Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

There have been several recent films that have paid more than a passing reference to the giallo period of filmmaking. From The Love Witch to Berberian Sound Studio, the style and exuberance of giallo has been a heady influence, but Francesca director Luciano Onetti has in many ways constructed much more of a direct imitation than a subtle homage.

 

The plot centres around two police detectives on the hunt for a killer, and to solve the current mystery, they must delve into a case from many years ago. After initial intrigue and excitement generated through Onetti’s bold use of recognisable tropes, the experience quickly becomes increasingly tiresome as proceedings become far too referential, and the story loses itself amidst one ticked off giallo marker after another. Close-up shots of gloves, a veiled stalker, fetish-inspired killers and an invasive electronic soundtrack all make the list, purely with the intention of generating a venerable smile from fans. But an over-reliance on these stock motifs hints at a lack of confidence in the narrative and serve more as distractions than compliments. Whether by intention or otherwise, the subtitled dialogue is often humorously clunky, and the cast act at times as if in a spoof rather than a real feature. What you’re left with is something more akin to a college film project, than an independent feature production.

 

Where Francesca suffers the most, though, is in its lack of any real peril or nerve-jangling drama. The necessity to engage the viewer is at the heart of the genre, and in failing to do so, Francesca has fundamentally failed in its goals. Visually striking and swathed in giallo flavourings certainly, but there is not nearly enough meat on those leather-clad bones to carry an entire film.

 

If you succeed in paying close attention to the mystery at the heart of Francesca there is some reward to be found, and there is no doubt that the film very much looks the part. Onetti and his co-filmmakers cannot be faulted for their obvious love of giallo. But sadly, their finished film drifts toward a finale containing numerous revelations that, in all likelihood, you will have either already guessed or no longer care about. There are too many great giallo films out there to discover and enjoy to dwell too long on what is more pale imitation than glowing tribute.

 

FRANCESCA / CERT: TBC / DIRECTOR: LUCIANO ONETTI / SCREENPLAY: LUCIANO ONETTI, NICOLÁS ONETTI / STARRING: LUIS EMILIO RODRIGUEZ, GUSTAVO DALESSANRO, RAUL GEDERLINI / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

In 1972 The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, written by future Driving Miss Daisy director Bruce Beresford and Dame Edna performer Barry Humphries and based on Humphries’ comic strip character, was a big success in Australia. A crass, ribald culture clash comedy detailing the hijinks that ensue when none-more-Aussie Barry McKenzie encounters the British in London, it did some decent business. Two years later in 1974 the inevitable sequel followed with Barry McKenzie Holds His Own (our aching sides…). Although arguably part of the Ozploitation set of films, this sort of thing might not initially seem like Starburst’s wheelhouse but there’s one part of it that fits our bill.

 

Following on directly from the end of the first film (which you don’t need to have seen to follow this) McKenzie has left England in disgrace and is, in theory, meant to be on his way home with his aunt Edna. But on a stop in Paris on the journey home, two henchmen of the Transylvanian Culture minister Erich, Count Plasma (what sort of Count could he be?) mistake Edna for the Queen of England and kidnap her to become a tourist attraction. Now it’s up to McKenzie and some of his mates to save his aunt from the vampiric Count (oh, that sort of Count). The first film had cameos from British stars of the time like Spike Milligan and Peter Cook. It continues here with appearances from the likes of Roy Kinnear and John Le Mesurier and most of all from Donald Pleasence as Erich.

 

The Mckenzie character is a specific parody of the stereotypical image of an Australian – loud, boorish, sex-obsessed, crude and frequently drunk. In the film he comes into contact with other national stereotypes – stuck-up English, sexy French, creepy Europeans. We suppose if you’re in a weird, twisted mood you could find some of it amusing but for modern audiences it’s inevitably dampened by the rampant and tiresome casual sexism, blatant homophobia and xenophobia. At least Pleasence is his usual self here, a committed and professional scene stealer. His Count was added in presumably because they needed something approximating a plot to hang all the silly jokes on, but he’s good fun nevertheless.

 

An Australian version of something like the ‘70s sex comedies Britain produced, or features centred around one joke character (like Ali G or Mr Bean for British references), it’s a low culture comedy that doesn’t transcend its origins that’s only going to appeal to fans of the style, those who know the films already or those who explore Australian film history. To everyone else it’s likely to be no more than a pretty dreadful relic of times gone by.

