The L-Shaped Room, adapted by writer-director Bryan Forbes from Lynne Reid Banks' novel, unfolds in a dank, depressing London boarding house. Leslie Caron plays Jane Fosset, a 27-year-old French woman, down on her luck, who takes a room. There are bugs in her mattress. The taps drip. The landlady ("the lovely Doris") is a drunken, malicious busybody. Forbes doesn't paint the English in a flattering light. They're covetous, eccentric and xenophobic. "I never close my door to the nigs," Doris tells Fosset, as if to prove that she is no racist. When Fosset reveals that she's pregnant and unmarried, everybody turns against her. The one real friend Fosset makes is Toby (Tom Bell), an impoverished would-be writer who lives in the room downstairs. She starts an affair with him, but for all his protestations to the contrary, he too turns out to be moralistic and conservative--he can't accept the idea that she is having another man's baby.Forbes' dialogue sometimes grates, the film risks running into a dead end (Fosset is stuck with nowhere to go and no prospects), but this is compelling fare all the same. Cameraman Douglas Slocombe (who went on to shoot Raiders of the Lost Ark) makes the boarding house seem as gloomy and oppressive as a Gothic mansion. Forbes doesn't sentimentalise at all. The London he portrays is nothing like the swinging, hedonistic city shown in later British movies of the 60s. --Geoffrey Macnab
In the late 1960s and early 70s, a bizarre alliance between the Filippino movie company Hemisphere and the American exploitation outfit Independent International yielded a series of weirdly interconnected horror movies, most of which work the word Blood into the title. The Filippino items are strangely fascinating vampire and mad scientist pictures with oddball colour effects and a mix of naive serial-style thrills and extreme-for-the-era sex and gore; the American efforts, from director Al Adamson, are shoddier, thrown together from offcuts of previous pictures, and are lead-paced but nevertheless curiously appealing. Gaze in awe at mutant killer trees, slobbering hunchbacked servants, faded matinee idols, stripper-turned-actress heroines with concrete blonde hairdos, evil dwarves, John Carradine or Lon Chaney, footage cut in from completely different films, Dracula and Frankenstein meeting hippies and bikers, red filters when the vampires attack, chanting natives! Plus lots of exclamation marks! Plus lurid trailers! "A blood-dripping brain transplant turns a maniac into a monster!". Brain of Blood does exactly what it says on the tin. It was made in Hollywood when a Filippino blood movie fell through and the distributor needed a substitute. --Kim Newman
Yorkshire, 1874. Penniless following the death of her husband, Annie Quaintain and her two children are turfed out of their village home and forced to start a new life in Jericho, a remote shanty town in the expansive and rugged Yorkshire dales. Jericho is home to a community of navvies and pioneers, prostitutes and vagabonds who will live and die in the shadow of the viaduct they've been brought together to build. Rough and rustic, yet with a wild west, carnival-like atmosphere, it's a place where people with secrets can hide, and where love can flourish against all odds. Set against a visually striking frontier landscape, this epic, eight-part drama series follows the creation of a community from nothing and the human stories and heroic struggles of survival that emerge.
Love is a weakness to be exploited and betrayed. Starring Bob Hoskins Michael Caine and Cathy Tyson 'Mona Lisa' is a classic drama written and directed by Neil Jordan about a driver (Hoskins) who falls for his employer - high-class prostitute Simone (Tyson).
