"Actor: Robert ALDA"

• Avengers Endgame | DVD | (02/09/2019) from £4.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios' grand conclusion to twenty-two films, Avengers: Endgame.

• Avengers Infinity War | Blu Ray | (03/09/2018) from £13.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  An unprecedented cinematic journey ten years in the making and spanning the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War brings to the screen the ultimate showdown of all time. The Avengers and their Super Hero allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the poweful Thanos.

• Avengers Endgame | Blu Ray | (02/09/2019) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios' grand conclusion to twenty-two films, Avengers: Endgame.

• Avengers Endgame | Blu Ray | (02/09/2019) from £5.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios' grand conclusion to twenty-two films, Avengers: Endgame.

• Marvel Studios Collector's Edition Box Set - Phase 2 | DVD | (20/11/2017) from £11.93   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Iron Man 3: The studio that brought you Marvel's Avengers Assemble unleashes the best Iron Man adventure yet with this must-own, global phenomenon starring Robert Downey Jr. When Tony Stark/Iron Man finds his entire world reduced to rubble, he must use all his ingenuity to survive, destroy his enemy and somehow protect those he loves. But a soul-searching question haunts him: Does the man make the suit... or does the suit make the man? Thor The Dark World: From the Studio that brought you the #1 Super Hero movie of all time, Marvel Studios' Avengers Assemble, comes another must-own, epic blockbuster starring Chris Hemsworth as The Mighty Thor. Worlds collide when a powerful ancient enemy threatens to plunge the cosmos into eternal darkness. Now, reunited with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), and forced to forge an alliance with his treacherous brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor embarks on a perilous personal quest to save both Earth and Asgard from destruction. Captain America: The Winter Soldier: From the Studio that brought you Marvel Studios' Avengers Assemble comes an epic adventure that teams Captain America (Chris Evans) with the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and the Falcon to battle an unexpected and formidable enemy - the Winter Soldier. Expand your Marvel collection as you relive the ultimate battle for the future of mankind. Guardians Of The Galaxy: From Marvel Studios, the studio that brought you Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Avengers Assemble, comes an unlikely new team - the Guardians of the Galaxy. The Marvel Cinematic Universe expands into the cosmos when brash space adventurer Peter Quill steals a mysterious, all-powerful orb. Chased by relentless enemies, he forms an uneasy alliance with a ragtag band of misfits, leading to a desperate battle that will decide the fate of the galaxy. Avengers Age Of Ultron: Marvel Studios unleashes the next global phenomenon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - Avengers: Age of Ultron. Good intentions wreak havoc when Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) unwittingly creates Ultron (James Spader), a terrifying A.I. monster who vows to achieve world peace via mass extinction. Now Iron Man, Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) - alongside Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) - must reassemble to defeat Ultron and save mankind... if they can! This action-packed adventure is a mind-blowing blast! Ant-Man: The next evolution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe introduces the newest member of the Avengers: Marvel Studios' Ant-Man. Armed with the amazing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, master thief Scott Lang joins forces with his new mentor Dr. Hank Pym to protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from ruthless villains! With humanity's fate in the balance, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a daring heist against insurmountable odds. Filled with humour, awesome special effects and thrilling bonus features, this action-packed adventure takes you to new levels of pulse-pounding excitement! Included Extras: Iron Man 3: Deconstructing The Scene: Attack on Air Force One, Exclusive Behind The Scenes Look - Thor: The Dark World Thor The Dark World: Exclusive Look - Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Deleted Scene Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Featurette, Steve Roger's Notebook, Deleted Scene: In Pursuit of Captain America Guardians Of The Galaxy: Exclusive look at Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron, Deleted & extended scenes: Fake laugh Avengers Age Of Ultron: Global Adventure

