Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Well, let’s be honest, what really is there left to say about George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead? A film first released in 1968, this is a picture often cited as being the launching point for the zombie subgenre and for standing up as a bona fide all-time classic. So, what makes yet another release of this genre favourite worthwhile? Let us tell you.

As mentioned, Night of the Living Dead was first released way back in 1968, marking this as 50 years since Romero’s iconic effort first terrified audiences. In terms of plot and premise, this legendary movie centres on a small group of people who find themselves in the middle of a scenario where the dead are coming back to life. While the unrelenting ghouls – Romero largely steering clear of the classic Z word – are chomping at the bit for a taste of human flesh, the main attraction here is the bickering and social interaction carried out by a core cast made up by the likes of Duane Jones, Judith O’Dea, Karl Hardman and Keith Wayne. As social commentary drips through every pore, Night of the Living Dead would prove itself to be a pivotal, vital piece of cinema, and a thought-provoking picture that worked on a whole plethora of levels.

So, that’s the plot. You likely already knew that, but it’s best we cover our bases in case this is your first time discovering this hugely influential movie. As alluded to earlier, how can you be expected to fork out your hard-earned pennies for a new release of a film that has been released time and time again over the past several decades? Simply put, this new release takes Night of the Living Dead and pushes it to a whole new level.

Put together as part of Sony Pictures’ Criterion Collection, this latest edition of this famed classic brings the extras and brings them hard. That’s not all, though, for we get a 4K transfer of the movie which makes it snap, crackle, and drearily pop with stunning beauty as this remorseless, desolate and desperate film plays out. Night of the Living Dead has never looked better, and we’d go as far as to say the only 4K restoration of a famed horror that’s ever looked better is the Dean Cundey-handled refresh given to Halloween to mark that picture’s 35th anniversary. Frankly, this new restoration looks absolutely phenomenal, bringing a new vibrancy, a new sense of claustrophobia to a well-worn favourite of yesteryear.

Back to the actual special features and bonus material, though, and there’s an absolutely ridiculous amount of extra material included over the two Blu-ray package. What’s most likely to grab longtime fans’ attention, of course, is the famed “Night of Anubis” work-print version of the film that’s included. Sadly, despite rumours and rumblings, this doesn’t mean certain ‘missing scenes’ are included, more it’s a case of a few alternative shots. Where missing material does come in to play, however, is in the 16mm dailies included as part of this release. That footage alone will likely swing this purchase for many a horror hound!

All in all, Night of the Living Dead is obviously just as marvellous as it’s always been. Sure, many newcomers may not quite appreciate the charm, shock, and social commentary of Romero’s famed 1968 movie in comparison to what modern audiences are accustomed to. But that’s kind of the point, for it was more often than not Romero and Night of the Living Dead that set the foundations for so, so many films that we’ve seen over the ensuing decades and still to this day. Throw in a truly mind-blowing 4K restoration and some must-see extras, and here we have a release that should be right at the top of many a genre fan’s wishlist.

Special Features: Two audio commentaries / Night of Anubis work-print / Never-before-seen 16mm dailies / New interviews / Archive interviews / Four new featurettes / Trailer / Radio and TV spots / An essay by Stuart Klawans

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD / 15 / DIRECTOR: GEORGE A. ROMERO / SCREENPLAY: GEORGE A. ROMERO, JOHN A. RUSSO / STARRING: DUANE JONES, JUDITH O’DEA, KARL HARDMAN, KEITH WAYNE, RUSSELL STREINER / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 26TH

Carl Theodor Dreyer is most known to cinema buffs for his 1928 masterpiece The Passion of Joan of Arc, but that’s not his only film worthy of recognition – Michael, one of his more personal movies, is considered a landmark of early LGBT cinema.

Benjamin Christensen plays esteemed painter Claude Zoret, who lives with an attractive young twink called Michael, his muse and model. The two are very clearly in love, even if Claude refers to Michael as his ‘adoptive son’ when in polite company. Then the bankrupt Countess Zamikov comes into the fray, hoping that being painted by Claude will change her financial fortunes. But, obsessing over his inability to get Zamikov’s features right, Claude begins to neglect Michael, and eventually, Michael finds himself more interested in the Countess than in the ailing painter.

It’s a tight-knit story, set almost entirely in Claude’s lavish house, and there are comparisons to be made with current release Phantom Thread in its depiction of a difficult artist and his relationships with his muses. Indeed, Christensen puts a Day-Lewis level of intensity into his performance; he doesn’t need dialogue to convey the strain that Claude’s dual passions for Michael and for his art put on his mentality.

But it’s that passion for the young muse which makes the film remarkable to watch today; though it might not state it explicitly, Michael is an unabashedly gay movie, with Christensen and Walter Slezak putting on as pure a performance of two men in – and, in Michael’s case, falling out of – love as you could hope to see. This was alleged to have been a personal subject for Dreyer, who felt the need to dramatise his own feelings after a homosexual affair.

A third queer character, Robert Garrison’s journalist, who is profiling Claude but seemingly has some romantic past with him, adds an extra layer to the drama and plays neatly into the poignant ending. If there’s anything to criticise, it’s that Nora Gregor’s performance as the Countess doesn’t match up to the standard of the rest of the cast and that a subplot about a friend of Claude’s and his unfaithful wife feels unnecessary.

Nevertheless, Michael acts as a powerful reminder of the progressive, artistic sensibilities that made German cinema of the 1920s one of the most fascinating periods of the medium’s history. Besides that, it’s simply a stunningly scripted, directed and acted romantic drama.

This new Blu-ray release from Eureka does Michael justice; in a new 2K restoration, the film looks as crisp as ever, and there’s a range of fascinating extras: an audio commentary from Dreyer scholar Casper Tybjerg; a video essay by critic David Cairns; a 1965 audio interview with Dreyer himself; and a collector’s booklet full of essays, tributes and images. This comprehensive package makes for a highly recommended purchase for any silent cinema devotee.

MICHAEL (1924) / CERT: U / DIRECTOR: CARL THEODOR DREYER / SCREENPLAY: THEA VON HARBOU, CARL THEODOR DREYER / STARRING: WALTER SLEZAK, BENJAMIN CHRISTENSEN, NORA GREGOR, ROBERT GARRISON / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 12TH

In The Ritual, V/H/S’ David Bruckner looks to dish out a tense, terror-laced effort that  ticks off plentiful horror tropes as a group of friends then themselves isolated in the wilderness. Does the picture succeed, or does it ultimately leave its audience feeling as stranded and clueless as its key players? Let’s find out.

Where the plot’s concerned, The Ritual opens with a group of five middle-aged male pals discussing their options for a possible holiday. Each offering differing views, and Paul Reid’s Rob suggests a Swedish hiking adventure. For poor Rob, however, any sort of jaunts and jollies are soon taken off the table when he and Rafe Spall’s Luke inadvertently end up in the centre of an off-licence hold-up. Quicker than you can scream “hit him with the vodka bottle!”, Rob is brutally killed while Luke watches on. Fast forward to a few months after this tragedy, and we find the four surviving pals – Robert James-Collier’s Hutch, Sam Troughton’s Dom and Asher Ali’s Phil joining Luke – making a pilgrimage of sorts to the Swedish countryside. Having made a toast to their fallen buddy, a turn in the weather prompts the foursome to make the poorly-judged call of taking a shortcut through the eerie, desolate woods. Clever, eh? Nope, not clever at all, as odd happenings, eerie dreams, and an increasingly-close lurking presence soon descend upon these lifelong pals.

The first thing that instantly grabs you about The Ritual is the kinship and camaraderie shared by the film’s key players. Rarely has the relationship between a group of friends seemed so natural in a movie, with the initial five never afraid to poke fun at each other, and often spending the majority of their time ridiculing their nearest and dearest in a way that feels utterly authentic. Of course, it’s not all laughs and figurative dead arms, and those quips and putdowns soon begin to dry up as the terror of their situation begins to take hold. And terror is most certainly here, with director Bruckner doing a largely brilliant job of building tension. Helping that out marvellously is the simply mesmerising location used, with Romania filling in for Sweden and giving a truly fantastic sense of scope when it comes to just how stranded and out of civilisation our central group is. Added to this, Joe Barton’s script – itself adapted from Adam Nevill’s 2011 novel of the same name – does well to highlight the elements of guilt, grief and even blame felt by its core players following the death of Rob, with these true feelings coming more to the fore as the tale unravels.

