"Actor: Ivo"

• Puccini: La Boheme -- Zeffirelli film version | DVD | (12/06/2006) from £16.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (17.66%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Zeffirellis 1963 Milan production of La Boheme, preserved in this 1965 film, provides a richly satisfying take on Puccinis much-loved romantic tragedy. The staging is opulent, not least in the way Zeffirelli opens up the Cafe Momus and turns it into a warm, vibrant haven for the bohemians and their followers. But its the relationships which really matter here. Puccinis score--conducted with restrained passion by Herbert von Karajan--develops in a wonderfully linear way, with some of his most intensely moving arias and duets underpinning the evolution of the bohemian artists, particularly Rodolfo and Marcello, from immature egotists to rounded human beings, touched by tragedy. The film does look dated now--Mirella Frenis Mimi, sung with moving clarity, has the doe-eyed look of a 1960s pop star and the camera work is a tad unsophisticated--but the singing still puts the listener through the wringer. Gianni Raimondis Rodolfo ("Che gelida manina") struggles manfully to come to terms with his emotional shortcomings and Adriana Martino (Musetta) has some fine comic moments before playing her vital part in the overwhelming sadness of the final scenes. Soul food for the tragically inclined. On the DVD: La Boheme has no extras here, but excellent booklet notes accompany the disc. The PCM Stereo soundtrack has been digitally remastered to decent effect. The 4:3 picture format inevitably imposes some limitations and the 1960s video quality is a little dull, but after all, this is a product of its time and a vital record of one of Zeffirellis most successful productions.--Piers Ford

• White Rush | DVD | (26/01/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  When a drug deal goes sour and accidently leaves a cool $6 million worth of cocaine in the hands of five friends they each see something different. What none of them see is that one of the dealers is still alive and he needs his coke back before his impatient Mexican supplier sets a lethal lady assassin on his trail...

• Dragstrip Girl | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Car crazy! Speed crazy! Boy crazy! Fay Spain is tunning in her role as a teenage femme fatal who has rich guy Fred Armstrong and poor but nice Jim Donaldson drooling over her. She plays them off against each other and as the hormones rise so does the violence. Fred is rich but not so nice and he keep slosing the fights and so decides to win the local hot rod race by fair means or foul. Thinking it would knock the very nice Jim out of the fight for the hand of Fay. This has dire consequences for all the characters involved.....

• Devious Beings | DVD | (29/03/2010) from £10.78   |  Saving you £-0.79 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Casey. Arrow. Jackson. They've been buddies since they were kids. They're the rave crowd who can get any illicit drug for the right price. No way these guys could get played right? Wrong. When their latest deal goes south their entire world may go up in smoke. They're up against the wall and they're running out of options. In the tradition of Go and Pulp Fiction Devious Beings is a wild ride you'll never forget.

• Mario Bava - Vol. 1 | DVD | (23/05/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This collection features a trio of films directed by 'the master of the macabre' Mario Bava. Black Sabbath (1963): Italian horror master Mario Bava's spine-tingling horror anthology. In the first tale A Drop Of Water a woman steals a ring off of the finger of a corpse only to be haunted by the angry spirit of the ring's owner. In The Telephone a woman is harassed by phone calls from the dead. Finally Boris Karloff plays a vampire-like creature in The Wurdalak who feeds off the blood of its family. The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963 aka The Evil Eye): The mystery of the Alphabet Murders in Rome was left unsolved ten years ago. When Nora Davis (Roman) travels there on vacation she gets tangled in a web of death starting with Edith an old friend of the family. As Nora tries to find some help for Edith she witnesses the stabbing murder of yet another woman. She soon discovers that the murder actually happened ten years ago to Emily Craven and that the Alphabet Murderer is looking for is still looking for the letter 'D'. The Mask of Satan (1960 aka Black Sunday/Revenge of The Vampire): Buxom B-movie queen Barbara Steele stars in this atmospheric film about the long dead evil Princess Asa and her brother who are accidentally brought back to life. Asa goes on a quest to murder her twin descendent Princess Katia (also played by Steele) and seduces many unknowing victims along the way.