Classic Cinema
Blu-Ray Review: Devi
Not all directors are equal, or treated equally. Especially in the way their work is perceived of celebrated in the Western world. While the likes of Kurosawa, Truffaut, Hitchcock, Tarkovsky and Fellini are lauded and almost worshipped by cinephiles, other filmmakers, such as Satyajit Ray, have found their bodies of work rather overlooked or underappreciated. …
Blu-Ray Review: The Great Silence
Whilst most actors today seem to have been through a PR finishing school on how to answer interview questions, that has not always been the case. There was a time when the film industry was full of characters. However, there were few who could match Klaus Kinski when it came to intensity and volatility. While …
Blu-ray Review: The Damned
There was an attempt to sanitise history following the end of World War II. If you read the history books then the only bad people are those wearing certain uniforms. The entire crimes of Germany have largely been pinned on the SS. With everyone else some form of victim. It’s obviously much more complicated than …
Blu-ray Review: The Singing Ringing Tree
Regardless of where you come from, there are local myths, legends and folklore everywhere in the world. These have been passed down from generation to generation, often by word of mouth. They can morph into fairy tales. Stories to tell to your children. A cautionary tale or parable. While Disney have done their upmost to …
Blu-Ray Review: The Sabata Trilogy
The ‘Wild West’ needs its heroes but they can come in some of the strangest guises. Especially in Spaghetti Westerns, where genre tropes and cliches are treated with disdain and often inverted. This irreverent approach has created some of the most iconic films and characters within the wider genre. While the figure of Clint Eastwood …
Blu-ray Review: The Ape Woman
The popularity of the circus reached its height during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. An excitable public went seeking spectacular marvels and freak shows were a staple. These sideshows usually featured a bearded lady. Julia Pastrana was born with a genetic condition, hypertrichosis terminalis, which meant she was covered with thick black hair. …
Blu-ray Review: The Monster
Anyone watching TV during the 1980s will recognise Joan Collins. Indeed, for several generations of Britons she will always be the ever-scheming Alexis Colby. A character she played in Dynasty for the best part of a decade and who became a stalwart of popular culture. While it might come as a surprise, she’s had a …
Blu-Ray Review: The Dark Eyes of London
Bela Lugosi remains one of the most iconic and recognisable faces in horror cinema. Most famous for his portrayal of Dracula in the pre-code Universal Pictures version of Bram Stoker’s ‘Count’, the Hungarian actor went on to play a number of memorable roles. However, his career was stunted by his thick accent and later addiction …
Blu-Ray Review: One of Our Aircraft is Missing
No one made films quite like Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Cinema which lifted the spirits until they soared. They collaborated twenty-four times in total, between 1939 and 1972, making some of the greatest British features of all time. The likes of A Matter of Life and Death, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp …
Film Review: The Servant
While Dirk Bogarde was one of the greatest British actors of his generation, he’s probably best remembered for starring in the ‘Doctor’ film series. During the 1950s, after completing his war service, the Londoner first came to prominence as a matinée idol. However, it was his later work which brought him the most critical acclaim. …