"Actor: Harlan Cary Poe"

• The Dogs Of War | DVD | (11/02/2002) from £11.93   |  Saving you £2.32 (21.74%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth, The Dogs of War is an uneasy mix of espionage and combat that never really succeeds in either role. Based around the character of Paul Shannon, the film follows events in the fictional African state of Zagaro. Hired on a reconnaissance mission by a nameless multi-national corporation, Shannon is captured and tortured before his release, only to return to the country to lead a small band of mercenaries (the dogs of the title) in a bloody coup. The first section of the movie works best, building a real sense of tension and unease, not least through a typically understated performance by Christopher Walken as the paranoid loner who keeps a pistol in his fridge (watch too for a brief appearance from a young Jim Broadbent). There are obvious references to the by-then obsolete school of Vietnam filmmaking in the second section, with the Asian enemy replaced by an African one. The gung-ho mentality of the soldiers is, however, so two-dimensional that the viewer develops little empathy for their plight. The action is slow and drawn out, with the seemingly endless pregnant pauses operating as a means for enabling the film to achieve a reasonable running time. On the DVD: little is on offer here aside from the usual scene selection, audio and subtitle options and original cinema trailer. --Phil Udell

• Toys Are Not For Children | Blu Ray | (07/10/2019) from £12.91   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Psychological trauma and aberrant sexuality abound in this twisted 1972 tale of a young woman whose severe daddy issues send her on an unforgettably bleak downward spiral. Yearning for the love of her absentee father, Jamie inhabits an infantilised world surrounded by toys, including those which her wayward pops bizarrely continues to send her. Unable to consummate her new marriage with dashing colleague Charlie, Jamie's chance encounter with aging sex worker Pearl leads her into the murky world of prostitution where her most disturbing erotic fantasies begin to play out. Grim, quirky and strangely affecting in equal measure, Stanley H. Brasloff's Toys Are Not for Children is a truly one-of-a-kind effort from the heyday of the American exploitation independents, which builds to a haunting and devastating climax that lingers long after the credits roll. Special Edition Contents: Brand new 2K restoration from original film elements High Definition Blu-rayTM (1080p) presentation Original uncompressed mono audio Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Brand new audio commentary with Kat Ellinger and Heather Drain Newly-filmed appreciation by Nightmare USA author Stephen Thrower ˜Dirty' Dolls: Femininity, Perversion and Play - a brand new video essay by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Original theme song Lonely Am I, newly transferred from the original 45-RPM vinyl single Original Trailer Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by The Twins of Evil FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Vanity Celis