Review Category: DVD/Blu Ray

LORDS OF CHAOS

LORDS OF CHAOS / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: JONAS AKERLUND / SCREENPLAY: DENNIS MAGNUSSON, JONAS AKERLUND / STARRING: RORY CULKIN, EMORY COHEN, JACK KILMER / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Based on a true story, black metal, dark actions and hubris reign in Lords of Chaos.

In Oslo, 1987, teenager Euronymous (Rory Kulkin) and his band Mayhem develop Norwegian black metal. But, as their popularity grows, they stray into bigger and darker things as their persona, image and worldview become much more than just the music. When Kristian ‘Varg’ Vikernes (Emory Cohen) is drawn into the black metal scene, his music suddenly attracts plenty of attention and Euronymous and Varg find their relationship straying into violent territory.

Lords of Chaos is, at its heart (its very black heart), a story of outsiders and how they are found in all social groups. Euronymous and his band make it their cause to create the darkest music – music that scares people, and its own point is to be repulsive to “normal” people. A social group forms around the mutual love of true Norwegian black metal, a cast of outsiders that have suddenly found somewhere they fit in. Euronymous’ ideas and actions start to blur the line between promotion and notoriety, ideology becomes blurred, and what starts as all talk and persona evolves into violence, arson and murder. The characters don’t think about the consequences of their actions, they do it as part of the scene and the movement.

With all the violence and destruction in the film, it’s easy to forget just how young the characters actually are, and though there’s humour throughout, it never flinches away from the brutal violence, depicted in a realistic and unsensationalised way. It manages to humanise the characters, looking beyond the black clothing and aggressive behaviour to the people underneath – the teenagers underneath – full of worries and anxiety, still working out who they are and finding their place in the world. You don’t have to be a metal fan or interested in the metal scene to enjoy it, but Lords of Chaos does struggle to keeps its focus the whole way through. It feels like the main story only kicks in hallway through, the first half being dedicated to setting up the band and the scene.

This Arrow Blu-ray release contains a raft of extras. Half of them are interviews with writer and director Jonas Åkerlund, journalist and author Jason Arnopp (both of whom were actually there during the events of the film), and some of the actors. These are grouped with the usual outtakes, trailers and image galleries.

Lords of Chaos shows how ideology, arrogance and self-promotion can easily turn into violence. Strong performances lift a film that struggles a bit to find a proper through line and remain compelling for its almost two hour runtime.

NOIR ARCHIVE VOLUME 2: 1954-1956

NOIR ARCHIVE VOLUME 2: 1954-1956 / CERT: UNRATED / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: STEWART GRANGER, WILLIAM CAMPBELL, JACK KELLY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Kit Parker Films have assembled another collection of film noir classics and, much like Volume 1 in the series, it’s a mixed bag of better-known and forgotten pieces. Film noir, a genre term coined after the fact (none of these directors were consciously making film noir movies), concerns itself with crime drama, particularly that featuring gumshoes, grifters, journeyman boxers, and femmes fatale; people dragged into a life of crime, victims of circumstance and desperation, and it almost never ends well.

Trawling the late noir period, this set collects films from 1954 to 1956, and B-movie kings such as William Castle (The Tingler), Nathan Juran (Attack of the 50ft Woman) and Fred F Sears (Earth vs the Flying Saucers) turn up with pre-genre crime work. Sears is responsible for one of the collection’s highlights, Cell 2455, Death Row, a 1955 piece based on a true story, with William Campbell starring as Whit Whittier, a death row inmate who studies the law to try to stay his execution. The meat of the film is told in flashback; just how did a young boy with dreams end up in this desperate place? Another Sears piece, Rumble on the Docks, is less compelling, but still a good yarn about a young man caught up in a gang war.

Making a rare appearance is a British film noir, Footsteps in the Fog, which was shot at Shepperton Studios but directed by US veteran Arthur Lubin. Stewart Granger plays a well-to-do man who murders his wife but is blackmailed by his Cockney maid, Lily. The story takes twists and turns and has much to say – if unwittingly – about the class divide in the Britain of the 1950s, and Jean Simmons’ Lily becomes embroiled in a situation that quickly spins out of control. Spin a Dark Web, known as The Soho Incident in the UK, is also present to represent the British take on noir.

