"Actor: William"

• The Mysterious Lady | DVD | (19/09/2005) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-3.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Garbo plays a cunning spy in this silent film from director Fred Niblo. Shot in 1928 'Mysterious Lady' sees Garbo playing Tania Fedorova a wiley seductress who both falls in love with and steals documents from a high ranking military man...

• Solo | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £12.96   |  Saving you £10.02 (100.50%)   |  RRP £19.99

  There is a hint, albeit a very brief one, of James Whale's classic 1931 Frankenstein in this low-budget movie about a robot soldier, Solo (Mario Van Peebles), created by the Pentagon to be the perfect, unfeeling fighting machine. When Solo is sent into Central American jungles to battle guerrillas, a flaw in his program emerges when it is discovered that he has compassion and a conscience. Fleeing his keepers, the robot becomes part of a jungle village after its inhabitants get over the need to run from him (this is where the Frankenstein parallel comes in). The film isn't particularly clever, just noisy and ugly, and one can't help but think of it as a knock-off of The Terminator. Van Peebles doesn't seem the ideal choice for an action hero along the lines of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Kurt Russell--who do this kind of thing well--but then again this is straight-to-video fodder. --Tom Keogh

• The Roger Corman Horror Collection | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Siren DVD's three-disc Roger Corman Collection contains The Little Shop of Horrors and The Terror, which Corman directed, as well as Dementia 13, which he produced. Though he has a reputation as one of the craftiest businessmen in Hollywood, Corman was too cheapskate in the 1960s to bother copyrighting a bunch of his films and so the same titles have been showing up on video and now DVD from many different distributors. All these films were thrown together in odd circumstances to take advantage of leftover sets, contracted performers or tied-up production funds. Little Shop of Horrors (a disguised remake of A Bucket of Blood) was famously made over a three-day weekend "because it was raining and we couldn't play tennis". The Terror exists because Boris Karloff owed a few days' work after completing The Raven and castle sets were still standing. Dementia 13 was written and directed by a young Francis Coppola in Ireland to take advantage of a European trip made for Corman's The Young Racers. All the films are interesting, in themselves and as footnotes to distinguished filmographies. Little Shop of Horrors has a lasting cult reputation for its blackly comic tale of codependency between a skid-row botanist (Jonathan Haze, relying a bit too much on a Jerry Lewis impersonation) and a blood-drinking, flesh-hungry mutant plant voiced by screenwriter Chuck Griffith ("feed meeee!"), with a creepy cameo from a young Jack Nicholson as a masochist who loves to visit the dentist. The Terror, which has Nicholson as the bewildered lead, is a wilfully incomprehensible Gothic picture made up on the spot by Corman and a handful of other directors (including Coppola and Monte Hellman), climaxing with Karloff's bogus baron and a decaying spectre woman swept away by a flood in the dungeons. Dementia 13, a saga of axe murders and mad sculptors, is brisk grand guignol with a lot of creepy imagery to do with drowned children and family rituals. On the DVD: The Roger Corman Collection limply claims the films are "digitally mastered" (note, not "remastered") as they are simply copies of low-quality video onto disc. Because these titles are public domain no one seems willing to take any care with transfers, and all three films are in terrible state. The Terror, the only colour film, looks especially atrocious (Vistascope cropped to full-frame) but the black-and-white films also suffer all manner of damage. The packaging is classy, but it's a shame more work wasn't done on the films themselves.--Kim Newman

• The Doll Squad | DVD | (23/07/2001) from £8.47   |  Saving you £-5.48 (-183.30%)   |  RRP £2.99

  Both director-entrepreneur Ted V Mikels and the packaging of The Doll Squad claim that the TV show Charlie's Angels was ripped off from this cheapo action film. In truth both concepts owe a lot to Emma Peel, Pussy Galore's Flying Circus or the femme armies that crop up in Our Man Flint and other 60s spy efforts. Despite its (horrible) lounge score and eye-straining selection of flared, midriff-baring 70s outfits, Mikels' opus is basically a late-trailing Bond knock-off shot without a stunt budget. Extortionist baddie Eamon O'Reilly (the usually classier Michael Ansara) wants to blackmail the US into handing over secrets and giving into a load of terrorist demands by spreading a bubonic plague manufactured by twin (or clone) mad scientists. "Big Bertha", a computer, suggests that the best way to nail O'Reilly is to send out "the Doll Squad", a cadre of female agents led by Sabrina (Francine York), who can take advantage of his weakness for women (and occasional impotence). The first two choices, a Q-type scientist and a martial artist, are killed by O'Reilly's goons, though Sabrina sees off her would-be assassin with a cigarette lighter/flamethrower that scars his face (and only mildly perturbs the people in the next booth at the bar), so she rounds up a new gang of hairspray-addicted fashion victims: a librarian (Sherri Vernon), a stripper (Tura Satana) and a swimmer (Leigh Christian), later hauling in a squealy and useless undercover girl who is easily kidnapped by O'Reilly to lead them into a trap. We're supposed to believe most of the action takes place in a Dr No-like island retreat but it looks a lot like scrubby California desert and the director's ranch-style "castle". Aside from some fab gear (matching jumpsuits with bust-accenting white lines) the girls have little to do but run around shooting inept stuntmen. On the DVD: For a marginal title, The Doll Squad offers some pleasing extras: a lurid trailer that's probably a more fun watch than the film ("Sabrina's code-prefex is OO-38-24-35!"); a gallery of publicity materials and stills; an exhaustive Mikels filmography; and an odd 1993 interview with the director. The film itself looks as good as it ever will--it's muddily photographed with low-tech effects (the flamethrower flames are just scratched on the emulsion) but at least the colours are vivid and the print is in great condition. --Kim Newman

