Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

DVD Review: Don’t Let Him In / Cert 18 / Director: Kelly Smith / Screenplay: Chris Andrews, Kelly Smith / Starring: Sophie Linfield, Sam Hazeldine, Gordon Alexander, Gemma Harvey / Release Date: October 29th

What if you invited a serial killer on holiday? That is the intriguing question asked by Don’t Let Him In, a low budget British horror film from first time director Kelly Smith.

Paige (Linfield) and Calvin (Rhys Meredith) are setting off for a weekend away, with his sister Mandy (Harvey) in tow. Unexpectedly, Mandy asks if her latest conquest Tristan (Alexander), an obnoxious city trader, can tag along. Tristan isn’t too keen on the idea but a text message telling him to lay low changes his mind.

A warning from the local bobby (Jason Carter) to be aware that a serial killer, dubbed the Tree Surgeon due to his penchant for cutting up his victims and tying them to trees, has been active in the area puts the group on edge, but they decide to stay and make the most of their break. When Tristan fails to return from picking up some supplies, Calvin and Mandy head out to look for him, and a badly injured hitch hiker, Shawn (Hazeldine) turns up at the cottage. Tristan is not happy about helping him, but it soon becomes apparent that he is hiding more than just a bad attitude and appalling manners.

Despite its brisk 75min running time, Don’t Let Him In manages to pack a lot in. There’s plenty of gore, and some well-handled scares. There’s a slight problem with the mystery of who the killer is, but that is really down to the aforementioned tag line, which gives the viewer the tip off, but even then writer/director Smith manages to pull a few rugs. It is clear he is a talent to watch with a passion for this style of film, and it will be interesting to see what he can come up with when he is given a bigger budget. His experience in editing comes to the fore, and the use of celluloid rather than shooting straight to digital adds to the grindhouse feel, plus the obvious care and attention paid to the sound design pays off and makes the film look like a much bigger budget affair.

However, there are some points where it resorts to cliché; mobile phone reception is conveniently lost just when it would be needed, and the final girl running for her life in her undies, which is also seen in the opening sequence before we get to a ‘two days earlier’ scenario. The final cast listing in the ‘you have been watching’ style of the UK sitcom takes a little away from the devastating climax, but on the whole it is an assured, and entertaining début for Smith.

Extras: commentary, behind the scenes/visual FX featurettes, trailer.

Blu-ray Review: Universal Classic Monsters Collection / Cert: 15 / Director: Various / Screenplay: Various / Starring: Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi / Release Date: Out Now

As part of Universal Pictures’ 100^th Anniversary, they have been restoring and releasing many of their famous back catalogue. This set covers the formative years of their monster output (as well as one from the ‘50s).

For the most part, this new Blu-ray collection features the special features and excellent documentaries that were included in the brilliant Legacy Collection, as well the Region one single disc releases. But let’s look closer and see how a group of films that are up to 80 years old bare up to the HD treatment.
Fears that there may not be much of an upgrade from the DVD counterparts are completely unfounded. The majority of the films have undergone extensive HD restoration and arguably look better than they did on their cinema release. For many of us, these films were our first taste of horror cinema, and as such they hold a special place in the heart, so to see them in such detail and quality now is simply breathtaking. The films included in the collection are: Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), The Mummy (1931), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), The Invisible Man (1933), The Wolf Man (1941), The Phantom of the Opera (1943) and The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).

Like the DVDs, Dracula also includes the alternate Spanish version; filmed on the same sets with a different cast and often cited as being better than the US version, while this writer doesn’t agree with that, there are some moments that work better, and it contains a few extra scenes which make the story flow a little smoother. This has also been restored to a fantastic degree, with only a 10min section (reel 3) which comes from a different print and is noticeably lesser quality. This in itself shows how good the transfer of the other print is. The Mummy shows the most sign of wear and tear, but still looks stunning and can be heard properly for the first time in years, as opposed to previous releases. The only colour picture in the set (and indeed, in the Universal Monsters catalogue) The Phantom of the Opera looks simply gorgeous, the Technicolour photography makes the film really pop, even though most fans struggle with the film because it dwells too often on the opera itself rather than the Phantom (Claude Rains), it is a brilliant and worthy addition to any collection.