 

BARRY MCKENZIE HOLDS HIS OWN (1974) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: BRUCE BERESFORD / SCREENPLAY: BRUCE BERESFORD, BARRY HUMPHRIES / STARRING: BARRY CROCKER, BARRY HUMPHRIES, DONALD PLEASENCE, DICK BENTLEY / REEASE DATE: OUT NOW 

To coincide with the release of the third season of Twin Peaks, David Lynch’s masterpiece Mulholland Drive has received a re-release on Blu-Ray, with an approved restoration by Lynch himself.

A botched murder attempt leaves Rita (Laura Harring) with amnesia. She stumbles in to contact with aspiring actress Betty (Naomi Watts) and together they investigate what happened to Rita and why. Meanwhile hot young director Adam (Justin Theroux) fights to make his latest film, as studio pressure threatens to shut it down.

David Lynch films are synonymous for being strange or weird and Mulholland Drive is no different. If you’re looking for a conventional narrative then this film is not for you. Lynch says there are clues to unravelling the mystery of the story but you won’t put it together on the first watch. However, it’s not weirdness for weirdness sake. It all works together to create a vision and an atmosphere of creeping dread. It’s oppressive and disturbing. We’re in the Lynch territory of films like Blue Velvet; revealing the rotten core that’s underneath the glamorous and seemingly perfect surface. Naomi Watts, whose performance is wonderful, is the bright eyed and optimistic young actress taking a chance on an acting career in Hollywood and she has the talent to become a star. However, she gets wrapped up in a bigger story and we see the real evil and darkness that lingers in the industry she is getting herself involved with.

Mulholland Drive is a film that works its way under your skin. It’s hypnotic and compelling and it pulls you under its spell so that you don’t realise you’ve been taken until certain moments hit you right in the chest. This is all bolstered by the subtle ambient score by regular Lynch collaborator Angelo Badalamenti, which throbs underneath the scenes. Mulholland Drive is most like a horror film but rarely does it aim to just scare you. There are also moments of dark humour, another Lynch trademark, such as a hit spiralling comically out of control or a mysterious studio head spitting out bad espresso, and also beauty like the scene at the Silencio club that starts off with a strange musical act, which gives way to a touching sung performance. Mulholland Drive, like most Lynch films, avoids categorisation by shifting its tone and content from one scene to the next, yet it never feels like separate pieces; it coheres into a whole brilliant experience.

It’s not for everybody but Mulholland Drive is a dark and disturbing tumble down the visionary mind of David Lynch. It will stick with you long after it’s ended.

Special Features: Featurettes / Interviews (Naomi Watts and David Lynch) / New Interviews (Laura Harring, Mary Sweeney, Angelo Badalamenti) / Intro by Thierry Jousse / Art Cards

MULHOLLAND DRIVE / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: DAVID LYNCH / STARRING: JUSTIN THEROUX, NAOMI WATTS, LAURA HARRING / RELEASE DATE: 22ND MAY

It’s hard to find new things to do, in a genre so overcrowded with cheap and often cheerless attempts to be a breakout success like The Evil Dead or The Blair Witch Project. Sometimes it’s better to do the simple things simply and well, and The Resident (The Sublet in North America) isn’t breaking any new ground, but instead settles for being intriguing and chilling, with believable characters and an interesting, mostly coherent and quite absorbing story.

 

Essentially it’s Kubrick’s The Shining relocated to suburbia. Joanna and her husband-to-be sublet an apartment in slightly odd circumstances, so she can raise their toddler while he spends increasing amounts of time away from home, trying to get his acting career off the ground. But the slightly odd circumstances prove rather prophetic, and the inner demons Joanna has to contend with, as her partner swans around LA with his ex-girlfriend in close proximity, are very soon manifesting in apparently corporeal fashion all around her. In exactly the same manner as Kubrick’s Stephen King adaptation, it’s left mostly to the imagination and to the final moments of the film before it’s revealed whether the ostensible haunting is real, or all in the isolated protagonist’s mind.

