Crime Thriller

• The Backwoods | DVD | (19/05/2008) from £11.41   |  Saving you £4.58 (40.14%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A heart-pounding ode to thrillers such as "Straw Dogs" as two mild-mannered couples find themselves trapped in a whirlpool of violence.

• Merci pour le Chocolat | DVD | (19/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Claude Chabrol's nervy and nasty little 2001 thriller Merci Pour le Chocolat is based on Charlotte Armstrong's novel The Chocolate Cobweb. In Chabrol's hands it becomes a vehicle of considerable power for the unsettling, disturbed qualities of actress Isabelle Huppert, who has been one of his most important muses over the years (their other collaborations include La Cérémonie and Rien ne va Plus). Huppert plays Mika, the owner of a Swiss chocolate factory, now married to a world-class concert pianist (Jacques Dutronc) and with a stepson who is obsessive about making the family's drinking chocolate every day. As the clues unravel, it soon becomes clear that Mika is damaged goods. When Dutronc acquires a piano student (Anna Mougalis) in curious circumstances, Mika is forced to escalate her secret agenda. Huppert is fascinating throughout and the film is sinewy and, for the most part, rather clever, evoking shades of Hitchcock and Clouzot. Liszt's Les Funérailles is the ominous leitmotif, worked on by Dutronc and his protégé, and the Lausanne setting creates an other-worldliness which seems almost sterile. Only at the end does the picture dwindle into an almost Strindbergian inertia as Mika's motivation seems to evaporate in a rather unsatisfactory way. Until then it is spellbinding. --Piers Ford

• Poison Ivy 4 - Secret Society | DVD | (20/04/2009) from £4.99   |  Saving you £15.00 (300.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Wide-eyed freshman Danielle Daisy Brooks' first days at Beckshire College are the best ever. She's noticed by the dean's handsome son singled out for a much sought-after scholarship and invited to join an exclusive campus society the Ivies. But the Ivies are more than a close-knit secretive sisterhood. They are hot-blooded temptresses with cold-blooded ambition who are more than willing to seduce blackmail or do away with anyone who gets in their way... even if she's one of their own! This fourth installment in the sexy Poison Ivy series is a delicious thriller starring Miriam McDonald (Degrassi: The Next Generation) as a not-so-innocent country girl whose education at the hands of the Ivies becomes a study in Survival 101.

• Play Misty for Me | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £9.60   |  Saving you £0.38 (5.75%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Clint Eastwood (making his very assured directorial debut) is a poetry-spouting stud-muffin DJ stalked by a maniacally amorous fan after a misguided one-night stand in this enjoyably schlocky, undeniably effective film about good intentions gone murderously wacky. Although many of the very 1970s trappings presented here may ultimately be too dated to be taken seriously (including a highly self-indulgent jazz number and a hilariously gooey seduction number between Eastwood and Donna Mills), the core premise of infatuation taken out of bounds remains uncomfortably plausible--and was influential enough to be appropriated by one of the biggest hits of the 1980s. (Here's a hint--it starred Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, and a very unfortunate bunny rabbit.) A well-staged and occasionally very frightening thriller worth watching for Jessica Walter's peerlessly unhinged performance alone. Frequent Eastwood collaborator Don Siegel (director of Dirty Harry, Coogan's Bluff and The Beguiled, to name but a few) has a nice cameo as Murphy, the moustachioed, chess-playing bartender. --Andrew Wright, Amazon.com

• The Mind Benders | DVD | (01/10/2007) from £12.94   |  Saving you £0.05 (0.39%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Following the suicide of a fellow scientist under suspicion of passing information to the Communists Dirk Bogarde plays an Oxford Scientist who submits himself to a particularly dangerous experiment in total isolation to try and prove that his colleague had been brainwashed. The experiment consists of being submerged in a tank full of water for up to ten hours completely out of touch with the outside world. He is without sight without taste without touch without smell and without hearing and the result is disturbing to say the least...