Finally, it is marvellous to finally get to see The Creature from the Black Lagoon in its original format: 3D (it is also playable in 2D). If you have the equipment, or know a friend who does, make sure you check this out as it is the best use of the format yet released. Yes, it’s all gimmicky, but when you see the claws reaching out of the screen at you or duck from harpoons, you see the format for what it was meant to be; FUN!

As well as the aforementioned documentaries and commentaries that have appeared on other releases (they are presented here in standard definition), there are a short series of new featurettes focusing on the restoration process, the Universal lot, and the characters. A small but informative and well laid out book and a set of art cards round off the packaging. A limited edition version in a coffin shaped box is nice, but is one of those items that would look odd on the shelf.

In conclusion, this set does the classic films proud, and presents them in a format and quality that they deserve. It is a shame that the numerous sequels and team ups couldn’t have been included, but that would have made the collection higher than most fans’ budgets. Hopefully, a second set will be forthcoming. Until then, this set is highly recommended.

Extras: 44 page booklet, 8 exclusive art cards with original theatrical posters, Trailer Gallery for all movies, Dracula: The Restoration,Monster Tracks: Interactive Pop-Up Facts About the Making of Dracula, Dracula Archive, Score by Philip Glass performed by the Kronos Quartet, Feature Commentary by Film Historian David J. Skal, Screenwriter of Dracula: Dead and Loving It, The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster, Karloff: The Gentle Monster, Monster Tracks: Interactive Pop-Up Facts About The Making of Frankenstein, Universal Horror, Frankenstein Archives, Boo!: A Short Film, Feature Commentary with Film Historian Rudy Behlmer, Feature Commentary with Historian Sir Christopher Frayling, 100 Years Of Universal: Restoring the Classics, Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed, He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art Of Jack Pierce, Unraveling the Legacy of The Mummy, The Mummy Archives, Feature Commentary by Rick Baker, Scott Essman, Steve Haberman, Bob Burns and Brent Armstrong, Feature Commentary by Film Historian Paul M. Jensen, 100 Years Of Universal: The Carl Laemmle Era, Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed, Production Photographs, Feature Commentary with Film Historian Rudy Behlmer, 100 Years of Universal: Unforgettable Characters, Monster by Moonlight, The Wolf Man: From Ancient Curse to Modern Myth, Pure in Heart: The Life and Legacy of Lon Chaney Jr.,He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce, The Wolf Man Archives, Feature Commentary with Film Historian Tom Weaver, The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked, Production Photographs, Feature Commentary with Film Historian Scott MacQueen, 100 Years of Universal: The Lot, The Creature From The Black Lagoon in Blu-ray 3D, Back to The Black Lagoon, Production Photographs, Feature Commentary with Film Historian Tom Weaver.

Review: Tales From the Darkside – Season Four / Director: Various / Screenplay: Various / Starring: Various / Release Date: Out Now

It’s a sad fact of life that some things don’t age too well. For every Star Trek or Batman: The Animated Series, there’s a Star Trek: The Next Generation (season 1) or Tales From the Darkside. While they both have their kitsch charms, neither holds up particularly well in this High Definition day and age.

Admittedly, there is some fun in seeing actors such as Debbie Harry (Blondie!) camp it up in silly stories about witches, mummies and devil dwarves. In the episode Moth, Harry plays a malicious dying witch who attempts to resurrect herself using only a book of spells and a moth. As her own mother battles to stop her evil daughter’s return to life, a particularly daft battle of wills commences. It’s made all the better thanks to Harry’s bizarre turn as witch Sybil. It says a lot for the quality of the series that Moth is one of the best episodes of season four.

With the legendary George Romero producing, and big names such as Clive Barker and Stephen King lending their work for adaptation, Tales From the Darkside sounds like a guaranteed horror hit. But as anyone who has seen a season two episode of Masters of Horror will attest, even the mighty can fall. Barker’s The Yattering and Jack is a solid idea (it worked fine as part of his Books of Blood, and the comic book adaptation is cool too) but its execution leaves a lot to be desired. Phil Fondacaro looks utterly ridiculous as the Yattering and the episode is all but lost by the time a turkey starts dancing atop Jack’s Christmas tree. Stephen King’s Sorry, Right Number fares much better, being the best episode of the lot.

Far too much of the series relies upon really bad comedy. Despite a genuinely impressive looking Mummy, The Grave Robber is tremendously bad, depicting a game of strip poker between a pair of tomb raiders and a lonely mummy. The ending is predictable, the jokes atrocious. But this pales into insignificance next to Seymourlama, which is easily the worst thing in the collection. The ending did bring us some joy though, with teenage Semour’s parents converging upon their son, about to hospitalise the poor brat.

Tales From the Darkside: Season Four is a very mixed bag. For every Sorry, Right Number there’s at least four or five forced and unfunny episodes. It’s much less scary than it should be, even lacking in decent twists or memorable shocks. There are highlights, and it’s definitely amusing on an ironic level, but these tales could surely have been a little more on the dark side.

Review: Resident Evil – Damnation / Cert: 15 / Director: Makoto Kamiya / Screenplay: Shotaro Suga / Starring: (voices) Matthew Mercer, Courtenay Taylor, Val Tasso, Robin Sachs, Salli Saffioti, Dave Wettenberg, Wendee Lee, / Release Date: Out Now

Unlike its shambling zombies, the Resident Evil franchise shows no sign of slowing down. It’s a busy year to be a fan – with the fifth live-action instalment in cinemas now and the sixth videogame also out on consoles everywhere, this animated movie whets the palate for the latter in inimitable Resident Evil style. Those who prefer the former may feel a little lost.

With Paul WS Anderson’s loose adaptation of the games very much blazing its own trail (for better or worse) the animated movie offers a more canonical experience. Fan favourites Leon S. Kennedy and Ada Wong take centre stage for Damnation, and are far more recognisable here than they are in Anderson’s latest feature. The characters of the live-action Resident Evil series are effectively interchangeable, related to their videogame counterparts in name only (although Retribution gets Leon’s ridiculous fringe right, at least) so it’s good that we have these animated films to show what the characters are really like, when they’re not being controlled by your thumbs (this reviewer spent most of Resident Evil 5 running away from things and dying, painfully).

In Damnation, special agent Leon S. Kennedy investigates rumours of biological warfare in a war-torn Eastern European country. As is wont to happen any time anyone investigates anything in a Resident Evil story, he is immediately attacked by sinister forces both human and not. Joined by tough mercenary Ada Wong, he attempts to defuse the threat and stay alive, beset by Lickers and angry locals alike. No zombies though, which is a disappointment.

Like its predecessor, Degeneration, the film caters more to fans of the videogames rather than casual viewers. There’s no introduction to the characters, nor much effort made to explain who anyone is. It gets downright convoluted fast, with lots of plot going on. Well, it wouldn’t be Resident Evil if everything made sense all the time.

An advantage of using CGI animation over live action means that it always feels as though it’s part of the Resident Evil universe; particularly the faster, more cinematic games of the past few years. Sometimes, this is to the film’s detriment – looking and feeling like a cut-scene from one of the games means that we were left with a constant sense of itchy thumbs, waiting for it all to be over with so as we could have a go ourselves. The animation looks great, particularly during the gorier, more horror inspired scenes, and those involving Kennedy’s biggest threat – the Lickers. The humans don’t fare quite so well though, always looking expressionless and dead-eyed, like a shop dummy or something out of The Polar Express. That’s fine in a videogame cut-scene, but it makes it very difficult to care about a film’s protagonist when they spend most of the time staring into space like one of the zombies they’re supposed to be fighting.

Resident Evil: Degeneration will appeal to die-hard fans of Resident Evil more than casual observers. It’s action packed, gruesome and tense. Best of all, it’s entirely canonical.

Review: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) / Cert: U / Director: Steven Spielberg / Screenplay: Melissa Mathison / Starring: Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore / Release Date:  October 22nd

With E.T. celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and Universal celebrating its centenary, it is the perfect time for a beloved classic to be released for the first time on Blu-ray. Perhaps one of the most treasured movies in sci-fi history, and one of the most successful if inflation is taken into consideration, the timeless film is ready to enthral and entrance a whole new generation.

A quick rehash of the plot: a meek little boy, Elliott (Thomas) befriends a benevolent alien who has been accidentally stranded on Earth. With the help of his older brother and little sister, Elliott discovers that E.T. merely wants to return home. The alien fashions a satellite from some household items and a Speak-and-Spell and awaits rescue. However, it becomes clear that unless he can get home soon, the alien will die. With the authorities aware of E.T.’s presence and determined to capture him, it becomes a race against time to get E.T. home before it’s too late.