• Adventures Of The Lost World | DVD | (12/04/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Travelling through the uncharted Amazon Jungle professor Edward Challenger and his companions must defend themselves against incredible dangers. Trapped between the present and the past their attackers are from an age unknown and long forgotten: ape man immense crocodiles and flesh devouring dinosaurs.

• Capital City - The Complete Second Series | DVD | (04/06/2007) from £40.48   |  Saving you £-10.49 (-35.00%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Originally broadcast in 1989 Capital City was a huge success on its original release giving a realistic insight into the fast-paced life of working at an international bank. Set in the offices of London-based Shane Longman the charismatic team of bankers are hired for their blend of style intelligence and verve. They take risks and thrive on the pressure of closing the deal. Experience for yourself the highs and lows of being at the top (and sometimes the bottom) working in one of the most dynamic professions in the world. Features the complete second series.

• Raving Maniacs | DVD | (23/10/2006) from £35.69   |  Saving you £-19.70 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Ravers at the biggest rave in Providence Rhode Island perpetuate their evening by taking a new drug to hit the streets. The reckless youths in their quest for euphoria don't take a second thought to what they are taking indeed no one has ever seen these type of drugs before. But soon it becomes apparent that not all is well and unbeknown to them they are becoming embroiled in an alien plot...

• The Stranger | DVD | (11/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Juliet has it all - a rich and successful husband a beautiful home and a loving family. But everything changes when a mysterious stranger invades her perfect world. All too soon his ominous presence begins to take a terrible toll on Juliet's life. She is tormented by a recurring nightmare - dark desires long since repressed are re-awoken and forbidden fantasies become a shocking reality. A sexually charged psychological thriller The Stranger is the story of one woman's journey into the terrifying recesses of her mind...

• Dead-Bang | DVD | (27/06/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• We Gotta Get Out Of This Place | DVD | (08/09/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

• Trapped | DVD | (12/04/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  At the grand re-opening of Sloan's Hollywood Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas a fire ignites on one of the unoccupied floors. It spreads out of control and none of the alarms are working - the fire is clearly not an accident. 13 guests are about to have a very different evening that the one they planned!

• Say Nothing | DVD | (28/04/2008) from £9.70   |  Saving you £-4.71 (-94.40%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Matt and Grace Needham used to have it all: a luxurious lifestyle a high income utter contentment. But Matt is on the downward slide jobless and drinking heavily as the debts rapidly mount. Escaping alone on a luxury holiday to Miami courtesy of concerned friends Grace meets the enigmatic Julian Banks. But it is only when she returns home that she discovers that this was no one-night stand with a stranger. In fact Julian knows everything about the Needhams about Matt's mysterious new job about Grace's fear of his betrayal about the total power he can exert over this helpless young couple. And as Grace begins to find out more about Julian she is forced to confront a terrifying question: just how far is this perverted 'puppet-master' prepared to go?

• Brotherhood Of Murder | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £5.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Based on a true story, Brotherhood of Murder is the sorry tale of Tony Martinez, an army dropout who becomes convinced that the downturn his life has taken is attributable to the fact that America's ethnic minorities are getting a better deal than he is. There's a ghastly inevitability to what follows as he joins a group of white supremacists who are funding a survivalist community largely through criminal activities. Eventually it's more than even he can bear, so he betrays the group to the FBI. Along the way, there are a few extraordinary scenes, such as when the group cleans out the cash register of a porno video store, leaving the proprietor unharmed but demanding that he remove from his shelves any material depicting interracial sex. This low-key but compelling production gives an insight into how such a strange and very ugly culture can arise out of ignorance and blunted perception. The disc also includes a trailer and a Synergy showcase. --Roger Thomas

• Tick Tock Lullaby | DVD | (07/07/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A wry comedy feature about whether to have a baby or not. Sasha a cartoonist can't decide whether she wants a baby with girlfriend Maya. She invents two straight scenarios - because she presumes they have it easier. She's wrong the three stories start to collide and mistakes happen.

• Black Hawk Down / Tears Of The Sun / Casualties Of War | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Black Hawk Down (Dir. Ridley Scott 2002): Ridley Scott directs this fast moving action adventure about the disastrous mission in Somalia on October 3 1993 where nearly 100 U.S. Army Rangers commanded by Capt. Mike Steele were dropped by helicopter deep into the capital city of Mogadishu to capture two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord which leads to a large and chaotic firefight between the Rangers and hundreds of Somali gunmen which destroys two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters in Mogadishu. Tears Of The Sun (Dir. Antoine Fuqua 2003): Loyal veteran Navy S.E.A.L. Lt. A.K. Waters is sent into the heart of war-torn Africa on a hazardous mission to rescue Dr. Lena Hendricks a U.S. citizen who runs a mission. When the beautiful doctor refuses to abandon the refugees in her care Lt. Waters finds himself having to choose between following orders and the dictates of his own conscience. Together they begin a dangerous trek through the deadly jungle all the while being pursued by a rebel militia group with only one goal in mind: to assassinate Lt. Waters' unit and the refugees in his care... Casualties Of War (Dir. Brian De Palma 1989): Hailed by critics as a masterpiece Casualties of War is based on the true story of a squad of soldiers caught in the moral quagmire of wartime Vietnam. Witness to a vile crime Private Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) is forced to stand alone against his fellow soldiers and commanding officer Sergeant Meserve (Sean Penn). A powerful and charismatic man pushed over the edge of barbarism by the terror and brutality of combat. With sweeping scope action and raw power master filmmaker Brian De Palma creates a devastating and unforgettable tale of one man's quest for sanity and justice amidst the chaos of war.

• Life With Father | DVD | (17/05/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  This delightful comedy based on Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse's Broadway play provides a look at family life in New York City during the 1880's. It earned four Academy Award Nominations including Best Actor for Powell.

• Hellsing - Vol. 1 - Episodes 1-3 | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £7.96   |  Saving you £12.03 (60.20%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The worst enemy of the night is one of its own! A secret war brews in the night - a war where humanity is only a pawn. The Hellsing Organization deploys in the shadows to protect the mortal world. But now artificially spawned vampires have appeared forcing Hellsing to call in their ultimate weapon; the rogue vampire - Arucard! After he transforms the dying Seras Victoria into a vampire they join forces to combat the undead army as well as to quell their new found hunger....

• Da | DVD | (17/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  The Da in 'Da' is the recently deceased foster father of 40 year old Irish playwright Charlie who now lives in New York and has returned to Ireland for his father's funeral. Da in typical Irish style can't bear to miss his own funeral! As Charlie sorts through the old man's papers burning most of them who strolls in but Da himself. Shocked Charlie reminds him that he is dead and tells him to 'get out of my head'... Most of the action takes place in Charlie's mind and memory moving from present reality to the past and back again as the two struggle to understand each other. In the process other significant and colourful characters of Charlie's early life are resurrected including his mother the family dog and his tyrannical employer. His reverie is interrupted by Mr. Drumm who was entrusted with Da's will which much to Charlie's dismay bequeaths everything to him including all of the money Charlie ever sent his Da. Charlie learns that he cannot exorcise the past. Like all mankind he is part of a human chain and to reject his father even in memory is to deny himself... Based on the highly acclaimed Broadway play and written by Hugh Leonard Da features Barnard Hughes recreating his Tony award winning performance for the screen Martin Sheen as Charlie and William Hickey as Drumm.

• Big Bad Mama | DVD | (01/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  After the death of her lover Wilma takes over his bootlegging business but without much success. She soon meets up with bank robber Fred who convinces her and her daughters to join him for his next big heist. In the meantime Wilma also kidnaps the daughter of a millionaire in the hopes of getting rich off the ransom. Will Wilma and Fred be able to retire with their ill-gotten gains or will the law eventually catch up with them?

• The Complete Adventures Of Rin Tin Tin | DVD | (05/05/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  The classic series remastered in brilliant colour with all new music and effects! The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin a celebrated classic for over forty years is an action-adventure series starring the legendary German Shepherd that countless generations have grown to know and love. The Adventures Of Rin Tin Tin remains an exceptional blend of action excitement and warmth - perfect entertainment for the whole family! This box set features all 65 episodes of this classic series!