John Cassavetes makes a welcome appearance in The Night Holds Terror, a 1955 picture directed by Andrew L Stone, perhaps best known for the Doris Day thriller Julie. Cassavetes lines up with Jack Kelly, alongside Stone regulars Jack Kruschen and Barney Phillips, in a tale of a family man who makes the mistake of picking up a hitchhiker. Kelly makes for a fine leading man, but is matched by Vince Edwards as the sinister and ruthless wanted criminal in the passenger seat.

The rest of the set is a mixed bag, with tales of adultery and betrayal (Bait), a casino robbery (5 Against the House) and undercover cops (The Crooked Web), as well as Castle’s offering, New Orleans Uncensored, which runs the noir gamut from innocent man caught up in gangland activity, through a former prizefighter down on his luck, and ending up with risky undercover action in a thrill-packed 76 minutes.

With nine movies on three discs, there is no room for extras, but for any fan of the film noir genre these movies appearing on Blu-ray might be enough of an extra in itself. It’s not a definitive collection by any means, even paired with Volume 1 and the upcoming third set, but it is a worthwhile sampling of the furtive film noir world and a solid base for further exploration.

CRUISING (1980)

CERT: 18 | DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: WILLIAM FRIEDKIN | STARRING: AL PACINO, PAUL SORVINO, KAREN ALLEN, RICHARD COX | RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 19TH

Inspired by a real life series of murders in New York’s gay community, William Friedkin’s Cruising was highly controversial, plagued by protests during filming and seen as shocking upon release, even after severe cuts from the censors. With this new Blu-ray release from Arrow, it’s due a reassessment.

Al Pacino stars as Steve Burns, a cop sent undercover in New York’s S&M scene to draw out a serial killer whose victims he resembles. As he spends more and more time in the leather bars, the killings continue. Cruising doesn’t pull its punches in the depiction of either the hedonistic clubs or the grisly stabbings, though in both cases, what’s depicted is what’s needed to tell the story, and nothing seems gratuitous (that’s after Friedkin had to cut 40 minutes of basically pornographic content, though he’s claimed to have originally included this to give the censors something to cut and allow the other stuff to slip through).

The controversy at the time came from gay rights activists who worried the film would portray homosexuality as a dangerous lifestyle. However, while the story being told from the perspective of a heterosexual cop means it’s not the most progressive it could have been, many of the leathermen of New York were in fact involved (and served as extras in the club scenes), happy for their rarely depicted subculture to be put on screen. Plus, as Friedkin explains in the extras, all the events in the film actually happened – if not in the same order. Cruising is a truthful depiction of the dangers that threatened this community, and that’s not just the killings; it’s also very outright in its depiction of police brutality and corruption. Two officers are seen harassing crossdressers on the street, and there’s one unpleasant scene in which cops violently interrogate a suspect.

Not Burns himself, though, who’s a mercurial figure; you’re never sure how much he’s become immersed in both the fetishistic scene and the hunt for the murderer. Pacino was nervous about shooting in the S&M world, and his discomfort makes for an edgy performance that serves the film well, particularly towards the end as the narrative becomes ambiguous. Very impressive supporting turns come from Paul Sorvino, who as Burns’s boss seems to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, and Karen Allen as Burns’s increasingly concerned girlfriend, a feminine counter to the hyper-masculine world.

Arrow’s release features a new restoration from a 4K scan of the original negative, which comes with Friedkin’s seal of approval and looks crisp and high-def while not taking away the grime of the film’s aesthetic. Two archival featurettes explore the history of Cruising and the controversy surrounding it, and the new commentary with Mark Kermode interviewing Friedkin is particularly worth listening to for the director’s many stories about the production and the true events that inspired every scene – one of those commentaries that make you appreciate the film much more.

ONE DEADLY SUMMER

ONE DEADLY SUMMER / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: JEAN BECKER / SCREENPLAY: JEAN BECKER & SEBASTIEN JAPRISOT / STARRING: ISABELLE ADJANI, ALAIN SOUCHON, SUZANNE FLON / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Based on the novel of the same name, One Deadly Summer is a French film that found much success at the Cesar Awards back in 1984. There’s plenty here for fans of French cinema to enjoy, although one can’t help but think that, with a running time of just over two hours, it unfortunately overstays its welcome.