Unfortunately, The Ritual begins to lose its way a little as the film staggers to its conclusion, making its final act seem dragged-out, underwhelming, and even a little predictable. And it’s the predictability of The Ritual that is its ultimate undoing, with the movie essentially feeling a little ‘we’ve seen it all before’ by the time the twists and turns are laid bare. Still, that’s not to say that this is a total dud – far from it, in fact – but it just lacks any real sense of adventure or unique ideas, failing to capitalise on an interesting opening and leaving you with a sense of what could’ve been.

Special Features: Cast and crew interviews

THE RITUAL / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: DAVID BRUCKNER / SCREENPLAY: JOE BARTON / STARRING: RAFE SPALL, ROBERT JAMES-COLLIER, SAM TROUGHTON, ARSHER ALI, PAUL REID / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 9TH (NETFLIX), FEBRUARY 12TH (DVD)

To this day, Jean-Claude Van Damme is one of the most beloved figures in the action game. With JCVD’s latest effort Kill ’em All, longtime stunt and fight choreographer Peter Malota steps behind the camera to make his directorial bow. But is this actioner simply a cheap sucker punch that relies on the Muscles from Brussels’ iconic reputation, or is this a picture that high kicks its way to success?

Plot-wise, the film centres around a hospital that just so happens to find itself in the middle of a bloodbath. Explained through flashbacks by Suzanne (Autumn Reeser), a nurse who saw the whole ordeal play out, we see how Philip (Van Damme) was one of several victims brought to the medical facility after an assassination attempt went awry. From there, we see how Daniel Bernhardt’s angry gun-wielding Russian turned up, knocking up the ante in the process as several would-be assassins descend on the hospital with Philip in their sights. Where Suzanne comes further into this is in how she ends up alongside JCVD’s Philip as he has to fight against the odds to make it out of this hellhole situation. As Suzanne narrates her account of events to a couple of FBI agents – Maria Conchita Alonso and cult favourite Peter Stormare – who aren’t necessarily buying what she’s selling, they begin to allude further to the backstory of this battle’s key players. Was Philip successful? What was the real motive of these nefarious sorts? Just how many of Jean-Claude’s patented roundhouse kicks do we get to see? And will any of this make any sort of sense?!?!

Of course, this being a low-budget effort from a first-time director, some may go in with caution upon viewing Kill ‘em All. With that said, there are actually some impressive elements to Malota’s debut picture in the director’s chair. Autumn Reeser is on strong form as the guiding hand through this tome, and Peter Stormare is as scene-devouring as ever. As for the brutality, some of the action scenes snap, crackle and pop with a ferocity that would rival any bigger budgeted actioners. Unfortunately, though, there are ample, ample problems that ultimately take away from Kill ‘em All’s plus points. For example, those aforementioned great fight sequences? Well, there’s a whole slew of poorly acted-out other action scenes to cancel them out. Then there’s the dialogue, which is truly awful. Sure, a sense of cheese and quipping wise is always to be expected in such a picture – and we love us a good dose of cheese here at Moonbase Alpha – but the lines spouted out here are often groan-inducing and delivered in a brutal fashion by certain players. Throw in some awful faux accents, and several unwanted genre tropes – disposable rent-a-villains, anyone? – are starting to be ticked off. And as ever, twists and turns begin to unravel as the film plays out; some twists that are maybe trying a little too hard to be clever at times.

What about the main man himself, though? Well, Jean-Claude Van Damme is a mixed bag here. As longtime Van Damme fans, we’re always rooting for him in the plentiful pictures he puts out these days. In Kill ‘em All, however, JCVD doesn’t look all that bothered. And who can blame him, considering the dialogue and script he has to deal with. Action-wise, Van Damme’s scenes largely shine brightly, making up for the lethargic performance given in the more dialogue-driven moments.

For first-time director Peter Malota, there’s moments of promise to see here, and it’s clear that his strong suit is obviously the action side of things. Certain slowed down shots and edits are poorly judged, mind, and the script he has to work with would be problematic for any director.

While many will be swayed by kicks to faces, guns, knives, Eastern European assassins disguised as strippers, and the prospect of Jean-Claude Van Damme doing what he does best, all of these elements are unfortunately overpowered by a stinker of a script, some absolutely hideous performances from certain supporting players, and an overall feeling of nonplussed ‘meh’ – which is never good. One for the Van Damme purists only, we’re afraid.

