Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

Review: Ninja Scroll / Cert: 18 / Director: Yoshiaki Kawajiri / Screenplay: Yoshiaki Kawajiri / Starring: Koichi Yamadera, Emi Shinohara, Takeshi Aono / Release Date: November 26th

Offering a combination of swordplay, sex and political intrigue, samurai tales are an understandably popular subgenre of Japanese anime, and, almost twenty years after it was made, there’s no better example than Ninja Scroll. If you’ve seen it, then I’m only telling you what you already know. If you haven’t seen it, then this new Blu-ray/DVD release should send you flitting with lightning speed to the shops.

Things kick off in gruesome fashion with a village falling prey to a mysterious and deadly ailment. A local bigwig orders in a team of ninjas to find out what’s going on. But their investigations – and their lives – are cut short when they run into one of anime’s most horrific villains, the stone giant Tessai, whose two-bladed sword flies through flesh and bone like a buzz-saw. It’s a massacre, and it reaches its grisly culmination with Tessai ripping off the ninja leader’s arms and guzzling blood out of the stumps.

Luckily, Jubei, a wandering samurai, is on hand to help one of the team – a feisty female ninja called Kagero – make her escape. Not that she’s grateful – she’s too proud and independent. Plus she’s uneasy around men, for the singular reason that, having served for years as her lord’s food taster, her body is steeped in poison and toxic to the touch. Nonetheless, they soon become unwilling allies, guided and goaded by Dakuan, a government spy disguised as a monk.

Together, the trio become embroiled in countering a convoluted plot to destabilize the whole of Japan. But first, they have to defeat the Eight Devils of Kimon, a group of nasties that includes the aforementioned Tessai as well as other equally formidable foes, such as a hunchback with a hump full of wasps and a shadow assassin who pops up eerily from the ground.

Writer/director Yoshiaki Kawajiri whips the story along at breakneck speed, maintaining a feverish momentum which is matched by moody Frank Miller-ish visuals. Leaving aside its lofty place in the anime canon, Ninja Scroll is an outstanding horror flick, a seamless flow of chills, thrills and lethal jeopardy. The action set pieces are explosive and iconic, and the brutal violence and frank sexuality (with Kagero being involved in several controversial scenes) still have the power to disturb. The characters are fascinating, too – Jubei, a laid-back slacker-swordmaster with a murky past; Dakuan, who is a bit like Yoda only smaller, less good looking and with a tendency to crushing sarcasm; and most of all Kagero, a beautiful, accomplished heroine haunted by regret. We’ve only seen the DVD version of this new release, but it looks very crisp indeed and shouldn’t be missed.

Extras: None

Review: The Amazing Spider-Man / Cert: 12 / Director: Marc Webb / Screenplay: James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent, Steve Kloves / Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Sally Field / Release Date: November 26th

Coming a mere five years after Sam Raimi’s much derided Spider-Man 3, Sony’s reboot of everyone’s favourite web crawler is a mixed bag. Showing us another version of Peter Parker’s origin story as he is transferred from a geeky schoolboy into a crime fighting superhero, fans of comic-book canon will be pleased with some of the revisions on show here. But more on that in a moment.

Parker (Garfield) is bitten by a radioactive spider, giving him similar abilities to the arachnid; he is able to climb walls and is blessed with super reactions and acrobatic abilities. After his Uncle Ben (Sheen) is killed by a robber, Peter searches the seedy underworld, trying to find the crook he murdered him. At the same time, Dr Curt Connors (Ifans) is experimenting with lizard DNA in order to find a way for amputees to regrow their missing limbs. Of course, it all goes awry and Connors ends up becoming The Lizard, who threatens the whole city when he tries to disperse his serum across the skyline and turn everyone into reptiles.

Now, there are a lot of positives on show here. It may seem to be too soon after Raimi’s take, but the inclusion of Gwen Stacy (Stone) as Parker’s love interest will warm the hearts of die-hard fans, even if they know what’s destined to happen to her in the future. The fact that Parker has to build his web-shooters, instead of Tobey Maguire’s organic dispensers is a nice touch too. Garfield makes a nicely cocky Peter Parker, albeit with a very human side and Stone is reliable as ever. Denis Leary, Gwen’s father and Captain of the police force is nicely restrained and Ifans is just shy of showing how bug-eyed crazy he can be.

