"Actor: James Lyons"

• Tape 407 | DVD | (02/07/2012) from £6.37   |  Saving you £9.62 (60.20%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Two teenagers fly from New York to Los Angeles on New Years Eve, their nightmare begins when their plane hits extreme turbulence mid-flight. The relentless weather attack causes panic and terror amongst the passengers until the plane ultimately crashes into the unknown

• Guardian | DVD | (17/09/2001) from £5.91   |  Saving you £13.07 (447.60%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Though the Guardian opens with a nod or two to Three Kings, it really offers a cut-down version of Fallen, with Los Angeles Detective Kross (Mario Van Peebles) facing Telal--a body-hopping Sumerian demon he encountered at an archaeological site in Iraq during the Gulf War--entrusted by ritual scarification with the task of protecting a 12-year-old boy who will grow up to unite the three great monotheistic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) and thus set the Devil's work back millennia. A sub-plot deals with a red powder drug ("Chaos"), imported by the demon's minions, which catches on in LA sending coke-sniffing agents into murderous frenzies (the funniest scene) and briefly giving guest star dealer Ice-T superpowers until an ambiguously angelic hit lady (Stacy Oversier) tosses him off a building. There are elements of The Matrix stirred in, with Oversier and Telal dead ringers for the Carrie-Ann Moss and Hugo Weaving characters, but it inevitably boils down to a Fallen-style formula. It's stripped-down demonology--ever since The Evil Dead, those Sumerian demons have been getting a bad press--with direct-to-video action, but is by no means unlikeable. On the DVD: Along with the trailer, this disc offers IMDB filmographies for Van Peebles, Remar, Ice-T and John Terlesky (who used to be a busy B-actor in the likes of Chopping Mall and Valet Girls and now directs quickies such as Guardian). The transfer is augmented for 16:9 and looks significantly better than the video version, giving this low-budget effort a relatively lush feel, though the Iraqi desert does look as though it was an hour or so drive out of Los Angeles. --Kim Newman

• Poison/Dottie Gets Spanked | DVD | (14/05/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Poison (1991): The compelling and imaginative debut feature from Oscar nominated writer/director Todd Haynes and winner of Grand Jury Prize at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival Poison intricately interweaves three provocative and very distinct stories. In 'Hero' a young boy goes missing after killing his abusive father and then flying out of the window of his suburban home. The 'Horror' segment takes the form of a 50's B Horror Movie. Scientist Dr. Graves has managed to isolate and distill the essence of the human sex drive into a serum. After drinking it he transforms into a lethally infectious grotesque mutant. 'Homo' portrays the cruel obsessive love felt by an imprisoned thief for an inmate he first met as a child at reform school. Dottie Gets Spanked (1993): A brilliant assured short film from Haynes Dottie Gets Spanked offers an innovative glimpse of a future-talent unfolding. The story follows six-year old Stephen and his fixation with campy television comedienne Dottie. During his visit on set Stephen finds the scenes being filmed to reflect his deepest secrets and dreams.