"Actor: Maria"

• Giallo | DVD | (04/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A triple bill of stylish 'Giallo' thrillers from Italian maestro Dario Argento: The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970) The Cat o' Nine Tails (1971) and Phenomena (1984). The Bird With The Crystal Plumage : An American writer (Tony Musante - Toma TV series) travelling in Rome is the only witness to an attempted murder by a sinister man in a raincoat and black leather gloves though he is powerless to do anything to stop him. With a feeling that something is not quite right about the scene he has witnessed and the police's inability to make any progress he launches his own personal investigation - and nearly loses his life in the process. While this modern day Jack-the-Ripper type is slithering through the dark byways of Rome slicing up pretty girls director Dario Argento is carving up the emotions of terrified viewers. Dark deeds are mixed with black comedy worthy of Hitchcock in a film of almost unbearable tension and nail-biting suspense. Cat O'Nine Tales: The second movie directed by Dario Argento. With the screenplay by Dardano Sachetti and score by Ennio Morricone Cat O'Nine Tails is a haunting and suspensful thriller in the classic giallo tradition. The story begins when a blind puzzle maker (Karl Malden) overhears a conversation shortly before a robbery is committed at a genetics institute. When he teams up with a journalist (Franciscus) intent on solving the crime they uncover a trail off murders linked to the institute. Can they discover the murderer's identity before it is too late? Phenomena: Young Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly) is sent to study at an exclusive boarding school in Switzerland. A psychopathic killer is at large and has already murdered one of the academy's students. Jennifer sleepwalks and has a strange empathic relationship with insects. One day she befriends local entomologist Dr. McGregor (Donald Pleasance) who has been helping the police in their murder investigation with his knowledge of insects. McGregor encourages her to use her gift to track down the killer bu this places her in mortal danger...

• The Dead Next Door | DVD | (24/09/2001) from £25.63   |  Saving you £-1.64 (-6.80%)   |  RRP £23.99

  This well-known film financed by Sam 'Evil Dead' Raimi follows the effects of a deadly virus which turns corpses into flesh-eating zombies. A crack team of soldiers called The Zombie Squad fight a non-stop struggle for life and death....

• Gian-Carlo Menotti - the Consul | DVD | (29/03/2004) from £24.22   |  Saving you £0.77 (3.10%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The Consul.A Musical Drama in Three Acts.

• Mozart: Die Enftuhrung Aus Dem Serail (Abduction from the Seraglio) | DVD | (11/02/2002) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Peter Ustinov presents this production of Mozart's opera at the world famous Salzburg Marionette theatre.

• VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON - VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN'S PRISON (1 Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (08/05/2018) from £6.61   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Big Racket | DVD | (10/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Nico Palmieri (Fabio Testi) is a police inspector who battles against hoodlums who terrorise a sleepy Italian village and extort cash from the locals. With the threat of horrific brutality no one dares to act except a restaurant owner (Renzo Palmer) who approaches Palmieri and sings like a canary. As a result his young daughter is raped. Discovering that the terrorism is related to drug dealers Palmieri is forbidden to continue investigating his case by his superior - so he goes it alone. Palmieri recruits men who have become victims of the crooks and the film ends with a bloody massacre...

• Out of Africa - Digibook | Blu Ray | (19/11/2012) from £12.13   |  Saving you £5.86 (32.60%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Winner of seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Out of Africa is a cinematic masterpiece filled with breathtaking passion and majestic imagery. Robert Redford and Meryl Streep star in the fascinating true story of a woman who travels to Kenya to be with her husband and falls in love with a mysterious adventurer. Directed by Sydney Pollack, this epic tale of love, loss and self-discovery amid the stunning vistas of the African continent is an unparalleled filmmaking achievement. Special Features: Song of Africa - An Original Documentary Commentary with Sydney Pollack Deleted Scenes Original Theatrical Trailer Collectible 44 Page Book Pack

• Society | DVD | (28/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This gripping story revolves around young Bill Whitney a teenager for whom fear plays a large part in family life. He senses something terrible is about to happen....that his parents' strange relationships hide something monstrous and evil. What is the incredible conspiracy that lurks beneath the smooth surface of his parents' rich and privileged Society?...

• Lucky Luciano | DVD | (13/06/2005) from £18.88   |  Saving you £-4.89 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  In 1946 the famous gangster Charles ""Lucky"" Luciano is deported to his native Italy. Luciano has just finished serving nine years in jail and returns to Naples to instigate deals with other mobsters. Unknown to Lucky his long-time nemesis a former federal narcotics agent continues to gather evidence in order to testify against him and put him away forever...

• In A Stranger's Hand | DVD | (25/11/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  Wealthy Jack Bauer (Urich) comes to the aid of a mother Laura McKillin whose daughter has been abducted. Together to their horror they discover a dedicated ring of professional child snatchers...

• I'm Gonna Explode | DVD | (12/04/2010) from £26.06   |  Saving you £-10.07 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Roman and Maru, two troubled teenagers, attempt an impossible rebellion against the adult world.

• Spies, Lies And Naked Thighs | DVD | (28/01/2002) from £8.04   |  Saving you £7.94 (157.23%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Alan Rossmore (Ed Begley Jr.) is a translator for the U.N. and together with his wife Beverly lives at the International Arms the zaniest building in all of New York since every resident is from a different country and slightly off his or her rocker. Back into their lives comes Freddie Fallon Alan's college roommate and former husband of Beverly's friend. He looks talks walks and has the same mannerisms as Freddie but their unwelcome guest announces himself as a top C.I.A. agent on the trail of a would be assassin hell bent in taking the life of President Reagan. Follow the trio as they embark on a series of hilarious encounters as each resident of International Arms becomes the prime suspect as the would be presidential assassin.

• Doctor Otter | DVD | (10/01/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  This enchanting series follows Dr Melvyn P Otter on his rounds as he tends to a group of patients ranging from the clumsy to those suffering from a bout of hypochondria. Dr Otter is well versed in the medical arts but prefers to use his homemade remedies in the curing of ailments as opposed to the modern solutions favoured by his assistant Dr Borley Episode titles: Colour Me Lucky Blackberry Surprise Melvyn's Birthday A New Home For Lucky Treasure Hunt.

• Nomads | DVD | (07/05/2007) from £5.38   |  Saving you £0.61 (10.20%)   |  RRP £5.99

  French anthropologist Jean-Claude Pommier staggers into a Los Angeles emergency ward and grabs Dr Eileen Flax before falling dead. Following the incident she collapses and has a series of visions where she comes to re-experience the last few days of Pommier's life and realizes that he has somehow transferred his memories to her via his touch. In the visions she sees how he became obsessed with and began to follow a street gang watching as they conducted random acts of violence. But

• The Stars Collection Quad Pack - Vol. 3 | DVD | (12/04/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Strike Of The Panther Jason Blade is back to sweep the bad guys out of town once again... Day Of The Panther Martial arts expert Jason Blade (Stazak) sets to get the gangland boss and his right-hand man responsible for the death of his partner. Ring Of Fire LA Chinatown is disrupted by the cross town rivalry between two kickboxing clubs as the competitive sport is capulated from the ring of a gymnasium to a ring of fire... Out For Blood An attorney is forced to fight back after his family is brutally murdered by vicious drug dealers leading to an astounding martial arts showdown.

• A History Of Violence | UMD | (20/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Viggo Mortensen stars in this stylized thriller from director David Cronenberg.

• Puccini: Tosca -- La Scala/Muti | DVD | (02/12/2002) from £3.34   |  Saving you £22.91 (1,101.44%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Tosca was revived to great acclaim at La Scala in this 2000 production, which built on Luca Ronconi's 1996 version with musical direction from principal conductor Riccardo Muti and Lorenza Cantini's nightmarishly distorted set. Puccini's most recorded opera is loved and derided in equal measure for its high-octane dramatics, rich arias and the fire-spitting exchanges of the eponymous heroine and her wily tormentor Scarpia. Under Muti, the music takes precedence over the self-conscious theatricality of the book. As a result, some high dramatic points--the stabbing, always tricky, and Tosca's suicide, equally dicey--are underplayed here. Singers of the calibre of Maria Guleghina and baritone Leo Nucci can be relied upon for rounded, controlled performances. Guleghina eschews the ferocity of Callas for a less stately, earthier honesty and enjoys moments of great delicacy, particularly in a sweet "Vissi d'arte". And her grief at Cavaradossi's death is searing. The key to Tosca, though, is the ambivalent relationship between the singer and the chief of police. Scarpia is probably the most toxic antihero in opera, and Nucci could do with a touch more virulence. Even so, this is a fascinating production that strips away much of the traditional artifice and gives real insight into the complex emotions that make the opera so compelling for its devotees. On the DVD: Tosca, like so many operas recorded in the theatre, here relies on the performances to compensate for the camera's inability to convey the overall majesty of the production. The 16:9 anamorphic picture format gives no more than a hint of the crushing power of Cantini's set. Happily, the choice of Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 surround sound means there is no compromise on the sound front. Orchestra, chorus and principals unite in a fluid homage to Puccini's score. There are no extras on the DVD. One minor niggle: careless editing of the booklet notes means that Puccini briefly becomes Verdi in the description of the opera's genesis. --Piers Ford

• Maria Callas - La Callas... Toujours - Paris, 1958 | DVD | (26/03/2001) from £10.28   |  Saving you £5.71 (55.54%)   |  RRP £15.99

  La Callas... Toujours is a black-and-white televised recital (Callas' Paris debut) that took place at the Paris Opera on December 19, 1958 when television was still in its infancy. We might wish that it had happened earlier, when her voice was in better condition, or later, when video recording technology was more advanced--so that, for example, we would not have to take the narrator's word that Callas is wearing a red dress. After all, visual elements were as important as the vocal dimensions in her art but her fans will welcome this warmly. The material, carefully chosen to show Callas at her best and most versatile, includes "Casta Diva" from Bellini's Norma (a Callas speciality), the haunting "Miserere" scene from Verdi's Il trovatore, and the mischievous "Una voce poco fa" from Rossini's Barber of Seville, a fine series of stylistic contrasts in which the essential point is not pure tonal beauty but characterisation and subtle expressive nuances. Others have made this music sound prettier; nobody has presented it with more impact. But the climax of this programme is its second half, a staged performance of Act II of Puccini's Tosca. This is a study in police brutality, sexual harassment and sheer violence, psychological and physical, that has some of opera's most extreme moments--including the great aria "Vissi d'arte", the murder of the villain Scarpia and the contemptuous dismissal flung at his corpse--"and all Rome trembled before him". In this segment, Callas goes mano a mano with Tito Gobbi, her only equal as a singing actor during her career. They savour this material in a virtuoso performance. --Joe McLellan, Amazon.com

• Chailly Conducts Mendelssohn | DVD | (30/12/2005) from £5.61   |  Saving you £18.64 (428.51%)   |  RRP £22.99

  A performance of Mendelssohn recorded live at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig in September 2005 Riccardo Chailly's inaugural concert as Kapellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra captures the full atmosphere of a unique musical occasion a feast of Mendelssohn from the orchestra the composer founded. Includes an overwhelming performance of Mendelssohn's Second Symphony 'Lobgesang' with its celebratory choral last movement in a new edition as well as the ever-popular overture 'A Mi

• Bloody Moon | DVD | (01/11/2004) from £12.96   |  Saving you £-6.97 (-116.40%)   |  RRP £5.99

  As the moon rises over a masked swimming pool party a young girl entices a man to her bungalow. She tears off his mask to discover he is hideously disfigured; in anger the crazed man stabs her to death. The murder in bungalow 13 at the Youth Boarding Club for Languages becomes an unsolved mystery and as the brutal murders continue inextricably linked to the fate of another young girl...