"Actor: Carole Gray"

• Cliff Richard DVD Collection - The Young Ones / Summer Holiday / Wonderful Life | DVD | (05/08/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The three nostalgic British musicals in the Cliff Richard DVD Collection are a good reminder that, thanks to a few short years in the 1960s, Sir Cliff can legitimately include "film star" on his already exceptional show business CV. The Young Ones (1961), Summer Holiday (1963) and Wonderful Life (1964) would make tame fare for a teen audience today, but they retain a polished and honest charm which might surprise the sharpest of cynics. First and foremost, of course, they were Cliff Richard vehicles: designed to showcase his all-round talents and capitalise on his first, heady wave of pop chart success. They are also unashamed homages to the heyday of the MGM B-musical with familiar themes: let's put on a show/save the youth club/make a film. But with up-and-coming directors Sidney Furie and Peter Yates making imaginative and sophisticated use of wide-angle camera work and fresh, snappy choreography by Herbert Ross and Gillian Lynne, they also have plenty of assets other than Cliff's wholesome appeal. There are some fine set pieces and surreal flashes, notably the history of cinema in Wonderful Life and the extraordinary mime sequence in Summer Holiday. They also tap into the very British energy of a group of young actors and dancers including Una Stubbs, Susan Hampshire, Melvyn Hayes and Richard O'Sullivan, as well as Cliff's band at the time, The Shadows. For sheer verve, they deserve to be seen on their own merits. On the DVD: The Cliff Richard DVD Collection has been pristinely restored; the colours and clarity, not to mention the use of Cinemascope, leap off the screen (aspect ratio 2.35:1). The mono soundtrack recreates the authentic bandbox sound of the 1960s. Aside from theatrical trailers, the most notable extras are directors' commentaries: actually Furie and Yates in occasionally long-winded conversation with film and music writers. Both men give fascinating insight into the film-making climate in Britain in the early 1960s.--Piers Ford

• Island Of Terror | Blu Ray | (26/08/2024) from £19.35   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Horror is unleashed on an isolated island community when the inhabitants find themselves at the mercy of tentacled creatures that can liquefy human tissue and bone. Stanley, a pathologist, and Dr. David West attempt to get to the bottom of the mystery and discover that a scientific team on the island, now dead, may have been responsible for the 'Sillicates' which carve a deadly trail across the island. Directed by Terrence Fisher (Curse of the Werewolf, Dracula) and starring Hammer stalwart Peter Cushing, this monstrous island-style feature, follows in the footsteps of Jules Verne, and H.G. Wells providing a satisfyingly entertaining tale of horror and medical experiments gone array.

• Island Of Terror | DVD | (20/10/2014) from £10.49   |  Saving you £4.50 (42.90%)   |  RRP £14.99

  One the great British Sci-Fi thrillers of the 1960s! When the inhabitants of Petrie’s island succumb to a mysterious disease doctors Brian Stanley (Peter Cushing) and David West (Edward Judd) are asked to investigate. Puncture marks on the corpses reveal the horrifying truth: the islanders and their animals are being killed not by a disease but by a strange type of silicate organism that sucks the bone from their bodies...

• The Curse of the Fly | DVD | (05/11/2012) from £21.95   |  Saving you £-11.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The conclusion to the terrifying story of the Delambre family in which three descendants of the original teleportation scientist (the son and two grandsons) continue the experiments in an effort to perfect the machine...

• Island Of Terror | Blu Ray | (27/10/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  One the great British Sci-Fi thrillers of the 1960s! When the inhabitants of Petrie’s island succumb to a mysterious disease doctors Brian Stanley (Peter Cushing) and David West (Edward Judd) are asked to investigate. Puncture marks on the corpses reveal the horrifying truth: the islanders and their animals are being killed not by a disease but by a strange type of silicate organism that sucks the bone from their bodies...

• The Brides Of Fu Manchu | DVD | (27/10/2003) from £20.97   |  Saving you £-4.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Fu Manchu and his army of henchmen are kidnapping the daughters of prominent scientists and taking them to his remote island headquarters. Instead of asking for ransom Fu demands that the fathers help him to build a death ray which he intends to use to take over the world. But Fu's archenemy Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard is determined not to let that happen...

• The Fly | DVD | (29/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £69.99

  Be afraid. Be very afraid... The Fly (1958) A brilliant scientist becomes obsessed with perfecting a device that can transmit matter from one location to another. Successful in his initial tests he experiments with a human guinea pig - himself. But an ordinary housefly makes the journey with him and when they emerge both creatures have been extraordinarily changed. This is the chilling story of a man fighting to retain his humanity and a desperate woman's attempt to

• Curse Of The Fly | DVD | (03/07/2006) from £11.30   |  Saving you £1.69 (13.00%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The conclusion to the terrifying story of the Delambre family in which three descendants of the original teleportation scientist (the son and two grandsons) continue the experiments in an effort to perfect the machine...

• Island Of Terror | DVD | (17/01/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When oh when will scientists learn to stop playing with radiation? Island of Terror takes place on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. No phones no regular transport to and from the mainland but there is a well-equipped cancer research center where the well intentioned - but foolish! - scientists are irradiating lumps of tissue. The local constable finds a body with no bones in it ('No bones?' 'No bones!') and soon a team from London led by the ever-game Peter Cushing arri

• Peter Cushing - The Peter Cushing Collection | DVD | (13/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  This terrific box set features a profusion of Peter Cushing-led horror films. The Abominable Snowman (Dir. Val Guest 1957): The final film collaboration between director Val Guest and writer Nigel Kneale. Starring Forrest Tucker and Peter Cushing The Abominable Snowman tells of an expedition to the Himalayas to track down the mythical Yeti. A wonderfully atmospheric chiller from the heyday of the Hammer Studios. Island of Terror (Dir. Terence Fisher 1966): When oh when will scientists learn to stop playing with radiation? Island of Terror takes place on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. No phones no regular transport to and from the mainland but there is a well-equipped cancer research center where the well intentioned - but foolish! - scientists are irradiating lumps of tissue. The local constable finds a body with no bones in it ('No bones?' 'No bones!') and soon a team from London led by the ever-game Peter Cushing arrives to investigate. Let's hope that darned generator doesn't give out... Island of Terror isn't going to keep you awake at night but it is a lot of silly fun. Be warned though - whatever the evil menace is it can climb trees! The Blood Beast Terror (Dir. Vernon Sewell 1968): A Victorian English entomologist whose daughter happens to be a giant moth moves with her to a quiet village where he can begin work on an insect mate for her. His family problems worsen when his winged daughter starts killing people and drinking their blood. Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (Dir. Terence Fisher 1974): Doctor Helder (Briant) is sent to an asylum for experimenting on cadavers. There he is rescued by Doctor Carl Victor (Cushing) the original Doctor Frankenstein now living under a new identity who learns that a new monster is set to walk the earth...