Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

One of the last Hammer productions to grace cinema screens (before a long hiatus that ended with the 2011 release of The Resident), To the Devil a Daughter, originally released theatrically in 1976 is getting a revival through Studio Canal as part of their Anniversary celebrations of the original release of The Curse Of Frankenstein in 1957.

Directed by Peter Sykes and adapted from the novel of the same name by Denis Wheatley, the film tells of American expatriate occult writer John Verney (Richard Widmark) who, whilst at a private business party, is approached by Henry Beddows (Denholm Elliott) to try and rescue his teenage daughter Catherine (Nastassja Kinski), a practicing nun from a mysterious group called the Children Of The Lord, which is presided over by Father Michael Rayner, a priest who has fallen from the true faith. Verney succeeds in intercepting Catherine at the airport and takes her to his flat near Tower Bridge.

However, Rayner has devilish clever black magic in his midst, which he uses from afar on Catherine to try and regain her for his own dastardly ends – and the future of the group, whom Verney suspects have more sinister ideas about the beliefs and faiths of organised religion….

As a film that was made in the twilight of a golden era of Hammer production – and released in the same year that Richard Donner’s original version of The Omen was causing a stir at US and UK box-offices, To the Devil a Daughter is one of the key gems of the Hammer catalogue and filmography.

Upon reflection, the producers were clearly aware that the ground-breaking successes of films like Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist alongside The Omen were gaining on them and attempted to at least put something that had a lot more commercial and cross-over appeal to the international market. Originally, the film was not a great success and was the second of two Wheatley novels to be adapted by Hammer for the big-screen, the first being The Devil Rides Out. According to online reports, Wheatley allegedly disliked what Hammer had done with his work and refused permission for future books to get translated to the cinema.

Like Kubrick’s The Shining, another adaptation that the author Stephen King clearly under-appreciated, To The Devil A Daughter works on its own terms and has a compelling style about it. This writer has not read the original source material, so can only judge this film on what is in front of him.

The performances are great, led with conviction by Widmark and Kinski, in one of her early roles, evokes great presence as the innocent teenage girl who is the focus of Lee’s priest. Lee remains simply incomparable in another of his excellent performances for the Hammer brand. Honor Blackman and Brian Wilde (from the UK TV classics Last of the Summer Wine and Porridge) also form part of a good ensemble.

To the Devil a Daughter is a fitting tribute to a legendary horror production slate and one that fans new and old should seek out.

TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER (1976)  / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: PETER SYKES / SCREENPLAY: CHRISTOPHER WICKING / STARRING: CHRISTOPHER LEE, RICHARD WIDMARK, HONOR BLACKMAN, NASTASSJA KINSKI / RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 29TH

Around the same time that Clint Eastwood was beginning his acclaimed career as a director alongside his successful output as an actor with the now-classic psychological thriller Play Misty For Me (1971), Hammer Films was attempting to branch out into new territories with movies that were more contemporary in their feel whilst maintaining the darkly horrifying tradition of their work of the previous decade.

Straight On Till Morning was directed by Peter Collinson, whose contribution to British and World Cinema has been immortalised thanks to the original 1969 version of The Italian Job, whose climactic cliff-hanger and Michael Caine’s line “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!!!” have passed into cinematic folklore.

Studiocanal has revived the film as part of a series of early 2018 ‘Hammer Anniversary’ releases on Blu-ray and it is a great opportunity to view another of the contrasting output that the studio was keen on demonstrating as a desire to change their image and grow as a brand in entertainment.

Brenda (Rita Tushingham) is a mixed-up young woman who lies to her mother at their Liverpool home about being pregnant and decides to uproot to London to find a father. She arrives in Earls Court, finding a place to live and subsequently takes a job at a fashion boutique, where her co-worker Caroline encourages her to attend a party she is hosting to try and find a suitable male partner.

However, when she discovers Caroline in bed with a colleague she fancies, she runs out into the lonely London night, where she comes across a dog called Tinker, whom she takes back to her bedsit. However, she has been seen by the owner, Peter (Shane Briant). After cleaning the dog, she takes him back to Peter, who is curious to know why she returned the pet he alleges she stole. After she bursts into tears, Peter tells Brenda it is OK and suggests she move in with him. However, it soon becomes apparent Peter is seemingly alike in nature and holds a number of dark aces in his pack….