The backstory involving Parker’s parents is a new idea and one that promises to be further investigated over the next two films in the trilogy. Whether it works or not remains to be seen. From a weaker perspective, the CGI on The Lizard is pretty weak and makes the villain even more cartoonish than his four colour page counterpart. It can also be said that Garfield’s Parker is more emotional than ever, but at least it gives him some real gravitas. It’ll be interesting to see where they take him in the next couple of adventures.

It’s still better than Spider-Man 3 (although not as good as 2) and you can’t help but think that they omitted a word from the title – The Amazingly Emotional Spiderman would have described it so much better. Origin stories are always slow to get going, an excuse that the sequel will not be able to rely on. A promising start.

Extras: Deleted scenes / Marc Webb commentary / Production gallery / Featurettes / Second Screen App (exclusive to Blu-ray) / 3D 101 with Marc Webb (exclusive to 3D Blu-ray) / 3D Image Progression Reel (exclusive to 3D Blu-ray)

DVD Review: Ghost Stories – Classic Adaptations from the BBC / Cert: 12 / Directors: Luke Watson and Pier Wilkie / Screenplay: M. R. James adapted by Peter Harness and Justin Hopper / Starring: Mark Letheren, Pip Torrens, Greg Wise, Paul Freeman and David Burke / Released: Out Now

Fancy a story about an academic doing something scholarly and turning up more than he bargained for? Well that’s fortuitous, as the BBC’s A Ghost Story for Christmas is back. This time out the BFI have gotten around to its mid-noughties revival but, despite the 27 year hiatus that followed The Ice House (1978), this pairing of A View from a Hill (2005) and Number 13 (2006) sticks to the formula that worked so well in the seventies. So what we have here are two more tightly-made adaptations of M. R. James’s stories, and spooked academics in the glorious English countryside are once more in abundance. James really liked those academics.

A View from a Hill’s scholarly protagonist borrows an old pair of binoculars and sees things that just shouldn’t be there in an episode that has all the tropes that were put in place back in 1968 with the original Whistle and I’ll Come to You. Like Michael Hordern before him, Mark Letheren has moments of social awkwardness and mildly obsessive behaviour to indicate how rational our academic is before his world is thrown into turmoil by apparitions in the middle-distance and disturbing dream sequences. Before you know it, he’s in all sorts of bother. Despite the adherence to the Whistle model, View does have a few modern tricks up its sleeve with some jumpy bits of camera work and even a Blair Witch moment or two but it’s pretty much what you’d expect and an effective piece of Christmas spookiness.

Number 13 has Greg Wise as a professor staying in a hotel (there’s a lot of obsessive unpacking in these stories) while authenticating some old papers at the local Cathedral. No old paper was ever left unauthenticated in the works of M. R. James. There’s awkwardness as he’s asked to pay his bill in advance due to previous academics apparently doing a runner (we won’t insult your intelligence with a comment on that plot device) and further social discomfort at that favourite James set-piece of embarrassment, the dinner table. Our bookish chum is in room 12 but sometimes there’s also a room 13. Ooh, that’s spooky. It’s a bit clumsier than View with considerably less subtlety than we’ve come to expect from the series, but it’s good fun nevertheless and sports a genuinely chilling ending.

While this volume is as excellent as any other in the series, you can’t help but think we’ve seen it all before by now. In fact watching these makes you realise why the BBC strayed so surprisingly far from the formula when they revised the series again in 2010 with a remake of Whistle. James’s awkward academics’ embroilments with the supernatural might be fun but we think that maybe quite enough, thank you very much. Frankly, we’re getting a bit fed up trying to find alternate words for ‘academic’. Oh, you noticed…

Extras: Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee

Review: Death Watch / Cert: 12 / Director: Bertrand Tavernier / Screenplay: David Ryfield / Starring: Harvey Keitel, Romy Schneider, Harry Dean Stanton, Therese Liotard, William Russell, Max Von Sydow/ Release Date: Out Now 

Death Watch was originally released in 1980 and the film’s distributors at the time were concerned that the movie’s concept of ‘reality’ television and the story’s depiction of the ruthless cynicism and lust of TV producers chasing ratings and headlines at any cost was just asking too much of a cinema audience. In a post-Big Brother world where it seems that almost anyone will do almost anything to get on TV, Death Watch doesn’t seem much like science-fiction any more, more like a startling and disturbing documentary starring people in unfashionable clothes.

In the near future (probably now the past from the perspective of when Death Watch was made) technology allows miniature cameras to be imbedded into the human eye so the ‘wearer’ can record raw footage of… well, just about anything. Roddy (Keitel) is an experienced cameraman employed by NTV and its head honcho Vincent Ferriman (Stanton) to spy on and record the last days of Katherine Mortenhoe (Schneider) who has been diagnosed with an incurable disease. NTV have already begun promoting and publicising their latest ultimate ‘reality’ TV show and Katherine agrees, in exchange for a large sum of money, to co-operate with the production. But as soon as she’s got the money Katherine goes on the run and finds herself inadvertently in the company of Roddy whom she befriends despite the fact that, unbeknownst to her, he has his own hidden agenda.

Death Watch is, of course, extraordinarily prescient and the idea of a ‘reality’ show where the story of the last days of a human life is told for sensationalist, headline-grabbing reasons nowadays doesn’t seem as horribly-unlikely as it must have seemed back in 1980 (bearing in mind that sober modern documentary shows have wandered down a similar path fairly recently but with a little more taste and decorum than Death Watch envisages). This is a powerful, sobering, bleak little movie, shot in and around the less photogenic areas of Glasgow in 1980 and dominated by powerful performances by a youthful-looking Keitel and a compelling Romy Schneider. It’s a wordy, atmospheric, rather dense picture – this is proper science-fiction, challenging and thought-provoking – a story about people and morality and the question we’re asking more and more over thirty years later; how intrusive can popular culture be allowed to become in the name of mass entertainment and are there now no corners of the life/death experience that can remain private and personal?

Despite its sluggish pace and lack of action – one street tussle aside there are no fights and, indeed, no real physical conflict at all – Death Watch presents a fascinating and recognisable dystopia and, despite a tendency towards pretension and melodrama, it’s a striking, haunting and ultimately tragic tale.

Extras: Interview with the director / photo gallery / trailer

Review: Halloween 4 The Return of Michael Myers / Director: Dwight H. Little / Screenplay: Alan B. McElroy / Starring: Donald Pleasence, Danielle Harris, George P. Wilbur / Release Date: Out Now

The proverbial bad penny, he just keeps coming home. At this point, Michael Myers has returned more times to his childhood home of Haddonfield, Illinois than Ricky Butcher has come back to Eastenders.

After deciding to sit out the events of Season of the Witch, Myers escapes once more from his cosy sanatorium (no mean feat, considering the film starts with him in a coma) to stalk and murder his surviving family members. With Jamie Lee Curtis’s Laurie Strode otherwise disposed (she wouldn’t return until Halloween: H20) Michael sets about hunting down his seven year old niece, Jamie. In turn, Michael is himself dogged by the tenacious Doctor Loomis, disfigured, depressed but determined to stop Michael before any more blood can be shed.

With the previous film in the series regarded by most as a failure and a mistake (although it does have its merits) it’s good to have The Shape back, complete with his iconic Shatner mask and boiler suit. His first stop, as always, is to murder an innocent mechanic and steal his overalls. Murdering poor workmen is as much Myers’ modus operandi as his obsession with his family. Jamie Lee Curtis’s presence is missed, but Donald Pleasence lends the film an air of class most horror sequels struggle to muster. Pleasence looks less than enthused to be there, but it works in that Doctor Loomis is supposed to be tired and weary by now anyway. Little Danielle Harris is far better than one might expect as Jamie, managing to be far less irritating than most child actors tend to be. Harris would return in Rob Zombie’s terrible remake, creeping out anyone who has seen Halloween 4 by taking off all her clothes and acting as that film’s cheesecake.

The story is effectively a re-run of the first Halloween without quite so much tension or originality. There are some neat ideas though, chiefly the idea that Michael’s costume is now available to buy in shops all around Haddonfield. There’s a great scene in which Loomis and the town sheriff are confronted by a whole host of Michael Myers imitators (really struggling to resist the urge to make an Austin Powers joke here). We sure hope William Shatner is getting royalties for all those masks being sold around Haddonfield every Halloween.

It feels less relentless and creepy than Carpenter’s original movie, but Halloween 4 is a perfectly serviceable sequel. Myers’ murders are all very entertaining and grisly (particularly his shoving a thumb into a paramedic’s brain and there’s a great impaling via shotgun later in the film). All this is accompanied by Carpenter’s fantastic theme tune and some great lines from Loomis. Myers looks very menacing here too, in comparison to later sequels in which he and his mask would tend to look a little silly. His fistfight with one of the town’s unfortunate teenagers is a genuinely impressive moment, ranking as one of the character’s best of all time. As the kid who once had his head punched off by Jason Voorhees would attest, engaging a horror icon in fisticuffs is rarely a good idea. Upgraded to Blu-ray, the picture looks clear and crisp, Myers’ murders sharp and vibrant; meanwhile, Carpenter’s theme tune has rarely sounded better.

Halloween 4 is a fun horror sequel which doesn’t besmirch the original movie. It’s unoriginal and mildly predictable, but it does have Michael Myers stabbing a man to death with his thumb.

Director: Richard W. Haines,  Samuel Weil / Screenplay: Richard W. Haines, Mark Rudintsky, Lloyd Kaufman, Stuart Strutin / Starring: Janelle Brady, Gil Brenton, Robert Prichard / Release Date: Out Now

Tromaville High School was a nice place to study until the Cretins took over. A gang of face-painted punk rock Mad Max-looking extras, they disrupt classes, steal the students’ lunch money and deal drugs in the corridors. But things soon get even worse when they start selling what they call an “atomic high” – marijuana grown in the grounds of the nearby nuclear power plant.

Every ‘80s college comedy horror needs its heroes of course, and here we meet high school sweethearts Warren and Chrissie. After smoking some of the radioactive weed at a party, Chrissie (rather carelessly) finds herself becoming pregnant, having a baby and getting kidnapped, and it’s up to Warren to save the day…

Probably best known for creating The Toxic Avenger, Troma studios have never been ones for taking themselves too seriously. While there’s often a message hidden somewhere in all of their in-house productions (Troma President Lloyd Kaufman tells us in the Blu-ray commentary that Nuke ‘Em High is a “cautionary tale” based on real-life news reports of a planned “budget” power station), it’s never at the expense of good old fashioned fun. Class of Nuke ‘Em High revels in its own ridiculousness, and it’s an absolute joy to watch.

This is a film for everyone who fist-pumps the air and shouts “YES!!” when a programme on TV starts with one of those sex/violence/bad language disclaimers. There’s plenty of blood, guts and gore on display, along with masses of swearing, fart jokes, huge great dollops of radioactive toxic waste, and big pendulous melon-heavy breasts (and that’s just on the boys). Imagine if Peter Jackson had remade the Ramones’ Rock N’ Roll High School back in his Bad Taste/Braindead days and you’re part way there.

It’s always nice to see a cult classic being given the Blu-ray treatment and hopefully finding a new audience. The Blu-ray transfer of Nuke ‘Em High is excellent, with details being brought out that you can’t even see in the old video copy (we’ve checked!). The ‘80s punk/rock n’ roll soundtrack even appears to have been beefed up a little bit, adding to the overall pleasure. Add in loads of worthwhile extras and a DVD copy you can watch in bed (because we all keep our PS3 by the big telly in the lounge, right?), there’s never been a better time to introduce yourself to the world of Troma.

If you’re not of a nervous disposition, know how to not take your films too seriously, and have ever fancied sitting down and just being entertained for an hour and a half, you really can’t go wrong with Class of Nuke ‘Em High. Incredibly low-brow from start to finish, it’s clearly not going to be suited to everyone’s tastes, but for those of us who enjoy a bit of silliness now and again there are not many films that can suit the mood quite as well as this one!

Extras: High Definition Blu-ray and Standard Definition DVD transfer of the unrated Director’s Cut of the film, Audio commentary with Troma Studios founder and Class of Nuke ‘Em High co-director Lloyd Kaufman, Interview with stars Robert and Jennifer Prichard, Brand new Q&A recording with Lloyd Kaufman from the Prince Charles Cinema , Theo Pingarelli on the making of the nuclear power plant effect, Troma Studios tour with Lloyd Kaufman,  Public Service Announcement by Lemmy from Motörhead featuring Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park, Deleted scenes, Aroma du Troma, Troma Studios Trailer Reel, Reversible sleeve with original poster and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphries, Collector’s Booklet by critic and author David Hayles

Blu-ray Review: The Creature from the Black Lagoon / Cert: PG / Director: Jack Arnold / Screenplay: Harry Essex, Arthur A. Ross / Starring: Richard Carlson, Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Ben Chapman / Release Date: Out Now

Universal brought out the Blu-ray box set of their classic monster movies last month, but one particular disc needs further mention. You see, for those with the right equipment, The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) is also reproduced for the first time in its original 3D. Well maybe not ‘original’; technology has changed and 3D processes are not the same as they were nearly sixty years ago. However, the people at Universal assure us that this is actually better than the original ‘dual-strip’ method and one suspects that they’re probably right. This is definitely the best way to watch Creature if you want to feel like you’re watching it in its heyday.

That’s more important than you might think because we’re probably going to shock a few of you by saying that, despite some great moments, time has not been terribly kind to Creature. Don’t get us wrong, we love it, but to really enjoy it you have to embrace the whole fifties drive-in vibe. Creature retains no hint of scariness today; nor is it a movie of classic horror performances (unlike much of Universal’s monster output). This is a movie in which the two male leads can be absurdly competitive with their shaved bodies and tight trunks without the slightest suggestion that any homoeroticism was intended. The Gill-man picks off the South American hirelings first but there were no complaints of racism. In short, this is a movie from a very long time ago. But actually, being so obviously a product of such a (not so) innocent time is part of its mysterious charm.

The Gill-man is one of the most iconic monsters in cinema history and if movies from this era are your thing, there is a joy in seeing Ben Chapman do his stuff in that brilliantly designed rubber suit that is hard to convey. For some reason, our fellow viewers at the preview screening giggled at the sight of a fossilized webbed hand protruding from the screen in glorious 3D, but actually, we thought that was pretty damn cool. Strangely, no mirth was audible when the huge-shouldered and square-jawed Richard Denning (Williams) excitedly suggests ‘hey, why don’t we make up the expedition?’ with all the gravitas of Mickey Rooney pointing out that ‘here in the barn’ might be the best place to do the show. Suffice to say that this is a movie that really ought to bring a smile to your face, whether viewing it in 3D or ‘flat’. If your TV can handle it then get yourself a hotdog and a shake, drive a ‘55 Chevy into your living room and get ready to duck when they start firing those spear-guns in the wonderful underwater scenes. Failing that, just use your imagination.

Extras: The Creature From The Black Lagoon in Blu-ray 3D, Back to The Black Lagoon, Production Photographs, Feature Commentary with Film Historian Tom Weaver, 100 Years of Universal: The Lot, Trailer Gallery

Review: Ted / Cert: 15 / Directors: Seth Macfarlane / Screenplay: Seth Macfarlane / Starring: Seth Macfarlane, Mark Wahlberg, Mila Kunis / Released: November 26th

Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that Seth Macfarlane is one of the most important people in television and comedy over the last ten years. After building up an animation empire on TV, Macfarlane has turned his attention to live action filmmaking and the result is the best thing he has been involved with so far. Ted is simply hilarious and touching in all the right ways.

We begin with young John Bennett being given a teddy bear for Christmas one year and making a wish that the bear comes to life. To his surprise the next day the bear can speak and becomes a celebrity sensation. John and Ted grow up together and we join them later when Ted’s celebrity has faded and John is a 35 year old car rental agency employee who spends most of his time getting stoned with his teddy bear much to the annoyance of his girlfriend Lori who wishes John would grow up and leave his childhood friend to focus on more adult matters. Complicating things further is that a weird obsessive fan and his son are stalking Ted looking to make him one of the family.

It’s amazing how easily Macfarlane’s particular brand of comedy transfers into live action, obviously there are not the more elaborate gags found in Family Guy but a very similar style is in play. Critics of his formula will be pleased to note that there are only two of the flashback style sequences that seem to make up much of his animation output but they work so well in live action that you barely notice it’s his old shtick. There is also the fondness for the pop culture of the ‘80s that is present with an impressive and affectionate love of Flash Gordon and even featuring Sam Jones in a sequence which is simply hilarious. Apart from a couple of gross-out moments not much of Ted feels in bad taste and it’s surprising how well the emotional core of the story comes across. At its heart the film is about best friends having to move on when time and adulthood intrude and it’s something everyone can identify with.

Mark Wahlberg here continues his great streak of comic performances proving strangely enough that he is one of the most versatile A-listers working today. Macfarlane voicing Ted himself is perfect even though it’s Peter Griffin’s voice (which they make light of in one scene). The rest of the cast is populated by people you know and strange cameos that all have their moment to shine.

Ted is without doubt the comedy of the year, brilliantly written and performed and proof that Macfarlane is a major talent.

Extras: The Making of, Alternate Takes, Teddy Bear Scuffle, Deleted Scenes, Gag Reel and Commentary track.

Review: Doctor Who Series 7 Part 1 / Cert: 12 / Directors: Various / Screenplay: Steven Moffat, Chris Chibnall, Toby Whithouse / Starring: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill / Released: Out Now

As anyone who’s been keeping even vague tabs on goings-on in the Whoniverse will know, the first half of Series Seven marked a sad farewell to the Doctor’s long-suffering companions, the Ponds. But that wasn’t the only change – we also bade goodbye to tangled story arcs and said hello to cinematic, high concept, stand-alone episodes, as well as getting a look at the Doctor’s new sidekick, Oswin (Coleman). Whatever you think of these developments, they’re signs of a show that’s still pulsating with regenerative energy.

Revisiting Part One on this box set, it’s clear that this new approach has resulted in at least one enduring gem. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is surely everything you’d want an episode of Doctor Who to be in this day and age. Chris Chibnall’s script turns the nutty premise (which you can picture being flung out to roars of laughter in a rowdy writers’ meeting) into a frenetic but logical yarn that spawns SFX eye candy such as, only a few years ago, you couldn’t imagine on British TV. Plus it boasts a colourful Allan Quatermain-style big game hunter, radiating sang froid. Plus Nefertiti (threatened with slavery!). And, the cherry on top, David Mitchell and Robert Webb lending their voices to a pair of robots with more than their fair share of screws loose.

Steve Moffat’s opener is also very impressive in its mix of panoramic spectacle, snappy patter and intriguing Dalek lore – and it makes for a startling introduction to Oswin, whom we last see embroiled in the mother of all does-my-bum-look-big-in-this moments. Meanwhile, The Power of Three, which starts out like an extra-terrestrial version of The Man Who Came to Dinner, is arguably the most original episode of the five, and another fascinating piece of work by Chibnall. (Shame it tails off into a rather banal, reverse-the-neutron-flow-type finale.)

A Town Called Mercy is perhaps Part One’s most blatant attempt to deliver a mini-blockbuster. It’s a beautiful episode, with its convincing locales and twangy spaghetti Western score. The trouble with it is the way it tries to pack a full feature film’s worth of weighty themes into its 45 minute duration. Call me cold-hearted, but there’s something faintly irksome about such deeply serious soul searching, when allied to a preposterous and frivolous storyline (and by the way, exactly why does the cyborg wear a cowboy hat? Is he afraid his circuits will melt?).

Yet, occasional heavy-handedness and muddle aside, this is still a very accomplished series, and it’s underpinned by an exceptional performance from Matt Smith. Part absent-minded Phileas Fogg, part desiccated Peter Pan, his Doctor could well become the Doctor for a generation.

Extras: Complete Pond Life, Asylum of the Daleks Prequel, The Making of the Gunslinger

Review: Dead Man’s Luck / Cert: 15 / Directors: Max Perrier / Screenplay: James Chancellor / Starring: Paul Burke, Paula Davis, Anastasia Bondarenko / Released: Out Now

Despite what you may think, nobody sets out to make a bad film. Often an idea seems absolutely great on paper but either through overzealous producers, bad organisation or sheer ineptness the finished film ends up a somewhat lesser product than its original screenplay. When you have a lower budget film, the number of people involved is less so you are less at risk of some of the previously mentioned interference. So if you have a cracking idea but one element ruins the film, then it could be sheer bad luck.

The central premise of Dead Man’s Luck is that down on his luck Sam (Paul Burke) comes across a lady turkey farmer (Paula Davis) who then promptly cuts him, leaves him in her house where he discovers the body of her husband and then ties herself up in his trunk so that it looks like he did the deed. Sam has to figure out what the hell the woman wants, dispose of a body and also try and maintain a relationship with his money grabbing ex stripper wife Jan (Anastasia Bondarenko).

The film has a nice low budget, grimy aesthetic that really works in its favour. Director Max Perrier knows where to place his camera and puts together some nice violence despite having no money. The script has the feel of one of those great run around thrillers as events pile on top of each other and things spiral out of control. There is no reason that this shouldn’t have been a fun knockabout in the countryside. The film even has a tinge of very dark comedy with some sharp dialogue and a cracking final line.

So the assassin in this concoction is the fact that none of the three main players in this film is anything approaching a good actor. We are talking serious porno level acting here that is without tone, emotion or anything like nuance or character. The first sign that things are going to be a chore to get through are when the two main characters stand barely ten feet apart and shout at each other in a weird monotone that suggests they are in a high wind that isn’t there. Things don’t get any better from here, in fact they get worse when a third cardboard thespian is added. Looking at the IMDb none of these actors have worked much, so that explains it.

It gives us no pleasure to kick a low budget thriller when it’s on its knees but Dead Man’s Luck is a film that should and could have been so much better than it is.

Extras: None