Barry Forshaw writes: Let’s start with some new Blu-rays to which I’ve contributed extras (along with Kim Newman) — our commentaries can be found on the following…

THE SABATA TRILOGY, Gianfranco Parolini, director/Eureka Blu-ray The spotty availability of these highly diverting Italian westerns has meant that only the most dedicated aficionados will have seen all three; now (thanks to Eureka) we can relish Gianfranco Parolini’s quirky takes on a classic genre. And with the first film (still the best of the trilogy), we can applaud the contribution of American actor Lee Van Cleef (fresh from his success in Sergio Leone’s ‘Dollars’ films which launched the phenomenally popular trend). As the deadly marksman of the title, Van Cleef is given relatively little in the way of characterisation (perhaps the most important thing about him are his gimmick guns); Parolini was clearly aware that the charisma of his American star would paper over the cracks. As Kim and I note in the commentary, few American directors had given Cleef the opportunity to shine as he was so effective in smaller parts – it’s a particular pleasure to see him stretch out here. The three iconic spaghetti westerns by director Gianfranco Parolini are Sabata (1969), Adiós Sabata (1970) with Yul Brynner taking over as the title character in the sequel, and Return of Sabata (1971), with Lee Van Cleef returning as the marksman. All three are very winning entries.

FREE HAND FOR A TOUGH COP, Umberto Lenzi, director/Fractured Visions Here’s another occasion on which Kim Newman and I examined Italian genre cinema in a particularly lively example of the poliziotteschi form. The Italian crime films of the 1970s, the violent and kinetic ‘poliziotteschi’ began as a series of rough-and-ready simulacra of American models (as so often in the trend-following culture of Italian popular cinema), but parleyed the elements borrowed from such US models as Don Siegel’s Dirty Harry and William Friedkin’s The French Connection into something different, sometimes injecting indirect social criticism into their borrowed raiment. Italian actors such as Franco Nero were employed, but past-their-best American stars were also hired. In non-Italian territories, poliziotteschi were only available in crudely English-dubbed versions, which did such films as Sergio Martino’s The Violent Professionals (1973) no favours whatsoever. Finally making its UK debut, Fractured Visions offers up Free Hand For A Tough Cop, the film that introduced Tomas Milian’s legendarily scruffy anti-hero ‘Monnezza’ (A.K.A Garbage Can) to audiences around the world. Inspector Sarti (Claudio Cassinelli of Suspicious Death Of A Minor) enters an uneasy, violent partnership with him.

EARLY UNIVERSAL VOL 2: 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, The Calgary Stampede, etc., various directors/Eureka Blu-ray The third set to which I contributed this month is just me – Kim Newman sat this one out, while I supplied a booklet essay on these fascinating silent movies, part of The Masters of Cinema series. I was particularly keen to catch up with the silent version of 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, and it proved to be something are a revelation. Needless to say, the effects here cannot match the Richard Fleischer/Disney version of the sound era, but there is much to enjoy in this beguiling take on Jules Verne – not least the fact that certain aspects dropped in later versions (such as Captain Nemo’s Asian ethnicity) are fully on display here. The Calgary Stampede (directed by Herbert Blaché in 1925) has real life rodeo champion Hoot Gibson playing Dan Malloy, an expert rider who wins the big one, the Calgary Stampede. And What Happened to Jones? (dir. William A. Seiter, 1926) is a lively Reginald Denny comedy. All three have exemplary transfers.

THE DARK EYES OF LONDON, Walter Summers, director/Network Blu-ray  The rise of literacy and popular culture inaugurated by the Great War provided a robust platform for the flowering of crime fiction. Many authors emerged and flourished in the 1920s – the now largely unread Edgar Wallace, H.C. McNeile (‘Sapper’) and, in the States, Sax Rohmer, S.S. Van Dine and Edgar Rice Burroughs became international celebrities. Part of their success was due to a change in the publishing industry, most notably the advent of the paperback, and even more significantly, the paperback ‘original’. For a few cents, a gripping piece of fiction was available in its entirety, for the first time, replacing the old magazine serialization marketing methods which Dickens. Poe, Collins and Doyle had to deal with. Although Edgar Wallace’s literary star faded, his influence on the cinema hung around longer – particularly in Germany where he was still popular. This gimmicky, gruesome tale is one of his best-known, and is dispatched here with real panache. Even Bela Lugosi’s typically over-the-top performance fits in perfectly. Apart from the pleasure of catching up with a rarely seen film, a particular plus is the commentary from Kim Newman and Stephen Jones, as well as the pair’s discussion of Bela Lugosi’s work in the UK at the Edgar Wallace Pub in London.

MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN, Giorgio Ferroni director/Arrow Blu-Ray Long regarded as one of the classics of the international horror genre, this visually striking (if unhurried) piece has never looked as good as it does in this crisp and detailed version. Young art student Hans von Arnam (Pierre Brice) takes a barge trip to an ancient mill to pen a monograph about its famous sculptures of women in the throes of death. His trip is to be fateful indeed. Atmospheric use of locales, beautifully photographed; excellent playing: the film’s cult status is deserved.

INGMAR BERGMAN VOLUME 2, Ingmar Bergman, director/BFI Blu-ray  Bergman admirers were greatly pleased by the first compendious BFI set, but it is with the second volume that we begin to sample the Swedish master’s most consummate cinema masterpieces, not least one of his key films, The Seventh Seal. This limited Edition (5,000 copies only) 5-disc Blu-ray box set contains eight films, classic titles from 1951 to 1958. These include the Palme d’Or-nominated comedy Smiles of a Summer Night (1955), the matchless Wild Strawberries (1957) and (as mentioned above) The Seventh Seal (1957). The collection includes a selection of special features and is packaged with a 100-page perfect bound book. Unmissable fare for lovers of great cinema.

THREE FROM INDICATOR: GRAY LADY DOWN, MacARTHUR, HELLFIGHTERS, Various directors/Indicator Blu-Ray   Indicator continues to put cinéastes in its debt by presenting spruced-up versions of earlier films that might have fallen into neglect. The most cherishable in the current batch is director David Greene’s tense submarine drama Gray Lady Down with Charlton Heston doing what he does best: presenting an authority figure under considerable strain; fascinating to glimpse (in an early role) a pre-Superman Christopher Reeve. MacArthur boasts a solid performance by Gregory Peck in the title role as the tough-as-nails general, and the film is much enhanced by a typically inventive Jerry Goldsmith score. Hellfighters is an everyday vehicle for John Wayne, as firefighter Chance Buckman. The film is based on the career of Red Adair (who acted as technical adviser on the film), and the director here is reliable pro Andrew V McLaglen. Mastered from the materials in good shape, these releases features a selection of new and archival extra features,

FALBALAS, Jacques Becker, director/StudioCanal Blu-ray If you’re familiar with the cinematic work of cult director Jacques Becker, this little-known entry will be of particular interest. And while it might not match an achievement his better known films (such as Touchez Pas Au Grisbi, Le Trou and Casque D’Or), it is still remarkably accomplished. Starring Raymond Rouleau, Micheline Presle, Jean Chevrier and Gabrielle Dorziat, this new restoration of the shocking 1945 drama, is set in the  world of Paris fashion. It arrives with compendious extras as part of the Vintage World Cinema collection which showcases iconic world cinema, all fully restored and featuring brand new extra content.

PARKS AND RECREATION: THE COMPLETE SERIES, various directors, Fabulous Films Blu-Ray if you are an admirer of sophisticated comedy along the lines of The Office, you will need little persuasion to tackle this handsome set which collect the entire series of Parks and Recreation. Apart from the sharp satirical writing, the principal appeal here, of course, is the wonderful central performance by the multitalented Poehler as the deluded city official at the heart of a variety of disasters — although that is not to underestimate the contribution of the supporting cast, all of whom shine almost as brightly. Set in Pawnee, Indiana, Golden Globe winner Poehler headlines the series from Primetime Emmy Award-winning producers Greg Daniels (The Office, King of the Hill) and Michael Schur (The Office, Saturday Night Live). Parks and Recreation was nominated for an impressive 76 awards throughout its run including sixteen Primetime Emmy Award nominations, (twice as a comedy series and twice for writing). Guest stars from the world of politics include the current US President Joe Biden, Senator John McCain, Michelle Obama and first woman to become the US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright.

SHORT SHARP SHOCKS VOL. 2, various director/ BFI Flipside Blu-Ray The first volume in this unusual series was one of the most enterprising in the BFI catalogue, making available some long neglected short pieces, several of which are particularly cherishable. And that’s very much the case with this second edition, which has some gems among the very varied entries. The BFI promises ‘low-budget weirdness, stylish spectacle, peculiar public information, monstrous music and provocative experiment – all with oodles of atmosphere, and in High Definition too.’ Also including new interviews with some of the writers and directors.

THE APE WOMAN, Marco Ferreri, director/Cult Films Blu-Ray The remarkable performance of Annie Girardot as the hirsute title character here is genuinely heartbreaking – particularly as the film anticipates David Lynch’s The Elephant Man in its unsparing picture of the exploitation as a ‘freak’ of a person suffering catastrophic physical change. And the direction by Marco Ferreri, known for his in-your-face confrontational later pieces (such as the satire La Grande Bouffe) is perfectly at the service of the material. The Ape Woman is based on the true story of 19th-century carnival performer Julia Pastrana. In Ferreri’s film, an extraordinary Annie Girardot delivers an elegant and devastating performance as Maria ‘the ape woman’, a convent scullery maid whose body is covered in hair, from head to toe. The film won a Palme d’Or nomination. CultFilms presents Ferreri’s own original edit now shown complete and uncut, finally doing justice to the director’s condemned vision as well as the longer, alternative ending made for Cannes, both restored in 4K for the Venice Film Festival in 2017.

NO MAN OF GOD, Amber Sealey, director/101 Films Blu-Ray Making something of a splash at its UK Premiere at FrightFest, 101 Films makes available a striking transfer of Amber Sealey’s No Man of God. One of America’s most monstrous serial killers, Ted Bundy, is chillingly incarnated by Luke Kirby, with Elijah Wood banishing memories of Frodo as the FBI man on his trail. The film is based on actual interview transcripts, and has an accumulative disturbing effect.

ONE OF OUR AIRCRAFT IS MISSING, Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger, directors/BFI Blu-ray Now that Michael Powell is generally considered to be Britain’s greatest film director apart from Alfred Hitchcock, it’s particularly fascinating to look again at some of his earlier works – notably those when he was part of the partnership with Emory Pressburger. This one is a particular gem from the early years, full of rich characterisation and building up considerable tension in its narrative. Shot down over occupied Holland, the crew of a Wellington bomber must find their way to safety through enemy territory. With contributions behind the camera from future directors David Lean, Ronald Neame and Guy Green.

THE GREAT SILENCE, Sergio Corbucci, director/Eureka Blu-Ray One by one they come, the much lauded (but often little seen) classics of Italian genre cinema – and this deeply unorthodox Western is one of the most sought after, particularly as Sergio Corbucci is now regarded as the most talented of Italian directors of Westerns after Sergio Leone. Here he is aided by impressive performances by two non-Italians who most definitely qualifies as cult actors: from France, Jean-Louis Trintignant and the eccentric German Klaus Kinski. Dubbing of the former into Italian was not a problem as he is totally silent, but the voice chosen for Kinski works well with the character. Eureka Entertainment’s transfer on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK is from a 2K restoration. Snap it up, though – this is a Limited Edition Set as part of The Masters of Cinema Series from 22 November 2021.

THREE FROM LIONSGATE: DEMENTIA 13: DIRECTOR’S CUT, SUNDOWN, WRAITH, various directors/Lionsgate Blu-ray I was one of those who saw Francis Coppola’s tyro directorial effort in Britain in a Kentish Town cinema as The Haunted and the Hunted. The British release print was a cut, and so, ironically, is this new version: only this remains particularly collectible as it is Francis Coppola’s new director’s cut (he has removed one murder which was not shot by him but which was added by producer Roger Corman to enhance the violence quotient of the film). In terms of presentation, this new iteration blows away all its predecessors. It is joined in this month’s release from Lions Gate by two prime examples of contemporary horror, the assured Sundown and the inventive Wraith.

FAQ Gideon’s Way, various directors/Network  The Crime Writers’ Association founder, prolific crime writer John Creasey, is best known to cognoscenti only these days, but there are many rediscoveries to be made, such as the novels featuring his canny Scotland Yard Copper Gideon. This much loved series (starring John Gregson as Gideon) is here given the deluxe reissue treatment, and those who have faint memories of TV showings will be surprised at just how splendid it looks today. Casting and directing showcase the very best that the medium of the day could offer, and the casting of Gregson in particular is so on the nail that it sometimes even unseats memories of Jack Hawkins, whose cinema incarnation of Gideon was long considered definitive.

JUST A GIGOLO, David Hemmings, director/Fabulous Films  How much of a David Bowie fan are you? If you are a devoted admirer, you may not be worried by the fact that he is notably ill at ease as the title character in this period-set film directed (in camp fashion)  by the actor David Hemmings. The presence of Marlene Dietrich — elderly but still shot in flattering fashion – adds an iconic touch to the black comedy, with Sydne Rome and Kim Novak in other female roles. If you’re a David Bowie fan, you should perhaps give it a try – although others may not be won over.

CINEMATIC VENGEANCE! Joseph Kuo, director/Eureka Blu-ray The days when martial arts movie from the Far East could only be seen in atrociously dubbed ruinously panned-and-scanned versions are thankfully long distant, and we can finally see these lively and unsophisticated movies in a form approaching how their first enthusiastic audiences saw them. And here is a collection that will be of great interest to fans, making their worldwide debuts on Blu-ray as part of the Eureka Classics range. Joseph Kuo often took on writing, directing, and even producing duties, and the eight examples of his independent productions here are all fully restored.