"Actor: Dennis McCarthy"

• Innerspace | Blu Ray | (04/09/2017) from £6.49   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Jack Putter feels funny today, nothing new to this 25-hour-a-day hypochondriac. What's new is that Jack hears something. I'm possessed! he cries. And you're about to be possessed by laughter. Gremlins executive producer Steven Spielberg and director Joe Dante again rev their imaginations into overdrive for this comic adventure that won a 1987 Best Visual Effects Academy Award. The voice Jack (Martin Short) hears is that of hotshot Navy pilot Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid), subject of a secret miniaturization project gone awry and accidentally injected into Jack. And before frazzled Jack can say I've got you under my skin, his unlikely partner propels him into the craziest escapade of his life.

• Innerspace | DVD | (26/08/2002) from £6.49   |  Saving you £7.50 (115.56%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Innerspace is assured a place in the Hollywood history books as the movie which brought Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan together as one of cinema's most famous couples. The film itself belongs among a series of feelgood fantasies presented by Steven Spielberg in the 1980s, including Back to the Future (1984) and from the same director, Joe Dante, Gremlins (1983). Innerspace offers Dante's usual mixture of comedy, exciting action and fantasy, the plot being a variation on Fantastic Voyage (1966). Test pilot Quaid is miniaturised and as a result of a bungled attempt to steal the new experimental technology, accidentally injected into the body of a deeply stressed and insecure Martin Short. Quaid is charismatic and commanding, Ryan gives an early demonstration of her patent romantic comedy persona, but it's Short's picture as he delivers a perfectly nuanced performance pitched between slapstick and paranoia. The Oscar-winning special effects enhance rather than dominate the story, which, though it gets a bit too silly in places, is generally inventive and sufficiently action packed to sustain the almost two-hour running time. Jerry Goldsmith's muscular score is a major asset, while in-joke spotters will have fun picking out everyone from Chuck Jones to William Schallert (the doctor in The Incredible Shrinking Man (1! 957)). On the DVD: Innerspace on disc has a group commentary with director Joe Dante, producer Michael Finnell, visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren and actor Kevin McCarthy. This is engaging if far from riveting. The original trailer is anamorphically enhanced and there are two perfunctory pages listing cast, crew and the film's Oscar for special effects. The original Dolby Spectral soundtrack has been remixed into Dolby Digital 5.1 and is bold, clear and powerful. The picture is presented at 1.78:1 and is a virtually flawless transfer: colours are rich, detail levels are high and the only trace of grain is in a few particularly high contrast shots.--Gary S. Dalkin

• The Howling | Blu Ray | (09/10/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  An instant werewolf classic, The Howling was directed by Joe Dante, a graduate of Roger Corman's school of low-budget ingenuity who had gained enough momentum with 1978's Piranha to rise to this bigger challenge. He brought along Piranha screenwriter John Sayles, too, and recruited makeup wizard Rob Bottin to create what was then the wildest on-screen transformation ever seen. With Gary Brandner's novel The Howling as a starting point, Sayles and Dante conceived a werewolf colony on the California coast, posing as a self-help haven led by a seemingly benevolent doctor (Patrick Macnee), and populated by a variety of "patients", from sexy, leather-clad sirens (Elisabeth Brooks) to an old coot (John Carradine) who's quite literally long in the tooth. When a TV reporter (Dee Wallace) arrives at the colony to recover from a recent trauma, the resident lycanthropes prepare for a howlin' good time. Dante handles it all with equal measures of humour, sex, gore, and horror, pulling out all the stops when the ravenous Eddie (Dante favourite Robert Picardo, later known as The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager) transforms into a towering , bloodthirsty werewolf. (Bottin's mentor Rick Baker would soon raise the make-up ante with An American Werewolf in London.) As usual in Dante's movies (qv. Gremlins), in-jokes abound, from characters named after werewolf movie directors, amusing cameos (Corman, Sayles, Forrest J Ackerman), and hammy inserts of wolfish cartoons and Allen Ginsberg's "Howl". It's best appreciated now as a quintessential example of early-80s horror, with low-budget limitations evident throughout, but The Howling remains a giddy genre milestone. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Kolchak: The Night Stalker - The Complete Series | DVD | (21/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £10.44

  Carl Kolchak (McGavin) is a reporter for Chicago's Independent News Service; a magnet for situations involving the supernatural. Kolchak turned his investigative skills to vampires werewolves zombies and all manner of legendary creatures. Episodes Comprise: 1. The Ripper 2. The Zombie 3. They Have Been They Are They Will Be... 4. The Vampire 5. The Werewolf 6. Firefall 7. The Devil's Platform 8. Bad Medicine 9. The Spanish Moss Murders 10. The Energy Eater 11. Horror In The Heights 12. Mr R.I.N.G. 13. Primal Scream 14. The Trevi Collection 15. