna is both a reaction against the plague of political correctness, and a powerful, yet teasingly ambiguous, plea for tolerance between the sexes....

Following the mysterious death of his beloved father, classical musician Paul Bergson (Peter Firth, Equus, Tess, TV’s Spooks) is haunted by visions and nightmares. With his lover (Suzan Crowley, The Devil Inside), he travels to remote Turkey on a quest to find The Master Musician, only to encounter a creature of unimaginable evil. Steeped in mysticism and music, and mixing the avant-garde with supernatural fantasy, stunning visuals and a terrific score by Colin Towns, Born of Fire is a bold and poetic horror film from one of international cinema’s great maverick talents....

Hamburg 1963. German journalist Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy, Deliverance, Coming Home) finds himself in possession of a diary detailing the unspeakable crimes of cruelty, torture and mass murder perpetrated by an SS captain, now veiled as a top industrialist. Neame’s compelling mix of conspiracy thriller and action-adventure, adapted from Frederick Forsyth’s bestseller, is a fine addition to the post-war spy thriller genre, and features an outstanding performance from Voight and glorious location photographed by the great Oswald Morris (Lolita, The Pumpkin Eater)....

Also known as THE HORROR STAR, the 1983 [1981] cult creeper FRIGHTMARE offered audiences postmodern shocks long before Wes Craven gave us his game-changing SCREAM in 1996! An underrated and underseen gem, FRIGHTMARE tells of a celebration for a late, great horror star... only the actor in question might not be entirely dead and soon the participants at his supposed party are being picked off one by one! Highlighting a notable supporting performance Jeffrey Combs (RE-ANIMATOR) and assured direction from Norman Thaddeus Vane (who also worked on the X-rated cult favourite DRACULA SUCKS), this is one of the most stylish and sublime of all the eighties slice and dice horror-pack and 88 Films is thrilled to present FRIGHTMARE as part of its Slasher Classics collection!...

A whole continent was glued to the small screen when the hit South Korean television series IRIS made its prime time premiere! And now British viewers can experience the 2010 motion picture adaptation of this balls-to-the-wall action thriller in beautiful HD!! Featuring performances from Seoul superstars Lee Byung-hun (A BITTERSWEET LIFE), Jung Joon-ho (ANOTHER PUBLIC ENEMY) and T. O. P (the sex symbol rapper from Kpop chart toppers Big Bang), this rough edged tale of North vs. South military stand offs and a secret agency of bad ass license-to-kill fighters who have Kim Jong-un quaking is timely and terrific. As we all face nuclear annihilation in the Trump/ Pyongyang showdown at least enjoy the heart thumping fun of IRIS before the world comes to a crippling conclusion!...

In the creepy compendium style of CREEPSHOW (1982) comes DEADTIME STORIES (1985) a collection of stories with teeth and torment that are sure to send chills down the spines of viewers even today! A sleazy and shocking pack of splatter fairy tales - this contemporary spin on the likes of "Little Red Riding Hood" has gore aplenty, a sick sense of humour and enough splattered limbs to make for essential late night viewing. Directed by genre veteran Jeffrey Delman and packed full of plastic fantastic charms, 88 Films is enthusiastic about keeping you up at night with this perfectly restored version of a VHS cult classic!...

Troma Entertainment, the company behind such classics as THE TOXIC AVENGER, really outdid themselves with the 1987 cult classic SURF NAZIS MUST DIE. Set in a futuristic California hell-hole, in which an apocalypic natural disaster has left the iconic Baywatch-perfect beaches of Malibu and Venice as gang-lands, various parties battle one another in an attempt to control the sand and sea of this former West Coast paradise. This is sex, surf and splatter in a sordid sci-fi setting and thirty years after it first gained the attention of video shop loyalists and marginal movie followers, SURF NAZIS MUST DIE is back to brutalise a new generation of fright-fans!...

Released in 1975, EYEBALL might just be the late, great Umberto Lenzi's greatest giallo! Gruesome and gruelling, this torrid tale of a black gloved killer with a fetish for plucking out the peepers of his unlucky victims is a personal favourite of PULP FICTION genius Quentin Tarantino and it is easy to see why. Boasting plenty of bloodshed and some beautiful Catalonian locations, EYEBALL is a murder-mystery that stands up to the best of Mario Bava and Dario Argento and, with its messy arterial mayhem, even anticipates the later excess of such American slasher staples as FRIDAY THE 13TH! Dare you open your eyes to EYEBALL? This essential Italian terror totem is finally available in horrifying HD thanks to the body-count Kings at 88 Films!...

Limited Blu-ray Edition (World Blu-ray premiere) Shot in glorious Technicolor by award-winning cinematographer Christopher Challis (The Tales of Hoffmann, A Dandy in Aspic, Villain), this classic Gothic melodrama stars the then real-life husband and wife acting team of Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons in the tale of a murderous London businessman and the scheming housemaid who shares his dark secret....

Limited Blu-ray Edition (World premieres on Blu-ray) Four classic and controversial works from the vaults of Hammer Films, all released on Blu-ray for the very first time. Containing a wealth of new and archival extra features - including exclusive new documentaries and appreciations, insightful interviews with actors and crew members, audio commentaries with essential Hammer personnel including Barbara Shelley and Jimmy Sangster, and four extensive booklets - this stunning Limited Edition Box Set is strictly limited to 6,000 numbered units....

Limited Blu-ray Edition (World premieres on Blu-ray) Four classic and controversial works from the vaults of Hammer Films, all released on Blu-ray for the very first time. Containing a wealth of new and archival extra features - including exclusive new documentaries and appreciations, insightful interviews with actors and crew members, audio commentaries with essential Hammer personnel including Barbara Shelley and Jimmy Sangster, and four extensive booklets - this stunning Limited Edition Box Set is strictly limited to 6,000 numbered units....

Limited Blu-ray Edition (World premieres on Blu-ray) Four classic and controversial works from the vaults of Hammer Films, all released on Blu-ray for the very first time. Containing a wealth of new and archival extra features - including exclusive new documentaries and appreciations, insightful interviews with actors and crew members, audio commentaries with essential Hammer personnel including Barbara Shelley and Jimmy Sangster, and four extensive booklets - this stunning Limited Edition Box Set is strictly limited to 6,000 numbered units....

Limited Blu-ray Edition (World premieres on Blu-ray) Four classic and controversial works from the vaults of Hammer Films, all released on Blu-ray for the very first time. Containing a wealth of new and archival extra features - including exclusive new documentaries and appreciations, insightful interviews with actors and crew members, audio commentaries with essential Hammer personnel including Barbara Shelley and Jimmy Sangster, and four extensive booklets - this stunning Limited Edition Box Set is strictly limited to 6,000 numbered units....

THE MOST VIOLENT FILM EVER MADE … BANNED IN 31 COUNTRIES! A decade on from starting the cannibal genre, director Umberto Lenzi has the final word, pushing the vomit envelope beyond the sick with his utterly nasty, nihilistic apotheosis that is CANNIBAL FEROX. So unredeemable that its own makers denounced it as barbaric..! An academic, Gloria (Lorraine De Selle), journeys to the Amazon jungle where things go awry when her party encounters sadistic druggy villain Mike (Giovanni Lombardo Radice aka John Morghen), as the travellers venture further into the heart of darkness, they soon discover what it means to be the hunted prey. CANNIBAL FEROX aka ‘Make Them Die Slowly‘, topped the official Video Nasty list for its raw graphic scenes of torture, mutilations, murder and cannibalism. This new 2K restoration additionally features new grading which revives, for the 1st time, the original edgy look of the 16mm film stock it was shot on – finally presenting the film as it was first created by director Umberto Lenzi, on location in the Amazonian green inferno. Includes BARF – approved vomit bag inside!...

The daring and provocative films of maverick American filmmaker Samuel Fuller (1912-1997) were some of the most hard-hitting, outspoken, politically progressive and visually audacious of the Hollywood studio era. This seven-film Blu-ray box set brings together Fuller’s entire output as a writer and director for Columbia Pictures: IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD (1937), a witty satire on the movie-making business, co-written by Fuller; ADVENTURE IN SAHARA (1938), a gripping thriller based on a Fuller story; POWER OF THE PRESS (1943), a daring drama about a corrupt newspaper publisher, based on a Fuller story; SHOCKPROOF (1949), a brooding film noir written by Fuller and directed by the great Douglas Sirk; SCANDAL SHEET, a tense drama about a compromised newspaper editor, based on Fuller’s acclaimed novel The Dark Page; THE CRIMSON KIMONO (1959), Fuller’s frank and unsentimental detective thriller which attacked the prejudice, ignorance and bigotry that Fuller saw all around him; and UNDERWORLD U.S.A. (1961), Fuller’s unflinching depiction of the brutal world of organised crime. This collectable four-disc box set also contains an array of new and archival extra features, limited edition booklets with newly c...

The daring and provocative films of maverick American filmmaker Samuel Fuller (1912-1997) were some of the most hard-hitting, outspoken, politically progressive and visually audacious of the Hollywood studio era. This seven-film Blu-ray box set brings together Fuller’s entire output as a writer and director for Columbia Pictures: IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD (1937), a witty satire on the movie-making business, co-written by Fuller; ADVENTURE IN SAHARA (1938), a gripping thriller based on a Fuller story; POWER OF THE PRESS (1943), a daring drama about a corrupt newspaper publisher, based on a Fuller story; SHOCKPROOF (1949), a brooding film noir written by Fuller and directed by the great Douglas Sirk; SCANDAL SHEET, a tense drama about a compromised newspaper editor, based on Fuller’s acclaimed novel The Dark Page; THE CRIMSON KIMONO (1959), Fuller’s frank and unsentimental detective thriller which attacked the prejudice, ignorance and bigotry that Fuller saw all around him; and UNDERWORLD U.S.A. (1961), Fuller’s unflinching depiction of the brutal world of organised crime. This collectable four-disc box set also contains an array of new and archival extra features, limited edition booklets with newly c...

The daring and provocative films of maverick American filmmaker Samuel Fuller (1912-1997) were some of the most hard-hitting, outspoken, politically progressive and visually audacious of the Hollywood studio era. This seven-film Blu-ray box set brings together Fuller’s entire output as a writer and director for Columbia Pictures: IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD (1937), a witty satire on the movie-making business, co-written by Fuller; ADVENTURE IN SAHARA (1938), a gripping thriller based on a Fuller story; POWER OF THE PRESS (1943), a daring drama about a corrupt newspaper publisher, based on a Fuller story; SHOCKPROOF (1949), a brooding film noir written by Fuller and directed by the great Douglas Sirk; SCANDAL SHEET, a tense drama about a compromised newspaper editor, based on Fuller’s acclaimed novel The Dark Page; THE CRIMSON KIMONO (1959), Fuller’s frank and unsentimental detective thriller which attacked the prejudice, ignorance and bigotry that Fuller saw all around him; and UNDERWORLD U.S.A. (1961), Fuller’s unflinching depiction of the brutal world of organised crime. This collectable four-disc box set also contains an array of new and archival extra features, limited edition booklets with newly c...

The daring and provocative films of maverick American filmmaker Samuel Fuller (1912-1997) were some of the most hard-hitting, outspoken, politically progressive and visually audacious of the Hollywood studio era. This seven-film Blu-ray box set brings together Fuller’s entire output as a writer and director for Columbia Pictures: IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD (1937), a witty satire on the movie-making business, co-written by Fuller; ADVENTURE IN SAHARA (1938), a gripping thriller based on a Fuller story; POWER OF THE PRESS (1943), a daring drama about a corrupt newspaper publisher, based on a Fuller story; SHOCKPROOF (1949), a brooding film noir written by Fuller and directed by the great Douglas Sirk; SCANDAL SHEET, a tense drama about a compromised newspaper editor, based on Fuller’s acclaimed novel The Dark Page; THE CRIMSON KIMONO (1959), Fuller’s frank and unsentimental detective thriller which attacked the prejudice, ignorance and bigotry that Fuller saw all around him; and UNDERWORLD U.S.A. (1961), Fuller’s unflinching depiction of the brutal world of organised crime. This collectable four-disc box set also contains an array of new and archival extra features, limited edition booklets with newly c...

The daring and provocative films of maverick American filmmaker Samuel Fuller (1912-1997) were some of the most hard-hitting, outspoken, politically progressive and visually audacious of the Hollywood studio era. This seven-film Blu-ray box set brings together Fuller’s entire output as a writer and director for Columbia Pictures: IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD (1937), a witty satire on the movie-making business, co-written by Fuller; ADVENTURE IN SAHARA (1938), a gripping thriller based on a Fuller story; POWER OF THE PRESS (1943), a daring drama about a corrupt newspaper publisher, based on a Fuller story; SHOCKPROOF (1949), a brooding film noir written by Fuller and directed by the great Douglas Sirk; SCANDAL SHEET, a tense drama about a compromised newspaper editor, based on Fuller’s acclaimed novel The Dark Page; THE CRIMSON KIMONO (1959), Fuller’s frank and unsentimental detective thriller which attacked the prejudice, ignorance and bigotry that Fuller saw all around him; and UNDERWORLD U.S.A. (1961), Fuller’s unflinching depiction of the brutal world of organised crime. This collectable four-disc box set also contains an array of new and archival extra features, limited edition booklets with newly c...

The daring and provocative films of maverick American filmmaker Samuel Fuller (1912-1997) were some of the most hard-hitting, outspoken, politically progressive and visually audacious of the Hollywood studio era. This seven-film Blu-ray box set brings together Fuller’s entire output as a writer and director for Columbia Pictures: IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD (1937), a witty satire on the movie-making business, co-written by Fuller; ADVENTURE IN SAHARA (1938), a gripping thriller based on a Fuller story; POWER OF THE PRESS (1943), a daring drama about a corrupt newspaper publisher, based on a Fuller story; SHOCKPROOF (1949), a brooding film noir written by Fuller and directed by the great Douglas Sirk; SCANDAL SHEET, a tense drama about a compromised newspaper editor, based on Fuller’s acclaimed novel The Dark Page; THE CRIMSON KIMONO (1959), Fuller’s frank and unsentimental detective thriller which attacked the prejudice, ignorance and bigotry that Fuller saw all around him; and UNDERWORLD U.S.A. (1961), Fuller’s unflinching depiction of the brutal world of organised crime. This collectable four-disc box set also contains an array of new and archival extra features, limited edition booklets with newly c...

The daring and provocative films of maverick American filmmaker Samuel Fuller (1912-1997) were some of the most hard-hitting, outspoken, politically progressive and visually audacious of the Hollywood studio era. This seven-film Blu-ray box set brings together Fuller’s entire output as a writer and director for Columbia Pictures: IT HAPPENED IN HOLLYWOOD (1937), a witty satire on the movie-making business, co-written by Fuller; ADVENTURE IN SAHARA (1938), a gripping thriller based on a Fuller story; POWER OF THE PRESS (1943), a daring drama about a corrupt newspaper publisher, based on a Fuller story; SHOCKPROOF (1949), a brooding film noir written by Fuller and directed by the great Douglas Sirk; SCANDAL SHEET, a tense drama about a compromised newspaper editor, based on Fuller’s acclaimed novel The Dark Page; THE CRIMSON KIMONO (1959), Fuller’s frank and unsentimental detective thriller which attacked the prejudice, ignorance and bigotry that Fuller saw all around him; and UNDERWORLD U.S.A. (1961), Fuller’s unflinching depiction of the brutal world of organised crime. This collectable four-disc box set also contains an array of new and archival extra features, limited edition booklets with newly c...

Limited Blu-ray Edition (UK Blu-ray premiere) When a reporter and cameraman are assigned to cover the daily routine of a nuclear power plant, they witness and record an accident which could have wiped out the whole of Southern California, but their bosses refuse to broadcast the footage. Starring Jane Fonda (The Chase, Klute) Jack Lemmon (Some Like It Hot, Missing) and Michael Douglas (Basic Instinct, The Game), this daring and controversial thriller was nominated for four Academy Awards®, and proved to be horrifyingly prescient when the real-life Three Mile Island accident happened at a nuclear generator in Pennsylvania just 12 days after it was released in US cinemas....

Limited Blu-ray Edition (World Blu-ray premiere) Neurotic, self-obsessed Robert Cole (Albert Brooks) is a successful film editor who splits up with his on-off girlfriend (Kathryn Harrold), only to try and win her back when he finds he can’t live without her. Considered by many to be one of America’s greatest comic talents, and sought out by filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, Judd Apatow, Steven Soderbergh and Nicolas Winding Refn, actor-writer-director Brooks created what is perhaps his most caustic and excruciatingly honest film in Modern Romance....

Wham, bam, thank you Lau Kar-leung!! The legendary director of such kung-fu mega hits as 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (1978), TIGER ON THE BEAT (1988) and DRUNKEN MASTER 2 (1994) got his career rolling with the martial arts masterpiece THE SPIRITUAL BOXER (1975) a standout chopsocky classic from the glory days of Hong Kong genre cinema. Adding comedy to the familiar fisticuffs formula, this beloved blockbuster tells the story of a travelling conman who claims to have supernatural powers. Robbing village after village, our antagonist quickly bees expected to use these fictional strengths against some sudden enemies... Resulting in several hilarious moments combined with breakneck examples of all out action and adventure! Fans of head-cracking carnage cannot possibly go wrong with THE SPIRITUAL BOXER... finally unleashed in HD by the Asian celluloid scholars at 88 Films!!!...

The sequel to the 1975 Hong Kong horror spectacular has finally arrived in HD!!! Long considered one of the greatest Asian fright films ever concocted, and released in 1976 to the sound of stomachs churning all across the Far East, most fans will be in agreement that BLACK MAGIC 2 (1976) is even more outlandish than its provocative plasma-packed predecessor! Starring the genius of Ti Lung (A BETTER TOMORROW) and directed by the legendary Meng Hua Ho (THE OILY MANIAC) this is one of the original Oriental zombie horrors as the undead begin to crawl out of their graves whilst perplexed 'experts' try and work out why they are being faced with corpses that can't be controlled! Meantime the macabre moments come thick and fast alongside several gross out set pieces that have to be seen to be believed! Originally released in American theatres under the title REVENGE OF THE ZOMBIE'S, where it proved a surprise grindhouse success, 88 Films is proud to present the powerfully creepy perfection of BLACK MAGIC 2 on UK Blu-ray!!!...

The late great Wes Craven (SCREAM) planned to produce the third in his classic THE HILLS HAVE EYES franchise and let his son Jonathan take the directorial reigns but a last minute title change gave us MIND RIPPER instead of THE HILLS HAVE EYES PART 3!! Starring the legendary Lance Henriksen (ALIENS) as a scientist who accidentally resurrects a fully blown brain-hungry cannibal during some re-animation experiments, 1995's MIND RIPPER is a more supernatural slant on the slasher formula than the demented desert terror of THE HILLS HAVE EYES. Even so, fans of slice and dice delirium can expect plenty of stalking, suspense and splatter theatrics in this all-time classic of video rental violence, now finally unleashed in HD from 88 Films!!!...

Lynda La Plante's murder thriller set in the dark underworld of London's comedy club circuit A two-part British drama written by one of Britain's most notable playwrights Lynda La Plante, unveiling a rarely-seen, dark and distorted side of British life. Lazar (Tim Guinee) is a struggling, second-rate American stand-up comedian trying to make it big on the London circuit. His self-destructive tendencies mean he has blown his chances of hitting it big in the States, and often leads him to trouble. But misfortune follows Johnny, and his life is transformed after he witnesses a gangland hit. Becoming a target himself, he has to live his life on the run. Starring BAFTA-nominee Lennie James (The Walking Dead), Michelle Fairley (Game of Thrones), Tim Guinee (Iron Man) and Danny Webb (Alien 3) Directed by BAFTA-winner Diarmuid Lawrence (Silent Witness) and Produced by BAFTA-winner Verity Lambert (Doctor Who)...

Five classic, iconic and slyly subversive westerns collected on Blu-ray for the very first time. Containing a wealth of new and archival extras – including extensive interviews with director Budd Boetticher, expert audio commentaries, appreciations by filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Clint Eastwood, and new critical analyses by film critics Christopher Fraying, Edward Buscombe and Kim Newman – this collectable five-disc box set also contains an 80-page book with newly commissioned essays, archival interviews and film credits, and is strictly limited to 6,000 numbered units....

Five classic, iconic and slyly subversive westerns collected on Blu-ray for the very first time. Containing a wealth of new and archival extras – including extensive interviews with director Budd Boetticher, expert audio commentaries, appreciations by filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Clint Eastwood, and new critical analyses by film critics Christopher Fraying, Edward Buscombe and Kim Newman – this collectable five-disc box set also contains an 80-page book with newly commissioned essays, archival interviews and film credits, and is strictly limited to 6,000 numbered units....

Five classic, iconic and slyly subversive westerns collected on Blu-ray for the very first time. Containing a wealth of new and archival extras – including extensive interviews with director Budd Boetticher, expert audio commentaries, appreciations by filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Clint Eastwood, and new critical analyses by film critics Christopher Fraying, Edward Buscombe and Kim Newman – this collectable five-disc box set also contains an 80-page book with newly commissioned essays, archival interviews and film credits, and is strictly limited to 6,000 numbered units....

Five classic, iconic and slyly subversive westerns collected on Blu-ray for the very first time. Containing a wealth of new and archival extras – including extensive interviews with director Budd Boetticher, expert audio commentaries, appreciations by filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Clint Eastwood, and new critical analyses by film critics Christopher Fraying, Edward Buscombe and Kim Newman – this collectable five-disc box set also contains an 80-page book with newly commissioned essays, archival interviews and film credits, and is strictly limited to 6,000 numbered units....