Straight On Till Morning is not, by any means, the very best example of Hammer’s work. It is very much of its time when London was emerging from a decade of ‘swing’. The supporting cast is representative of familiar faces from the time, with Likely Lad James Bolam as one of Brenda’s co-workers and John Clive, who taunted Malcolm McDowell on stage during his Ludovico rehabilitation in A Clockwork Orange (1971).

The film remains a curious mix of style, with a high-energy cross-edit style evoking the likes of Ken Russell and Donald Cammell’s Performance (1970) and probably will throw some Hammer fans more comfortable with the likes of Cushing and Lee as the lead. It does feel rather dated now, but the very heart of the piece reveals some suitably shocking moments.

STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING (1972) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: PETER COLLINSON / SCREENPLAY: JOHN PEACOCK / STARRING: RITA TUSHINGHAM, SHANE BRIANT, JAMES BOLAM, KATYA WYETH / RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 29TH

Another of Studio Canal’s anniversary releases in honour of Hammer Films, The Horror Of Frankenstein featured the late Ralph Bates in one of several key roles he held during his time working under the company. It is a part-remake of Hammer’s debut 1957 colour release, The Curse of Frankenstein, and was originally released in 1970.

Bates took over from Peter Cushing in the lead role of Victor Frankenstein, who is portrayed in this film as a young and arrogantly brilliant student who taunts his professors, as well as taking advantage on any number of female students in the process. Things go a little pear-shaped when his father, Baron Frankenstein (George Belbin) demands that he discontinue his experiments on human anatomy, a demand that leads to him sabotaging one of his father’s guns and causing his death during a shooting trip.

Inheriting the title of Baron von Frankenstein, he moves to medical school in Vienna but is expelled after getting the Dean’s daughter pregnant. Upon returning to England, he decides to continue his experiments and resorts to murder and grave-robbing with the help of an accomplice, with a grand plan to create a monster for his own needs….

Directed by Jimmy Sangster – and featuring the original Vader David Prowse following Boris Karloff in the pivotal role as the Monster – The Horror of Frankenstein is a competently executed old-style, old-fashioned horror film and another of the Hammer releases that defined the essence and style of the horror genre.

It’s a faithful tribute to the Shelley characters and legacy and follows the plot line of other adaptations of the novel. Bates is excellent in the role of Frankenstein and evokes the sense of a man at ease with the desire to kill in the name of science, as well as trying to satisfy his darkest nocturnal desires with the local female populace. Kate O’Mara provides good support as Frankenstein’s housemaid Alys.

As with other horror films of the period, seen today The Horror of Frankenstein will be viewed as more of a curiosity with genre fans and will probably have more impact with die-hard Hammer fans and cultists who want to re-trace the back catalogue which they have started to do with recent Hammer releases and remastered version.

It’s not a scare-fest in the grandest sense and some of the moments will provide mild amusement. Prowse is pretty good in the role of The Monster, although he may remind some fans of Oddbod from the classic Carry on Screaming made in 1966.

The film looks great in its re-mastered version like the other key releases this year, with excellent sound and picture and it will certainly be a great addition to any Hammer fans collection.

THE HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN (1970) / CERT: 12 / DIRECTOR: JEREMY BURNHAM, JIMMY SANGSTER / STARRING: RALPH BATES, KATE O’MARA, VERONICA CARLSON, DENNIS PRICE, JON FINCH, DAVID PROWSE / RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 29TH

Another of the slate of Studio Canal Hammer remasters which open their 2018 release schedule, Dr Jekyll And Sister Hyde is the third adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll, adapted for the screen on this occasion by legendary TV creative Brian Clemens, who conceived the likes of the Patrick Macnee Avengers and the 1970s classic The Professionals, which can be seen in regular repeats on the UK ITV4 channel during the day and at it’s peak in prime time was a popular 9pm draw.

Ralph Bates (who also features in another of the newly remastered releases, The Horror Of Frankenstein) plays Dr Henry Jekyll, a talented practitioner of medicine, who is curious and fascinated about the curing of diseases to the extent that he wants to seek the answer to long life. His first experiments are on an insect, which he proudly proclaims based on a serum he injects lasts three days, far longer than its traditional life expectancy.

Further experiments result in him creating a mix based on female hormones from victims which he consumes, causing evident side effects and a transformation into the mysterious Mrs Hyde (Martine Bestwick), who provides a fascination to Jekyll’s neighbours, brother and sister Howard and Susan Spencer (Lewis Flander and Susan Brodrick), not least in that Howard is attracted to Mrs. Hyde, whilst Susan has designs on Henry….

Dr Jekyll And Sister Hyde is one of the most ingenious adaptations of a classic horror tale and would be ripe for a remake, which according to online reports has been in the works as recently as 2011. It’s a daring variant on the Stevenson tale and courageous in that it focuses on the complications of gender and emotional needs. Bates hits the mark again, as he did in The Horror of Frankenstein, as a man plagued by over-eagerness and a desire to fulfill his potential for the greater good.

However, it is Martine Beswick who steals the show. Beswick had made her mark in two classic Bonds, From Russia With Love (1963) and Thunderball (1965), where she was up against Claudine Auger and Luciana Paluzzi for the honour of most glamorous Bond girl (an accolade that has been gifted to Auger in an all-time poll on occasion).

Here she is given fuller rein to rule over proceedings as the mysterious ‘sister’ of Henry Jekyll and she creates an air of sexual magnetism and cunning that off-sets the doctor’s neurotic predicament. It’s not an easy thing to pull off, but Beswick is effortless in this film.

This writer certainly would welcome a remake of the film to explore modern-day gender and sexual ideals, but until Hammer decide to commission it; we will happily make do with the 1971 original, which should whet fans’ appetite for more re-mastered releases of Hammer’s back catalogue.

DR JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE (1971) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: ROY WARD BAKER / SCREENPLAY: BRIAN CLEMENS / STARRING: RALPH BATES, MARTINE BESWICK, GERALD SIM, LEWIS FIANDER / RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 29TH

In a world full of remakes, reboots, reimaginings, recalibrations, relaunches and rejigs, you’d be forgiven for mouthing obscenities at the news that Stephen King’s famed IT was being adapted once more. While you can be excused for initially not being all that enthused about this new IT, the mood started to change once the terrifying early footage of the film was slipped out in teasers and trailers. So, was this a worthy new take on a classic tale, or was it merely a needless rejig that relied on nostalgia and once more stepping through played-out tropes?

Luckily for us – and, it has to be said, to the surprise of many – Andy Muschietti’s IT was a stunning effort that stands as one of the best films that 2017 dished up. Despite having been stuck spinning its wheels since as far back as 2009, audiences were treated to a true modern classic of the horror genre when Bill Skarsgard’s Pennywise was let loose on Derry, Maine; Skarsgard himself joining after the similarly left-field pick of We’re the Millers’ Will Poulter dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts.

Plot-wise, Pennywise is a shape-shifting entity that surfaces every 27 years in the search of feeding its hefty appetite for fear, chaos, carnage and bloodshed. Unfortunately for the group of youngsters dubbed the Losers Club, Pennywise has risen once more – and he has them in his sinister sights! Of course, this was a story previously adapted as a two-part mini-series back in 1990; an adap that is itself rightly beloved my many. What Muschietti’s IT does, though, is that it gives a far more fleshed-out look at the home lives of the Losers Club, highlighting the individual plights that they face on a daily basis in addition to the snarling clown that’s now started to haunt them at every turn. Then there’s the setting, spruced up to take place in the late 1980s. Likewise, this new take on King’s classic tale also increases the horror element of its playfully eerie Pennywise. While many genre fans have been longtime fans of Tim Curry’s turn as Pennywise in Tommy Lee Wallace’s ’90 adaptation, this latest incarnation of the creepy clown is a completely different beast. In fact, in comparison it actually makes Curry’s version look rather tame. Still, that’s not to say that the 1990 IT is now redundant, for it still has its own unique charm, but it’s more an indication of the stronger, more blunt and brutal horror angle that’s played up this time around. And this is truly edge-of-your-seat terror the likes of which have rarely been seen in a mainstream movie for many a year.

