Jody is the kind of guy that every 1970s teen looked up to. He's in his early 20s, has a cool car, splendid '70s hair, leather jacket, plays guitar and (naturally) snags all the girls. His little brother, Mike, in particular, admires him and emulates him at every turn. Things start to go astray, however, when the two brothers and their friend Reggie attend a funeral for a friend. Mike notices a tall man working at the funeral home; in the course of his snooping, he sees the tall man put a loaded coffin into the back of a hearse as easily as if it was a shoebox. Jody doesn't believe his little brother's stories, though, until he brings home the tall man's severed finger, still wriggling in what appears to be French's mustard. From there, the film picks up a terrific momentum that doesn't let up until the sequel-ripe twist ending.Phantasm was one of the first horror movies to break the unspoken rule that victims were supposed to scream, fall down and cower until they were killed. Instead, Mike and Jody are resourceful and smart, aggressively pursuing the evil inside the funeral home with a shotgun and Colt pistol. Furthermore, the script has a great deal of character development, especially in the relationship between the two brothers. The film even has a surprisingly glossy look, despite its low-budget origins, and little outright gore (except for the infamous steel spheres that drill into victims' heads). This drive-in favourite was a big success at the time of its release, and spawned three sequels. Little wonder; it includes an inventive story, likeable characters, a runaway pace, and, of course, evil dwarves cloaked in Army blankets. The end result is one of the better horror films of the late 1970s. Hot-rod fans take note: Jody drives a Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda, the pinnacle of 1960s muscle cars, rounding out his status as a Cool Guy. --Jerry Renshaw, Amazon.com
8mm: Nicholas Cage is Tom Welles a surveillance specialist with a modest home-based business. Respected but still waiting for the big break that will improve his professional status Welles spends most of his time on routine cases. Nothing too dangerous nor too threatening - until a case involving a small innocuous-looking plastic reel of film turns Welles' life upside down sending him down a sordid and terrifying path into society's deepest corners. Drifting away from his family life Welles is aided by streetwise Max California (Joaquin Phoenix) as he pursues a bizarre trail of graphic and disturbing evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his obsession with the case grows Welles enters the seedy world of pornography and sees things beyond his worst nightmares - coming to realise how far-reaching and deadly a small reel of 8mm film can be. Bitter Moon: Roman Polanksi explores the uttermost depths of sexual perversion and experimentation in this erotic drama with more than a hint of black comedy. Nigel (Hugh Grant) and Fiona (Kristin Scott-Thomas) a repressed English couple eager to rekindle their fading marriage by taking a luxury cruise get more than they bargained for. Enroute they meet Oscar (Peter Coyote) a crippled American and his beautiful wife Mimi (Emmanuelle Seigner) who both enthral and appal Nigel with rivetting accounts of their wildly sensuous exploits. Before they reach their journey's end Nigel and Fiona become the unwitting participants in a tragedy with the most extraordinary outcome... Eyes Of Laura Mars: Fashion Photographer Laura Mars (Faye Dunaway) world-renowned for her erotic portraits of transparently-gowned models in settings of urban violence becomes the focal point for a series of bizarre murders. The victims are witnessed by Laura in her mind's eye - as if through the lens of her camera. These terrifying experiences bring Laura together in an intimate relationship with homicide detective John Neville (Tommy Lee Jones) who while unraveling the mystery makes a shocking discovery.
Introduced in "A Magnum for Schneider", the hour-long 1967 Armchair Theatre episode written by James Mitchell about a disillusioned British secret agent Callan (Edward Woodward), went on to offer four popular (if downbeat) series, a spin-off movie remaking the original story and a some-years-later wrap-up play "Wet Job". Remembered for its very distinctive opening titles, with a swinging broken light bulb and a memorable theme tune, the series adopted a Deighton-LeCarré approach to the grim, treacherous, grubby business of Cold War espionage and made a TV star of the intense Woodward as the sweaty, sometimes conscience-stricken, sometimes robotic Callan. Even in the 21st century this still seems a strong show, its complex stories and impressive performances outweighing a low-budget mix of video and film in the production that makes it seem less "professional" than other shows of the time. In a dramatic device that has long since fallen out of fashion in television, Callan episodes tend to wind up by leaving the audience to work out all the connections of the plot while Callan himself sits gloomily and ponders the wretchedness of his squalid world. --Kim Newman
Set in 1933 when a naughty ten year old named Archie finds himself being looked after by his inattentive father Charlie who is in debt to mob bosses. The pair flee with a suitcase of money to a town where Charlie gets a job as a teacher but a beautiful widowed mother Ellen decides she wants Charlie to get out of town. Archi realises they are really in love and with the help of his new friends tries to bring them together and save them from the mob!
Detective Superintendent Tennison investigates the mysterious death of a local country club manager and is led to a hidden political scandal...
Frustrated with the legal process a young and ambitious lawyer approaches his former college classmates and colludes with them to meter out strong justice where the all too lacking legal system has failed. These hyper-intelligent modern day vigilantes wreak out justice and vengeance upon those that were spared by the technicalities and limitations of our legal system. Sometimes the defenders of innocence become the criminals.
The Van Halen Story chronicles the steady rise of four young musicians from their formative years playing back yard beer parties to their ascendancy as sultans of the Sunset Strip to their ultimate transformation into a world wide phenomenen. Hear the groups gripping tale told by the people who were there when it all began.
A man with a screenplay to sell sets out to find a backer. Unfortunately all those he approaches with money and influence insist that the screenplay be 'sexed up' and made more violent...
A successful author is left crippled after a serial killer inspired by her novel who also murdered three other women attempted to kill her. Now the sequel is about to be published and the killings have started to repeat themselves all over again...
A predictable vehicle for the resistable Martin Lawrence, Black Knight is yet another rerun of Mark Twain's Connecticut Yankee at the Court of King Arthur concept which here plays like a horror-free, considerably less funny take on Army of Darkness. Jamal (Lawrence), minion in a mediaeval theme park, reaches into a moat for a magic amulet and is transported to the 14th century, where he is appalled by the toilet facilities, pals around with a disgraced knight (an equally disgraced Tom Wilkinson), romances a feminist lady-in-waiting (Marsha Thomason), introduces soul music to the court in a bit done better in A Knight's Tale, and becomes the legendary black knight to help the rebels overthrow the wicked king. It has a bigger, more lavish feel than most of Lawrence's makeshift knockabouts, but that may also be why it is even less funny, since his rants are rather reined-in and his screen character comes across as just overly pleased with himself rather than a comic foul-up who turns heroic. --Kim Newman No-one tries very hard in Big Momma's House so your enjoyment of this Martin Lawrence vehicle pretty much depends on how much amusement you are able to derive from a guy dressed up as a very ample woman. The setup is of the eye-rolling, only-in-Hollywood nature: Lawrence, as detective Malcolm Turner, is after a killer, and apparently the only way to capture him is to pose as the bad guy's ex-girlfriend's grandmother, who--the film cannot stress this point too much--is quite large. Apparently, Sherry (Nia Long), the young woman in question--she's as attractive as Big Momma is, well, you know--is none too bright, for she falls for Malcolm's ruse, which of course ostensibly amuses mainly because it's so transparent. Paul Giamatti is wasted as Malcolm's partner, while director Raja Gosnell's clunky sense of comic rhythm is bewildering, because he used to be an editor (he brought a similar lack of magic to Home Alone 3). Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps is far more accomplished, versatile and funny. --David Kronke
Armed with his lethal band of flying silver spheres the deadly mortician who was thought to have killed his last victim nine years ago returns more dangerous than ever! Once again young Michael Pearson and his pal Reggie take on the master of the killer orbs as they race against time and risk their lives to thwart his murderous rampage forever...
Ever felt the chill wind of déjà vu? You will with Stag, as its entire premise follows that of director Peter Berg's none-more-black comedy Very Bad Things to the letter--except that Stag actually came first. While Very Bad Things starred Cameron Diaz and Christian Slater and therefore got a cinema release, Stag stars (oh dear) Mario Van Peebles, ex-Brat Pack star Andrew McCarthy and Taylor Dayne, and therefore didn't grace the silver screen. Van Peebles plays Michael, the loyal best friend and housemate of Victor (John Stockwell) who is poised to leave the buddy fold for marriage and domesticity. So, being a pal, Michael organises a surprise stag party for Victor, and invites along a host of their old crowd--including, regrettably, drug dealer and racketeer Pete (McCarthy), and the obligatory pair of strippers, Serena and Kelly (Dayne and Jenny McShane). Of course, things swiftly turn rowdy, Kelly falls to her wholly accidental death, and the boys have to cover up the death fast. Having established this nightmarish scenario, Stag veers away from the Gap-ad Grand Guignol of Very Bad Things and instead attempts to juggle suspense, melodrama, and a fairly ponderous examination of modern-male morality. The results aren't particularly edifying, but they do display a certain conviction, even if it's never satisfactorily explained why Van Peebles spends the entire film without eyebrows. Them's the breaks. --Danny Leigh
The Story of O (Dir. Just Jaeckin 1975): This film is based on the hugely successful S&M novel that has been read by millions of people worldwide. The author Pauline Reage tells the story of a beautiful young woman known only as 'O' who is taken by her boyfriend Rene to a chateau just outside Paris. There 'O' is trained in bondage and sexual perversion. 'O' is deeply in love with Rene and in order to prove her love she allows herself to be subjected to all kinds of degradation
A cult 50's B-movie about a rebellious youth fresh from reform school who hooks up with the bad influence pusher who got him put away to form a local marijuana ring. They deal the demon weed to the local small town high school kids in the hope of getting them hooked. Before long these youngsters are hopelessly addicted rampaging through the town with crime insanity and death the inevitable results.
Like any modern family the British royal family has had its fair share of turmoil, the only difference is, it’s all reported in the media and is the business of the whole world. Not a day goes by without some news of the royals; their image is most popularly encapsulated around the world in the powerful pictures of royal weddings and funerals, punctuated on a continuous basis by gossip and scandal. Chronicling the romantic life of Britain's royal family in the 20th century, this DVD includes archive film footage, photographs, personal accounts, and interviews and tells the true stories of royal love and marriage. Highlights include accounts of the Duke of Windsor's abdication of the throne to marry an American divorcee, Mrs. Simpson, the celebrated wedding of Prince Charles and Diana, and their bitter divorce which saddened the nation and the world.This documentary explores the history of royal marriages in the twentieth century and asks what next for a royal family increasingly battered by pressures from all sides.
The Atlanta Murders focuses on one reporters relentless investigation of the mysterious death of a well respected doctor. Certain that race plays a role this cop turned reporter uncovers medical evidence of a horrible connection between the doctor and murders of 29 young black men. When a possible witness turns up dead he begins to realise that the murders may not be about black but blue. He calls some old friends for back-up and battle ready they confront the dark genius behind t
Born to a weak but loving mother soon after his father dies David Copperfield is nine years old when his mother Clara marries Mr Murdstone. A cruel man who believes in extreme discipline he has no hesitation in sending David away to school. Shortly after he is sent away Clara dies and Murdstone seizes the opportunity to send him away for good this time into menial labour at a London wine merchants. It is here that David meets the genial Micawber family and his aunt Betsey arra
The world saw evil that day. Two men saw something else. In the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster hope is still alive. Refusing to bow down to terrorism rescuers and family of the victims press forward. This is the true story of John McLoughlin and William J. Jimeno the last two survivors extracted from Ground Zero and the rescuers who never gave up.
Crime thriller in which a man is haunted by a drink-driving accident in which he killed a young girl. His guilt causes him paranoid delusions and now driving to visit the family of his new girlfriend in their reclusive woodland home his demons seem to be getting worse...
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