• The Scary of Sixty-First | Blu Ray | (03/10/2022) from £26.47   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Addie and Noelle can't believe their luck when they discover an affordable apartment on Manhattan's famous Upper East Side. As soon as they move in, Addie starts acting odd, sucking her thumb, and speaking in a childlike fashion. With the help of a mysterious conspiracy theorist, they soon discover the apartment harbours a dark secret: the property was owned by disgraced millionaire Jeffrey Epstein and Addie is possessed by one of the sex offender's victims. Bold, daring and unlike anything that has come before it, Fractured Visions is proud to present Dasha Nekrasova's darkly-comic horror, a film that is guaranteed to leave your jaw on the floor. Product Features Audio Commentary with Dasha Nekrasova and co-writer/actress Madeline Quinn Audio Commentary with film historians and authors Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson Q&A with Dasha Nekrasova from Beyond Fest 2021 Metaphysical Repercussions - an interview with co-writer/director/actress Dasha Nekrasova Doing the Undoable and Saying the Unsayable - an interview with actress Betsey Brown Watching the (Armchair) Detectives - an interview with producer/actor Mark H. Rapaport Trailer Collector's Edition Slipcase with new artwork by Chris Crow & Sloth Visuals Collector's booklet with new essays by Caitlyn Downs, Zoé Rose Smith, and Janine Pipe 6 Art Cards

• Python | DVD | (13/09/2002) from £15.97   |  Saving you £-10.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £1.99

  Created By Nature...Redesigned By Man. Sleepy New Haven California is a small town with a big problem. A sixty foot slithering horror has arrived and shattered the town's tranquility on it's path of death and destruction.. Growing violent and more savage with each attack the gigantic creature soon becomes an unstoppable feeding machine raging beyond the control of its creator leaving only the stripped bones of its victims in its wake.

• Trade Of Innocents | DVD | (06/05/2013) from £16.52   |  Saving you £-4.27 (N/A%)   |  RRP £10.99

  In present day South East Asia, down dark alleys, in secret rooms, children are for sale. Alex Becker and his team are the last defense, leading his team on a raid of a known child trafficker only to discover the trafficker has escaped taking a seven-year-old girl and Alex’s wife captive. Parallel story lines intertwine and twists unfold against the backdrop of the dangerous human trafficking world, in a story of struggle, life, hope and redemption in Trade of Innocents.

• Inspector Morse - Disc 9 And 10 - The Last Enemy / Deceived By The Flight | DVD | (24/06/2002) from £9.98   |  Saving you £7.00 (87.61%)   |  RRP £14.99

  When Inspector Morse first appeared on television in 1987, nobody could have predicted that it would run into the next century, maintaining throughout a quality of scripts and story lines that raised the genre of the detective series to a new level. Much of its success can be attributed to John Thaw's total immersion in the role. Morse is a prickly character and not obviously easy to like. As a detective in Oxford with unfulfilled academic propensities, he is permanently excluded from a world of which he would dearly love to be a part. He is at odds with that world--and with his colleagues in the police force--most of the time. Passionate about opera and "proper beer", he is a cultural snob for whom vulgarity causes almost physical pain. As a result, he lives from one disillusionment to another. And he is scarred--more deeply than he would ever admit--by past relationships. But he also has a naïve streak and, deep-down sensitivity, which makes him a fascinating challenge for women. At the heart of Morse's professional life is his awkward partnership with Detective Sergeant Lewis, the resolutely ordinary, worldly sidekick who manages to keep his boss in an almost permanent state of exasperation while retaining his grudging respect. It's a testament to Kevin Whateley's consistently excellent performance that from such unpromising material, Lewis becomes as indispensable to the series as Barrington Pheloung's hypnotic, classic theme music. Morse's investigations do occasionally take him abroad to more exotic locations, but throughout 14 successful years of often gruesome murders, the city of Oxford itself became a central character in these brooding two-hour dramas: creator Colin Dexter stating he finally had to kill Morse off because he was giving Oxford a bad reputation as a dangerous place! --Piers Ford

• High Crimes | Blu Ray | (27/05/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Just about acceptable as an in-flight movie, High Crimes is a tad weak for the big-screen, though its amiable stars and typical plotting offer the comforts of familiarity for home viewing. Ashley Judd plays a high-end lawyer who specialises in brilliant defence of the guilty, while Morgan Freeman is a broken-down ex-drunk who specialises in court martials ("military justice is to justice what military music is to music"). When Judd's handyman husband (Jim Caviezel) is arrested by the FBI and indicted for a massacre carried out in El Salvador while he was serving as a marine, Judd gets over the fact that he has concealed his entire past and even his real name and rallies to fight the case, even if it means going up against the shadowy masters of a conspiracy to cover up what actually happened. The movie rattles through all the clichés: bugs in phones; cars that cruise ominously by; staged road accidents; night-time intrusions; mystery men who hand out clues in the supermarket; dubious polygraph results; appearing and disappearing witnesses; smugly brutal generals, brilliantly made points of law; fights in the interview room; multiple revelations; a media circus and a final tussle in a darkened, deserted house. Judd, one of the best screen actresses of her generation, needs to pick better scripts since her commitment to rubbish only makes her look silly, but Freeman has done enough of these walk-through parts to get by on charisma and the odd smart line. On the DVD: High Crimes on disc comes with a gaggle of featurettes: a chat with the author of the original novel, Joseph Finder, some making-of puffery about staging stunts and the working relationship of the stars, and interesting little bits with the technical advisors about the court martial system and how to beat a polygraph. Franklin contributes a commentary track with a lot of enthusiasm, which is a little more pleased with the end product than most viewers will be. --Kim Newman

