FORBIDDEN PHOTOS OF A LADY ABOVE SUSPICION, Luciano Ercoli, director/Arrow Blu-ray  In the distant days of grainy VHS video, many viewers in the UK made their first acquaintance with that peculiar genre, the Italian ‘giallo’ thriller, via badly dubbed, panned-and-scanned versions of the films which almost invariably traduced the originals. Followers of the genre are well aware that the best way to see these murderous treats is in the crisp Blu-ray transfers to which we have become accustomed, presented in the correct widescreen ratio and preferably in the original Italian language (the latter is often startling, given that quite a few entries in the genre are set in a London where everyone speaks Italian). Luciano Ercoli’s Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion is one of the most curious entries in the genre, but remains essential viewing for fans of the field, and sports many actors familiar to fans of Italian cinema. Other incentives for the viewer? A screenplay by Ernesto Gastaldi (Torso), a score by Ennio Morricone (The Cat O’ Nine Tails), and the actors include Dagmar Lassander (Lucio Fulci’s The Black Cat), Pier Paolo Capponi (The Cat O’ Nine Tails), Simón Andreu (Death Carries a Cane), and Nieves Navarro (a.k.a. Susan Scott, Death Walks at Midnight). Lassander is an under-threat wife tormented by a sinister blackmailer.

CLIMAX, Gasper Noé, director/Arrow Blu-Ray  Given that the director’s career has been marked by a series of provocative and explicit attacks on audience sensibilities, the most striking thing about Gasper Noé’s latest film, Climax, is that by his own in-your-face standards it is relatively restrained, with comparatively little of the unbuttoned sex and violence that he is most famous for. Which is not to say that the film is lacking in the kind of minatory atmosphere that we have come to expect from him – particularly as he has drawn from his inexperienced cast performances which have a genuine ring of truth and desperation. After its UK premiere at Arrow Video FrightFest back in August, the film arrives with Variety’s description of it as ’Fame directed by the Marquis de Sade with a Steadicam’. A young dance troupe rehearsing for an upcoming US tour self-destructs when someone spikes their drinks with LSD. Noé’s work – love it or loathe it – always sports a totally individual vision.

ROGUE MALE, Clive Donner, director/BFI Blu-Ray  Starring Peter O’Toole, and based on Geoffrey Household’s cult 1930s thriller, Rogue Male is adapted by Frederic Raphael. Considerable suspense is generated by director Clive Donner (who also helmed the excellent film adaptation of Pinter’s The Caretaker, and Pinter appears as actor here). It features an exceptional lead performance from O’Toole and a superb supporting cast, including Alastair Sim, Harold Pinter and John Standing. As a reminder of the work of Geoffrey Household, one of the progenitors of the thriller genre (not too far from – but far superior to – the Bulldog Drummond ethos), this adaptation is instructive. First shown on BBC TV in 1976, it now comes to Blu-ray for the first time, released in a Dual Format Edition by the BFI. In early 1939 with war looming, English aristocrat Sir Robert Hunter (Peter O’Toole) embarks on a ‘sporting stalk’ of the deadliest of prey: Adolf Hitler. Captured by the Gestapo and left for dead, Sir Robert soon becomes the hunted on a chase from the Bavarian mountains to the wilds of the English countryside, where he will need all his sportsman’s wit and guile to survive.

GARDENS OF STONE, Francis Coppola, director/Powerhouse Indicator Blu-ray  In a fascinating extra on this neglected Powerhouse Indicator issue of a well-thought-of but little seen film, its director – the legendary Francis Coppola — draws a distinction between war films and anti-war films, specifically this understated film and his own operatic masterpiece Apocalypse Now, pointing out that the latter (which invites the viewer to be exhilarated by the excitement of war) means that it simply cannot be an anti-war film. Not so Gardens of Stone, which makes its cogent points while showing very little actual combat. Set in a military unit whose job is essentially to lay to rest fallen soldiers, the film still manages to maintain a strong hold on the viewer despite its lack of overt drama, principally for the superb performance of its principals: James Caan (star of Coppola’s The Godfather), never better than here, James Earl Jones and (in a difficult to characterise role), Anjelica Houston — also admirable. If you are an admirer of Coppola, and haven’t seen this that is a situation you should remedy post haste.

ORPHÉE, Jean Cocteau, director/BFI Blu-Ray  Few artists of the modern era can sport the range of accomplishment that Jean Cocteau possessed. Poet, playwright, artist and filmmaker — but perhaps the most impressive of his considerable skills remains his remarkable reinvention of myth for the cinema. The visual poetry and sheer imagination of La Belle et la Bête remains his most conspicuous filmic calling card, but Orphée, a similar reinvention of a classical myth, runs it a close second. What’s more, this version of the theme is genuinely and intensely cinematic, using the medium to its fullest extent. And this remarkable Blu-ray transfer is the best possible way to encounter the film either for those new to it or those for whom it is a firm favourite already. This magical retelling of the Orpheus myth turns the lyre-playing singer of Greek legend into a famous left-bank poet in post-war Paris. Fallen out of favour and lost for poetic inspiration, Orphée becomes obsessed with a mysterious black-clad princess who first claims the life of a rival poet, and then Eurydice, his wife. With its unforgettable imagery – the dissolving mirror through which characters pass into the next world, the leather-clad, death-dealing motorcyclists, and Cocteau’s magical special effects, Orphée is a work of haunting beauty that follows the poetic logic of a dream.

CRUCIBLE OF THE VAMPIRE, Ian Ross-McNamee, director/Screenbound  This is an unusual, low-key entry in the field of the modern British horror film, paying homage to earlier entries in the long run of the genre in this country, but also commendably taking its time in establishing a menacing and evocative atmosphere. Crucible of the Vampire is helped by some solid (if a touch under-powered) performances from unfamiliar actors. Visually, too, Ian Ross-McNamee’s film is always pleasing.

BREAKOUT, Tom Gries, director/Powerhouse Indicator Blu-ray   What are the elements that is lead you to watch a film? Director, stars, orchestral score? While this efficiently made thriller is hardly in the classic category, it provides all three elements; the director Tom Gries may be some way past his best work (e.g. Will Penny) but still has the measure of the slender material, and while the nominal star Charles Bronson (a dishevelled pilot helping a wrongly imprisoned man escape) does no more than necessary, there is strong support from the always reliable Robert Duvall as the increasingly demoralised prisoner. Put those elements together with an edgy, percussive score from one of the most talented practitioners in the field, the late Jerry Goldsmith, and many will feel these various components are more than enough to give Breakout the time of day.

LAURA, Otto Preminger, director/Eureka Blu-ray  When admirers of the Film Noir genre are asked what is the genre’s finest flowering, a variety of examples are sure to be discussed. Jacques Tourneur’s Build my Gallows High/Out of the Past will always be in ‘best of’ contention, as will another American film by an émigré director, Robert Siodmak’s The Killers. But many aficionados would claim that it is a classic film from another German director relocated to Hollywood, Otto Preminger’s Laura, which remains the quintessential film noir. With its impeccably wrought screenplay, Preminger’s diamond-hard direction, superb playing (not least in secondary roles from such consummate talents as Clifton Webb and Vincent Price) and, of course, a memorable score from David Raksin (which produced the matchless title song), it’s the best of the best. Even if you’re familiar with the film, this new transfer from Eureka is the way to discover it anew — never before has the image looked so crisp and richly detailed. Police detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) is drawn into Manhattan high society as he investigates the death of stunning ad exec Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney), apparently shotgunned in her own apartment. The slithery suspects are numerous, led by effete, snobbish columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), and Laura’s philandering fiancé Shelby (Vincent Price), who’s also been cavorting with Laura’s wealthy aunt (Judith Anderson). McPherson begins to fall in love with Laura through a portrait in her home and the memories relayed by those who knew her… just as it becomes apparent that even the basic facts of the case might not be what they seemed

DIAMONDS OF THE NIGHT, Jan Němec, director/Second Run Blu-ray  The days when such magazines as Sight and Sound and Movie extolled the virtues of arthouse cinema are almost gone (although the former magazine is still going strong), and the enthusiastic write-ups for such films as this Jan Němec classic created a taste for unseen European classics. But now we have the Blu-ray medium which is fulfilling that need. This print is from the new 4K restoration of the film which premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, Diamonds of the Night (Demanty Noci) is Němec’s debut feature is and its narrative is conveyed almost without dialogue. Two teenage boys escape from a German train bound for a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. This special edition also includes Němec’s acclaimed debut film A Loaf of Bread (Sousto), plus an audio commentary by Michael Brooke.