• Marvel Studios Collector's Edition Box Set Phase 2 | Blu Ray | (20/11/2017) from £33.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Iron Man 3: The studio that brought you Marvel's Avengers Assemble unleashes the best Iron Man adventure yet with this must-own, global phenomenon starring Robert Downey Jr. When Tony Stark/Iron Man finds his entire world reduced to rubble, he must use all his ingenuity to survive, destroy his enemy and somehow protect those he loves. But a soul-searching question haunts him: Does the man make the suit... or does the suit make the man? Thor The Dark World: From the Studio that brought you the #1 Super Hero movie of all time, Marvel Studios' Avengers Assemble, comes another must-own, epic blockbuster starring Chris Hemsworth as The Mighty Thor. Worlds collide when a powerful ancient enemy threatens to plunge the cosmos into eternal darkness. Now, reunited with Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), and forced to forge an alliance with his treacherous brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor embarks on a perilous personal quest to save both Earth and Asgard from destruction. Captain America: The Winter Soldier: From the Studio that brought you Marvel Studios' Avengers Assemble comes an epic adventure that teams Captain America (Chris Evans) with the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and the Falcon to battle an unexpected and formidable enemy - the Winter Soldier. Expand your Marvel collection as you relive the ultimate battle for the future of mankind. Guardians Of The Galaxy: From Marvel Studios, the studio that brought you Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Avengers Assemble, comes an unlikely new team - the Guardians of the Galaxy. The Marvel Cinematic Universe expands into the cosmos when brash space adventurer Peter Quill steals a mysterious, all-powerful orb. Chased by relentless enemies, he forms an uneasy alliance with a ragtag band of misfits, leading to a desperate battle that will decide the fate of the galaxy. Avengers Age Of Ultron: Marvel Studios unleashes the next global phenomenon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - Avengers: Age of Ultron. Good intentions wreak havoc when Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) unwittingly creates Ultron (James Spader), a terrifying A.I. monster who vows to achieve world peace via mass extinction. Now Iron Man, Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) - alongside Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) - must reassemble to defeat Ultron and save mankind... if they can! This action-packed adventure is a mind-blowing blast! Ant-Man: The next evolution of the Marvel Cinematic Universe introduces the newest member of the Avengers: Marvel Studios' Ant-Man. Armed with the amazing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, master thief Scott Lang joins forces with his new mentor Dr. Hank Pym to protect the secret behind his spectacular Ant-Man suit from ruthless villains! With humanity's fate in the balance, Pym and Lang must plan and pull off a daring heist against insurmountable odds. Filled with humour, awesome special effects and thrilling bonus features, this action-packed adventure takes you to new levels of pulse-pounding excitement! Included Extras: Iron Man 3: Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter, Iron Man 3 Unmasked, Deconstructing The Scene: Attack on Air Force One, Deleted & Extended Scenes, Gag Reel, Exclusive Behind The Scenes Look - Thor: The Dark World, Commentary By Shane Black and Drew Pearce Thor The Dark World: Marvel One Shot: All Hail The King, Featurette - A Brother's Journey: Thor & Loki, Exclusive Look - Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Featurette - Scoring Thor: The Dark World With Brian Tyler, Deleted & Extended Scenes, Gag Reel, Audio Commentary, Extended Celebration Scene, Jane Learns About The Aether, Loki: The First Avenger, Thor and Frigga Discuss Loki, Dark Elves Prepare For Battle Captain America: The Winter Soldier: Commentary by Joe and Anthony Russo, & Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, Gag Reel, Deleted Scenes: In Pursuit of Captain America, Hill and Sitwell Talk Loyalty, Nick Fury's Circle, Widow Reveals Her Past, Featurettes: On the Front Line: Inside Look at Captain America's Battlegrounds, On Set with Anthony Mackie: Cut the Check!, Steve Roger's Notebook Guardians Of The Galaxy: Featurettes: Guide to the galaxy with James Gunn, The Intergalactic visual effects for Guardians of Galaxy, Exclusive look at Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron, Gag reel, Deleted & extended scenes: Fake laugh, The Kyln will have to do, No, I'm the stupid one, Sisterly love, Dancing guard, Audio commentary with director James Gunn Avengers Age Of Ultron: From The Inside Out - Making Of The Avengers: Age Of Ultron, The Infinite Six, Global Adventure, Deleted & Extended Scenes, Gag Reel, Audio Commentary With Director Joss Whedon Ant-Man: Featurettes - Making Of An Ant-Sized Heist: A How To Guide, Featurettes - Let's Go To The Macroverse, Featurettes - WHIH News Front, Deleted & Extended Scenes - Audio Commentary By Peyton Reed And Paul Rudd, Gag Reel BLU-RAY Bonus Disc Additional Content: Deleted & Extended Scenes, Marvel One-Shot films and Commentary, From Here to Infinity: Phases 2 and 3 of the M.C.U., Tag Scenes: A Making-Of, Screen Test with Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista From Here To Infinity: Phases 2 & 3 Of The M.C.U. Phase 2 Tag Scenes: A Making-Of Gag Reel Marvel One-Shots: The Consultant [Thor] Marvel One-Shots: The Consultant With Audio Commentary By Clark Gregg [Thor] Marvel One-Shots: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer [CA: The First Avenger] Marvel One-Shots: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer With Audio Commentary By Clark Gregg [CA: The First Avenger] Marvel One-Shots: Item 47 [The Avengers] Marvel One-Shots: Item 47 With Audio Commentary By Louis D'Esposito, Max Hernandez, Titus Welliver And Jesse Bradford [The Avengers] Marvel One-Shots: Agent Carter [Iron Man 3] Marvel One-Shots: Agent Carter With Audio Commentary By Louis D'Esposito And Hayley Atwell [Iron Man 3] Marvel One-Shots: All Hail The King [Thor: TDW] Marvel One-Shots: All Hail The King With Audio Commentary By Drew Pearce And Ben Kingsley [Thor: TDW] Iron Man 3: Deleted Scenes Iron Man 3: Preproduction Creative Thor: The Dark World: Deleted Scenes Thor: The Dark World: Preproduction Creative Captain America: The Winter Solider: Deleted Scene Captain America: The Winter Solider: Deleted Scene With Audio Commentary By Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Preproduction Creative Guardians Of The Galaxy: Deleted Scenes Guardians Of The Galaxy: Preproduction Creative Avengers: Age Of Ultron: Deleted Scenes Avengers: Age Of Ultron: Preproduction Creative: Hulk vs. Hulkbuster Ant-Man: Deleted Scenes, Ant-Man: Preproduction Creative