• Shadow Conspiracy | DVD | (25/10/2004) from £9.43   |  Saving you £5.56 (37.10%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Bobby Bishop (Charlie Sheen) is one of the President's most powerful and trusted advisors but when he becomes involved with a college professor who has information on a traitor he suddenly becomes a fugitive. Hunted down in the dead of night by a ruthless killer Bishop enlists the help of former girlfriend Amanda Givens (Linda Hamilton) a plucky reporter and together they uncover a hideous conspiracy. But Bishop is now an outsider and must try to get Washington to believe him be

• Inspector Morse - Disc 27 And 28 - Day Of The Devil / Twilight Of The Gods | DVD | (09/09/2002) from £9.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (50.05%)   |  RRP £14.99

  When Inspector Morse first appeared on television in 1987, nobody could have predicted that it would run into the next century, maintaining throughout a quality of scripts and storylines that raised the genre of the detective series to a new level. Much of its success can be attributed to John Thaw's total immersion in the role. Morse is a prickly character and not obviously easy to like. As a detective in Oxford with unfulfilled academic propensities, he is permanently excluded from a world of which he would dearly love to be a part. He is at odds with that world--and with his colleagues in the police force--most of the time. Passionate about opera and "proper beer", he is a cultural snob for whom vulgarity causes almost physical pain. As a result, he lives from one disillusionment to another. And he is scarred--more deeply than he would ever admit--by past relationships. But he also has a naïve streak and, deep down, sensitivity, which makes him a fascinating challenge for women. At the heart of Morse's professional life is his awkward partnership with Detective Sergeant Lewis, the resolutely ordinary, worldly sidekick who manages to keep his boss in an almost permanent state of exasperation while retaining his grudging respect. It's a testament to Kevin Whately's consistently excellent performance that from such unpromising material, Lewis becomes as indispensable to the series as Barrington Pheloung's hypnotic, classic theme music. Morse's investigations do occasionally take him abroad to more exotic locations, but throughout 14 successful years of often gruesome murders, the city of Oxford itself became a central character in these brooding two-hour dramas: creator Colin Dexter said he finally had to kill Morse off because he was giving Oxford a bad reputation as a dangerous place! --Piers Ford

• Saw II | UMD | (27/03/2006) from £5.71   |  Saving you £17.27 (634.93%)   |  RRP £19.99

• Blow Out | Blu Ray | (03/06/2013) from £26.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  One of Brian De Palma’s most acclaimed films, this brilliant fusion of the obsessive sleuthing of Blow-up and The Conversation with themes drawn from real-life political scandals (the JFK assassination, Chappaquiddick, Watergate) starts with sound technician Jack Terry (John Travolta) accidentally recording what might be explosive evidence of a deadly conspiracy. Brilliantly shot by the then recent Oscar-winner Vilmos Zsigmond, this terrifically stylish thriller co-stars Nancy Allen as the eyewitness who becomes the unwitting target of John Lithgow’s serial killer as he ruthlessly attempts to bury all the evidence. It’s also a film about the filmmaking process: Terry is originally hired to work on the low-budget slasher film Coed Frenzy, and later turns his technical skills to much more serious use as he tries to reconstruct a political assassination on film in a way that will stand up in court. Special Features: Limited Edition SteelBook New, restored digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Brian De Palma Original Dolby 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing Black and White in Colour: An Interview with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond Rag Doll Memories: Nancy Allen on Blow Out Return to Philadelphia: An interview with Producer George Litto A gallery of on-set photos by photographer Louis Goldman Original Theatrical Trailer Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michael Atkinson, a conversation between Quentin Tarantino and De Palma, and more to be confirmed!

• Eden Of The East Movie 2 - Paradise Lost | DVD | (21/11/2011) from £18.88   |  Saving you £-0.89 (-4.90%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The story of political and subversive intrigue in the series finally reaches endgame. Even as the law enforcement net tightens around Saki and her fellow Eden of the East associates over alleged terrorist activities, the complex web surrounding the mysterious Mr. Outside is finally untangled as the remaining Selecao attempt to outmaneuver one another. Takizawa's memories and identity are also finally revealed including his association with a former Prime Minister and his request to be the King of Eden.

• Dom Hemingway | Blu Ray | (31/03/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Dom Hemingway (Jude Law) is a larger-than-life safecracker with a loose fuse - funny profane and dangerous. Back on the streets of London after twelve years in prison it's time to collect what he's owed for keeping his mouth shut. Travelling with his devoted best friend (Richard E Grant) Dom visits his crime boss (Demian Bichir) in the south of France to claim his reward. But Dom's drink and drug-fuelled ego decides that what he's lost can't be replaced. One car accident and a femme fatale later (Madalina Diana Ghenea) Dom realizes that his priority must be to reconnect with his long-lost daughter (Clarke). But Dom does what Dom does best. He screws things up for everyone...

• Half Past Dead | DVD | (15/09/2003) from £7.48   |  Saving you £-0.50 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  A man infiltrates a hi-tech prison to find out where a death-row inmate hid his $200 million stash of gold. It's up to an undercover FBI agent to stop him before it's too late.

• The Deal | DVD | (26/12/2008) from £4.64   |  Saving you £1.35 (29.09%)   |  RRP £5.99

  At a time when the US is seized by the worst oil shortage in history Wall Street big shot Tom Hansen (Christian Slater) is asked to oversee a big oil merger. Tom jumps at the chance to kickstart his faltering career while at the same time embarking on a sexually-charged love affair with idealistic business school graduate Abbey Gallagher (Selma Blair). Steadily Tom begins to uncover a global conspiracy of illegal oil trafficking governmental cover-ups and murder. Tom and Abbey's lives are in danger when they become embroiled in the web of conspiracy with the Russian Mafia. With the clock ticking Tom has to put his career his reputation and his life in jeopardy to protect Abbey and expose the truth about the deal.

• Anatomy | DVD | (23/04/2001) from £7.10   |  Saving you £12.89 (181.55%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A medical horror movie from Germany, Anatomy is every bit as slick as its Hollywood equivalents (most notably Coma) but cuts a lot deeper thanks to its connections with a Gothic past. Brilliant medical student Paula Haller (Franka Potente) is accepted into a prestigious summer anatomy course at Heidelberg University and gradually learns that many of her teachers and classmates are members of the Antihippocratic League. This secret society carries out unethical vivisection experiments on live human specimens and has been active in the medical profession since the 16th century with a special peak during the Third Reich. Director-writer Stefan Ruzowitsky plays some distinctive and personal games as the heroine uncovers the conspiracy, then learns that her own family is intimately connected with the League. In gruesome but delicate horror scenes, kidnapped human specimens awake anaesthetised to the sound of easy-listening music as masked students dissect them alive to create the impressive, grotesque and beautifully preserved cutaway specimens used in the anatomy classes. Potente, the star of Run, Lola Run, has a very different role as the serious but passionate heroine and her character is affected by the revelations of the plot in a way that deepens the movie beyond the terrific suspense mechanisms of its lady-in-peril climax, in which Paula's medical knowledge and personal grit enable her to fight back. A great moment has the heroine forced to instruct her non-medical student boyfriend (Sebastian Blomberg) how to administer a simple but crucial intravenous injection to save her life, while the plausible villain turns out to be a renegade even by the standards of his secret society. On the DVD: An extremely high-quality DVD, this offers a pristine widescreen transfer (1:2.35) of the film (enhanced for 16:9 TVs); soundtracks in German, Spanish and English with optional subtitles in English, German and a dozen other languages; a full-length commentary in German by Ruzovitsky, with English subtitles; a couple of deleted scenes, with director commentary; on-set interviews with the cast and crew and a snippets of behind-the-scenes footage; a music video by co-star Anna Loos, shot on the set of the film; trailers; filmographies; and a neat animated menu. --Kim Newman

• Gang Law | DVD | (20/12/2002) from £4.98   |  Saving you £9.01 (180.92%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Kool finds out the dangers of life in the streets where drugs gangs and a corrupt justice system are a distubing way of life. Kool is a young kid trying to do right in this world of chaos through the disciplines of the martial arts. He is befriended by his mentor ""Master Koyangi"" is deeply in love with his girlfriend Lashawana and his dream of becoming a rap star has guided him positively toward his goal. But when Lashawana is wrongfully charged with the murder of a police office