"Actor: Kurt Raab"

• World On A Wire | DVD | (17/05/2010) from £3.68   |  Saving you £16.31 (443.21%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Simulacron 1 is a highly advanced project designed to elevate conventional computer technology to a new level by creating a virtual reality inhabited by computer-generated people or 'identity units'. When the head of the project dies mysteriously after showing signs of mental disturbance Dr Stiller becomes his successor. However Stiller also begins to behave bizarrely. He speaks of people disappearing whom no one else knows belives someone is trying to murder him and has nausea attacks. As he begins to probe deeper into Simulacron the line between the real and virtual world becomes increasingly blurred and his own existence is questioned. Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 2 part TV production is a science-fiction classic that explores the notion of a computer-generated other world pre-dating The Matrix by 26 years. Since its original broadcast in 1973 it has rarely been shown and following increasing demand the Fassbinder Foundation have restored this remarkable film under the artistic direction of the film's highly acclaimed cinematographer Michael Ballhaus.

• Tenderness of the Wolves Dual Format | Blu Ray | (02/11/2015) from £18.98   |  Saving you £8.00 (47.09%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Fritz Haarmann, aka the Butcher of Hanover and the Vampire of Hanover, was a German serial killer responsible for the murders of two dozen boys and young men during the so-called ˜years of crisis' between the wars. His case would partly inspire Fritz Lang's M, and its central character portrayed by Peter Lorre, as well as this forgotten gem from 1973. Tenderness of the Wolves treats the viewer to a few weeks in the company of a killer. Baby-faced and shaven-headed, in a manner that recalls both M and F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, Haarmann is a fascinating, repulsive figure. Using his status as a police informant to procure his victims, he dismembers their bodies after death and sells the flesh to restaurants, dumping the remainder out of sight. This isn't an easy film to watch, but it certainly gets under the skin Produced by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (who also supplies a shifty cameo), Tenderness of the Wolves provided two of his regular actors with a means of expanding their careers. Ulli Lommel later responsible for the infamous video nasty The Boogeyman made his directorial debut, while Kurt Raab wrote the screenplay as well as delivering an astonishing performance as Haarmann.