• The Longest Ride | DVD | (02/11/2015) from £5.99   |  Saving you £14.00 (233.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From master storyteller Nicholas Spark (The Notebook, Message in a Bottle, Dear John) comes an unforgettable tale of two intertwining love stories.

• Avengers Infinity War | 4K UHD | (03/09/2018) from £19.99   |  Saving you £2.51 (12.56%)   |  RRP £22.50

  An unprecedented cinematic journey ten years in the making and spanning the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War brings to the screen the ultimate showdown of all time. The Avengers and their Super Hero allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the poweful Thanos.

• Avengers Endgame | Blu Ray | (02/09/2019) from £11.97   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The grave course of events set in motion by Thanos that wiped out half the universe and fractured the Avengers ranks compels the remaining Avengers to take one final stand in Marvel Studios' grand conclusion to twenty-two films, Avengers: Endgame.

• Avengers Infinity War | Blu Ray | (03/09/2018) from £7.98   |  Saving you £9.00 (150.25%)   |  RRP £14.99

  An unprecedented cinematic journey ten years in the making and spanning the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War brings to the screen the ultimate showdown of all time. The Avengers and their Super Hero allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the poweful Thanos. Features: Intro By Directors Joe And Anthony Russo Strange Alchemy: Explores the new team-ups and analyses why the specific superheroes were paired together. The Mad Titan: Explores the Marvel Cinematic Universe's biggest, baddest villain: Thanos.

• Raging Bull (Wide Screen) | DVD | (01/02/2000) from £4.43   |  Saving you £11.56 (260.95%)   |  RRP £15.99

  "Raging Bull" is arguably the finest work from the Scorsese and De Niro partnership. De Niro gives an amazing portrayal of a man whose animal side lurks just beneath the surface, ever ready to erupt.

• Imitation of Life | DVD | (11/04/2005) from £16.98   |  Saving you £-6.99 (-70.00%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Living a lie is a poor substitute for living the truth - sometimes it takes the harsh realties of life to help us discover who we truly are. The legendary Lana Turner stars in this 1959 version of Fannie Hurst's emotionally charged drama which chronicles two widows and their troubled daughters as they struggle to find true happiness amidst racial prejudice. Lana Turner plays Lora a single white mother whose Hollywood starlet ambitions come at the expense of any meaningful relationship with her daughter Susie (Sandra Dee). Lora's black housekeeper Annie (Juanita Moore) has troubles of her own as she faces the rejection of her own fair-skinned daughter Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner) who abandons her heritage for a chance to be accepted as white. As years of selfishness and denial pass tragedy strikes and forces the women to come to terms with their own identities.

• The Deer Hunter: Special Edition (2 discs) | DVD | (04/08/2003) from £5.79   |  Saving you £11.20 (193.44%)   |  RRP £16.99

  The Deer Hunter is an expansive portrait of friendship in a Pennsylvania steel town, and of the effects of the Vietnam War. Led by the trio of Robert De Niro, John Savage and Christopher Walken (who won a supporting actor Oscar), the first hour is dominated by an engrossing Russian Orthodox wedding and reception. When the drama moves overseas it switches from anthropologically realistic documentation of a community's rituals to highly controversial and still shocking Russian Roulette scenes, symbolising the random horror of war. Unforgettable as they are, the Vietnam sequences occupy less than a third of the three-hour running time; defying movie convention The Deer Hunter is fundamentally a before-and-after ensemble character study anchored by De Niro's great performance. Although it was the first serious Hollywood feature to address the Vietnam War, the plausibility of some of the later plot developments raises awkward questions. But the film remains powerfully effective, its deliberate pace, naturalistic overlapping dialogue and unflinching seriousness marking it very much a product of the 1970s. With nine Oscar nominations and five wins, including Best Picture and Director, it's a cinematic landmark that stands the test time, almost incidentally setting Meryl Streep on the road to superstardom in her first leading role. On the DVD: The Deer Hunter: Special Edition has the film on the first disc with a serious yet amiable Region 2 exclusive discussion track between director Michael Cimino and critic SX Finnie. The picture is anamorphically enhanced at 2.35:1, and perfectly reproduces Vilmos Zsigmond's deliberately desaturated, necessarily grainy cinematography. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack clearly reveals the mono original, being largely focused on the centre speaker and while it does a good job, some of the choral music does sound harsh. Dialogue is sometimes indecipherable, but that's due to the naturalistic nature of the original sound recording and mixing. Disc 2 offers excellent new interviews with Jon Savage (15 mins), Vilmos Zsigmond (15 mins) and Michael Cimino (23 mins). Also included is the original trailer (anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1), a routine photo gallery and a DVD version of the original press brochure. There's no trace of the 40 minutes of deleted material referred to by Cimino, but this presentation is still an object lesson in how quality of extras triumphs over quantity. --Gary S Dalkin

