"Actor: Bruce Campbe"

• Evil Dead | Blu Ray | (20/05/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £11.49

  Director Sam Raimi may now be renowned for his trilogy of Spider-Man films, but for many, it’s the Evil Dead films that hold a special place in their heart. Unsurprisingly, too, for here’s a horror film that’s got no sign of Hollywood studio interference, no wish to tone things down, and instead finds a massively talented film maker stretching a small budget to impressive ends. The Evil Dead, along with its sequels, has built up a cult following since its original release, but it’s also earned a deserved respect too. For this is a film that’s jammed with energy, and genuinely bursting with ideas. Granted, in the years since its release, many have been mined by the horror genre. But there’s still so much to admire and enjoy. The film, if you’ve not had the pleasure, stars Bruce Campbell as Ash, one of a group of five friends who head to a cabin in the woods on holiday. While there, unwisely as it turns out, they play a tape that they shouldn’t, and all hell breaks loose. It also sets loose a very enjoyable half and a half of stylish, and gory horror. It comes out of its Blu-ray release surprisingly well, too. Here’s a film shot on old stock, that should be showing plenty of wear and tear. And yet the 1080p transfer here is a fine job, backed up by an always-welcome package of extras. The end result is both a fine way to enjoy the movie for the first time, or arguably the best way to revisit it. Either way, it’s very much a recommended buy. --Jon Foster

• 12 Monkeys | Blu Ray | (15/03/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Maniac Cop 2 | DVD | (02/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  The Maniac Cop is back.... and you will be screaming blue murder again in this chilling action-packed sequel to the original hit horror thriller. The mysterious Officer Matt Cordell is stalking the streets of New York once more... and when this psycho with a badge books you it's for the arrest of your life! Once Cordell was a hero a super-cop. But he was framed by crooked superiors and now nothing can stop him on his macabre mission of vengeance. They thought he'd vanished in the murky river depths when he crashed off the pier-head in a stolen police van... but they were terribly wrong! You can't kill the dead that easy and the wrong arm of the law is back on the beat more powerful and deadly than ever before. Cordell's burning need for revenge has driven him into unholy alliance with a vicious serial murderer. Now the city's two most feared killers have become partners in terror sharing a chilling common bond - the need to destroy.