For the cast, the young crew of actors who make up the Losers Club are all pitch-perfect for their roles. While Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard may often steal the show as his Richie constantly quips wise and gets the majority of the best lines, it’s Sophia Lillis and Jaeden Lieberher who stand out amongst the fantastic ensemble effort. As Bev and Bill, respectively, Lillis and Lieberher have the most interesting stories to sink their teeth into – Bev with a disturbing home life centred around an extremely overprotective father, Bill as the grieving older brother of poor young Georgie whose disappearance is the launching point for this story. Then, of course, there’s Bill Skarsgard, magically balancing the childish charm of Pennywise with the utter dread that the character can conjure up at a moment’s notice. If Tim Curry’s Pennywise was Jack Nicholson’s Joker, Skarsgard’s version is Heath Ledger’s Clown Prince of Crime on his absolutely worst day. Skarsgard absolutely mesmerises every time he’s on screen, and he’s a thoroughly creepy beast that will stay with you long after the film concludes.

As for the bonus content of this release, the deleted scenes are extensive (and may well be reinstated on the main picture for Muschietti’s upcoming director’s cut) and the featurettes make for some fun, fascinating viewing; with featurettes showcasing Pennywise, the bonding between the young actors involved in the film, and then even some input from Stephen King himself. For those with 4K capability, the ‘4K Ultra HD’ release of the movie is simply phenomenal. Colours vibrantly pop, crystal clear carnage unravels, and the 4K transfer is one of the very best transfers we’ve ever seen.

All in all, IT is easily one of the best horror pictures to come around in years, particularly in a mainstream sense. The only downer? That’s the wait for the second, concluding chapter of this tale in which we see the now-adult Losers Club return to tackle Pennywise 27 years down the line. Until then, this stunning first chapter should keep your nightmares ticking over nicely.

Special Features: Three featurettes / Eleven deleted scenes

IT / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: ANDY MUSCHIETTI / SCREENPLAY: GARY DAUBERMAN, CARY FUKUNAGA, CHASE PALMER / STARRING: BILL SKARSGARD, JAEDEN LIEBERHER, JEREMY RAY TAYLOR, SOPHIA LILLIS, FINN WOLFHARD, JACK DYLAN GRAZER, WYATT OLEFF, CHOSEN JACOBS, JACKSON ROBERT SCOTT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (DIGITAL DOWNLOAD), JANUARY 15TH (BLU-RAY/DVD)

Director David Lowry made an impression back in 2013 when he released the indie hit Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, and then delving into the mainstream with the live-action remake of Pete’s Dragon last year, which proved to be the best of the live-action Disney remakes to date. Now, Lowry returns to his indie roots with A Ghost Story, which reunites Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara, and is about the notions of loss, legacy and the longing for human connection and meaning. You have a normal mundane couple living within this house, and then suddenly the husband dies, comes back as a ghost (embodied by a white sheet with cut-out eyes), and witnesses how everything moves on without him, including his wife.

This film really plays more akin to a fantasy story more than anything else, which is its huge benefit as it never reaches beyond what is happening to the husband, the wife, and even the house itself, which is as much the main character as the two people that occupied it. This movie makes you question what you would do if something this tragic happened to you, and how you would cope being this invisible, disembodied entity who can do nothing except watch life pass you by, and that rationalization is scary to imagine and is perhaps more chilling than certain other horror movies out there.

This movie doesn’t go overboard and forget what it is and what its intention is; this is a ghost story that is very light on scares but very heavy on thoughts and ideas. Really, the biggest scare is trying to put yourself in the position of this lone ghost who can’t do anything but watch his wife grieve; he can’t support her or talk to her, but just watch as she inevitably moves on and he becomes almost forgotten, and that’s what makes it scary: it reminds you how terrifying death is. This is helped enormously by Casey Affleck’s closed-off performance as he spends nearly 90% of this movie underneath a sheet, yet that helps convey both the tragedy and the subtle emotional nuances. Plus, Rooney Mara, too, gives a subtly heartbreaking turn as the grieving wife.

Overall, A Ghost Story feels like David Lowry attempting to create an experimental horror ghost story about loss and how death can be a very lonely place. This captures that brilliantly, and while many audiences might be turned off by the film’s slow burn nature or by the fact that this is almost like a silent movie, this shows Lowry as being a real creative force as he’s delivered a movie that is both unnerving and beautiful to watch.

A GHOST STORY / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: DAVID LOWERY / STARRING: CASEY AFFLECK, ROONEY MARA, MCCOLM CEPHAS JR., KENNEISHA THOMPSON / RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 15TH

Mario Bava did rather a lot in his time. He co-directed the first Italian horror movie (I Vampiri in 1957), was cinematographer on the first Italian sci-fi movie (The Day the Sky Exploded in 1958) and then, when he had five minutes to spare, he invented the giallo genre with The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963). Not only that, most of his movies were quite good and proved massively influential to boot. In 1963 he also had a bash at a horror portmanteau with I tre volti della paura (The Three Faces of Fear), as it was known in Italy. Everywhere else it was known as Black Sabbath and inspired the Birmingham band Earth to change their name. Blimey, he even invented British Heavy Metal.

The whole thing is linked together with Boris Karloff in jovial form as our host and the stories are allegedly all from literary sources (if you’re liberal with your references). The Italian and US releases are so different that the stories aren’t even in the same order, but sticking with the Italian running order, we have…

The Telephone: Slightly odd one as, in its Italian form, it isn’t even supernatural. A woman gets some disturbing phone calls from the mysterious Frank who can see what she’s up to. Set in modern times this is really just a giallo short and so the first to bring that important colour to the genre.

The Wurdalak: Boris is actually in this one (and it’s the only time he played a vampire, we believe). The longest story here and a genuinely chilling tale of vampires that only kill the ones they love.

The Drop of Water: The real gem. A nurse in (an unconvincing) Victorian London attends to the body of an old lady who was a medium before she left this mortal coil. As she also looks absolutely terrifying even as a dummy made for the film, the last thing you’d do is nick her ring. Oh, what is she doing? What did we just say? This is great fun and far more frightening than it has any right to be.

Bava’s use of colour was something of a signature and became a hallmark of giallo so in all honesty, Blu-ray is the only way to watch these movies nowadays and the quality is pretty good. You also really need both versions because the Italian version is better even if there’s only so much dubbed Boris Karloff you can put up with. In fact, the differences are so great that this disc gives you a handy 30-minute split screen feature to point out where they’re different in case you weren’t taking notes. Throw in Tim Lucas’s informative commentary and the only other thing you could want is the comedy ending with Boris Karloff on a fake horse. Don’t worry, it’s there on the Italian version.

Extras: Italian and English versions, audio commentary with Bava biographer and expert Tim Lucas plus Twice the Fear, a comparison of the different versions of the film

BLACK SABBATH (1963) / DIRECTOR: MARIO BAVA / SCREENPLAY: MARCELLO FONDATO, ALBERT BEVILACQUA, MARIO BAVA / STARRING: BORIS KARLOFF, MARK DAMON, MICHÈLE MERCIER, SUSY ANDERSON, LYDIA ALFONSI, GLAUCO ONORATO, JACQUELINE PIERREUX / RELEASED: OUT NOW

‘Never let strange men into your house’ is one of the lessons taught by mother!, and while that might be a point made by many a horror film (as well as any responsible parent), mother! is as far from your usual home invasion thriller as you can get. This is, after all, un film de Darren Aronofsky, the writer and director behind such psychologically warped movies as Pi, Requiem for a Dream, and Black Swan.

Jennifer Lawrence stars as mother, the wife of Javier Bardem’s Him, an acclaimed poet. They live in a beautiful house in the centre of a lush green field. Him is struggling with writer’s block, and one day lets in a visitor, Man (Ed Harris). mother immediately takes against Man, who smokes indoors, drinks heavily, and ignores any polite requests to follow house rules. But it soon gets worse when Man’s wife, Woman (Michelle Pfeiffer), becomes the second uninvited guest. And then their sons show up…

These events all take place in the first half of the film, and there are several more developments, but to describe them would firstly be very difficult, and secondly spoil the experience of discovering them for yourself. It’s fair to say, however, that the house becomes an increasingly oppressive environment for mother, as each new guest adds to the ruination of her paradise. Some truly shocking moments come towards the end of the film, as Aronofsky takes the character’s torment to levels you can’t quite believe were allowed to be shot; nevertheless, it’s a difficult film to look away from, thanks to a mesmerising performance from Lawrence, who’s on screen almost all the time, her face conveying a powerful mix of hopelessness and anger that anchors us emotionally through the increasingly surreal events.

The shocks aren’t there for the sake of it, though; this rich tapestry of a film can be interpreted how you like – perhaps as a Biblical allegory, as a meditation on the corrosive nature of fame and ego, or as a condemnation of humanity’s destruction of nature. Or you can just enjoy being taken on an intense fever dream, startlingly realised by a filmmaker at the top of his game. If you caught mother! in the cinema, it’s well worth revisiting now it’s available in home media to see what else you can pick up; and if you skipped it on first run, perhaps the more horrifying moments are more palatable from the comfort of your sofa anyway.

The DVD special features are interesting, if not comprehensive. The Downward Spiral is a half-hour behind the scenes doc, with some interesting insights from figures such as Aronofsky and producer Ari Handel, while a short featurette tells us about the film’s impressive make-up effects.

MOTHER! / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: DARREN ARONOFSKY / STARRING: JENNIFER LAWRENCE, JAVIER BARDEM, ED HARRIS, MICHELLE PFEIFFER, DOMNHALL GLEESON / RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 22ND

While watching Ritual, roughly around the hour mark, you’ll feel an overwhelming sense of relief. You’ll believe the worst is over, you’ll think the terror has reached its conclusion, you’ll hope for no more suffering – but you’ll be wrong… there’s at least another twenty minutes left!

When John (Dewanto) wakes half-buried in a shallow grave in some dense woods, his memory gone and his phone devoid of contacts, fear understandably sets in. When he then discovers a cabin where it seems his wife was murdered and his children abducted, he panics, only to discover that he himself is now being stalked by a mystery assailant.

As a summary, the above makes the flimsy, lazily elongated plot appear more interesting than it actually is. Instead of what could have been a taut, tense thriller, Ritual descends into a weary chase movie where you never really care who is chasing whom, or why. Random scenes of unpleasantness, presumably designed to shock an audience increasingly immune to blood and gore, smack of desperation and an effort to add depth to the narrative, but serve more as oddly implanted cut scenes from different films.

Terrible as the plot is, though, it is a high point when compared with the performances. It is hard to believe anyone member of the cast is a professional actor, so horribly and unenthusiastically delivered are the lines of dialogue. Granted, there is little to work with, but the impression you get is that everyone is simply going through the motions in order to get off the set and make it home as quickly as possible. It is rumoured Ritual was filmed in just nine days. Given that, and we’re speculating here, approximately two hours was spent on the script (and that includes making copies), and allowing time for sleep, it’s fair to say writer and director Joko Anwar has achieved something in managing to make a film in the first place. True, there are some impressive visuals but in ignoring filmmaking fundamentals, Anwar has wasted a real opportunity.

So back to those final twenty minutes. In order to avoid spoilers, we will not reveal the content of that final act, but it feels like the filmmakers themselves were confused. While most horror-literate viewers will have picked up where things were headed early on, it appears Anwar perhaps did not. Instead, there is an exposition-heavy conclusion that seems to go on and on and on…

Indonesian cinema is without doubt on the rise, but as with all things, there will be good and bad. Ritual is one of the latter.

RITUAL / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: JOKO ANWAR / STARRING: RIO DEWANTO, HANNAH AL RASHID, MARSHA TIMOTHY / RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 26TH