• Cloak And Dagger (Masters of Cinema) Dual Format (Blu-ray & DVD) edition | Blu Ray | (27/01/2020) from £12.69   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Eureka Entertainment to release CLOAK AND DAGGER; the gripping espionage thriller from legendary filmmaker Fritz Lang, starring Gary Cooper and Lilli Palmer. Released on 27 January 2020, the film makes its UK debut on Blu-ray in a definitive Dual Format (Blu-ray & DVD) edition as part of The Masters of Cinema Series. A virtuoso World War II espionage thriller directed by Fritz Lang as his follow-up to the noir classic Scarlet Street (and not long after the war itself had ended), Cloak and Dagger is an underrated entry in Lang's oeuvre, a crackerjack spy saga with a commanding Gary Cooper performance and a wealth of masterful Langian suspense sequences (as well as some genuinely hard-hitting action set pieces). Nuclear physicist Alvah Jesper (Cooper) is recruited by the U.S. Office of Strategic Services to become a reluctant undercover agent, traveling to Switzerland to meet with a fellow scientist regarding information on Germany's plans to construct an atomic bomb. After this colleague is assassinated, Jesper must sneak into Italy via the underground resistance, to contact another scientist. While there, Jesper falls in love with resistance fighter Gina (Lilli Palmer, in her first Hollywood role), and the two must battle shootouts, double crosses, and narrow escapes to smuggle the scientist out of Italy. A more perfectly titled film would be difficult to imagine, as Cloak and Dagger is a consummate wartime espionage suspense picture, and an intriguing mixture of genres for Lang: part spy thriller, part romantic melodrama, and part patriotic war movie, Cloak and Dagger is another triumph among Lang's U.S. features, and an expert exercise in genre fusion that's ripe for rediscovery. Dual Format Special Features: Presented in 1080p from a high-definition digital transfer Optional English subtitles Uncompressed LPCM mono audio Brand new audio commentary by film critic and writer Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Spycraft A brand new video essay by David Cairns Cloak and Dagger: Lux Radio Theater [57 mins] Radio adaptation from 1946 starring Lilli Palmer and Ronald Reagan Cloak and Dagger: The Radio Series [approx 660 mins] | A collector's booklet featuring a new essay by Samm Deighan

• The Deer Hunter 4K | Blu Ray | (04/03/2019) from £19.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Michael Cimino's epic masterpiece The Deer Hunter has been stunningly restored with a brand new 4k restoration. Winner of no less than five Academy Awards® in 1978 including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor for Christopher Walken, The Deer Hunter is widely acknowledged as one of cinema's great masterpieces and contains some of the most memorable scenes in film history. With the film painting a sobering portrait of a small Pennsylvania steel town rocked by loss when three of its sons go off to fight in Vietnam, Cimino's ambitious and daring vision is showcased in this bold and brilliant war classic that, 40 years on, is even more striking than ever before. When Michael (Robert De Niro), Steven (John Savage) and Nick (Christopher Walken) are captured by the Vietcong, they are forced to play Russian Roulette by their brutal captors, who make bets on their survival. The experience of capture leaves them with terrible physical and spiritual wounds, and when Michael returns to Saigon to fulfil an old promise to one of his friends, he makes an unexpected, horrific discovery. Also featuring astonishing performances from Meryl Streep as the woman both Michael and Nick fall in love with, and John Cazale (The Godfather, Dog Day Afternoon) as their unhinged and insecure friend Stan. For the restoration of The Deer Hunter, STUDIOCANAL went back to the original 35mm negative, which was scanned at 4K resolution in 16bit. The restoration was completed at Silver Salt in London, who created a restored 4K DCP and UHD version for the home entertainment release. Bonus material includes: New Interview with David Thomson - film critic A brand new and exclusive interview with author and film critic David Thomson 1979 ITV South Ban Show interview with Michael Cimino A rarely seen ITV South Bank Show Interview from 1979 with director Michael Cimino provides an in-depth analysis of his inspirations and motivations for the making of the film Realising The Deer Hunter - Interview with director Michael Cimino Shooting The Deer Hunter - Interview with director of photography Vilmos Zsigmond Playing The Deer Hunter - Interview with star John Savage Audio Commentary with Michael Cimino Audio Commentary with Vilmos Zsigmond and journalist Bob Fisher Deleted and Extended scenes Deleted and extended scenes from the original production including extra footage of the infamous Russian Roulette sequence.