Directed by Jean Becker and starring Isabelle Adjani, One Deadly Summer is a hard film to define as it deals with an amalgamation of genres ranging from melancholic drama to rape-revenge fantasy. Perhaps better described as an erotic thriller, there are times when the story occasionally stutters, which is a shame as what could have been a tightly woven tale of mystery and revenge ends up feeling rather clunky and chaotic.

So what’s it all about? Well, shortly after moving to a small French village with her mother and sick father, Elle Wieck manages to get the whole town talking thanks to her provocative and carefree nature. Strutting around and setting the locals afire with lust and gossip, she attracts the attention of Pin-Pon, a quiet mechanic who has grown obsessed with the young and beautiful newcomer. After forming a relationship and getting married, it soon becomes apparent that Elle is holding a dark secret from her past as she begins to manipulate not just the men in her life but the events that surround her.

The direction, for the most part, is beautifully handled, however there are times when the performances become tonally erratic. Isabelle Adjani portrays the elusive Elle with an almost feverish frenzy whilst other times playing the femme fatale to devilish delight. Then there’s Alain Souchon’s calm and collected Pin-Pon who meanders through the film with the occasional uncharacteristic outburst of violence. One does get the sense that the film is following the book very closely, although it ends up being to its detriment as the pacing gradually suffers. Whether it be Elle’s eventual descent into madness or Pin-Pon’s paranoia, the film’s main narrative is robbed the emotional punch due to the constant juggling of its characters’ turmoils. The mystery behind Elle’s dark secret at times feels as if it’s put on the back burner and not delved into until the latter stages of the film, which is a shame considering how it all ultimately unfolds.

Fans of Isabelle Adjani will have plenty to feast their eyes on, and those who enjoy slow-burners may get something out of the plot which has more twists and turns than one might expect. Admittedly, there are times when the film feels uneven and some may get more enjoyment from just reading the actual novel, but CultFilms has done a great job at restoring this forgotten French classic. It may not have aged as well as other films from the past but there’s still a nostalgic charm that may attract admirers of French cinema. One Deadly Summer might not be for everyone, but those looking for a solid leading performance by Isabelle Adjani will not be disappointed.

Special Features: 2k scan and restoration, High definition Blu-ray (1080p) and standard definition DVD presentations, Interview with director Jean Becker (28 mins), Documentary on the author of the original novel – screenwriter Sebastien Japrisot – known as the Graham Greene of France (43 mins), New improved English subtitles.

MEMORY: THE ORIGINS OF ALIEN

MEMORY: THE ORIGINS OF ALIEN / DIRECTOR & SCREENPLAY: ALEXANDRE O. PHILIPPE / STARRING: BIJAN AALAM, TIM BOXELL, AXELLE CAROLYN / RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 2ND

It’s bit sobering to think that Alien is now 40 years old. Men and women have grown to middle age and gone to fat and ruin in that span of time – mind boggling. It’s the business of mind-expansion that propels this feature-length anniversary documentary from director Alexandre Philippe, which eschews the usual retrospective approach to get right inside the hive-brain of creativity behind it. If you’ve ever pondered why Ridley Scott’s 1979 space horror never seems to grow stale, this enlightening film will be an education.

Taking a lead from 78/52, Phillipe’s 2017 documentary on Hitchcock’s Psycho which performed a mythic deconstruction of the shower scene, Memory focuses in on Alien’s most famous shock: the moment the little critter version bursts out of John Hurt’s chest. Between discussion of this, Philippe gets under Alien’s creative bonnet, both as the essential product of a meeting of minds between Ridley Scott, Swiss artist H.R. Giger and disgruntled writer Dan O’Bannon, and as a timely conduit to maelstrom of influence, from ancient Greek fables to 20th Century surrealist art and crummy B-movies. Some you will expect, many you will not; all feed the beast: the latent power of our collective unconscious has rarely been tapped so brilliantly than with Alien.