 

The Resident doesn’t attempt to upstage Kubrick, however. Rather, it settles for a low-key tone and adopts some modest but effective tricks in order to maximise the unsettling feel it’s aiming for, largely very successfully. Seasoned horror fans will have seen all the plot points before, but director Ainslie employs them with complete assurance and after a fashion that helps keep them fresh. Which isn’t to say he doesn’t run adrift at times; several sub-plots (including a potential Battleship Potemkin moment) don’t really go anywhere, and a possibly imaginary missing persons detour halfway through threatens to throw the entire tone out of whack. Much of the acting, as often happens in low budget films, is a little self-conscious, but Tianna Nori as Joanna is excellent and holds everything together with conviction.

 

What really stands Ainslie’s film up, is the frank but sympathetic portrayal of a woman undergoing severe self-doubt. Amid some genuinely unsettling psychological moments, there are any number of recognisable truisms about relationships on the journey through her emotional unravelling. It’s almost a shame it has to end the way it does, with what feels like potentially a cliché too far, but in terms of how both the personal narrative and its supernatural counterpart develop it’s the only logical conclusion to the story.

 

This isn’t the best horror film that’s ever been made, and almost everything in it has been done better and more effectively elsewhere. Nevertheless, for a debut feature it’s a remarkably consistent and affecting watch.

 

THE RESIDENT (AKA THE SUBLET) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: JOHN AINSLIE / SCREENPLAY: JOHN AINSLIE, ALYSON RICHARDS / STARRING: TIANNA NORI, MARK MATECHUK, RACHEL SELLAN, KRISTA MADISON / RELEASE DATE: 22ND MAY

Digimon Adventure Tri: The Movie Part 1 is the first of five installments following the original Digi Destined years after the last series ended. It is entitled ‘Reunion’ and that word covers both the positives and negatives of this movie.

Since it has been years since the events of Digimon Adventure 02 (both in real life and in the show) the beginning is concerned with setting up where the main characters are now. We see them try to navigate various responsibilities and the difficulties that can arise from maintaining their friendships.

After so long away from these characters it is good to spend some time seeing them get re-established. The problem is that the movie spends far too much time dwelling on these moments. It is entertaining to see Tai struggle to get people to show up to his football game at first, but the sub-plot lasts way too long. It might be because this is only one fifth of the full series but the whole movie feels like a giant first act. Even when the plot finally gets moving it doesn’t feel like there is any sort of rush on the part of the Digi Destined to get to the bottom of what is going on, or what the new threat is. There is barely any action in this movie. There are a grand total of three big scenes with action and two of them are over way too quickly. This is a shame because the animation is beautiful and the music is fantastic.

The movie itself is supported by a couple of special features. The second is just a brief glimpse at a promo event, but the first is an interview with the English cast. It is only 20 minutes long but it covers how old cast members feel about returning, and how new actors feel about coming in to an established series. It is a fitting inclusion to a movie reuniting with people from the past. 

Digimon Adventure Tri: The Movie Part 1 isn’t bad. It contains some good elements. The special features are a fun bonus. The characters are all fun to re-discover, it dwells on how they feel about their upcoming struggles and the action is solid when there is actual action on display. The problem is that it feels stretched out. Thanks to the length of the series as a whole, it doesn’t feel like much has been accomplished by the time the credits roll. Future installments of Tri will benefit from the set up in this movie but what ‘Reunion’ has to offer feels lost among that set up.

DIGIMON ADVENTURE TRI: THE MOVIE PART 1 / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: KEITARO MOTONAGA / SCREENWRITER: YUUKO KAKIHARA / STARRING: CRISTINA VALENZUELA, KATE HIGGINS, MONA MARSHALL, JUNKO TAKEUCHI/ RELEASE DATE: 22ND MAY

Never before released outside of Japan and based on a manga, the Toei production Wolfguy: Enraged Lycanthrope (its full title here) is a truly odd curio. Shin’ichi Chiba (aka Sonny) is Akira Inugami, the only remaining survivor of a massacre that killed the ancient werewolf clan he was born into. Though he’s the last of his kind, a series of brutal murders and the rumour of a ‘tiger’ woman being responsible peaks his interest and puts him on the trail of a sinister scheme taking in all manner of corruption. The sad tale of an abused nightclub singer who can kill people with her mind leads him into a dangerous new world.

As Inugami fights his way to the heart of the conspiracy he ultimately learns more about his heritage and the immoral forces that would use Inugami’s unique power for their own aims. Directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi this is a bizarre exploitation picture that throws violence, horror, sci-fi, nudity, sex, martial arts action and a weird score into a one-of-a-kind mix. Ostensibly following a template that would become much more common onscreen in subsequent decades via things like The X-Files, it focuses on Inugami the investigator uncovering a dark plan to weaponise the supernatural.