• The Deer Hunter | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £5.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (133.56%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Winner of five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, The Deer Hunter is simultaneously an audacious directorial conceit and one of the greatest films ever made about friendship and the personal impact of war. Like Apocalypse Now, it's hardly a conventional battle film--the soldier's experience was handled with greater authenticity in Platoon--but its depiction of war on an intimate scale packs a devastatingly dramatic punch. Director Michael Cimino may be manipulating our emotions with masterful skill, but he does it in a way that stirs the soul and pinches our collective nerves with graphic, high-intensity scenes of men under life-threatening duress. Although Russian-roulette gambling games were not a common occurrence during the Vietnam war, they're used here as a metaphor for the futility of the war itself. To the viewer, they become unforgettably intense rites of passage for the best friends--Pennsylvania steelworkers played by Robert De Niro, John Savage and Oscar winner Christopher Walken--who may survive or perish during their tour through a tropical landscape of hell. Back home, their loved ones must cope with the war's domestic impact, and in doing so they allow The Deer Hunter to achieve a rare combination of epic storytelling and intimate, heart-rending drama.--Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Cloak and Dagger | DVD | (26/05/2008) from £14.56   |  Saving you £-4.57 (-45.70%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Directed by Fritz Lang and starring Gary Cooper and Lili Palmer this rare film mixes intrigue with the atomic threat tension builds as a research scientist turned spy (Cooper) has to enter an occupied Europe of World War 2. Cooper is backed up by a host of talent including Robert Alda (father of Alan Alda of M.A.S.H. fame). The film culminates in a vicious hand-to hand duel with and Italian Gestapo agent (Marc Lawrence). This film has an intrigue all it''s own and is unique in many ways. The thread holding it all together is the down home character played credibly by Gary Cooper as the simple man thrust into a complex situation.

• Romeo And Juliet | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Italian director Franco Zeffirelli stunned the world when he cast two young unknowns to portray the star crossed lovers in 'Romeo and Juliet' but it was a gamble that resulted in one of the most popular motion pictures of the time winning international acclaim and two Academy Awards. Shakespeare's classic romance comes to stunning visual life in a modern young person's interpretation bringing new vitality and a fresh insight to the most durable love story ever written.

• The Deer Hunter | DVD | (04/03/2019) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S. Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of people in a small industrial town in Pennsylvania.

• The Dark Half | DVD | (22/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Although it lacks the creepy subtleties of Stephen King's celebrated novel, George Romero's underrated adaptation of The Dark Half is among the best films based on King's fiction, with Romero taking care to honour the central theme while serving up some gruesome gore in the film's much-criticised finale. Inspired by King's own admission that he wrote several novels under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Dark Half explores the duality of a writer's impulse, ranging from literary respectability to the viscerally cathartic thrills of exploitative pulp fiction. Author and teacher Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton) finds himself torn between those extremes when he "kills" his profitable alter ego, George Stark (the bestselling dark half to Thad's light), who then assumes evil, autonomous form (again played by Hutton) to defend lethally his role in Thad's creative endeavours. Forced to wrestle with this evil manifestation of his own unformed twin, Thad must fight to protect his wife (Amy Madigan), their twin babies and himself. While Romero skilfully develops the twin/duality theme to explore the writer's dilemma, Hutton is outstanding in his dual roles, playing Stark (in subtly fiendish makeup) as a redneck rebel with a knack for slashing throats. Julie Harris adds class in a supporting role, and horror fans will relish Romero's climactic showdown, in which swarms of sparrows seal Stark's fate. It favours a pulp sensibility with clunky exposition to explain Stark's existence, but The Dark Half is a laudable effort from everyone involved. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com