Though it's not in the same league as the classic screen musicals, Annie's heartwarming rags-to-riches storyline, social comment (shallow as it may be) and catchy songs make for an entertaining and unpretentious 90 minutes' viewing. Aileen Quinn is the irrepressible titular orphan, by no means as irritating as she looks in the cover picture; Albert Finney is Oliver Warbucks, the tyrannical tycoon (with a hidden heart of gold, of course) who adopts her for a week in the interests of good PR. The real show-stopper, though, is Carol Burnett as the gin-soaked harpy Miss Hannigan, ruling with an iron fist over an orphanage full of unruly girls, flirting with every man in sight and eventually scheming with her unscrupulous brother (Tim Curry) to kidnap Annie and reap a fat Warbucks reward cheque. While the songs--including "Tomorrow", "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" and "It's a Hard Knock Life"--are excellent, the kids' voices are shrill and the production pretty low-rent: Annie is very obviously a stage show brought to screen on a low budget. But while it lacks the polish that make the Rodgers and Hammerstein and Lerner and Loewe musicals so special, it's funny and sweet and has a rough charm all its own. On the DVD: The film is presented in widescreen, preserving its original 2.35:1 aspect, and is enhanced for 16:9 widescreen TVs; the soundtrack is Dolby surround, though as noted above the music score is relatively rough and ready so top-notch sound isn't actually as important as it would be in other musicals. The extras are pretty disappointing--an uninspired interactive menu features only the obligatory multi-language subtitles, (very) short biographies of the key cast members, a few publicity cards and posters, the theatrical trailer and--most interestingly--an isolated musical score. No commentary from director John Huston, no documentaries, nothing about the 1930s cartoon strip that was, apparently, one of the most popular of its day. There's actually more information in the accompanying booklet than there is on the disc. --Rikki Price
Years before he became revered as the 'Gentleman of British Horror', prolific filmmaker Pete Walker started his cinema career making hugely popular sexploitation movies and gangland thrillers. Walker's films didn't shy away from controversial subjects - prostitution, underage sex, pornography and the criminal underworld - and proved irresistible to audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. 'X'-rated productions like School for Sex (which played solidly in London's West End for over a year) display the exceptional early talents of Britain's most celebrated and commercially successful director of his generation. Now for the very first time, Walker's finest non-horror movies are brought together for this spectacular new box-set, starring a host of famous faces: Robin Askwith (Confessions of a Window Cleaner), Francoise Pascal (Mind Your Language), James Aubrey (Bouquet of Barbed Wire) and David Kernan (Carry On Abroad). The Pete Walker Sexploitation Collection collects For Men Only (1967), School for Sex (1968), Cool It Carol! (1970) and Home Before Midnight (1978), all presented here in brand new HD restorations, and featuring an arresting array of exclusive extras, including brand-new interviews with Walker himself. Product Features Rigid Slipcase featuring Artwork by Thomas Walker Booklet Notes by Author and Film-maker Simon Sheridan Cheeky Post Cards Cool it Carol New 2K Restoration From Original Vault Materials High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray⢠presentation in 1.66:1 Aspect Ratio Lossless 2.0 English Mono Optional English Subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Audio Commentary with Critics Kim Newman and Sean Hogan When Robin Met Janet - An Interview with Director Pete Walker Jess Conrad - The Playboy - An Interview with Actor Jess Conrad Step to Drama - Archive Interview with Director Pete Walker Cool Operator - An Interview with Cinematographer Peter Sinclair Cutting It - An Interview with 1st Assistant Editor Glenn Hyde Theatrical Trailer School For Sex High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray⢠presentation in 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio Lossless 2.0 English Mono Optional English Subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Audio Commentary with Kevin Lyons and Jonathan Rigby (UK Version) Continental Version Scenes From Continental Version Bad Education - Making School for Sex Francoise Pascal - Skool's Out School for Sex 8mm version (b/w cut-down version) Tricky Treats 8mm (Pete Walker early striptease film) Theatrical Trailer For Men Only High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray⢠presentation in 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio Lossless 2.0 English Mono Optional English Subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Select Scenes From the Continental Version Continental Version Trailer Home Before Midnight Remastered Transfer, Extensive Dust and Damage Repair and Removal High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray⢠presentation in 1.66:1 Aspect Ratio Lossless 2.0 English Mono Optional English Subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Michael Armstrong - The Midnight Man Pete Walker's A Star Is Dead: Sex Pistols '77 Working For Walker Theatrical Trailer
American Horror Story revolves around the Harmons, a family of three who moved from Boston to Los Angeles as a means to reconcile past anguish. The all-star cast features Dylan McDermott as Ben Harmon, a psychiatrist; Connie Britton as Vivien Harmon, Ben's wife; Taissa Farmiga as Violet, the Harmon's teenage daughter; Jessica Lange in her first-ever regular series TV role as Constance, the Harmon's neighbour; Evan Peters plays Tate Langdon, one of Ben's patients; and Denis O'Hare as Larry Harvey. Guest stars for the series include Frances Conroy as the Harmon's housekeeper; Alexandra Breckenridge as the Harmon's housekeeper; and Jamie Brewer as Constance's daughter.
