Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Review: Despicable Me 2 / Cert: U / Director: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud / Screenplay: Ken Daurio, Cinco Paul / Starring: Steve Carell, Kristen Wig, Benjamin Bratt, Mirando Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Ken Jeong, Steve Coogan, Elsie Fisher / Released: November 25th

Despicable Me might have been a kid’s movie, but it was also one that understood that it’s best if you entertain the accompanying adults while you’re at it. Obvious, we know, but you’ll be amazed how many forget this basic rule of family filmmaking. But it was also particularly fun if you’re an aficionado of the Bond school of villainy where ridiculous gadgets, shark pools and dastardly-if-slightly- illogical plans are the correct methods of (not actually) achieving world domination. It wasn’t perfect but it was a lot of fun and one of the better family films of recent years. So it was no surprise to see Gru and his minions return with a sequel and what looks like a fully-fledged franchise in the making. But it’s not all-good news.

Having adopted Margo, Dana and Elsie, Gru is now retired from the villainy business and is attempting to break into the jam and jelly market with the help of his old henchman, Dr Nefario. Their efforts are not a success but Gru is soon recruited by the Anti-Villain League (AVL) to use his old skills to track down the rascal who stole some PX-41, a mutagen that turns cute creatures into monsters. The film continues to riff off You Only Live Twice (1967) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and as long as it keeps the laughs and spirit of the original, it’s difficult to see where it could fail. Steve Carell (as Gru) is in fine form once more but the minions were the breakout stars of the first movie and the wise decision has been made to put them centre stage, as has the even wiser decision to still not explain what they are and where they came from. All the ingredients are present and correct, so where could it possibly go wrong? Glad you asked.

At risk of turning this review into a geeky pub conversation , we always felt that Gru’s natural enemy would be some kind of arrogant Bond-esque superspy; the perfect foil to Gru’s dismissive villainy. But the original put him up against another supervillain; surely they wouldn’t repeat the same mistake? They do. There is a superspy type from the AVL but she is there as a somewhat unlikely love interest for Gru (as we need something to root for now he’s a loving father) and that’s not quite the same thing. It’d also be reasonable to think they might up the ante a bit for a sequel. He stole the moon in the original and the best they can come up with here is that PX-41 (although it does at least have an amusing effect on those minions). It just all seems a little less imaginative than last time. Even the villain isn’t very convincing: When you think of a supervillain, does a Mexican wrestler spring to mind? No, us neither. Finally, the weakest thing in the original was Russell Brand hopelessly miscast as Dr Nefario. Everyone knows the science-henchmen are German or at least central European; it’s the rules. Needless to say he’s back with that British accent that also manages to remain inexplicably unconvincing when you bear in mind Brand is actually British.

But despite its shortcomings, Despicable Me 2 is still highly entertaining for children of all ages, even grown-up ones. It’s a bit of a missed opportunity but, ironically, the only people who’ll notice are the ones that’ll enjoy it the most.

Extras: Gru’s Girls / Gadgets Galore / Audio commentary

Review: Classic Ghost Stories / Cert: 12 / Director: David Bell / Screenplay: David Bell / Starring: Robert Powell, Michael Bryant / Released: October 28th

Like a bit of M. R. James? Of course you do. The BBC, on the other hand, absolutely loves the work of the old provost. So much so, in fact, that since 1968, no less than 92.7% of the Beeb’s drama budget has been spent on adapting his incomparable ghost stories for its Christmas television schedules . These have usually been top-notch dramatisations of James’ scholars doing scholarly things in picturesque parts of Olde England, only to find their rational worldviews tested to breaking point by spooky goings on. However, on a couple of occasions they kept the budget down with simple readings of James’ stories, illustrated by the odd picture and/or some actors wordlessly performing key scenes. Think Jackanory for grown-ups and you’ll get the idea. They most recently did this in 2000 with Christopher Lee but this DVD features the Robert Powell readings from their 1986 Christmas series Classic Ghost Stories.

To be honest, despite the BBC’s sterling and often-groundbreaking efforts on their fully dramatised versions of his work, this is actually how M. R. James was supposed to be experienced. We’re in an academic’s office that simply “must tell us” of some rum goings on that came to his attention in a diary or down his club. It’s all about old-fashioned storytelling, and despite the lack of visual majesty, these are quite possibly the most enjoyable adaptations of James the BBC has done. Pick of the bunch is almost certainly that James classic The Mezzotint. It’s about a picture that changes when nobody is looking at it and this is the perfect medium for the tale. There’s also The Ash-Tree (with some surprisingly scary live-action “creatures”), Wailing Well (made all the more chillingly authentic with actual old photographs), The Rose Garden and that old perennial Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad (which the BBC have now done at least three times to this writer’s knowledge). The quarter of an hour length to each is just right for both the format and for the source material that never feels the need to spell out exactly what went on; there’s no needless exposition in a James story. The atmosphere is perfect and, if Big Chris will forgive us, this batch is far superior to the more dated 2000 versions. We really can’t think of anything better to watch before bedtime at Christmas.

The disc also features three episodes of Spine Chiller, which really was part of the Jackanory series and feature Michael Bryant reading three more James stories (although The Mezzotint is one of them) in slightly more abridged and lower budget versions for children. Despite being lower-rent (there are no illustrations or enacted scenes) they’re still very effective.

So in these days of high production values and CGI wassitcalleds, we’re recommending a DVD of just a bloke telling you a story? Yep, you bet we are.

Extras: Spine Chiller

Review: Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds – The New Generation – Alive on Stage / Cert: E / Director: Nick Morris / Screenplay: N/A / Starring: Liam Neeson, Ricky Wilson, Jason Donovan, Kerry Ellis, Marti Pellow, Will Stapleton, Jeff Wayne, Chris Spedding, Herbie Flowers / Released: November 25th

We’ll assume that you’re all at least vaguely familiar with the 1978 concept album, Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of War of the Worlds. It might not have been particularly cool at the height of punk, but boy did it shift a few copies. Even this writer is (ever so slightly) embarrassed to admit he bought one at the time; his hip musical edginess was clearly yet to emerge. But the record is still much loved by many people and a guilty pleasure for many more (us included). So the only surprising thing about the 2006 stage production and subsequent tours is that it took quite so long for them to get around to it. The show was a hit and returned in 2012 as Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds – The New Generation and one (or more likely, several) of the London O2 Arena shows was captured for this DVD/Blu-ray release.

It’s interesting that two of the most successful interpretations of H. G. Wells’ classic novel are Orson Welles’ 1938 radio adaptation and Jeff Wayne’s musical; entirely audio experiences that relied on the listener’s imagination to provide the images. So a multimedia production like this is always going to have a few pitfalls to avoid. Early on it manages to walk straight into one as we see, via the huge screen, the actual Martians (not just ones in tripods) hatching their plans on their home planet. Not only is the mystery and the Martian “reveal” lost (even though you know the plot), but also it manages to contradict what we later learn about the red weed providing Mars with its colour in one of the musical’s major set-pieces. We also can’t help but notice that the best bits on the screen are animations of the original artwork from the booklet that came with the album. Some of it is spectacular and the occasionally clunky CGI of the rest doesn’t sit next to it very comfortably. We’ll also take a punt that the poster-boy Martian tripod prop was more impressive in the flesh.

The music is much as you’d expect and it’s great to see the mighty Chris Spedding (guitar) and the legendary Herbie Flowers (bass) playing the parts they recorded all those years ago. You even get Jeff Wayne conducting; although the sight of a septuagenarian dancing to the ’70s disco beat of “The Eve of the War” is a bit too James Last for comfort. In fact, understandably, it is a bit dated and with all those cutting edge (in 1978) synthesisers it could have perhaps done with some rearranging for the modern ear. Unforgivably, those synths actually seem to drown out the acoustic instruments on “Forever Autumn”, although we’ll put that down to a moment of poor mixing. But some of the individual performances deserve a mention. Jason Donovan makes a brave fist of Parson Nathaniel but no one was ever going to come close to Phil Lynott’s powerhouse original. It was the definitive mad clergyman and an impossible act to follow. Jetblack’s Will Stapleton puts some old school “rawk” into “Thunder Child” (the guiltiest pleasure of all), but the most noteworthy performance comes from the Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson. His officer-type artilleryman at first seems a deliberate avoidance of David Essex’s interpretation until he goes inexplicably cockney at his London reappearance. All very odd but a real crowd-pleasing performance of “Brave New World” saves the day, almost as if it was meant to be done on stage. It’s pure charisma, superior to the original, and he doesn’t half look like he belongs in West End musicals.

Actually we rather enjoyed this. Pretty spectacular and occasionally intense, but we might take issue about the much-hyped holographic appearance of Liam Neeson. Narrating on a big screen he’s excellent, but when his hologram has to interact with the other performers you can’t help thinking they’d have been better off getting someone they could afford to have there for real. Is an absent but bona fide star better than a talented newcomer? We don’t think so. But while the production might be flawed, it’s still the only big adaptation set in Victorian Britain. Why can’t we have a decent movie in the same spirit? Steven Spielberg, we still haven’t forgiven you.

Extras: Interviews with Liam Neeson, Marti Pellow and Jeff Wayne on the DVD, plus additional interviews with the rest of the cast including Jason Donovan and Ricky Wilson on the Blu-ray version.

Review: Doctor Who – The Enemy of the World / Cert: PG / Director: Barry Letts / Screenplay: David Whitacker / Starring: Patrick Troughton / Release Date: November 25th

There’s a moment in Episode 2 of The Enemy of the World where, upon mishearing one of the other characters, Patrick Troughton’s second Doctor pulls one of those timeless and inimitable faces of his and retorts, “Disused Yeti?!”

His reaction couldn’t have been more appropriate. These two newly discovered Doctor Who stories have been sitting, disused, on a shelf somewhere in Africa for nigh on forty years. It is an entirely unexpected and welcome pleasure to be able to experience them again. Nine “new old” episodes of Patrick Troughton as the Doctor (and not just as the Doctor) is something to cherish indeed in the series’ anniversary year, and Steven Moffat’s claim that Doctor Who would be “taking over television” has suddenly taken on a whole new meaning.

And what of the two stories?

The Enemy of the World has long been considered an odd fish (by those who’ve bothered considering it at all), tucked away as it is in the middle of Doctor Who’s fifth and so-called “Monster Season”. Even Troughton’s dual role as the second Doctor and lead villain Salamander hasn’t been enough to raise its profile, and generally speaking it has been thought of a misstepping James Bond pastiche. While that’s not entirely wide of the mark, what’s striking about being able to actually watch the story is in how much it resembles the recently defunct historicals that Gerry Davis and Innes Lloyd were so keen to get rid of. The fact that it’s written by David Whitaker – the man responsible not just for the scripts of The Crusade but who also oversaw such serials as Marco Polo and The Reign of Terror – means that that oughtn’t to have come as a surprise. Hearing the audio and perhaps even watching a reconstruction, we knew The Enemy of the World was a carefully plotted, character-driven story, but the visuals – once Episode 1’s ostentatiously cinematic film-work is out of the way – nail the story even more tightly to this way of thinking.

It’s very much a Doctor Who serial about people, and Barry Letts, directing in his first brush with the show, assembles an impressive guest cast to oil the wheels of Whitaker’s plot. There aren’t too many surprises in the performances in the first half of the story, as the previously extant Episode 3 was always a good guide to the characters therein (in spite of it being the story’s least representative instalment), but the amount of time Troughton’s Doctor spends in the company of Bill Kerr is pleasing; Kerr creates a very naturalistic Giles Kent and he and Troughton complement one another beautifully. Milton Johns is deliciously oily as Benik and Colin Douglas is a bullish Donald Bruce (whose uncertainty towards the end of the story is played very credibly), and it’s wonderful to be able to see more of them. It’s also a delight to spend more time in the company of Carmen Munroe and Mary Peach as Fariah and Ferrier (the latter fortunately known by her forename, Astrid, to all involved), two of the more earnest and striking roles in the production – and with audaciously characteristic retro-futuristic costumes to match. Astrid in particular is so very 1968, a typically “strong” female role but in a post-Avengers “action woman” sense, yet Munroe steals the early episodes with the honesty and strength she brings to her part. There’s a balance between the sincerity in some of the roles and what verges on caricature in others that Letts manages unexpectedly well, and would develop even further when he took charge of the programme.

It’s the point midway through Episode 4 when Salamander travels to his secret base that is conversely the moment when the story’s plausibility begins to dip, and when the experience of watching it afresh really takes flight. There’s no disguising that this plot twist plants The Enemy of the World firmly in the territory of the spy thriller for children, and that might well come as a surprise to those who’ve been brought to the story through Ian Marter’s novelization, but this is also where the newly found episodes lead us into the province of the brand new. The underground set is expansive and the number of extras generous (and most interestingly costumed), and The Enemy of the World really begins to move up a gear here, at a moment when another writer or director might have risked losing the story’s momentum. Episode 6 is almost frenetic in the amount of plot it manages to get through, and but for a few edits for technical reasons in the final scene (which leave the conclusion rather rushed and bordering on incomprehensible; the TARDIS goes from stationary to in-flight in the blink of an eye), there’s a verve about the storytelling that’s infectious. It might have sounded confused on audio, but with the aid of the visuals, it sweeps you along rather than leaving you behind. Very impressive, given the budget and the methods by which 1960s Doctor Who was made. It would have been so easy to fluff the story’s last episode, but Barry Letts pulls it all off with aplomb.

Letts’ direction here is always more than capable, in fact – despite what we might have expected from his subsequent efforts – and keeps The Enemy of the World rather lighter on its feet than, for example, previous story The Ice Warriors. There’s a sense of forward momentum in David Whitaker’s script that makes for a faster-moving six-parter than we’ve come to expect from other extant 1960s Doctor Who. Letts’ studio work is punctured by enough extreme close-ups to keep it interesting, while his outdoor filming is expressive and fun, in spite of being shot on a shoestring by comparison with the films it so clearly wants to be. His later stylising of UNIT is clearly evident in the way the beach scenes work in Episode 1, and it’s lovely to see just how much location work there is in this first instalment (and lots of fun spotting the back-projection that doubles for outdoors elsewhere, the kind of scenes that Letts would readily use CSO to produce once Doctor Who began colour production two years later). Letts’ direction and Whitaker’s script also perform a brave and gymnastic balancing act in keeping the “two Troughtons” apart during the hectic studio sequences; in common with most of the period’s serials, The Enemy of the World was largely recorded “as live” and the costume changes as Troughton switches from one character to the other must have been lightning-quick. The more technically minded will have fun spotting which scenes are parachuted in on film in order to disguise the joins.

Which brings us to the restoration. There are the occasional moments when the soundtrack sounds just the tiniest bit hollow, or the picture wobbles slightly (notably backgrounds shifting behind characters, and most apparently in Episode 2, which must have been in the worst condition), but neither of these things are anything more than almost entirely indistinguishable to the naked senses. And that’s a testament to the skills of the restoration team who have worked on these episodes. It might have spent several decades sitting on a shelf in some hot and humid African country, but thanks to the likes of Peter Crocker and Mark Ayres, The Enemy of the World looks and sounds just about as good as it must have back in 1967/8. It’s also sweet to finally discover that the entire production was shot in 625-line video, rather than just the latter four instalments as had long been suspected the case, and thanks to this Episodes 1 and 2 look just as sharp as the rest of the story.

Ultimately, the main focus of people watching The Enemy of the World will be on Patrick Troughton’s performance as the Doctor, and unsurprisingly, Troughton lives up to his reputation. He’s just as cherishably instinctive and unpredictable as we might have hoped, his joy in Episode 1 at landing the TARDIS right by the sea is as infectious as the character has ever been – and just as surprising, when he strips right down to his underwear, and does a skip on the beach that pre-empts that famous shot from The Invasion – and by Episode 6, the way the actor switches between Doctor, Salamander and Doctor-as-Salamander is astonishing, a performance to truly treasure. We are so lucky to have returned to the archives of the story with two Troughtons for the price of one; this is almost certainly the actor’s finest performance in the part.

Beyond that, this isn’t quite “classic” Doctor Who. It’s a story that never entirely engages as a children’s version of an adult story type, but it’s really not that far from achieving its goals, and it’s much faster, much bigger and much more engaging than many other stories of its time. Rather than the forgotten gem of Season 5, the rediscovery of this story will no doubt see it reassessed as one of the jewels in the season’s crown.

But you know what? I still can’t quite get over the fact that I’ve just watched it, in its entirety. It’ll probably be another forty years before that really sinks in.

Extras: TBC

Review: ATM / Cert: 15 / Director: David Brooks / Screenplay: Chris Sparling / Starring: Alice Eve, Josh Peck, Brian Geraghty / Release Date: Out Now

Chris Sparling, writer of the entertaining Ryan Reynolds flick, Buried (2010) returns to a single location horror scenario and proves he should get out more.

It is coming up to Christmas, and the workers are just finishing their night out. Having just plucked up the courage to ask leaving staff member Emily (Eve) out, David (Geraghty) is rather pleased when she not only accepts but has had her eyes on him too. Their romantic plans are foiled, however when office knob head Corey (Peck) decides he needs a lift home, and will not accept no as an answer. Not only that, but he insists on wanting some food, and being out of cash tells David to pull over to the self contained ATM. David, wanting to teach his annoying workmate a lesson, parks significantly away from the building, making Corey walk in the increasingly cold weather.

As it turns out, Corey’s card is not working, so he beckons David in to bail him out. Emily, being a smart girl, follows – leaving her purse along with her BlackBerry in the car.

As they are about to leave with the cash, they spot someone standing between them and the car. Dressed in a dark hooded parka and doing precisely nothing,  they assume they are going to be mugged. The reality is altogether more terrifying. Or at least it would be if we actually cared about these people.

The thing is, for these films to work, you need to actually want these people to survive whatever the threat is. Adam Green’s Frozen (2010) did this perfectly, ATM presents us with three characters who are either just nothing to us, or completely obnoxious. The silent killer/stalker approach is a brave one, especially since we have no final denouement for WHY this happened. What we get instead is an enigmatic finale, with a montage played out through the end credits to imply it is intricately planned.

It’s not all bad, though. There is some tension and well handled action, especially when David tries to make a run for the car, but these are few and far between, and totally lost by the final reel in a sea of absurd decisions and hapless writing, which is a shame. I mean, you try trashing a cash machine, and I bet the police will descend a hell of a lot quicker than they do here.

Extras: None

Review: The Dark Knight Trilogy – Ultimate Collector’s Edition / Cert: 12 / Director: Christopher Nolan / Screenplay: Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, David S. Goyer / Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Heath Ledger, Tom Hardy / Release Date: Out Now

These toys… Where does he get those wonderful toys? Wrong Joker, wrong Batman series, but you get the idea. Now you too can be the envy of all of your friends with this special edition Blu-ray collection of Christopher Nolan’s beloved Dark Knight Trilogy. Best of all, it actually comes with toys included – a trio of vehicles from the films. With a selection of gorgeous pictures, posters, a bonus disc, and it all coming sealed in a great big lovely (shoebox-sized) box, not even the relative disappointment of The Dark Knight Rises can spoil this one.

Regarded by many as the greatest superhero trilogy of all time, and by some as one of the greatest trilogies of all time, per se, Nolan’s startling reboot of a character mired in camp pastiche, nipples and George Clooney is not one to be sniffed at. Batman Begins is a wonderful re-introduction to the Caped Crusader, grounding Christian Bale’s growly Batman in realism and grit. The decision to make Bruce Wayne the focus of the film, and not his villains, is a smart one, ensuring that the Dark Knight isn’t too outclassed by his supporting cast (although Gary Oldman and Sir Michael Caine do a good job of trying). The bloody doors are blown off with The Dark Knight, which introduces us and the Batman to Heath Ledger’s mesmerising Joker. Rightly regarded as one of the best superhero films of all time (although I still prefer Batman Returns) this sees the trilogy at the peak of its powers – balancing action, drama, resounding sadness, pop psychology and even a little humour with extraordinary clarity. It fumbles a little towards the end, but is more than worthy of the fanboy praise frequently heaped upon it. And then we have The Dark Knight Rises, where it all begins to crumble, a little. Tom Hardy is fun as massive menace Bane, and Anne Hathaway isn’t a bad Catwoman, but here we see Nolan begin to overreach himself, trying to do his own version of Knightfall, No Man’s Land and The Dark Knight Returns all at once. It’s a disappointing ending to a trilogy which could have been truly great.

Thankfully, there’s so much goodwill earned over the course of the previous films and throughout this impressively definitive box set, that it hardly matters. If you do own the films individually already, there may be cause to think twice, since many of the extras have been repeated from previous editions (save for a couple of featurettes and the now infamous video of Bale wearing Val Kilmer’s mask). The toys too, aren’t as exclusive as one might think, being old HotWheels miniatures, repackaged for this Bat-box. Still, if you’re something of a Bat-collector or don’t own the Blu-ray features already, one could do far worse than this Ultimate Collector’s Edition.

Here, by the way, is the point where we should quote The Dark Knight again, saying something about how this is “not the box set that Gotham deserves,” etcetera, etcetera, but I think we’ve all had enough of that, over the past few years.

Extras: Exclusive villain prints / Reproductions of the Tumbler, Bat-Pod and Bat / Over 90 min of new special features / 48-page photo booklet / Letter from Christopher Nolan

Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie Collection / Cert: PG / Director: Steve Barron, Michael Pressman / Screenplay: Various / Starring: Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas, Corey Feldman / Release Date: October 28th

Given the popularity of the Turtles in the late ’80s/early ’90s, it’s incredible to think that the first Ninja Turtles movie was independently made, with no major studio behind it. The film itself is actually quite a dark affair in comparison to the animated series, straddling the line between the cartoon and the original comics without fully being able to truly satisfy the fans of either.

That’s not to criticise the film, it’s its own thing and is largely a success on those terms. First – and most importantly – the Turtles themselves look fantastic and most of the time you forget that they are actually a bunch of performers in suits. The problem with them is that, with the exception of Raphael, there is very little about their characters to tell them apart.

Yes, the film is a little hokey in places and most of the dialogue is quite heavy-handed at times, but it has a charm that makes it an enjoyable blast from the past, one that (unlike many things you loved as a kid) actually holds up well.

Turtle Mania ensured that the first film was a success (it was the highest-grossing independent movie for a long time), so a sequel was a certainty, and in 1991 Secret of the Ooze was released. Most of the cast changed for this outing – most notably Paige Turco taking over from Judith Hoag as April O’Neil – and in response to complaints from parents regarding the tone of the first film, Ooze tilts its tone more toward a younger audience, with varying results.

As such, the Turtles no longer use their weapons when fighting, instead employing whatever object is close to hand that most resembles the weapon they are carrying on their shells. While this adds some extra comedy slapstick to their fights, most of it will leave anyone over the age of ten cold. It’s an enjoyable enough film, but lacks the charm of the first one.

Rounding out the set is the third in the series and it’s safe to say that it’s the weakest of the Turtles films to date. It’s actually has a pretty interesting story idea and sees the return of Elias Koteas as Casey Jones, but the whole thing just looks cheap in comparison to the first two.

The Blu-ray transfer is pretty good for the most part, although it probably isn’t much better than an upscaled DVD version of the film. The set could’ve done with some descent retrospective documentaries on the making of the films and Turtle Mania in general. Instead all you get is a short featurette (made for Ooze), some trailers and galleries.

Extras: 30-min “making of” featurette / Promotional Trailers / Stills gallery

Review: The Witches / Cert: 12 / Director: Cyril Frankel / Screenplay: Nigel Kneale / Starring: Joan Fontaine, Kay Walsh, Alec McCowen / Release Date: October 21st

Nigel Kneale is seen by many as the grandfather of British horror, and with scripts such as The Quatermass Experiment under his belt, you can see why. The Witches is one of his lesser known works, and rarely appears on the list of well-loved Hammer horror movies. However, a re-release has been long overdue, and this painstakingly restored movie is certainly worth a look.

The plot is very typical of Kneale’s work; an English school teacher has a run-in with the occult whilst on her travels in Africa, and returns back to sleepy old England to recover and re-energise herself. Of course, she happens to be staying in a quaint village filled with slightly odd locals, the sort of place that is beloved by British horror movies. A child falls ill and sinister workings are uncovered, and wackiness ensues.

Those used to in-your-face gore and shock horror will not find this feature very engaging; this is a gentle horror that builds tension over time. Much of the film’s power relies on Joan Fontaine’s strong performance as the school teacher; there’s a significant conflict of classes here with the Woman’s Institute-attending, cake-baking, middle-class school teacher being shocked by the common folk and their funny ways.

Given that this sort of slowly creeping horror has been superbly parodied by the likes of The League of Gentlemen, it is sometimes hard to take The Witches seriously, especially during certain key scenes that are absurd rather than haunting. This is because viewing tastes and sensibilities have moved on, rather than due to any actual flaw in the original piece. Unlike The Wicker Man (which this film resembles in some ways) the sense of peril is simply not terribly convincing, and at points it’s hard to be sympathetic for the protagonist. This version of the movie comes with a documentary called Hammer Glamour which is quite fun but doesn’t really have any huge revelations for Hammer Horror fans.

If you happen to have not seen a film since 1967, or simply enjoy vintage horror movies and don’t mind a slow and steady pace to your shocks, you might want to check this out. Those who demand a quicker pace and more action, however, should leave well alone.

Extras: Hammer Glamour featurette / Audio commentary

Review: Curse of Chucky / Cert: 18 / Director: Don Mancini / Screenplay: Don Mancini / Starring: Fiona Dourif, Brad Dourif, Danielle Bisutti / Release Date: October 21st 

Nine years have passed since killer doll Chucky’s last cinematic outing. In that time, many of his mighty peers have fallen: Freddy, Jason, Michael, Leatherface (although Bubba Sawyer had already passed, back in 2003) – even the Deadites of The Evil Dead. In an age where the horror remake is king, surely the faintly ridiculous Charles Lee Ray was living on borrowed time? Yet, no – the original Chucky bursts out of the toy box, ready to play. It’s time for another game of ‘hide the soul’. Careful: this time Chucky is taking no prisoners.

Child’s Play creator Don Mancini returns to helm his second film in the franchise as director. With Mancini having created Chucky and written every one of his appearances, it’s no surprise that this is Chucky’s most confident outing so far. Most horror series tend to fester and bore after their fifth or sixth sequel, but Curse of Chucky emerges as the best to date. It’s inventive, witty and fantastically violent. Chucky may never scare again as he did in the original Child’s Play, but this film has a damn good go of trying.

Paraplegic Nica (Fiona Dourif, looking eerily like real-life dad Brad) lives in a grand old Gothic house with her eccentric, bohemian mother. One day, a mysterious package arrives in the mail; an original Good Guy doll. Whence it came, no one knows. No sooner has Chucky been in the house five minutes than Nica’s mother is dead, in an apparent suicide. To support Nica and split up their mother’s estate, Nica’s sister and family arrive. What better gift to young niece Alice than that same Good Guy doll? It doesn’t take very long at all for Chucky to get back into the swing of things.

Curse of Chucky starts out looking like two things – a ‘serious’ Child’s Play film (although is it ever possible to make an entirely serious film about a killer doll?) and a reboot of the series. It quickly becomes evident that the film is neither. Not only is Curse of Chucky very funny (in a darker, nastier way than the camp Bride or Seed) but it’s also a celebration of the franchise and its history. Chucky is revitalised, but not rebooted, in a way that keeps the mythos intact (and builds upon it, in a very interesting way) but also opens it up to a whole new audience. Chucky carves his way through the film with gusto, stabbing, swearing (it certainly puts the ‘curse’ in Curse of Chucky) and sneering all before him into submission. Mancini makes one thing very clear: Chucky’s come back mean(er).

The film’s statement of intent is its strikingly effective dinner scene, in which Chucky has spiked one of the bowls with more than a little rat poison. As the food is passed around and seats swapped, the camera spirals above, turning the table into a murderous roulette wheel. Chucky sits, observing, grinning his all-new rictus smile. His new look is divisive, but it works. Scenes in which we see his pupils dilate or his head spin, like The Exorcist‘s Regan, remind us why we were scared of him in the first place. He’s inanimate for long periods of time, often nestled in the arms of new friend Alice or (in one particularly memorable set piece) resting upon Nica’s lap. It’s a clever reversal of the usual rule in horror films – where most are better served by hiding their killer in the shadows, having Chucky out in the open throughout works wonders. It confidently plays on the knowledge that we, the audience, know full well what’s going through Chucky’s mind. It takes a while for Brad Dourif’s sleazy timbre to emerge from that cheerful little mouth, but you can always tell that Charles Lee Ray is in there, bubbling away, waiting for his moment to strike.

Brad Dourif is on excellent form as Chucky, imbuing the little fella with a genuine sense of menace and murderous capability. Fiona Dourif is a great foil as Nica, her casting being a nice touch when Chucky says he has “a thing for families.” Her battle against a vicious, vindictive Chucky feels refreshingly real and tactile. There’s always that level of disconnect when you realise you’re watching a film about a killer doll, but Mancini and his crew do a fine job of making Chucky seem like a genuine threat. It’s a little too obvious at times, and some of its laughs are a bit too easy, but overall, it’s good fun – on the same level, say, as a Wrong Turn sequel or Hatchet film. Horror fans who like their gorefests to be edgier or more intense will be disappointed, but Curse of Chucky is a great popcorn piece. Stay after the credits, too, for the film’s real crowd-pleaser.

Curse of Chucky is a remarkable beast. It’s stylish, slick and an insane amount of fun. It pulls off the impressive feat of restarting the franchise and picking up where it left off, at the same time. Wanna play? You bet.

Extras: (Blu-ray only) Deleted Scenes / Gag Reel / Making Of / FX Featurette / ‘The Chucky Legacy’ Featurette / Storyboard Comparisons

  

Review: Unidentified / Cert: 15 / Director: Jason Richard Miller / Screenplay: Jason Richard Miller, Eddie Mui, Parry Shen / Starring: Parry Shen, Colton Dunn, Eddie Mui, Eric Artell / Release Date: October 28th

Brace yourself for a sci-fi found footage cross between The Hangover and The Fourth Kind. After getting on the wrong side of a local loan shark, a group of bickering friends flee into the Nevada desert, where they are subsequently beset by a very different kind of threat. Unfortunately for everyone, one of their number is Jodie (Artell), perhaps the most irritating character ever to populate a found footage film.

And there’s plenty of competition in that department. For some reason, the characters in found footage horror films always tend to be awful people, from the vindictive brats of Cannibal Holocaust, to Unidentified‘s Jodie. These characters are the cinematic representation of those friends we all have, who remain glued to their mobile phones at a night down the pub, or house party. It’s another peculiarity of this subgenre that we rarely get the payoff of seeing these terrible, terrible people die on screen – after all, once they’re dead, who’s left to hold the camera? It’s little wonder that Jodie’s friends are constantly trying to ditch him.

At least one of those friends is played by Parry Shen, who is as likeable here as he was in each Hatchet film, which distracts us from the tiresome company he keeps. We should be relieved that we have this anchor, however flimsy, since it takes far too long for any other reason to watch this film to appear. Again, as with so many other found footage nightmares, there’s so much build-up and not nearly enough of the main event. Shen or no Shen, it means suffering through fifty minutes of Las Vegas ‘antics’ before anything starts happening. “Why are you still filming?” Good question. Please stop. Unidentified is so found footage that there’s even a scene in which the characters watch footage recorded on an iPhone through the lens of their video camera. It consists mostly of Jodie singing about taking a piss, when he’s not taking the piss. The switch from comedy to horror is an awkward one, coming too late in the game to work as it should. The bulk of the action – sorry, no little green men or drooling xenomorphs to see here – consists, as it always seems to do, of panicked snotty faces running around in the darkness until it’s time for the credits to roll.

There is merit to this increasingly popular subgenre of horror, but there’s very little of it to be found here. While it’s technically fine, and the action of the last quarter will please some, we found it to be dull, repetitive and more than a little annoying. Unidentified is a classic close encounter of the turd kind.

Extras: None