Barry Forshaw
THE MUMMY and FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL, Terence Fisher, director/Second Sight Made in 1959, The Mummy (never looking better than in this exemplary Blu-ray transfer from Second Sight) has Hammer’s top director Terence Fisher presenting his British characters – while flawed – as representatives of a balanced and civilised order, in which foreign elements serve the function of threatening or destabilising this order. But there are defences to be made of Fisher’s (and Hammer’s) approach – not least in the fact that there is an implicit critique of British inflexibility, and a certain inherent weakness of character which lays open the protagonist to possible destruction; this is not flag-waving imperialism of the kind that is to be seen in many British films up to and including the 1950s, but a more subtle examination of the variety of elements within the British character (which Fisher and his colleagues imply, is – to some degree – always riding for a fall in its dealings with foreign nations). That the foreigners in such films as The Stranglers of Bombay and The Mummy are presented in a relatively unambiguous, threatening fashion may not conform to current politically correct standards but fulfil the narrative function of providing the nemesis which must be overcome for the central characters to survive. What is notable in The Mummy is the suggestion in this very British film that the English are given to ill-advised forays into dangerous territory, allied to a crass inability to respect information imparted by the natives they encounter. An instance of this is the Peter Cushing character’s disregard for the warning against opening the tomb of the Egyptian princess and thus unleashing chaos. And that destabilising chaos, ironically, is brought back to the British homeland when the mummy is transported to an Arcadian England – something that was also true of Bram Stoker’s original novel of Dracula but which (for budgetary reasons) does not happen in the Hammer film adaptation, unlike the original Tod Browning version. One of the most famous scenes in the film is that of Lee’s bandage-swathed creature violently smashing though bay windows into the house of the Egyptologist responsible for his disinterment. The mummy is ineffectually tackled by having a spear driven through his body — it is a scene similar to that in the same director’s Revenge of Frankenstein, suggesting that a heavy price must to be paid for incursions into certain realms; not so much the supernatural as alien, non-English territory to which the British protagonists bring a little understanding or sympathy. Second Sight have also spruced up Fisher’s final film for Hammer, Frankenstein and The Monster From Hell, once again with Peter Cushing in his last outing as The Baron.
EUROTRASH, various directors/Network Do you remember the time when the nation – or at least that part of the nation interested in the transgressive – was glued to the tongue-in-cheek magazine programme Eurotrash? Those of us watching it were hardly likely to be full of moral outrage at the only slightly censored excesses on view – but how would it look in the 21st-century – a far primmer age? Well it’s back! Thanks to Network, Gallic eccentrics Antoine de Caunes and Jean-Paul Gaultier can be viewed again in the Eurotrash decade with such guests as Graham Norton, Eddie Izzard, Julian Clary, Melinda Messenger, Naomi Campbell, David Hasselhoff, Kylie Minogue and Bjork. But it’s still not for the easily offended – is that the typical modern viewer?
IDENTIFICATION OF A WOMAN/Identificazione di una Donna, Michelangelo Antonioni, director/Cult Films Michelangelo Antonioni’s later films (after the universal success his mid-period films enjoyed) are something of a mixed bag. But, of course, nothing Antonioni directed could be without interest, and such is the case with this 1982 drama. A film director (Tomas Milian) is looking for a woman for a forthcoming project. He finds himself alienated from his upper-crust girlfriend (Daniela Silverio) and begins a relationship with a young actress (played by Christine Boisson), only the solution to his personal and artistic problems does not lie with her. At the time he made Identification of a Woman, Antonioni had been working in video (with mixed results) and some of that new sensibility is to be found here. While the visual appeal of the film is as commanding as one might expect, there is a glacial quality to the proceedings that is rarely transcended (in the way that similarly cool surfaces concealed intense emotion in early films such as L’Avventura. Although the film evokes the director’s earlier work, the effect is actually to remind one how much more assured such films as La Notte were. With the director back on the familiar turf of the perennial difficulty of relationships in the modern world, the customary beauty of his work is here overlaid with an overt eroticism as Antonioni’s filmmaker hero entangles himself with two women. This new 2K restoration brings to life to the original vision of Antonioni’s painterly visuals. Bonus Material includes a new video essay by scholar Pasquale Iannone and a fascinating interview with Antonioni’s wife, Enrica Fico-Antonioni.
ROBIN HOOD AT HAMMER: TWO TALES FROM SHERWOOD FOREST, various directors/Indicator Declaration of interest: along with Kim Newman, I’ve provided a commentary for this unusual set examining two Hammer outings for the bow-wielding outlaw of Sherwood Forest, lovingly restored by Indicator. Kim and I save most of our kudos for the always-cherishable villainy of Peter Cushing, the man who represents the apogee of actorly skills in Hammer movies (even more, dare one say it, than Christopher Lee?). Greene and Cushing are the antagonists in Terence Fisher’s Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960), while in C M Pennington-Richards’ A Challenge for Robin Hood (1967), Barrie Ingham is Robin. This 2-disc Limited Edition sports a poster, an 80-page book, and a slew of new and archival extras.
MADIGAN, Don Siegel, director/Indicator As above, Kim and I provided the commentary for this crucial Don Siegel crime movie, an essential link in the director’s stellar career leading from his classic earlier studio work to his phenomenal success with Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry. Many of the tropes in the latter film are to be seen in embryo in this fascinating crime outing starring the always watchable Richard Widmark.
SKY WEST AND CROOKED, John Mills, director/Network on Air In its day, Sky West and Crooked was promoted as one of the key films in the cinematic maturing of the child actress Hayley Mills, as her performance here (directed by her actor father) is well observed and authentic. But a key ingredient, overlooked at the time, is the lyrical, melancholy score from Oscar-winning composer (and symphonist) Malcolm Arnold. Hayley Mills shines in this lyrical piece from a script by her mother, Mary Hayley Bell.
LIFE FOR RUTH, Basil Dearden, director/ Network on Air It’s ironic that Patrick McGoohan’s career as an actor was circumscribed by his fiercely held Roman Catholic beliefs – which meant that his two phenomenally popular television shows, Danger Man and The Prisoner could never feature even the slightest romantic or sexual entanglement for his characters, with the violence dialled down – and it’s a measure of the actor’s skill and control that the shows remain iconic as they do, despite these prim constraints. I use the word ‘ironic’ at the beginning of this paragraph, as this powerful drama is specifically concerned with the issue of religious beliefs interfering with the challenges that life throws up. Michael Craig and McGoohan give strong performances in this taut drama from director Basil Dearden, presented in a High Definition remaster from original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.
RAW DEAL, John Irvin, director/StudioCanal Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger is a late middle-aged actor who is prepared to take on character parts (rather like his once-equally muscular colleague of the day, Sylvester Stallone), it’s instructive to look back at films made in his heyday – high octane thrillers in which the violent action is delivered with energy. As here – and the success of Raw Deal (which shares a title with an earlier Anthony Mann crime classic) is much enhanced by the directorial presence of John Irvin, a neglected but considerable talent. StudioCanal’s disc is a new 4K restoration available in 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-Ray and DVD across their territories.
THE POLICE STORY TRILOGY, Jackie Chan, director/Eureka While Bruce Lee represented the violent apex of martial arts movies, his colleague and rival Jackie Chan has had a far longer career, channelling knockabout humour in his tongue-in-cheek action movies. The much-loved Police Story trilogy is a prime example of Chan’s remarkable acrobatic skills – along with many examples of the well-known stunts which left Chan and his unlucky stuntmen in hospital. The trilogy comes to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray for the first time as part of the Eureka Classics range in Ultra HD Blu-ray debuts from 4K restorations. The Limited-Edition set (4000 copies only) will feature a Hardbound Slipcase & 100-page Collector’s Booklet.
VENGEANCE IS MINE, ALL OTHERS PAY CASH, Edwin, director/Arrow This is a real curio — phantasmagoric, full-fat example of Southeast Asian action cinema, crammed with strange linguistic line readings that will bring the viewer up short. Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash, from the acclaimed Indonesian director Edwin (no surname!) and based on the novel by Eka Kurniawan. The film won the Golden Leopard at the 2021 Locarno Film Festival, and it’s a loving tribute to vintage South East Asian film. The uncompromising films of Takashi Miike, are in the mix here, with striking cinematography and razor-sharp editing. However it should be noted that the fractured intonation and articulation of the dialogue may not be every taste – but it does add to the individual character of the film
ALL MY FRIENDS HATE ME, Andrew Gaynord, director/BFI Scripted by Tom Palmer & Tom Stourton, this welcome BFI Blu-ray/DVD release does justice to the dark comedy directed by Andrew Gaynord. The talented cast of young British talent does justice to the edgy, sardonic dialogue. Special features include an audio commentary, a filmed interview with the writers plus a short film made by the writers and director. Pete (Tom Stourton) is planning to make home with his girlfriend, Sonia (Charly Clive), but a birthday celebration with his old university friendsat a country-house weekend has totally unexpected consequences.
THE CHANGELING, Peter Medak, director/Severin The actor George C Scott may have been notoriously difficult to work with, but just a few minutes of this eerie cult favourite will be a reminder how he was unassailably one of the three or four best actors in American cinema. This genuinely disturbing ghost story now looks even more impressive (and is more likely to freeze the blood) having been scanned in 4K from the inter-negative. What’s more, there are bonus features running to 4½ hours, including a new interview with director Peter Medak, also responsible for another cult classic, the blackly comic The Ruling Class.
MAN WITHOUT A STAR, King Vidor, director/Eureka Here’s another film for which Kim Newman and I have provided a commentary, and it’s a particularly unusual Western directed by the great King Vidor The director himself slightly underrated this piece, which is a very characterful example of the genre, and is perhaps a rejoinder (to some degree) to the auteur theory, inasmuch as its star Kirk Douglas is clearly as much a creative force for the film as its director. Eureka’s disc is available on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK as a part of The Masters of Cinema Series. Douglas is a footloose cowboy who becomes caught up in a bitter clash between rival ranchers. A collector’s booklet featuring a new essay on the film by film writer Rich Johnson, and there is a new piece by critic Richard Combs about the Western films of King Vidor.
STINGRAY: THE COMPLETE SERIES DELUXE EDITION/Network Those old enough to remember Gerry Anderson’s action puppet show Stingray from their childhoods may be keen to roll back the years with this splendid -looking set which does full justice to this very quickly show has launched in brand-new High Definition, still available in a deluxe set. The two Stingray Super Space Theatre movies, The Incredible Voyage of Stingray and Invaders from the Deep, are included in enhanced versions along with beguiling extras.
NEW FROM 88 FILMS: THE VIOLENT PROFESSIONALS, HUMAN LANTERNS, ZEDER, FLYING GUILLOTINE PART II, MARTIAL CLUB, various directors/88 Films. A final heads up for four films for which I provided booklet essays. All represent precisely the kind of eccentric, larger-than-life, colourful fare from abroad that is an 88 Films speciality. Writing essays for these films was particularly pleasurable, because the films themselves – all with a variety of exploitation virtues — look so good in these splendid Blu-ray transfers. If you seen any of them in fuzzy VHS copies, put those memories out of mind and reacquaint yourself with this intriguing batch.
COMING FROM INDICATOR: UNIVERSAL NOIR #1: Indicator follows its series of Columbia Noir box sets with the first in a new series dedicated to the noir output of another major Hollywood studio – Universal Pictures (once again with commentaries by me and Kim Newman). Starring such high-profile talent as Burt Lancaster, Joan Fontaine, Shelley Winters, Dan Duryea, Vincent Price, Edmond O’Brien, Sterling Hayden, Gloria Grahame and Jeff Chandler, UNIVERSAL NOIR #1 features embezzlement and murder (THE WEB), confidence tricksters (LARCENY), lovers on the lam (KISS THE BLOOD OFF MY HANDS), an adoption racket (ABANDONED), transatlantic criminals (DEPORTED), and police brutality (NAKED ALIBI). This stunning collection marks the UK Blu-ray premieres of all six films, and contains an array of fascinating contextualising extras, including newly recorded commentaries for each film, critical appreciations, archival short films, and a 120-page book. Then, on 20 September, Indicator adds to its growing collection of US releases with Anthony Asquith’s riveting wartime thriller ORDERS TO KILL. Mastered from the finest available materials, each of these essential releases contains expertly encoded presentations, a range of new and archival extra features, English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing, and booklets with new essays, historical articles, contemporary reviews, and film credits.
ESSENTIAL FILM NOIR COLLECTION 3, various directors/Imprint The third ‘Essential’ noir collection includes the work of such directors such as Lewis Milestone, Mitchell Leisen, William Dieterle and William Wyler, with stars including Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lisabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, William Holden, Alexis Smith, Edmond O’Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March. The films? THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS, NO MAN OF HER OWN, THE TURNING POINT AND THE DESPERATE HOURS. For commentaries, Imprint has turned to (you guessed it!) Kim Newman and Barry Forshaw.