This also places it more in comic book movie territory (as opposed to strictly manga) and though set in a fairly drab, recognisable Japan it otherwise embraces the nuttier end of that spectrum. The film starts off like a horror before veering off into karate flick, gangster tale, sci-fi thriller and even putting in a little backwoods J-hillbilly (if that isn’t a thing, it is now) action. Along the way Inugami has sex with every woman he meets, swaggers through fights and gets everyone around him killed. An early sequence where he’s interrogated by two cops suggests this is almost an average weekend for Inugami.

Whether this is actually any good is pretty much a moot point. You’re unlikely to be bored at any stage, and besides this movie doesn’t give a shit what you think. It just simply is. For fans of genre film, Japanese or otherwise, it’s all so lovably insane it doesn’t really matter that there’s a good possibility it’s a bit bollocks. It almost exists in a separate stream from notions of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and there’s so many ways you could choose to experience it (from an academic perspective say, or just smashed on booze, for two examples) it’s guaranteed to tickle you in some way. There are a few decent extras in some new interviews and early pressings get a booklet on the film and Japanese monster movie mash-ups. Strangely recommended.

WOLF GUY (WOLFGUY: ENRAGED LYCANTHROPE) (1975) / CERT: 15 / DIRECTOR: KAZUHIKO YAMAGUCHI / SCREENPLAY: FUMIO KÔNAMI / STARRING: SHIN’ICHI CHIBA, KYÔSUKE MACHIDA, SABURÔ DATE / RELEASE DATE: 22ND MAY

In 1979, a new independent production company, The Ladd Company, was formed by the departing studio executive team at Twentieth Century Fox that green-lit the likes of Star Wars. Although it didn’t achieve commercial success at times, its output has gone on to provide many excellent memories. Its most successful film, Police Academy, spawned several sequels, but it is in the lesser successes that it has created a fine, lasting legacy. Amongst these films are the likes of Body Heat, The Right Stuff and Mel Gibson’s call to freedom, Braveheart, which won the Oscar for Best Film.

 

It is impossible to imagine watching the Ladd Company’s most visible offering, Blade Runner without the ‘Tree’ logo, accompanied by John Williams’ horn-based music over the top in each of it’s three versions from 1982 through to 2007, but the logo also featured at the start of another cult science-fiction classic from 1981, Peter Hyams’ Outland, which finally gets a Blu-Ray release this year through Warner Home Video’s ‘Platinum Collection’.

 

Regarded as a sci-fi version of Fred Zinnemann’s High Noon, Outland chronicles the trials and tribulations of a Federal Marshal, O’Neil (Sean Connery), who has been transferred to a productive and bonus-based mining operation on Jupiter’s moon, Io. His wife, Carol (Kika Markham) and son Paul have become increasingly disheartened and disillusioned by the constant uprooting to another ‘lousy assignment’ (as O’Neil admits to his wife at the outset of the film) and his work is not made any easier by a sudden onslaught of suicides prompted by psychological trauma. Investigations into the deaths lead him to Dr. Lazarus (Frances Sternhagen) who reluctantly helps him try and get to the bottom of what is actually going on ’85..

 

Made two years after Alien (and shot totally at Pinewood Studios) the look of the film does lend itself to Ridley Scott’s classic, but interestingly, it pre-empts the ideals and dynamic of James Cameron’s Aliens (you cannot help but think the opening credit sequence of that film resembles that in Outland). The workers on this colony would get on famously with the likes of Hicks, Hudson and Vasquez. The world of these space miners is encapsulated firmly,  thanks to Philip Harrison’s striking production design and Lethal Weapon cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt’s textured camerawork.

 

Connery leads the cast in a fantastic performance, but it is Frances Sternhagen all but stealing the show as the cynically witty Dr. Lazarus, more than matching Connery’s old-style male O’Neil. Good support as well from the likes of Peter Boyle (as the colony head, Sheppard) and Stephen Berkoff adds a brief trademark moment of madness, as is his wont.

 

Outland is an FX fan’s treat, with the the effects expertise of British legends John Stears and Roy (Superman) Field on show. The FX stand up very well in this enlightened CGI-friendly era.

 

Historically, Outland was one of the first UK VHS releases to go out with a Stereo soundtrack and this was the perfect outlet to showcase another of Outland’s key strengths, the magnificent score by the late-but-ever-legendary Jerry Goldsmith (which is available on import in a 2-CD Special Edition, as well as in a release with another Goldsmith score, Capricorn One, another of Peter Hyams’ sci-fi classics).

 

That’s not to say that Outland is flawless. It is a hangover from a time when every sci-fi film was aspiring to be as spectacular and imaginative as Star Wars, but it does demonstrate a desire to do something that doesn’t resemble a galaxy far, far away and, nearly four decades on, remains enjoyably entertaining. It will certainly hit home on all manner of plasmas and sound systems, not to mention being a great showcase for anybody wanting to show off their recent purchase of one.

 

OUTLAND (1981) / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: PETER HYAMS / STARRING: SEAN CONNERY, PETER BOYLE, FRANCES STERNHAGEN / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Some films are a bit like comfort food, a well-worn T-shirt or a favourite pair of slippers. They just feel warm, they just feel right. Sometimes they’re just what you need when your world’s gone a bit topsy-turvy. George Pal’s The Time Machine – it’s never looked more gorgeous than it does now on Blu Ray – is one such movie. The film, like the famous HG Wells novel it’s based on, is a cornerstone of the science-fiction genre and whilst giant-sized steps in movie technology make some of its visual effects looks a bit quaint and faintly home-spun, it still possesses more charm, humanity and technicolour spectacle than, for example, the dry and arid 2002 remake directed by Simon Wells for all its modern bang and flash. A lesson for us all, perhaps, and especially for today’s imaginatively-bankrupt Hollywood studios.

 

Perhaps what’s remarkable about this 1960 version of HG Wells’ timeless classic is that it never gets old; it remains fresh and zesty no matter how many times you allow yourself to be enfolded in its warm embrace. It’s the story of Victorian inventor George (Taylor) who, in the early days of the 20th century, arrives at a pre-arranged dinner engagement with a group of close friends, in a state of exhaustion and disarray. Having explained to his incredulous colleagues at an earlier dinner about his extraordinary invention – a machine which can transcend the barriers of time – he now tells them of his dazzling, disorientating and occasionally terrifying adventure, where he ultimately found himself in a Utopia-like world thousands of years in the future where, he eventually discovered, Mankind is turned into the Eloi, docile, placid human cattle enslaved by and devoured by a grotesque race of subterranean sub-humans known as Morlocks. Most of George’s friends remain unconvinced by his fantastic tale but when they take their leave he decides that his own destiny lies in the far future with the young Eloi woman named Weena (Mimieux), his closest friend Filby (Young) left to ponder if he’ll ever return to his own time and people.

 

The Time Machine is a thrilling, inventive movie and time has dulled little of its power and its ability to enthral and amaze. Intelligently and thoughtfully-written, the film deals smartly and sympathetically with many of the themes of Wells’ text as George, in his wonderfully-designed iconic time machine (a cross between a sedan chair and a snow-sledge), observes the changes in his environment and, in time, the collapse of civilisation, in a series of gripping vignettes where he stops off to pay a visit to his evolving world. The scenes in the Eloi paradise are particularly striking, possessed of a genuine sense of eerie, unsettling other-worldliness and the grim, glowing-eyed Morlocks just manage to fall into the right side of the ‘men in silly rubber costumes’ category.

 

The Time Machine is a powerful, enduring classic of 20th century science-fiction cinema. Exciting, colourful, packed with effects which generally stand the test of time and with a commanding lead in square-jawed Rod Taylor  as George, both baffled and fascinated by his discoveries as he presses on further into the future, it’s a film which remains a joy to revisit and is itself a time capsule of a more innocent but in many ways far more ground-breaking era of film-making. If you’ve never seen it or you don’t own it, there’s no excuse not to pick up this nicely-packaged edition which gives you a Blu Ray, a DVD and a digital copy so you need never be without it again.

 

Special features: Trailer / vintage documentary / art cards

 

THE TIME MACHINE – PREMIUM EDITION (1960) / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: GEORGE PAL / SCREENPLAY: DAVID DUNCAN / STARRING: ROD TAYLOR, ALAN YOUNG, YVETTE MIMIEUX, SEBAASTIAN CBAOT, WHIT BISSELL / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (HMV EXCLUSIVE)

The second and concluding series of dystopian TV classic 1990 ramps up the stakes, as the authorities and the clandestine rebels square up for what might become the decisive showdown between the forces of tyranny and of liberty in dysfunctional 1970s’ Britain. As the show’s producers knew, going in, that this would be 1990’s final instalment, the eight episodes on offer here are able to deliver a definitive (if far from a glib) sense of closure.