This offbeat horror film, starring genre icons Peter Cushing (The Revenge of Frankenstein, Star Wars), Donald Pleasence (You Only Live Twice, Halloween), and Luan Peters (Twins of Evil, Doctor Who), and featuring a score by the legendary Brian Eno, tells of a Satanic cult, led by Cushing, that is abducting tourists for ritual sacrifice and only Pleasence's priest can save them. An eccentric, bloody cult shocker, The Devil's Men (also known as Land of the Minotaur) is presented in both the original and US cuts of the film in a 2K restoration from the original negative, and accompanied by new and archival extras, including a feature-length Super 8 version of the film. Product Features 2K restoration from the original negative Two presentations of the film: The Devil's Men (94 mins), the original cut; and Land of the Minotaur (86 mins), the shorter US theatrical version Original mono audio Audio commentary with critics and authors David Flint and Adrian J Smith (2022) The John Player Lecture with Peter Cushing (1973, 92 mins): archival audio recording of the legendary actor in conversation with David Castell at the National Film Theatre, London This Life and the Next (2022, 8 mins): producer Frixos Constantine reflects on working with great actors and making the film Feature-length Super 8 version (94 mins) Image gallery: promotional and publicity material New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
In this sinister and dark portrait of human sexuality, Marilyn Monroe portrays a sexy and scheming wife who seduces her lover into helping with the murder of her husband during a romantic weekend at Niagara Falls.
A recreation of the meeting at the White House between Elvis Presley and President Richard Nixon.
The life and times of legendary Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata are brought to the screen in Darryl F. Zanuck's powerful production of John Steinbeck's screenplay. Marlon Brando fresh from his success in A Streetcar Named Desire gives a stunning portrayal of the outlaw turned revolutionary leader. The film also boasts Anthony Quinn's (Best Supporting Actor 1952) Academy Award winning performance as Zapata's brother. Viva Zapata! is one of the classic political movies and
In this sweeping epic that swings from high comedy to drama, Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman gives a virtuoso performance (The Hollywood Reporter) as the 121-year-old sole survivor of Custer's Last Stand. Narrating his colourful life story, he tells about everything from his adoption by Cheyenne Indians to his marriages and his friendship with Wild Bill Hickok. His tall tales indicate he just may be one of the biggest liars who roamed the West. Academy Award-winner Faye Dunaway, Chief Dan George, Martin Balsam and Richard Mulligan co-star.
The L-Shaped Room, adapted by writer-director Bryan Forbes from Lynne Reid Banks' novel, unfolds in a dank, depressing London boarding house. Leslie Caron plays Jane Fosset, a 27-year-old French woman, down on her luck, who takes a room. There are bugs in her mattress. The taps drip. The landlady ("the lovely Doris") is a drunken, malicious busybody. Forbes doesn't paint the English in a flattering light. They're covetous, eccentric and xenophobic. "I never close my door to the nigs," Doris tells Fosset, as if to prove that she is no racist. When Fosset reveals that she's pregnant and unmarried, everybody turns against her. The one real friend Fosset makes is Toby (Tom Bell), an impoverished would-be writer who lives in the room downstairs. She starts an affair with him, but for all his protestations to the contrary, he too turns out to be moralistic and conservative--he can't accept the idea that she is having another man's baby.Forbes' dialogue sometimes grates, the film risks running into a dead end (Fosset is stuck with nowhere to go and no prospects), but this is compelling fare all the same. Cameraman Douglas Slocombe (who went on to shoot Raiders of the Lost Ark) makes the boarding house seem as gloomy and oppressive as a Gothic mansion. Forbes doesn't sentimentalise at all. The London he portrays is nothing like the swinging, hedonistic city shown in later British movies of the 60s. --Geoffrey Macnab
Laurie and Hugh are a successful young couple who have just closed on a weekend home away from the city. Unbeknownst to them, the neighboring property contains the crumbling remains of a boarding school that was shuttered in the wake of an unspeakable massacre. The sole survivor of that massacre still resides in the ruins of the school, hiding from the world and wanting only to be left alone. When Laurie and Hugh's friends explore the property, they have no idea that they disturbed an emotion.
Explore sanity and real-life horrors in the macabre Briarcliff insane asylum. The second instalment of the award winning psychosexual horror series. Set in 1964, American Horror Story: Asylum takes viewers into a Church-run haven for the criminally insane, ruled with an iron fist by Sister Jude (Jessica Lange), a nun with a troubled past. This grisly tale begins in present day when Leo and Teresa, the unsuspecting newlyweds, choose to spend their honeymoon within the safe haven of a now abandoned asylum. Or is it... once inside, the pair is thrust into a gruesome fight for their lives as the story flashes back to 1964. Originally a tuberculosis ward, Briarcliff Manor, western Massachusetts, was brought by the Catholic Church and transformed into a chilling insane asylum. Monsignor Timothy O'Hara (Joseph Fiennes) and the formidable Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) are in charge with the help of Sister Eunice (Lily Rabe).
Sol Nazerman (Rod Steiger), a survivor of the Nazi death camps which took the lives of his wife and children is a man bereft of hope, instead taking refuge in misery and a bitter condemnation of humanity, while managing a Harlem pawnshop where he's subjected to an endless parade of prostitutes, pimps and thieves. Seemingly only caring about money, he is continually haunted by vivid flashbacks of the concentration camp. Oscar-nominated for his performance, Steiger firmly established his credentials as an actor of international standing, wonderfully supported here by Geraldine Fitzgerald (Wuthering Heights) and Brock Peters (To Kill a Mockingbird). The film also boasts a score from then first-time film composer Quincy Jones. Extras Presented in High Definition Other extras TBC **FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet including new writing on the film
Annie
American Horror: Emmy® winner Jessica Lange leads an exceptional ensemble cast in AMERICAN HORROR STORY, the daringly provocative series about a troubled family who unwittingly moves into the L.A. “Murder House.” When long-buried secrets are revealed, they make a terrifying discovery—their new home is haunted by spirits capable of love, sex and revenge. Asylum: The sins of the past haunt the present at a notorious home for the criminally insane, ruled with an iron fist by Sister Jude (Emmy® winner Jessica Lange.) Evil lurks around every corner in AMERICAN HORROR STORY: ASYLUM. . .from alien abduction to demonic possession to a skin-wearing psychopath known as “Bloody Face.” Coven: An all-star cast reigns in AMERICAN HORROR STORY: COVEN, including Emmy® winner and two-time OSCAR® Winner Jessica Lange*, OSCAR® Winner Kathy Bates** and OSCAR® Nominee Angela Bassett†. The young witches at Miss Robichaux’s Academy are under assault, but a Supreme Witch with unimaginable powers aims to protect them at any cost. Freak Show: Step inside AMERICAN HORROR STORY: FREAK SHOW, the terrifyingly twisted reincarnation of TV’s most shockingly original series. Jessica Lange leads an extraordinary,award-winning cast that includes Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett, Sarah Paulson and Michael Chiklis. Lange plays Elsa Mars, the proprietor of a troupe of human “curiosities” on a desperate journey of survival in the sleepy hamlet of Jupiter, Florida, in 1952
Although the superhero comic book has been a duopoly since the early 1960s, only DC's flagship characters, Superman and Batman (who originated in the late 1930s) have established themselves as big-screen franchises. Until now--this is the first runaway hit film version of the alternative superhero X-Men universe created for Marvel Comics by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and others. It's a rare comic-book movie that doesn't fall over its cape introducing all the characters, and this is the exception. X-Men drops us into a world that is closer to our own than Batman's Gotham City, but it's still home to super-powered goodies and baddies. Opening in high seriousness with paranormal activity in a WW2 concentration camp and a senatorial inquiry into the growing "mutant problem", Bryan Singer's film sets up a complex background with economy and establishes vivid, strange characters well before we get to the fun. There's Halle Berry flying and summoning snowstorms, James Marsden zapping people with his "optic beams", Rebecca Romijn-Stamos shape-shifting her blue naked form, and Ray Park lashing out with his Toad-tongue. The big conflict is between Patrick Stewart's Professor X and Ian McKellen's Magneto, super-powerful mutants who disagree about their relationship with ordinary humans, but the characters we're meant to identify with are Hugh Jackman's Wolverine (who has retractable claws and amnesia), and Anna Paquin's Rogue (who sucks the life and superpowers out of anyone she touches). The plot has to do with a big gizmo that will wreak havoc at a gathering of world leaders, but the film is more interested in setting up a tangle of bizarre relationships between even more bizarre people, with solid pros such as Stewart and McKellen relishing their sly dialogue and the newcomers strutting their stuff in cool leather outfits. There are in-jokes enough to keep comics' fans engaged, but it feels more like a science fiction movie than a superhero picture. --Kim Newman
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