Of the creators, O’Bannon, driven half mad by a desire and frustration, receives the most attention. Compelled by his experience of Carpenter’s Dark Star and Jodorowsky’s abandoned Dune to make a movie that fused Métal Hurlant’s new wave SF with old-fashioned drive-in shocks, his contribution is soon subsumed into the milieu. You feel his pain: at one point the camera poignantly lingers on pre-production paintings by Giger that refer to the film as ‘O’Bannon’s Alien’. But, like the creature itself, Alien is a shapeshifter and way more than the sum of its parts, although it’s fascinating to follow the rabbit warren of influences such as Mario Bava’s Planet of the Vampires, IT! The Terror from Beyond Space and the paintings of Francis Bacon.

Philippe weaves the blood and philosophy together with a fan’s enthusiasm for the subject and a curator’s eye for selection; just for once the academic talking heads are more interesting to listen to than the cast and crew. Indeed, the decision to focus so much of the running time of the chestburster scene tends to break the spell – do you really need to hear Veronica Cartwright recall falling backwards in shock all over again? This is when the film falls back into the ‘making-of’ mode it wants to avoid but you’re never more than a few minutes away from more mental muscle-flexing of a most gratifying kind.

A celebration of the rich mythology in every frame of Alien, this heavyweight documentary is one every fan of the acid-blooded bastard should check out.

HELLBOY

DIRECTOR: NEIL MARSHALL | SCREENPLAY: MIKE MIGNOLA, ANDREW COSBY | STARRING: DAVID HARBOUR, MILLA JOVOVICH, IAN McSHANE | RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 19TH

Once upon a time, Nimue the Blood Queen wanted man and monsters to live in harmony. Unfortunately for her, King Arthur and Merlin had other ideas, lopping off her limbs and head and burying them for all eternity. Until now. As the B.P.R.D.’s biggest asset, Hellboy, begins to struggle with his place in the grand scheme of things – killing what he increasingly begins to see as his own kind – Nimue’s appearance begins to call everything into question. Should he carry on being the demon-slaying lapdog or join with Nimue to fulfil his destiny?

Okay, let’s cut to the chase. Everybody loves Del Toro’s Hellboy movies. The first is a masterclass in blending nuanced writing with action while the sequel is every bit the fairytale monster movie that has become the director’s trademark. While the returns might not have been enough to fuel a further sequel (although God knows the fans demanded one loudly enough), those two films presented the perfect elemental mix. Consequently, rebooting something so beloved was always going to be a hard task. You could almost say it was destined to fail. Well, you could say that because that’s exactly what happened.

It’s not all bad. Harbour is exemplary in the role. He embodies the character entirely without trying to copy Perlman’s incarnation and, while the face makeup is a little jarring, generally he cuts the most realistic Hellboy we’ve seen on screen to date. In fact, generally the practical monsters are all superb (with the exception of the walking warthog Gru who looks like he’s just stepped off the set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze). That’s where the praise abruptly stops. The direction and cinematography (especially during exterior sequences) is pedestrian at best. In fact there’s very little creativity visually which, frankly, the movie demands. Finally, with the exception of the ever-wonderful McShane and Harbour, everyone is horribly miscast (and let’s not even get into the sub-Don Cheadle, Ocean’s 11 British accents).

It’s a massive shame, as the extra features show just how much creativity and passion was poured into the production from the various crew. Tales of the Wild Hunt: Hellboy Reborn is a superb behind-the-scenes documentary lasting over an hour, that really gets under the skin of Harbour’s performance and make-up challenges. It’s a fascinating watch and re-tells the production’s story so well that you almost want to give this iteration of Hellboy another chance (then you remember Daniel Dae Kim’s stilted butchery of the Queen’s English and want to burn the disc with hellfire).

Three deleted scenes give a fuller look at the opening flashback sequence on Pendle Hill, along with Hellboy getting sexy in a bloody shower with Queen ‘Scene-chewing’ Nimue who also appears in a sequence with her Pumba reject sidekick in a car park moaning about chewing gum not degrading. Finally, three pre-vis sequences are also available.

This disc presents a conundrum for hardcore fans of Big Red. The story itself is the closest to the source material in terms of narrative, yet visually it is perhaps the farthest from. That said, if you can drown out everyone else’s performances and just enjoy Sherriff Hopper tearing it up as Hellboy, this could still be worth your hard-earned money. Maybe.

CRACK IN THE WORLD (1965)

CRACK IN THE WORLD (1965) / CERT: U / DIRECTOR: ANDREW MARTON / SCREENPLAY: JON MANCHIP WHITE, JULIAN ZIMET / STARRING: DANA ANDREWS, KEIRON MOORE, JANETTE SCOTT / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 5TH

Deep below the arid desert in Tanganyika in Africa, scientists and technicians at Project Inner Space are making final preparations to drill deep into the Earth’s crust in an attempt to tap into the planet’s geothermal energy in the hope of releasing an endless supply of power which will benefit Mankind for generations. However, in order to penetrate the crust they need to detonate an atomic device at the bottom of the borehole. The project’s director, Stephen Sorenson (Andrews) is convinced that the bomb will simply pierce the crust and harmlessly release the energy. Chief geologist Ted Rampion (Moore) – a former student of Sorenson’s and also – awkward – former lover of Sorenson’s wife Maggie (Scott) is worried that years of underground nuclear testing have weakened the crust and that there’s a risk that the planet could be cracked open by the detonation. You’ll never guess what happens when the bomb drops…

Crack in the World was a staple of ‘adventure movie’ filler slots on British TV throughout the 1970s but revisiting it on this new Blu-ray reveals a slow-burn character piece – the love-triangle between Sorenson, Rampion, and Maggie provides the film’s backbone – rather than a bang-crash apocalyptic sci-fi movie. The film is permeated with a sense of dread and unease; the title tells us what’s coming but we’re still on edge as the detonation approaches and Rampion and Sorensen each passionately argue their corner. Rampion – rugged, manly, probably flies a helicopter to the shops – is at loggerheads with Sorenson (referred to as ‘the old man’ in the movie despite the fact that Dana Andrews was only fifty-six when the film was made in 1965) who discovers that he’s terminally ill and yet remains determined to see the project out to its conclusion. Of course, all seems well after the explosion but before long a series of devastating earthquakes and tsunamis cause havoc and massive loss of life; a crack has opened and it’s haring its way around the world. Another bomb is detonated in the hope of halting its progress but it only succeeds in changing its direction. It seems that we’re all doomed.

Despite being dialogue heavy and largely lacking in spectacle (the finale is suitably apocalyptic – although the budget clearly ran out before one key effect could be achieved right at the end of the film) Crack in the World is a powerful and evocative film and although its potency has worn off somewhat since the 1960s when the world was living nervously in the shadow of ‘the bomb’ it still packs a punch thanks to earnest performances and an almost documentary detachment and matter-of-factness that only adds to its air of believability and its disquieting sense of impending disaster.

LOST IN SPACE – THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON

LOST IN SPACE – THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON / CERT: 12 / STARRING: MOLLY PARKER, TOBY STEPHENS, MAXWELL JENKINS, TAYLOR RUSSELL, PARKER POSEY / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW

Irwin Allen’s Lost in Space was one of the most popular science fiction adventure series of the 1960s and it’s often held in high regard by fans, who retain fond memories of Saturday evenings enjoying the show’s offbeat combination of camp space shenanigans, silly rubber monsters, melodramatic storylines and slapstick humour. But the truth is that the series hasn’t aged at all well and much of it is pretty unwatchable today; its original fairly straightforward, no-nonsense tone and pioneering spirit were quickly lost when ‘special guest star’ Jonathan Harris as Jupiter 2 stowaway Dr Zachary Smith started to dominate proceedings with his hysterical over-acting and arch, childish comedy. But the core idea of Lost in Space is so irresistible – frontier family voyaging out into the stars to find a new life and a new foothold in space for Humanity becoming hopelessly lost – that it’s been revisited several times since the original show bit the dust in 1968. A 1998 feature film underwhelmed and a 2003 TV reboot directed by John Woo stumbled with an unaired pilot episode. Third time lucky, then, for the return of the Robinsons and co as they set off on their journey into legend? Pretty much… but it’s a close run thing at times.

Irwin Allen purists were never likely to find the new, glitzy, hi-tech, and largely po-faced Lost in Space an easy fit. This is their favourite show refitted with an aesthetic of Star Trek: Discovery or The Expanse and for the first few episodes, it looks as if the entire concept of the show has not just been updated but also significantly retooled. In fairness, the new show sets off at a hell of a lick. Earth itself is in danger from some approaching cosmic phenomenon; a fleet of vaguely saucer-shaped Jupiter craft are ready to be launched from a space station facility called the Resolute, carrying the chosen few into space to find a new home. But the Resolute is attacked by robot aliens and its crew slaughtered. Fortunately the Jupiter fleet is launched but, flung off course by the explosion, sent hurtling down onto an uncharted planet. Our hero family the Robinsons – the dynamic is much as it was in the original series except, bowing to modern sensibilities, Maureen Robison (Parker) wears the trousers and is mission commander – crash in an icy wasteland. Maureen is injured and the Jupiter 2 sinks beneath the ice. The family’s adopted daughter Judy (she’s a bit of a smartarse and an unlikely medical genius) is trapped in the ice trying to retrieve some MacGuffin or other from the sunken spaceship and young Will (Jenkins) and dad John (Stephens) – he’s effectively separated from Maureen but still part of the family unit – set off to try and find a supply of magnesium which they can use to burn Judy out of the ice. But Will plunges into an icy ravine and emerges in a very Canadian-looking forest where he encounters a hostile Robot.

It’s a ripping, thrilling start to the series, its pace only hampered by some dry, saggy flashbacks but there’s enough going on here to pique our interest and keep us invested in the Robinsons and their plight, despite the slightly cookie-cutter feel of the family’s rather predictable dysfunctional relationships. Many eyes rolled at the casting of Parker Posey as a gender-swapped Doctor Smith but the show cleverly upends our expectations and turns the idea of the character – who retains the original’s deviousness but tones down the wild-eyed shrieking comedy – entirely on its head.

Unfortunately, the show stutters for the next few episodes. There’s little sign here of the ‘lost in space’ concept as the Robinsons reunite with their fellow stranded colonists and the show starts to wander and meander and looks in danger of losing its way. Perseverance is the key here as the series finds it second wind around episode six as it introduces a ‘race against time’ scenario when the colonists discover that they are stranded on a dying planet and various story strands throw the characters into new and genuinely edge-of-the-seat situations. Episode Ten finally sees the pieces in place, the Robinsons aboard the Jupiter 2 with a reluctant ‘Dr Smith’ and a radically-reimagined Robot, cut adrift from their fellow colonists and with no idea where they are or where they’re going. The stage is set for the upcoming season two which is, hopefully, where the new Lost in Space will really start to fly.

Lost in Space is a handsome production – big bucks have been spent here, no expense spared (it looks gorgeous and vibrant on Blu-ray) – and in the end, despite its narrative detours and misdirection, it’s a largely successful reboot, a thoughtful and intelligent modern reinvention of a ‘classic’ show whose reputation has taken a bit of a battering over the decades. Hardcore fans of the original will find this new version a bitter pill to swallow, but if they can set their misgivings aside, they’ll find that this is a respectful and well-considered reimagining that actually helps to rehabilitate the original show, rather than dishonour it.

THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK (1958)

THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK (1958) / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: EUGENE LOURIE / SCREENPLAY: WILLIS GOLDBECK, THELMA SCHNEE / STARRING: ROSS MARTIN, OTTO KRUGER, JOHN BARAGREY, MALA POWERS, CHARLES HERBERT / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 5TH

Top scientist Jeremy Spensser (Martin) is on his way to collect the prestigious ‘International Peace Prize’ with his family. His stupid son Billie has a tantrum when he drops his cheap toy plane. Dad dutifully rushes off to retrieve it and is knocked over and killed by a truck. Fortunately, his father, William (Kruger), is a top brain surgeon and he decides that, as the world really can’t do without his son’s genius, he’d better transplant his son’s brain into a big ugly, towering artificial body so that he can carry on his good work even after the expiration of his mortal form. But Jeremy is, not unnaturally, tormented by his plight and his loss of ‘soul’ and, in time, he starts to go mad as he loses sight of his humanity.

The Colossus of New York – a 1958 variation on the Frankenstein story, of course – hasn’t worn as well as many of its black and white science fiction contemporaries, mainly because it looks so cheap and runs for just seventy minutes. Quite why William decides to put his son’s brain in such an a massive, ugly robot body is never touched upon; the thing has a big wooden head, wears a massive carpet-like cape over its shoulders and speaks with a voice which crackles with electrical energy. He also somehow develops the ability to fire a death ray from his eyes, which he uses to devastating effect in a massacre at a (distinctly underpopulated) United Nations event at the film’s climax.

The Colossus of New York is saved from the annals of cheap and forgettable B-moviedom purely by virtue of the fact that its core idea – a disenfranchised brain placed in an unfamiliar and entirely unsuitable body – can’t help but be a little disturbing. Robert’s ‘voice’ when he awakens and realises his fate, is quite eerie and unnerving and we genuinely feel his increasing despair as time wears on and he becomes less and less human and more and more desperate. But the film is too simplistic and clumsy to properly explore the ramifications of Robert’s plight and consider just how horrifying his life after death really is. It’s content just to deliver us a big robot which goes mad and kills people before being brought down. The final sequence carries some poignancy, though, as a tear (or it is a splodge of oil?) leaks from the Colossus’ eye-slot after the creature has been toppled.

Hampered by poor production values and a histrionic script, The Colossus of New York is inevitably one of the second-tier 1950s SF movies and yet it’s not without its charms and there are a few effective moments and memorable images which have helped give it a certain reputation and notoriety across the years.

LUST FOR A VAMPIRE (1971)

LUST FOR A VAMPIRE (1971) / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: JIMMY SANGSTER / SCREENPLAY: TUDOR GATES / STARRING: BARBARA JEFFORD, RALPH BATES, SUZANNA LEIGH, YUTTE STENSGAARD / RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 12TH

Jimmy Sangster’s second film in the loose Karnstein trilogy, between The Vampire Lovers and Twins of Evil, came at a tumultuous time for Hammer Film Productions as they weathered major behind-the-scenes personnel departures, the loss of vitally important distribution deals and a new culture which no longer favoured the vivid Gothic horrors that had made the studio’s name. By the end of the decade in which Lust for a Vampire was released, Hammer as a cinematic force would be over.

While the studio was still having major hits with adaptations of TV sitcoms, for a long time the horror films released in the 1970s by Hammer were used as evidence that the company was creatively spent. This assessment has changed over recent years with more people willing to find the good in Hammer’s attempts to stay relevant. That being said some films still frequently come in for a kicking and Sangster’s is one of them. Lust for a Vampire has its admirers nevertheless and this new Blu-ray gives us the opportunity to reassess the film in high definition with some contextualising extras as well.

The film centres on events at a young women’s finishing school set out in the countryside. Visiting author and the All-Time Biggest Hammer Douchebag winner Richard LeStrange falls instantly for new student Mircalla and blags his way into teaching at the school so he can stay close to her (we know, creepy, right?). Unfortunately for him, Mircalla isn’t the sweet and virginal young woman he is so intent on defiling, but actually the centre of a plan by the immortal Karnstein’s to resurrect their family once again. Nudity, blood and violence is ramped up, the film doing things Hammer could only dream of 10 years previously. And it is actually pretty good. Sangster flits between functional direction and moments of inspired beauty, performances are mostly solid and it teeters pleasingly on a camp knife-edge throughout until its inarguably nonsensical but satisfying conclusion.

There’s a good print here, which does the budget special effects no favours, but otherwise makes the best of highlighting what Hammer could do for very little. The extras are fun too, starting with some familiar contributors talking about the making of the film and mostly avoiding the issue of whether they think it’s any good at all. There’s a shorter piece about the differences between the original script and finished project that shows just how much was shifting within Hammer at the time. Best of all, there’s a lovely interview with Judy Matheson where the only problem is it’s too short (we could listen to Judy all day). For the Hammer completists out there, it’s warmly recommended.