As the series opens, a new Home Secretary is settling into their office, the foreign press is building its criticism of unfree Britain and (as the country remains in lockdown and a rigged general election faces cancellation) the resistance movement is planning its next moves against an entrenched government of “civil servants, snoopers and sadists”. Investigative journalist Jim Kyle remains a lynchpin of the resistance, supplying stories to news agencies aboard, and supporting an escape line for emigrants, while accessing a steady stream of intelligence from “Faceless”, his source inside the establishment.

 

From the opening scene of “Pentagons”, the second series of 1990 reaffirms its determination to maintain a sense of atmosphere and of place through the inclusion of numerous real world London landmarks as filming locations. It’s a budget-stretching commitment that the series holds itself to right up to the series finale, and most memorably includes some shocking sequences staged in Trafalgar Square. Apart from the occasional moment of black humour, there are few laughs to be had in 1990; “Ordeal by Small Brown Envelope” delivers a particularly grim mid-season turning point.

 

It is a disappointment that the excellent Barbara Kellerman does not return in the guise of the enticing Delly Lomas, but Lisa Harrow immediately impresses as Lynn Blake, her wily replacement as Deputy Controller of the Public Control Department (PCD), the government’s enforcers. Kyle and Blake have a tangled past, and from the first scenes together the sparks between them fly. The dynamic of their relationship replays many of the same cycles of attraction and repulsion that defined Kyle’s involvement with Lomas. But it is a pairing that  provides the series with a recurring source of emotional “heat”; an effective tonal contrast with the hard political conflicts that otherwise define 1990.

 

To thwart the surveillance and infiltration techniques of the PCD, the opposition has adopted a “pentagon” model of organisation: cells of five activists who only share one point of contact with their neighbouring comrades, creating a more resilient network. Behind the authorities’ bluster and deceit, there is a growing sense of nervousness about the regime’s future and about the fate of individual officials within it. Defiance is growing.

 

Yet it is clear that opponents of the PCD are increasingly divided about their methods. Anyone convinced that the moral ambiguities of the rebellion against the Federation in Blake’s 7 provide the last word when it comes to depicting conflicted revolutionary ambitions (on 1970s’ British TV, at least) needs to set aside some time to become acquainted with the tortured politics of the rebels of 1990. Some put their faith in the pressure of popular opinion and the power of persuasion; others are convinced that the authorities will only be brought to account by force of arms.

 

Edward Woodward has long since secured his reputation in genre circles for his work on Callan (and, of course, The Wicker Man). The chance to reappraise his portrayal of the flawed “hero of the rebellion” Jim Kyle can only enhance Woodward’s status, as an actor of both passion and precision. As the story unfolds, Kyle’s position within the resistance becomes more fraught, as he continues to associate with petty criminals and black marketeers to advance his cause. He is so determined to eschew violence that he sometimes finds himself at odds with his comrades’ aims. “You are in a minority of one”, his frustrated ally Brett insists when Kyle urges his inner-circle not to distribute weapons as the showdown with the government looms.

 

George Orwell’s 1984 ends with the complete victory of Big Brother, and the total subjugation of the state’s opponents. The finale of 1990 offers a more upbeat, and more ambiguous, end point. The rebels’ uprising wins concessions and unseats high profile PCD officials, but falls far short of securing a new, free country. It’s the kind of plausible, inconclusive (and grown-up) outcome entirely befitting the series.

 

The long-awaited DVD release of this then-near-future dystopian drama should lead to a wider appreciation of 1990’s merits. This hard-hitting, character-driven and cerebral thriller will not be to everyone’s taste, and there’s no question that the series reflects the production more of the times in which it was made. But to fans of edgy political conspiracies, Machiavellian intrigue and acutely honed social commentary, this is unmissable drama from British genre TV’s golden era.

 

1990 SERIES TWO / CERT: 15 / CREATORS: WILFRED GREATOREX / STARRING: EDWARD WOODWARD, ROBERT LANG, TONY DOYLE, LISA HARROW, YVONNE MITCHELL / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Here’s a morbid little game for all you cinéastes. Think of a movie director then choose the exact moment in their career when a freak bolt of lightning (or other tragic event) would have frozen their reputation at its highest point, safe from that downhill plunge into ‘the recent stuff’. Would The Untouchables, for example, have made a great full stop for Brian De Palma? Or how about Scarface? Did They Live seal John Carpenter’s legacy? Or did it all go downhill after The Thing? When did Tarantino’s Oscar-baiting formula tip into self-parody? When exactly did George Lucas jump the Ewok? Loads of fun.

Few filmographies have a patchier ‘late period’ than Dario Argento’s. Though still massively revered, he’s effectively spent the last 30 years in competition with himself. The insanely inventive sequence of supernaturally charged gialli he directed between The Bird with The Crystal Plumage in 1970 and – we’d argue – Phenomena in 1985, certainly looks a fine body of work from this distance. Now that Phenomena has been lavished with the multi-disc 4K treatment by Arrow Video, how does Argento’s golden age bookend shape up in 2017?

In her first leading role, a young Jennifer Connelly plays a movie star’s daughter (also called Jennifer) who is packed off to an exclusive finishing school for bitchy teenage girls in ‘Swiss Transylvania’. While out one night doing a spot of sleepwalking, Jennifer witnesses a cloaked figure murdering a fellow student. It transpires this character is working his or her (OK his) way through the school population. Vowing not to be the next victim, Jennifer joins forces with a lovable old Scottish entomologist (Donald Pleasance) and his pet chimpanzee and is soon on the trail of the school slasher aided by her unique ability to telepathically communicate with insects, who assist her like little multi-legged Columbos and fly to her rescue whenever required.

Does that sound a bit insane? Spot on, it is. Made at a career crossroads when Argento was breaking away from the family production ‘firm’ of father Salvatore and brother Claudio, Phenomena sees the high-fringed Italian fear master off the leash and having a ball. A passion project that saw him immersed in the study of insect behaviour before decamping his trusty wind and rain machines to picturesque Switzerland, it effortlessly radiates his signature, otherworldly aura of stylised dread. While it lacks the bedazzling nightmare logic and baroque interiors of Suspiria and Inferno, you’re not short-changed on all the other stuff you expect from prime-period Argento. Tautly choreographed terror set-ups, extraordinary camera angles, operatic lighting and old musical muckers Goblin are all present and correct but this one also gives you an intelligent bluebottle detective, a hideous mutant dwarf and additional music from a range of incongruous 80s metal bands who pop up when you least expect them, but in a good way.

The casting also helps no end. Connelly was just 14 when she made this yet throws herself into the bee-stroking insect queen routine with fearless gusto – not least when she finds herself neck-deep a vat of rotting corpse-sludge. Argento’s former muse and lucky charm Daria Nicolodi has a ball as a progressively unhinged teacher and Donald Pleasance positively twinkles benign intelligence as he rattles about in his wheelchair. Just writing this makes us want to watch it again.

And we can do just that because this box set has three different versions of the film, the highlight being the 116-minute Italian cut now available in almost-English for first time. As they did with the longest cut of Deep Red, Arrow has applied some clever reconstructive boffinry to the soundtrack but there are still a few sections in Italian. We also get the slightly shorter 110-minute international release and the oddity that is Creepers, an 83-minute drive-in version New Line released in the USA for people with very short attention spans. Even if you don’t know the back history, Creepers feels like what it is – a butchered version of something longer and more atmospheric. This being Arrow, there’s loads of other cool extras including Claudio Simonetti’s  peerless soundtrack on a separate disc, an exhaustive 2-hour retrospective, publicity materials, a life-size rotting human head infested with real maggots and a ‘visual essay’ which points out the differences in the various cuts of the film (watch this bit first – it’s very handy). OK, maybe not the rotting head.

A delirious three-course horror feast with pudding, then, and a strong contender for the last of Argento’s true classics. Or are we unjustly overlooking his next film, Opera (1987)? Almost probably.

PHENOMENA – LIMITED EDITION / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: DARIO ARGENTO / SCREENPLAY: DARIO ARGENTO, FRANCO FERRINI / STARRING: JENNIFER CONNELLY, DARIA NICOLODI, DONALD PLEASANCE, DALILA DI LAZZARO / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW