Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Review: Children’s Film Foundation Collection – Scary Stories / Cert: PG / Director: James Hill, John Krish, Andrew Bogle / Screenplay: Various / Starring: Sarah Hollis-Andrews, Gabrielle Hamilton, Michael Carter, Andrew Keir, Barbra Ewing / Release Date: September 23rd

This latest BFI three-movie release from the archive of the legendary Children’s Film Foundation suggests that there was, from time to time, more to the CFF’s output than sunny day hijinks and knockabout fantasy romps. Scary Stories, a timely compilation surely aimed at the much younger end of the Halloween market, sees the CFF putting away childish things as it attempts to creep out its impressionable audience of 1970s and 1980s nippers.

Whilst there’s nothing here likely to even remotely disturb today’s sassy kids weaned on ultra-violent computer games and downloaded Hollywood horror movies, each of the three tales presented on this latest compilation are classy, if quaintly dated, affairs which veer towards the safer side of the supernatural. No vicious knife-wielding killers or vengeful ghosts in Scary Stories, just friendly spirits out to right some historical wrong or provide a warning from beyond the grave. Opening effort The Man from Nowhere ultimately isn’t even supernatural at all; it’s an atmospheric Victorian Gothic thriller, directed by James Hill, in which a feisty young orphan girl is terrorised by a mysterious bearded stranger who, if this reviewer isn’t mistaken, is voiced by the late Michael Gough. The resolution is pure Conan Doyle but it’s a beautifully told, gripping tale which might still startle the odd nervous tot. The remaining stories are more contemporary (i.e., 1980s) thrillers and both feature wholesome ghosts making contact with the living for benign reasons. In Hunters of the Deep an American businessman plans to reopen an old Cornish tin mine where dozens of miners died in a terrible accident years previously. The American’s boyish daughter teams up with local lad Josh, who’s being guided by a ghostly figure trying to prevent history repeating itself. Eeriest of the trio is Out of the Darkness, set in and around the famous Derbyshire ‘plague’ village of Eyam, where the past comes back to haunt a family of newcomers and a mystery from centuries ago is about to be solved at last.

Scary Stories is the best and most consistent run of BFI CFF compilations to date. Well-made and intelligent, these charming and enjoyable stories are another reminder of a long-gone, much more innocent age. Today’s kids won’t be won over by their tame charms but adults who spent happy Saturday mornings entertained by the CFF will enjoy basking in Scary Stories’ warm, nostalgic glow.

Extras: Illustrated commemorative booklet

Review: The Mummy / Cert: PG / Director: Terence Fisher / Screenplay: Jimmy Sangster / Starring: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, George Pastell, Yvonne Furneaux, Felix Aylmer / Release Date: October 14^th

One of the all-time great movie monsters, the Mummy, gets the Hammer treatment here. The very British studio produce a very British incarnation of the tightly-wrapped Egyptian behemoth. As so often with Hammer productions, Christopher Lee is there front-and-centre as the bad-guy of the piece, taking on the titular role. On the other side of the coin, you have Peter Cushing doing his very best to unravel the mystery of the Mummy.

In the 1890s, a bumbling group of British archaeologists come across the sacred tomb of Princess Ananka. Deciding not to heed the ominous warnings of the Egyptian locals, the group arrogantly enter the hallowed place. Much to their later regret, their discovery has awakened a certain protector of Ananka – the High Priest Charris, aka the Mummy. Led by a typically-token fez-wearing believer (Pastell), and hunting the group down one by one, the Mummy avenges the desecration of the sacred tomb. With Cushing’s John Banning realising that he is next on the bandaged-one’s shitlist, he has to take evasive action to protect himself and his loved ones, but not before he can finish his glass of ice-cold milk.

The Mummy is a charming film, arguably one of Hammer’s finest self-produced titles; the setting, tone, and mood are all note-perfect. In typical Hammer style, there’s a very British stiff-upper-lip feel to the tale, as every single character, even the villains on show, are well-mannered and polite, almost tripping over themselves to apologise at the most alarmingly frequent of instances.

Fans of similar films will find the performance of all of the actors on show a joy to watch. Peter Cushing is as Peter Cushing as he’s ever been, constantly stumbling over his manners, all the while managing to keep his portrayal at just the right level of hammed-up to make it work. Lee, as both the human Charris and his mummified incarnation, shines. Lee’s larger-than-life Mummy towers over the rest of the cast, with the iconic villain given one of his most violent and brutish outings. The supporting cast, most notably George Pastell, all deliver at exactly the right times. Lee himself suffered multiple injuries during the filming of The Mummy, the efforts of all involved resulted in a great film. 

Aficionados of classic horrors from the Universal and Hammer heydays will love The Mummy. As for modern audiences, they may well find the acting and direction a little too over-the-top and hard to take seriously. Then there’s the age-old question of why so many Egyptians choose to speak English to each other even when in their own country… 

Extras: None

Review: Byzantium / Cert: 15 / Director: Neil Jordan / Screenplay: Moira Buffini / Starring: Gemma Arterton, Saoirse Ronan, Jonny Lee Miller, Sam Riley, Caleb Landry-Jones / Release Date: September 23rd

Almost two decades after Interview with the Vampire, Neil Jordan made his return to the vampire mythos with this year’s Byzantium. While he’s been away, the genre has had something of a renaissance, largely down to a certain saga – but this is no Twilight.

Byzantium follows Clara (Arterton) and Eleanor (Ronan), a mother/daughter vampire team who flee the city to a British seaside town – and it’s not all sunny at the seaside. This is a grim, unglamourous tale. The two stay in a run-down hotel, which Clara soon opens for business as a brothel. Eleanor is unhappy with this destitute life, which is complicated when she meets Frank (Landry Jones). But trouble is on its way in the form of Darvell (Riley), a fellow vampire seeking vengeance on Clara.

It’s a feminist take on the vampire story, following Clara and Eleanor’s struggle to live in a male-dominated world, and not much ever changes for them – the cruel treatment of the two throughout their long lives is highlighted, from Miller’s nasty nineteenth-century captain to the abusive men of the present day. With a complex, original take on existing tropes, it’s exactly the kind of story you’d hope for from Jordan, and his stylish direction renders it bleakly beautiful, the ugly concrete promenades of the decaying town reinforcing the helplessness of the pair’s situation. If you’ve ever been to Blackpool, you know what I mean.

A story like this, however, needs good performances to carry its complex characters, and this is where the cracks start to show. Arterton’s accent swings wildly and inexplicably between cockney and RP, seriously distracting from the tone of the film. Luckily, Ronan is considerably better; she perfectly captures the sadness of an ancient being trapped in a young body. Landry Jones’ performance as Frank is, well, weird. It’s unclear whether the character is meant to be awkward or it’s awful acting. Nevertheless, Ronan is strong enough to carry the relationship between Eleanor and Frank as the real emotional core of the film, convincingly leaving Eleanor a changed vampire.

The other strand of the plot doesn’t quite match up. It’s not that Riley’s performance as Darvell is problematic, but that the character is poorly written; he’s a generic, undefined villain, leaving the conflict boring, and the ending it comes to is unsatisfying.

Despite the flaws, there’s a lot to admire in Byzantium. It’s more for fans of Let the Right One In than Twilight; though lacking the chill of the iconic Swedish film, it’s the dark, character-driven, social commentary-ridden type of vampire tale. While it doesn’t hit all the marks, it’s definitely worth a shot. 

Nothing too remarkable on the extras front: a trailer, your usual interviews (Jordan, Arterton, Ronan, Riley, and producer Stephen Woolley), plus a recording of a Glasgow Frightfest Q&A with the same people.

Review: Lifeforce / Cert: 18 / Director: Tobe Hooper / Screenplay: Dan O’Bannon, Don Jakoby / Starring: Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Frank Finlay, Mathilda May, Patrick Stewart, Michael Gothard / Release Date: September 30th

One of Tobe Hooper’s more popular films that isn’t The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, this gem from 1985 gets us space vampires on the loose in London, with a 2001: A Space Odyssey meets Alien sort of vibe. Hooper’s career post-Massacre has been a mixed bag, but Lifeforce is not one of his failures.

Investigating Halley’s Comet, an unsuspecting space shuttle team manage to bring a race of space vampires back to Earth with them, whereupon they promptly turn most of London into bloodthirsty zombies. We’re an easily conquered lot, especially when our aggressors happen to be wandering about in the buff. As the many dead men of Species will attest, it’s hard to concentrate on not being viciously murdered when there’s a very pretty lady coming at you without her top on. Nearly thirty years later, Lifeforce still feels remarkably fresh. As the vampires starve into plastic-looking husks (the special effects here are a little dated, but look great nevertheless) and explode like popped bags full of dust, it’s inventive, intelligent fun. And then Patrick Stewart shows up to deliver the film’s best performance. Given that Lifeforce came slightly before The Next Generation and nowhere near X-Men, I had wondered whether we might see a different side to Sir Patrick, before typecasting began to take hold. No – Stewart plays a loud bald man who wears a trenchcoat. The very first thing he does is shout. But, oh, what shouting. It’s Stewart at his possessed-by-an-alien, driven mad by space-flu Captain Picard best. It’s a relatively minor role, but a great one.

Peter Firth does a great job as the lead, his wardrobe and the eighties British setting leaving the film feeling a little like an episode of The Professionals or The Sweeney. As the streets of London are taken by this extra-terrestrial zombie apocalypse, Hooper even manages to give the great George Romero a run for his money in terms of scale and destruction. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the greatest horror films of all time. With Lifeforce, he proves that he’s more than a one trick pony.

The film is given the recognition it deserves with this release by Arrow Video, who provide – in addition to that stunning Blu-ray cover artwork – the usual comprehensive mix of interviews, documentaries and commentaries. Presented in High Definition 1080p, it’s a must-see for fans and newcomers alike.

Review: Ghost Shark / Cert: 15 / Director: Griff Furst / Screenplay: Paul A. Birkett / Starring: Mackenzie Rosman, Dave Davis, Sloane Coe, Jaren Mitchell, Richard Moll / Release Date: October 28th

We’ve seen sharks in tornadoes, sharks in sand, sharks in snow, sharks in Venice, sharks in swamps, sharks crossed with octopuses, and now we’ve got a shark coming back from beyond the watery grave. Ghost Shark has one of the most ridiculous plots that we’ve ever seen (and we watch a lot of strange shit), although it’s not entirely as bad as you’d expect. The story: a redneck son and daughter kill a great white shark whilst out fishing. Said apex killing machine floats away to a mystical cave which brings the shark back as a mean ol’ spirit. And don’t worry about it being ‘safe to go back in the water,’ as land is no major barrier for this particular spooky shark. Yes, this ghost shark can kill people on land. In fact, it can kill people wherever there is water.

As well as a ghoulish fish, the film has a cast of disposable teens and seemingly a checklist of clichés to tick off. There are several nods to Jaws (we’re pretty sure you can hear Roy Scheider turning in his grave if you listen carefully) and there’s the ever-popular crazy old local that the young pups should really listen to. If this wasn’t enough for you, some of the kills are ridiculous. A couple of death scenes that stand out to us are somebody being killed by the ghost shark via the toilet, whilst another guy bites it after taking a drink from a water cooler.

The SFX work on show is your usual straight-to-DVD fodder, although Ghost Shark does well initially to hide its flaws. In the same way that Jaws kept its weak point, Bruce the shark, out of shot for most of the film, Ghost Shark initially does well to only show brief glimpses of the shark and of the carnage it commits. That doesn’t last for the whole film, though, as things get more and more ludicrous as the movie comes to a climax. Still, the ending here is nowhere near as bad as something like Sharknado.

The performances of the principal cast are solid, although nobody particularly stands out from the crowd. That said, nobody stands out as doing a horrible job, as is so often the case in these type of films (here’s looking at you, Tara Reid). As for the direction, Furst seems to understand the constraints of his film, and he does his best to minimise the lesser aspects and to accentuate the positives.

If you can get past the ridiculous concept of the film, Ghost Shark really isn’t as bad as some of its peers. Sure, it’s not something that you need to see but there’s worse ways to spend a spare 90 minutes.

Extras: TBC

Review: Edgar Wallace Presents – Circus of Fear / Director: John Llewellyn Moxey / Screenplay: Harry Alan Towers, Edgar Wallace / Starring: Christopher Lee, Klaus Kinski, Leo Genn, Anthony Newlands, Heinz Drache, Eddi Arent, Skip Martin, Margaret Lee, Suzy Kendall / Released: September 23rd

One of the great things about a ’60s Anglo-German thriller is the fact that you can find so many of the best British and German scenery-chewers in one place. When Christopher Lee and Klaus Kinski start going head-to-head, the scenery must start to feel very nervous indeed.

Circus of Fear (1966) is based on an Edgar Wallace novel and, for a short movie (although the disc also features the long version), has rather a lot going on in it. It starts with a brilliantly shot heist and the incomprehensibly thrilling spectacle of a car chase on a ’60s motorway (why is that so exciting?). Some of the loot ends up hidden at a circus where no one is quite what they seem and things start to get a bit complicated. It’s got escaped lions, underachieving clowns and even a blackmailing dwarf (brilliantly played by the incomparable Skip Martin). Bodies soon start turning up and, guess what, they’ve all been dispatched with throwing knives. Of course they have. What’s not to like?

The circus setting is perfect for the multi-national cast as they come across as a genuinely exotic bunch with a few hard-to-place accents. One of those mysterious accents belongs to the not-so-mysterious Gregor, a lion tamer so hideously disfigured that he covers his face with a mask at all times. Unfortunately, at 6’5” and with the most recognisable voice in the history of cinema, this might not have been the best use of Christopher Lee; it’s like sticking a moustache and glasses on Godzilla. Big Chris should be flaunted; never put a bag on his head. On the other hand we can’t think of a more convincing lion tamer; he just talks at them and they go sheepishly back to their cages. Of course, being the ’60s, rather a lot of cigarettes are smoked and you’ll also be pleased to hear that, as Klaus Kinski never removes his from his mouth, he is, as hard as it might be to imagine, even more incomprehensible than usual. Somehow it just makes him all the more menacing and he certainly looks the part.

In the end this is just a rather fun whodunit with most of the cast as potential culprits. Call us slow but the reveal was a genuine surprise to us. For the more studious, the film is also a fascinating link in the career of director John Llewellyn Moxey. He directed Christopher Lee in the rather excellent City of the Dead (1960) a few years earlier but he ultimately became best known for his TV work with anything from Kung Fu to Murder, She Wrote. In Circus of Fear you can actually see the transition of style between the two genres.

Network have done their usual sterling job of the transfer. It’s entertaining; it’s interesting and the dwarf is called Mr Big (our sides are hurting). You need more convincing than that? OK, it’s got Margaret Lee and Suzy Kendall in it. Are you people ever satisfied?

Extras: Short and long version / Alternate German ending / Trailers / Image gallery

Review: Squirm / Cert: 15 / Director: Jeff Lieberman / Screenplay: Jeff Lieberman / Starring: Don Scardino, Patricia Piercey, R.A. Dow, Jean Sullivan / Release Date: September 23^rd

Apart from very small boys, no one really likes worms. Notwithstanding the sterling work they do irrigating soil and decomposing organic material, they’re still wriggly, slimy little buggers which can grow a new ‘tail’ if you cut off the original (although they don’t, contrary to popular belief, grow into two worms if you cut them in half… thank God). They’re clearly fair game for horror movie treatment and Jeff Lieberman’s Squirm is a fairly typical example of what’s become known as the ‘revenge-of-nature’ horror films of the mid-1970s. Squirm appeared in 1976 in the wake of the Jaws phenomenon but where Spielberg’s aquatic epic was a pulsating thrill-ride which still resonates nearly forty years on, Squirm is a much more… um… sluggish affair.

The basic plot is the stuff of virtually every ‘revenge of the killer vermin’ movie (as Kim Newman describes them in one of this new release’s bonus features). Fallen power cables disrupt the electricity supply to the hicksville fishing town of Fly Creek in Georgia and the electricity surging into the soil has an agitating effect on the countryside’s indigenous worm population. Before long the town’s inhabitants are finding worms in their drinks, worms in the water supply, worms squeezing out of their shower heads – erk – and even worms burrowing into the skin of their unfortunate victims. Our heroes the Sanders family and visiting city kid Mick (Scardino) are soon besieged in the family home as a virtual tidal wave of squirming, wriggling, blood-crazed terror threatens to overwhelm the town.

Squirm really is a very arch and silly film but thanks to this slick new Blu-ray it now looks quite astonishing with its high-def image happily picking out every glistening segment on every worm. But it’s hampered by a stodgy script and an uneven pace – it takes an age for anything much to actually happen – and, bumpkin Roger’s graphic face-invasion aside, it’s really not especially horrifying. It’s revolting, of course – have we mentioned how icky worms are? – and much of its worm-based imagery will send a shiver up and down the spine and make your stomach heave a bit. But we don’t really see enough graphic carnage; victims are often just depicted as covered in worms or swamped by a writhing tide. Lieberman battles valiantly against his tiny budget and struggles to ramp up the tension and excitement but the film eventually just fizzles out with our heroes stuck up a tree and normality being returned after the night of the worms with no explanation as to where they’ve all gone and why they’ve stopped their attack.

Flawed but fun, Squirm is not for hardened scoleciphobics but fans of Nature vs. Man 1970s horror will find much to pass the slime… sorry, time on this lavish and definitive new Blu-ray.

Extras: Director commentary / 2012 New York Film Archives Q&A / Kim Newman on Lieberman and Squirm / Trailer / Collector’s booklet

Review: We Are What We Are / Cert: 15 / Director: Jim Mickle / Screenplay: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle / Starring: Bill Sage, Kelly McGillis, Ethan Suplee, Odeya Rush / Release Date: Out Now

In the past few years director Jim Mickle has risen to prominence with some low budget genre films including Mulberry Street and Stakeland. Although the idea and vision was there, Mickle was ill served by the budgetary limitations on both occasions. His new film is a remake of the 2010 Mexican cannibal drama We Are What We Are and it manages to be that rare beast, a remake better than the original, one that proves that Mickle is a great storyteller.

Flipping things around from the beginning of the original, this time the matriarch of the Parker family collapses and dies during a flood in small town Delaware, USA. This means that the father Frank (Sage) has to step up and take care of kids Alyce, Iris and Rory. Through excellently paced storytelling and the discoveries of the townsfolk, we learn that the Parker family are actually cannibals and have lived this way for centuries due to a diary handed down through the decades from colonial times which the Parkers use as their bible. When bone fragments wash downriver after the flood, suspicions deepen about the family, who then start to unravel.

We Are What We Are is Mickle’s most coherent and well-made film so far. It has an unfussy, classic style that recalls the work of directors like Frank Darabont and more recently Jeff Nichols. In another director’s hands this could have been an exploitative gorefest, but Mickle only uses violence when it’s absolutely necessary, and when it does occur it’s all the more shocking because of the wonderful pace and story structure. Cinematographer Ryan Samul gives the film a rich and deep palette that really adds to the atmosphere, and the film is different enough from the original to stand on its own, even if it does lose some of the social commentary by transposing the story from Mexico to the USA.

For a long time Bill Sage has been a minor supporting player, popping up in small roles in films like American Psycho and Mysterious Skin, but here he is given the key role as Frank Parker. It proves to be a major transformation for him and he is brilliant as a man who is slipping away both from himself and his family and is full of barely contained rage. Sage is backed up by wonderful young actors Odeya Rush, Ambyr Childers and Jack Gore as well as receiving reliable support from Michael Parks and Kelly McGillis.

We Are What We Are is a truly great piece of macabre Gothic Americana with superb performances and we can’t wait to see what Mickle does next. 

Extras: None

Review: Killer Clown / Cert: 18 / Director: John Lechago / Screenplay: John Lechago / Starring: Trent Haaga, Victoria De Mare, Al Burke, Jessica Whitaker / Release Date: Out Now

Who’s this clown? Well, to explain: otherwise known as Killjoy Goes to Hell, what we have here is the fourth in a series of movies about a supernatural jester who messes with people in various bloody and anarchic ways. Unfortunately, the view in the nether regions is that recently he’s been falling down on the job, and in this instalment he’s hauled up before a hellion court and charged with being unworthy of the name of demon. If found guilty, he’ll have to turn in his comedy trousers once and for all. Cue the most ramshackle legal drama since that one about whether the Jack of Hearts stole the tarts.

The events of past movies are referred to – in a subplot we encounter Sandie (Whitaker), a survivor from Killjoy 3 and now a quivering wreck who laughs continually to keep Killjoy at bay – but honestly, you won’t struggle to get up to speed, especially as not a whole lot new happens. The thing is, Killer Clown is talky, very talky. You might well argue that the script is much too garrulous and tongue-in-cheek for its own good, but  then again you can’t deny that the cast have fun with the facetious dialogue.

As Killjoy, Trent Haaga does a spot-on impression of Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice, jabbering out his lines in a gravelly voice and making his eyes spin in his head, while Victoria De Mare is very sprightly and endearing as Batty Boop, his ever-perky partner in crime. Of the other supporting performances, many are greatly enhanced by the film’s one really outstanding asset – the special FX make-up by Tom Devlin, with its visually arresting Gothic carny vibe.

Shot on digital video, this is plainly a very low budget movie, so there’s no point in doing the film critic equivalent of kicking it up the backside with a size sixteen shoe and hitting it over the head with a big, squeaky hammer. Yes, it’s rather static, and it’s not at all scary, and no, you won’t die laughing, but it does have its own kind of engaging silliness (if it weren’t for the swearing, the violence, the dodgy theology and the fact that Batty Boop’s costume is 90% body paint, it would make a fun kiddy’s show). It’s different. And in this day and age that’s more surprising than a custard pie to the face.

Extras: Trailer

Review: Outpost – Rise of the Spetsnaz / Cert: 18 / Director: Kieran Parker / Screenplay: Rae Brunton / Starring: Bryan Larkin, Ivan Kamaras, Michael McKell, Velibor Topic / Release Date: March 31st, 2014

The latest instalment of the Outpost series features a lot that will be familiar to fans of the previous two films. Yes, yes, yes, there are Nazi zombies aplenty. This time around, though, we find the action set in Eastern Europe during World War II as a group of highly-trained Russian military types seek to take down the Nazi threat. Given the ending of Outpost II: Black Sun, we were a little surprised with this sequel going all the way back to WWII. That said, it works.

After the Russian group botch an ambush attempt, they are taken captive and locked up in a Nazi prison bunker. It’s soon revealed that, as well as the threat of Nazis, there is also the looming peril of some modified Nazi ‘super-zombies’ to contend with. Whilst that may sound crazy, we’re pretty sure if you are watching a Nazi zombie film then you’ve already left your logic at the door. Wishing to test out these created monsters, the leader of the Nazi group (McKell) sees the new captives as the perfect mixture of bait and of a measuring stick for how up to standard these beasts are. What ensues is much, bloody violence, some rather great little action scenes, and some zombies doing their best Hulk Hogan ‘Hulking Up’ impressions.

The third in the Outpost series sees Kieran Parker finally take on directing duties. Having written and produced the first Outpost, then produced the second, it’s a natural fit for him. He uses similar tones, colours, angles and scoring to the previous two films, breeding familiarity for the viewer. He also throws in a shit-ton more blood, guts and action. Leading from the front on the action side is Larkin. As the leader of the Russian group, he impresses here. Once you get over the fact that both Russian and German forces all speak ‘English-with-an-accent’ throughout the film (we’ll never understand that), then you can buy Larkin as a good, hard-hitting Russian badass.

Now for the zombies… they’re actually rather good. Without the biggest budget in the world, the film creates impressive zombies, utilising the tools at its command and making the best of them. There are no plodding, moping zombies here; they have intent, purpose and an appetite, and they’re brutal with it.

Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz is a gore-soaked, action-packed battle of the species that triumphs. Sure, there are lulls, but then there’s lots and lots of zombies meeting fists. One of the best zombie films in recent memory, series fans and genre fans alike will find something here to enjoy.

Extras: The Making of Outpost III: Rise of the Spetsnaz