KILL ‘EM ALL / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: PETER MALOTA / SCREENPLAY: JESSE CILIO, BRIAN SMOLENSKY, CRAIG STEWART / STARRING: JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME, AUTUMN REESER, PETER STORMARE, MARIA CONCHITA ALONSO, DANIEL BERNHARDT, PAUL SAMPSON / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Thought your upbringing was rough? Down on his luck depressed dad Glenn lives in a tent in the Virginian woods, with young daughter Sophia and the wider community of homeless woodsmen around them. What their lives lack in glamour they recoup in the tenderness of their close relationship, not distracted by things like modern life, family or having a house, or any money whatsoever. The spirits that reside within the swamp, however, tormenting little Sophia… they are a pretty big distraction.

We’ve had the haunted child movie in the likes of Insidious and Poltergeist, and we’ve had The Spooky Woods movie in The Blair Witch Project and its ilk. The Ballerina gives us the haunted child movie in the spooky woods. Surprisingly, it doesn’t rely on a single jump scare.

Director Steve Pullen is more concerned with atmosphere and emotion than the usual screaming, shouting and scenes of people being dragged away into the darkness by unseen forces, to the extent where The Ballerina’s ghost story almost feels like an afterthought. That’s fine though, as the soft, sad tale it does tell is far more interesting than the ones we’ve seen so many times before elsewhere. The real mystery isn’t the one with the ghost, it’s the unfolding question of what our useless dad did to destroy their lives so.

The slow-burn story, obvious lack of budget and grubby visuals may highlight Pullen’s relative lack of experience, but this is an impressive debut; even more so when one realises that he wrote, directed and starred in the thing himself, with real-life daughter Isabella playing Sophia. The relationship lends itself to a tender, often raw chemistry, sidestepping the usual wooden acting that tends to plague genre cinema of this level. It skews a little too close to the melodramatic side for comfort, but the pair do astonishingly well. If only all low-budget horror movies were so well-acted and thoughtful.

With The Ballerina, Pullen (the one with the beard) has marked himself as one to watch, juggling multiple duties with a confidence that’d put even famed cinematic multitasker Robert Rodriguez to shame. It may sometimes lack poise and grace, but it pirouettes around the pitfalls of budget filmmaking on the strength of its emotional resonance alone.

THE BALLERINA / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: STEVE PULLEN / STARRING: DEENA DILL, THOMAS MIKAL FORD, ADELLA GAUTIER, MORGAN CRYER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Fire up your streaming service of choice and somewhere near the bottom of endless categories, past the ‘suggestions for you’ and further on than Bob Ross you will find the living fire channel. Press play and there, in eye-popping HD or retina melting 4K, is a roaring log fire. This will play indefinitely, nay until the embers of civilisation wink out of existence, basking your room in a heady glow with all but the life-sustaining warmth that fire breathes.

This brings us neatly to The Housemaid. The film’s credentials are impressive, written and directed by noted playwright Derek Nguyen, The Housemaid is reportedly Vietnam’s highest ever grossing horror. Nguyen’s direction is solid, even making the eroticism of the piece work. Though a few slightly lingering shots leave you feeling like he may have a touch of the Tarantinos.

Lil’ orphan Linh is hired as a housemaid at the rubber plantation home of Captain Laurent in 50s Indochina, where the locals are still very much second rate citizens to the wealthy western landowners/grabbers. When Ol’ Cap is shot and saved by eastern medicine, it falls to Linh to aid him through his convalescence. What neither realises is that our old friend the ‘dead wife turned mad by the death of her baby’ is lurking around the corner, looking for all the world like a Korn fan walking home from a gig in the pouring rain.

The look of the film is its high point. A little like if Samara crawled out of that TV and onto the set of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The forest scenes are so well shot and lit, every leaf and inch of mutilated tree bark sings. The Captain’s home betrays its opulence with curtains fraying at the edges, signposting the beginning of the end of its colonialist origins. Cinematographer Sam Chase is the star here, having started out as an electrician; he shows an incredible talent that needs to be seen.

And then, alas, we have the plot. We really don’t need another two hours of the dearly departed terrorising her husband and his new beau. In fact, cut out the horror element and you are left with something approaching a sweet love story, albeit a re-tread in itself of a pseudo-Miss Saigon. The characterisations are heavy-handed. Here, the shy maid, the alcoholic Captain, the downtrodden cook and the envious unstoppable spectre are all drawn with the heavy hand of a crayon-wielding toddler. The scares are there, but all too often in the Hollywood style, rather than anything approaching the brooding menace the movie is aching for.

So, it’s our old friend style over substance again. Like our 4K fire channel, it’s all about the look and lacks any depth or even warmth, which is an odd criticism to make of a horror movie but you still need to feel something for your leads’ to even begin to invest in the story or lack thereof. The Housemaid is certainly worth your attention but probably in a few years’ time, when you’ve finally caught up on all the other incredible genre stuff being made at the moment. Or for the same effect, try watching the fire channel, while listening to The Exorcist soundtrack and spraying water in your face.

THE HOUSEMAID / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: DEREK NGUYEN / STARRING: KATE NHUNG, JEAN-MICHEL RICHAUD, KIM XUAN / RELEASE DATE: FEBRUARY 19TH

When reviewing low-budget films, you have to take into account that the resources with which the filmmakers are working make it unreasonable to expect them to look as seamlessly slick as big-budget Hollywood productions. Usually, the goal is to focus on ideas and characterisation so that the story remains interesting enough for the viewer to forgive any ropey visuals, but Battalion attempts to deliver spectacle as well as intimacy, and utterly fails at both.

The plot, such as it is, involves a faceless alien race laying waste to the planet for reasons the film never bothers mentioning, while a squad of newly-trained marines are sent on a mission in the South Pacific, all the while, the action is punctuated by flashbacks to the early days of the war. The general feel is something akin to an Asylum version of Starship Troopers, but without the satirical swipes at the militaristic priapic exuberance of the glory of war which made that bastion of ‘90s overkill so enjoyable.

Things are supposed to be kept exciting by squad members being periodically killed in skirmishes with the aliens, but we are afforded too little knowledge about who they are to mourn their passing, and anyway their deaths are preordained by their non-appearance in scenes from close to the climax seen via ill-advised editing that jumps the action back and forth in time. There are some genuine attempts to develop the characters in it for the long run, but the poorly written dialogue delivered by wooden performances do little to make you care about those spouting it, and really isn’t helped by a discordant score that frequently drowns out what’s being said.

From a distance. the effects work of the alien ships doesn’t look too unconvincing, like something copied with limited imagination from futurism sci-fi art, but the seams start to show whenever they actually move, or when any attempt is made to integrate them into real-world location shots or CG facsimiles thereof. The jerky amination of the aliens themselves comes off like half-rendered sequences from a video game cut scene, and some go as far to wordlessly suggest an overlying plan behind the invasion that is maddeningly ignored.

The shoddy effects and stilted acting might just coalesce into something vaguely fun if you’re the kind of person who enjoys watching trashy films in the company of like-minded friends for the entertainment value of their sheer awfulness, but it’s difficult to recommend the film to anyone else. It seems spiteful to relentlessly criticise every aspect of an independent film made with limited funding, but even when that is taken into consideration, there isn’t any way you can justify, explain away or disguise the fact that Battalion is quite simply a really, really bad film.

BATTALION / CERT: TBA / DIRECTOR: MICHAEL MILLER / SCREENPLAY: MICHAEL MILLER / STARRING: JESSE RICHARDSON, ELLEN WILLIAMS, MICHAEL THOMSON, JAMES STORER, NAVEEN VARGHESE / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (US), TBC (UK)

When renowned scholar Faustus is honoured with a Doctorate at the University of Wittenburg he reflects on his academic achievements. A master of all he has studied, his life feels empty and lacking in worldly pleasures. His excessive pride and arrogant self-belief mask the concerns of others when he turns towards the dark arts for fulfilment, his interest in magic soon turning into a fully-fledged affair with necromancy.

Summoning Mephistopheles from hell itself, Faustus sells his own soul to Lucifer in exchange for 24 years of unlimited knowledge and base pleasures. But all too quickly the years pass and when it is time for the bargain to reach its reckoning, Faustus realises too late how much he has squandered his life, damning his soul to an eternity in hell.

Wow. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? And, given that Marlowe wrote this somewhere around 1590, pretty ahead of its time. One of the greatest mortality plays ever written, Dr Faustus has influenced so much of what we consider to be the horror genre. And a good version can still scare the bejeesus out of you.

This 1967 film co-directed by and starring the late, great Richard Burton is not a good version…

Lifeless, lacking in atmosphere and bound by its theatrical roots, this Dr Faustus is about as scary as jam biscuit but, to be fair, it’s actually a filmed record of a stage version which Burton performed with the Oxford University Dramatic Society, a run which itself garnered mediocre reviews. That the members of that society perform the other roles in the film explains why the acting isn’t exactly riveting, although the one performance which does shine is that of Andreas Teuber as the tortured Mephistopheles. The sets look theatrical as does the lighting and heavy make-up. What cinematic choices are utilised look gimmicky and the whole doesn’t gel as a piece of theatre or cinema.

Oh, and then there’s Elizabeth Taylor. She crops up as the spirit of Helen, the most beautiful woman who ever lived, all heaving bosom and longing looks, given that she has no dialogue, and looking like she’s stepped out from the set of Cleopatra. If it wasn’t so dull it would camp but it doesn’t even achieve that.

What’s more, this DVD release has no extras.

This theatrical masterpiece of its age, easily on a par with some of the best of Shakespeare, deserves a decently cinematic version but this, sadly, needs a good doctor to pump some life into its veins.

DOCTOR FAUSTUS (1967) / CERT: / DIRECTOR: RICHARD BURTON, NEVILL COGHILL / SCREENPLAY: NEVILL COGHILL / STARRING: ELIZABETH TAYLOR, RICHARD BURTON, ANDREAS TEUBER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

 

Pulling No Punches is the tale of a local-Aussie boy done well.  By most people’s standards, Rod Taylor had a pretty great career, including starring roles in Hitchcock’s The Birds and the original The Time Machine and all the way through to working with Tarantino.  Before the likes of Russell Crowe et al here was an Australian who looked at Hollywood and thought yeah, he could do that too.  This documentary tells of how Taylor’s journey took him from his home country to America to seek fame and fortune.  He’d work with Hitch and act opposite Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Maggie Smith, as well as a few high-profile relationships that found him featured in the press.  Along the way in recounting all this we get plenty of recent input (Taylor died in 2015) from a spry and entertaining Rod himself, and it’s evident that apart from a slight American twang he remained in large part unaffected by a long time spent in the USA.

Pulling No Punches manages to draw together a lot of people who obviously had a lot of affection for Taylor.  Smith is gracious and appreciative for her time spent working with him.  It was some of her earliest roles and by all accounts, he helped her feel comfortable and was supportive in their scenes.  There are contributions from the likes of Angela Lansbury, Tippi Hedren, and Veronica Cartwright.  The most interesting aspects, however, come from his fellow Australians.  Actors like Bryan Brown talk about the effect it had on them knowing Taylor was also Australian and had gone to Hollywood and made it big.  Directors like Stephen Elliott (who Taylor acted for in Welcome to Woop Woop) and Baz Luhrmann similarly describe the impact Taylor had on them, encouraging them to believe they could do it too.

It’s no salacious biography, so you’re not going to find any mention of scandal or any dark side to the dream Taylor went after.  It’s instead more a celebration of his achievements and as such is going to be of most interest to Taylor’s fans.  That’s not to say it isn’t a well-made, captivating enough film to have broader appeal, but more the inevitability of any documentary that focuses on one subject.  As for the disk, the picture is fine for all recent interviews and it comes with a couple of supplements.  One is a short joint interview with Taylor and Hedren where it’s clear there was plenty of affection between the two.  The other is a Q&A from the Burbank film festival in 2017 with some of those behind the film that runs for about 15 minutes.  Overall, worthwhile for fans of Rod.

ROD TAYLOR: PULLING NO PUNCHES / CERT: E / DIRECTOR: ROBERT DE YOUNG / SCREENPLAY: STEPHEN WELLINK, ROBERT DE YOUNG / STARRING: MAGGIE SMITH, TIPPI HENDREN, ANGELA LANGSBURY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW