DAY OF THE OUTLAW Andre De Toth, director/Eureka Blu-Ray The reputation of the last western made by Andre De Toth – and, for that matter, of the director himself — has risen in recent years; he is now achieving the auteur status several of his colleagues have enjoyed for years. Day of the Outlaw is a gem – one of the best westerns not directed by such masters as Antony Mann or John Ford. The setting is a snow-bound Wyoming town; the film stars Robert Ryan and Burl Ives, and as in George Stevens’Shane, the theme is once again the contested land of the homesteaders. Day of the Outlaw was one of Westerns at the twilight of the studio era in which anything might go, and director De Toth, the creator of two infamous idiosyncratic films — the groundbreaking 3D House of Wax and the naturalistic Sterling Hayden-starring noir Crime Wave— here firmly established his pedigree as one of the maverick directors such as Nicholas Ray for whom boundaries proved only elastic consequence. Robert Ryan portrays Blaise Starrett (surname itself an evocation of the family in the earlier Stevens film Shane) who comes between a landowner (Alan Marshal) and his wife (the voloptuous Tina Louise). But after a band of outlaws ride into town headed by Jack Bruhn (Burl Ives), Starrett must rise to the occasion and defend the hostage townsfolk while redeeming his own advances towards the landowner’s wife. Filmed on a shoestring budget, Day of the Outlaw proved to be an enduring touchstone for the directors of the French New Wave; it came to exemplify De Toth’s resourcefulness around budgetary limitations and the (here often snow-strewn) difficulties of the shoot.
THE WHIP AND THE BODY, Mario Bava, director/Odeon Entertainment Blu-Ray With the interest in sadomasochistic practices kindled by the book and the film of 50 Shades of Grey, what better time to look at the film, which explored such territory – the obtaining of sexual satisfaction buddies and punishment (as is made perfectly clear by the expression on Darley a lovely space when she’s being whipped by Christopher Lee) in a film which only appeared in this country in a heavily Form, but is now available uncensored. The second part, it is the amazing look of the film which is characteristic of its director. From the hypnotic black and white cult classic Black Sunday (La Maschera del Demonio, 1960) onwrds, Bava’s films feared fluid camera and brilliant use of atmospheric sets to create a haunting sense of unease in the viewer, and his years of experience as a lighting cameraman result in what has justly been called the finest photography in the horror genre. The Whip and the Body mixes twisted eroticism with Bava’s customary supernaturalsim.
PASOLINI, Abel Ferrara, director/BFI Blu-Ray Starring the reliable Willem Dafoe and written and directed by cult filmmaker Abel Ferrara (who we first noticed with the scabrous Driller Killer, but who moved into more mainstream – but still confrontational — directions with Bad Lieutenant and Welcome to New York), this unsparing drama tells the story of the fateful final day of the controversial filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. Released by the BFI in cinemas in September, it now comes to Blu-ray and DVD with special features which include a filmed conversation with Abel Ferrara and the cast of Pasolini. Having recently finished Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, Pasolini tackled audiences, critics and politicians with his outspoken views, overt sexuality and the scandal that surrounds his films. Focusing on both his private and professional life, Pasolini explores the inner world of the filmmaker in the hours leading up to his devastatingly brutal death. Featuring Ninetto Davoli, who acted (or appeared to act, ‘acting’ is too strong a word for what he did) in many of Pasolini’s films, Pasolini is a powerful and evocative look into the dark world of one of cinema’s most controversial figures, as seen through the eyes of one of modern cinema’s most surprising directors.
THE NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT Terence Fisher, director/Odeon Entertainment Blu-ray Despite all appearances to the contrary, this directed by Terence Fisher and starring Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee is not a Hammer film. A Fisher-directed British science fiction effort (with an alien invasion the theme, and a smouldering Jane Merrow raising the temperature even further) may be one that the director not enjoy making (claiming he had no interest in science fiction), but it nevertheless makes some fascinating viewing; Fisher and this combination of stars could hardly faill to strike sparks together.
THE BRIDGE SEASON 3, director, Henrik Georgsson/Arrow Nordic Noir Blu-ray In many ways, socially challenged Detective Saga Norén’s difficult interaction with other people is even more interesting than the crimes she investigates. At the start of the much-anticipated Season Three, with ex-partner Martin Rohde in prison, Saga is tested both in professional and personal senses, with a new partner Henrik Saboe (played by Thure Lindhart) who has considerable problems of his own, And the crimes ahe encounter here are even more gruesome than before. The British taste for dramatised Scandinavian crime was piqued by The Killing, and, to a large degree, the momentum of this UK enthusiasm was maintained with this later cult series. The Bridge acquired a dedicated following, not least for its infuriating but likable sociopathic heroine. No spoilers –suffice to say, writer Hans Rosenfeldt has found a new way to test Saga – and provides a satisfying surprising third part to the series.
THE HILLS HAVE EYES 2 Wes Craven, director/Odeon Entertianment Blu-ray Depite his reputation for extreme violence, the late Wes Craven was one of the most intelligent and inventive of directors, and whiel this sequel to one of the director’s most groundbreaking films doent match the origal (with its skewered view of the American family, ) its stillof interstoteh dretadmirers.