Three decades after its original release, E.T. has lost none of its charm. Whereas most contemporary films that have a runtime bordering on two hours seem to drag, this flies by. Perhaps that is because it was made in a more innocent time, when directors like Spielberg knew how to make entertaining cinema rather than cynical fodder for the corporations who worry about advertising and tie-ins. It has everything; an alien, a naive childhood friendship, a shady government agency and a happy ending bordering on pure schmaltz. Interestingly, as you watch, it’s amazing to see how many subtle horror tropes are used for such a harmless movie – it could have so easily been taken in a different direction. Remember that this was made in a time when blockbusters were still a relatively new fad and you can really appreciate what Spielberg crafted here.

The child leads are endearing, rather than grating (yes, Dakota Fanning in Spielberg’s War of the Worlds – we’re looking at you) and even the roles populated by the adults (Wallace, Coyote) are nicely played without appearing to be overbearing or an afterthought to the plot. For the purists, you’ll be pleased to know that ‘gun-gate’ has been rectified back to the original print.

Including a brand new interview with the director and The E.T. Journals – brand new, behind the scenes footage from the set – this is the perfect time to introduce the film to the next generation.

Extras – The E.T. Journals / Steven Spielberg & E.T. / Deleted Scenes / A Look Back / The E.T. Reunion / The Evolution & Creation of E.T. / The Music of E.T.: A Discussion with John Williams / The 20th Anniversary Premiere / Original Theatrical Trailer

Review: Rosewood Lane / Cert: 15 / Director: Victor Salva / Screenplay: Victor Salva / Starring: Rose McGowan, Daniel Ross Owens, Ray Wise / Release Date: Out Now

The armoured grav carriers of Earth’s 1085th Inter-Dimensional Shock Army materialised in the turquoise sky above the living planetoid of Keanu-3; it’s scarred mass still holding open the tear in reality that had caused Event 405. Brigadier Witch-General ‘Bear’ Munroe eyed the surface through his ancient cybertronic lens and focussed on the fast-moving swarm of shoggoths. He knew that this cycle would be long and deadly; there could be no winners here…

Sadly, this is not how Rosewood Lane starts. You see, there are two schools of thought on how to open a movie. There’s the one that says you start with a bang, a hook or just anything to grab the attention. And then there’s the one director Victor Salva has chosen to follow here. So instead, it starts like a filler episode of CSI: Sleepy Town directed by the caterer’s mother who doesn’t like too much excitement in her time of life, thank you very much. Attempting to bore the audience into submission in your opening ten to twenty minutes is, at least, an unusual approach to a horror film but unfortunately it’s not a runaway success here. Full marks for pushing the envelope, but a more conventional approach is probably the way to go on these sorts of things.

Get past this and you’ll learn that the plot involves Sonny (McGowan), a popular radio somethingoranother, moving into her old family home following the (not particularly) suspicious death of her alcoholic father. There she learns from the elderly neighbour that the local paperboy (Owens) is a wrong’un who terrorizes the neighbourhood through means that are never quite explained. And there, right on cue (assuming you’re still awake) is our paperboy sitting on his bike with a menacing stare and looking… er… about thirty. In fact, Daniel Ross Owens is, indeed, nearly thirty so quite how he managed to get quite so miscast is something of a mystery. You start to wonder if this paperboy is just a massive underachiever but when the police are later involved they tell us several times that their ‘hands are tied’ as he’s a minor. Repeatedly drawing attention to the fact that entirely the wrong actor has been cast in the most important role does not really do the film any favours. Just saying.

As the film unfolds our protagonists just seem to show increasing levels of irritation with Derek the paperboy. To be fair, that would seem to be the appropriate response as Derek’s reign of terror does rather seem to mainly consist of knocking on doors, moving things round their homes and making prank calls. ‘Reign of annoyance’ would seem slightly more appropriate. But then he starts popping out of shadows behind people at entirely predictable moments that might very well get on their nerves (and the audience’s) but are so expertly telegraphed that you’ll find yourself calmly thinking ‘get ready to jump… now’. As you’re unlikely to be doing any jumping this can at least be recommended viewing for people of a nervous disposition. In fact, you might even enjoy trying to work out why it is that Derek’s face is purposely obscured in shadow in at least half of these semi-sudden appearances when we know full well what he looks like. He looks like a thirty year old man, for heaven’s sake; we’re not likely to have forgotten. Eventually Derek’s antics get a bit more menacing (or at least as menacing as a thirty year old supermarket manager can be) and the film can lose itself in clumsy attempts to suggest that Derek may or may not be a supernatural presence, purposeless characters and lost plot threads. The purposeless characters include Lesley-Anne Down as Cloey who acts like she’s there for reason but we’re damned if we can tell you what it is other than for middle-aged men to confirm that she is, indeed, still hot. One suspects her agent got the gig and they were so keen to have her that they just made up a character for her. The lost plot thread is quite interesting as (without giving anything away) there is a possibility that this was deliberate. Hard to tell in a film like this but it would fit in with the fact that it isn’t completely beyond redemption. There’s rather a good bit where Sonny tries to confront Derek’s parents (who surprisingly aren’t in a nursing home) and a whole dark world of suburbia is hinted at. But it lasts about five minutes so it’s not going to save the movie, we’re afraid.

This is the kind of film where a character plays with a crossbow at the garden barbecue and it doesn’t expect you to realise that the crossbow might get used for more nefarious purposes later in the film. So when it lines up a twist ending you just know it’s going to be a lame one. Actually, we didn’t spot what it was going to be but it was underwhelming nevertheless. It’d have been far more convincing if it turned out the Derek the Paperboy was just suffering from a midlife crisis and a stomach ulcer.

Extras: Making of documentary and trailer

* including bonus Lesley-Anne Down point

Review: The Curse of Frankenstein / Cert: 15 / Director: Terence Fisher / Screenplay: Jimmy Sangster / Starring: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Hazel Court, Robert Urquhart / Release Date: Out Now

Hammer’s scrubbed-up Blu-ray releases from their classic archive go right back to the beginning with The Curse of Frankenstein, the film that kick-started Hammer Studios and which, even an astonishing 56 years later, symbolises a new style of visceral, brooding horror movie which harkened back to the Universal classics of the ‘30s but added a daring new strain of genuinely Gothic horror and understated (but often quite explicit) sexuality.

Critics and audiences alike were aghast at the Curse of Frankenstein because they’d never seen anything quite like it before. Time – and years of far more gratuitous slasher movies – have obviously diluted the film’s impact but what’s most surprising about the film in the 21st century is how well it still stands up and how easy it is to imagine the furore it caused amongst a British cinema audience still shell-shocked by the Second World War which had finished just over a decade earlier. Terence Fisher’s film follows the narrative of Mary Shelley’s classic fairly faithfully – and if you don’t know the story of Frankenstein you’ve come to the wrong place – as Peter Cushing’s charming, urbane and yet quietly sinister Victor Frankenstein becomes obsessed with the desire to create life out of death. Cushing is astonishing, his portrayal of Frankenstein deliciously hypnotic even when he’s seducing the maid, betraying his wife-to-be and falling out with his best friend Paul Krempe (Urquhart). He’s an odd and disquieting leading man, thoroughly ruthless and driven, willing to sacrifice his family and his friends in pursuit of his great scientific achievement and yet such is the power of Cushing’s performance that we still feel an element of sympathy for him at his ultimate fate just before the credits role. A breakthrough performance from Christopher Lee, too, as the ‘monster’, a genuinely sympathetic turn as a pathetic, instinctive creature which clearly can’t understand what it is and why it’s alive.

The Curse of Frankenstein is undeniably melodramatic and slightly mannered but it’s still a powerful and affecting film. It’s also slightly morbid with its themes of dismemberment and revivication, a lingering sequence where Frankenstein disposes of a head dropped into a vat of acid (albeit off-screen) and, in this restored cut, a grisly close-up of an excavated eyeball. Hammer films inarguably became more sophisticated – and lurid – as the years rolled by and the conveyor belt kicked in, but The Curse of Frankenstein remains a strong and confident mission statement for the studio that changed the face of cinema horror forever.

Extras: Starburst’s review Blu-ray seemed a bit ropey with a washed-out picture which looks a bit water-damaged in places; we can only assume the best quality stuff is being kept for the paying punters. Elsewhere there’s some good value stuff in this lavish package including a ‘making of’ feature, charming recollections of the late Peter Cushing from his secretary, a Frankenstein TV pilot, an early Hammer feature film and a ‘90s TV clip show.

Review: Wrath of the Titans / Cert:12 / Director: Jonathan Leibesman / Screenplay: Dan Mazeu, David Leslie Johnson / Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Toby Keppell, Danny Huston / Release Date: Out Now

Wrath of the Titans is better than 2010’s Clash of the Titans remake. This, however, is damning a film with faint praise because, by all other reasonable standards, this is a weak and fairly lifeless movie despite its surfeit of CGI monsters, fights and battles and any number of embarrassed-to-be-here Thesps acting their socks off or putting on peculiar accents (Bill Nighy’s blacksmith Hephaestus is clearly ancient Greece-via-Barnsley). Wrath of the Titans is a pretty fine example of a film showered with funds to make it look awesome and spectacular but with little time or effort expended on a script pepped with deathless dialogue – Hades uses his Godly powers to revive Neeson’s aged Zeus and tell him “You look ten thousand years younger!” to which Zeus replies “I feel it.” Give us a break. Confronted by a family of rampaging Cyclops (Cyclii??) Perseus (Worthington, in best Bondi beach surfer dude mode and making no attempt to hide it) gasps “You gotta be kidding me!”

Ten years after the events of Clash of the Titans Perseus is enjoying a career-break as a fisherman with his ten year-old son at his salty side. His Dad Zeus (he’s a God) pays him a call one night and tells him that the powers of the Gods are fading due to a lack of faith shown by human less-than-devotees and that the ancient Fire God Kronos is about to break free from the walls of his underground prison Tartarus. When Zeus is later held captive and his power used to revive Kronos, Perseus joins forces with warrior princess Andromeda (Pike) and cousin Agenor (Keppell) to find a way into Tartarus to stop the fire-belching Kronos ravaging the land. Ooh!!

There seems to be a vague attempt here to emulate the style and tone of films like Jason and the Argonauts and Seventh Voyage of Sinbad but the script is too self-conscious and knowing to carry it off and the CGI effects are just far too slick and can’t help but make older viewers yearn for the juddery, atmospheric stop-motion animation of the Harryhausen classics. There’s an uncomfortable sense of going-through-the-motions about the film, as if the whole enterprise only exists because the first one did better than anyone expected and, as usual, Hollywood just can’t resist the chance to make another cheap buck off the back of even the shoddiest of potential franchises. And despite its lavish effects and ambitious location filming, Wrath of the Titans just seems cynical and tired, a film which exists without actually needing to, clearly thrown together without much regard to the need for a decent script or interesting characters. It’s bland and pointless but even so there’s enough fire and spectacle on display to make it a diverting, if instantly forgettable, bit of trashy entertainment. Hopefully Wrath of the Titans will turn out to be the last of the Titans.

Extras: Maximum Movie mode allows viewers to bone up on Greek myths or watch behind-the-scenes stuff and there are a few deleted scenes which are as inessential as the movie itself.

Review: Puppet Master II / Cert: 18 / Director: Dave Allen / Screenplay: David Phabian / Starring: Elizabeth Maclellan, Collin Bernsen, Steve Welles, Greg Webb / Release Date: October 22nd

When people make lists of sequels that are even better than the original movie, for some reason they tend to overlook Puppet Master II, but they really shouldn’t. Why? Because, as well as being a great little horror flick in its own right, it proved that Full Moon Features had hit on a franchise with legs (stubby ones without knee-joints, but who’s complaining?)

For those who don’t know, the series concerns a group of wooden puppets brought to life with an ancient Egyptian formula. The first film saw the critters running amok in an abandoned hotel on Bodega Bay, to the consternation of some visiting psychics. In this one, they revive from the dead the man who created them, master puppeteer Andre Toulon (Welles), who sets them to harvesting brains, a vital ingredient of the aforementioned formula. The most obvious source of grey matter is a team of parapsychologists who are encamped at the hotel, intrigued by rumours of strange goings-on. However, complications arise because the leader of the team, Carolyn (Maclennan), is the spitting image of Toulon’s long-dead wife, Elsa.

In the first film, Toulon was a force for good. (Although if he’s such a nice guy, why does he craft such creepy-looking puppets? Hmmm.) But there’s nothing like being dead for fifty years to make you go all bitter and twisted, and this time round he takes the role of villain. He looks the part too – a tall, cadaverous figure in grubby mummy wrappings, aviator goggles and a black cape. As played by Steve Welles, he makes for a deliciously old school baddie. There’s also a fun new addition to the roster of puppets – a pint-sized stormtrooper called Torch, with bullets for teeth and a flame-thrower for an arm.

Dave Allen, who masterminded the creature design on the first movie, steps into the director’s chair, and makes a fine job of it. Moments that might, with other helmsmen, have fallen into broad comedy – such as an autopsy upon one of the puppets – are pulled off with a commendably straight face. Like the other films in this series of releases, Puppet Master II has been remastered from the original 35 mm negative, and in this case the transformation is little short of jaw-dropping. The DVD version we saw was almost Powell and Pressburger-esque in its layering of vibrant amber, red and purple washes, and the Blu-ray is bound to be even better. The film sounds great too, thanks to Richard Band’s delightfully teasing score, which reworks his lilting theme music from the first movie. An unmissable release for Full Moon fans and lovers of ‘80s horror.

Extras: Special intro and audio commentary by Charles Band, Original full length Videozone, Killer puppet master montage, Rare 1997 Puppet Master action figure commercial, HD trailer, Full Moon trailer park, Collectors booklet, Reversible sleeve incorporating original artwork & Graham Humphreys artwork

Review: The Night Child / Cert: 18 / Director: Massimo Dallamano / Screenplay: Massimo Dallamano / Starring: Richard Johnson, Joanna Cassidy, Ida Galli, Nicoletta Elmi / Release Date: October 29th

In the ’70s, the phenomenal success of The Exorcist spawned a legion of imitations, many of them cranked out by the Italian exploitation industry, which in those days was still in overdrive. Among these pasta-possession flicks was The Night Child. Directed by Massimo Dallamano – best-known for his spicy S&M movie Venus in Furs – it mixes an Omen-style demon kid with an ancient curse, and plays the whole thing out against some gorgeously crumbly scenery. It’s not The Exorcist, but it’s still pretty buono.

The bambina in question is Emily (Italo-horror child star Nicoletta Elmi, and very scary she is too). Daughter of TV art historian Michael Williams (Johnson), Emily is deeply troubled following her mother’s accidental (yeah, right) death in a fire. Concerned, Michael decides to take her with him to Italy, where he’s making a documentary. There, he becomes fascinated by a mysterious painting whose imagery seems to echo what happened to his wife. Not so fascinated, though, that he doesn’t find time to hop into bed with his very comely producer, Joanna (Cassidy). Emily resents Joanna, and before you know it weighty objects are toppling off shelves and at least one person goes hurtling off a cliff.

To be frank, the movie could do with a meatier pay-off and better-developed set-pieces, and for this reason gorehounds might well find it a disappointment. But it still has a lot going for it. Dallamano stirs some tasty ingredients into the pot – Freudian subtexts, reincarnation, an evil amulet, and a splendidly gloomy Contessa (Kedrova) who’s good for tarot readings, murky exposition and dire warnings. The adult leads (one of those only-in-B-movies pairings) add to the charm with a surprisingly bubbly chemistry, with Cassidy (at this stage of her career somewhat like a slightly butch Sharon Stone) looking a treat in form-fitting pant suits and knee-high boots.

But then everything looks a treat. Dallamano started off as a cinematographer, and the film has some very distinctive visuals which show up nicely on this DVD release. An autumnal melancholy infuses all of the exterior scenes, shot on location in Umbria, and the interiors are just as good, especially the derelict castello which houses the satanic artwork – a place of weird, monumental furnishings half-hidden under rotting dust sheets. And for once in a horror film, the painting that all the fuss is about manages to appear reasonably authentic, too, a cut above the usual props department daub.

If you’re after masses of sex and violence you’ve come to the wrong villa, but if you fancy checking out the work of one of the period’s more thoughtful and technically adept Italian directors, then The Night Child should provide a decent evening’s entertainment.

Extras: Exorcism Italian-Style, Original Italian trailer, Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by author and critic Calum Waddell, Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys