"Actor: Cynthia Baker"

• The Distinguished Gentleman | DVD | (01/03/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A con man with the same name as a long time congressman gets elected when the real congressman passes away...

• Gershwin: Porgy And Bess | DVD | (14/05/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This production is directed by Trevor Nunn and is based on his highly successful Glyndebourne staging in 1986/87 which was revived at Covent Garden in the autumn of 1992 with most of the original cast including Willard White and Cynthia Haymon. Immediately after that performance the production was moved to the giant stage at Shepperton Studios with much expanded sets and lighting. It was then recorded using the original award-winning EMI soundtrack. The romance and beauty of this tender story its dramatic development and the sheer vitality of the characters come alive in this exciting visual production.

• Stephen King's The Shining | DVD | (10/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Stephen King's The Shining is a new adaptation from the author himself, made for American television, that bears very little resemblance to the 1980 Stanley Kubrick version. Which is not surprising since Kubrick practically threw out most of King's novel and presented his own version of the story. Here King redresses the balance in a mini-series that follows his original almost to the letter, and manages to be effectively creepy despite the budget and censorship limitations of the TV format. Stephen Weber takes over the role of Jack Torrance, the caretaker who slowly descends into madness in the haunted Overlook Hotel. His performance is as far from Jack Nicholson as you could get, with his insanity building slowly and menacingly rather than being virtually mad from the get-go. Rebecca de Mornay is superb as Wendy Torrance, struggling to hold her fragile family together amid the spooky goings on. Young Courtlan Mead plays Danny, whose unique gifts give the story its title, as one of those infuriating TV brats who overacts left right and centre. Fortunately, there are enough creepy moments and a fair few frights to hold the whole thing together: the woman in the bathtub scene being a stand out shocker. Sure, there is nothing quite like Nicholson's "Here's Johnny!" moment, but this is the story King wanted to tell and it still shines brighter than most of the other recent screen adaptations of his work. On the DVD: Stephen King's The Shining is a nicely packaged set, with the film spread over two discs complete with a commentary featuring Stephen King himself, instantly making this set a must-have for his fans. There are also several deleted scenes which add some interest to parts of the movie. The transfer is good, considering its TV origins, and the crisp sound captures every spooky moment on this well-thought-out and presented set. --Jonathan Weir

• Fever Lake | DVD | (22/12/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Howling winds whip through the trees on a stormy night back in the 1940's. An angered man enters the old Victorian house on the banks of Fever Lake. Inside a fearful mother hides her young son in the attic and he soon becomes the only witness to his mother's tragic murder. Years later a group of friends are planning a weekend getaway and are offered the use of the deserted old house on Fever Lake. It started out as a fun filled weekend. But as evil supernatural forces collide with innocent victims the group find themselves in for a terror-filled stay. Nobody knows exactly what evil went on at Fever Lake but what they do know is that something evil happened before and it's happening again. They must destroy the evil... before it destroys them.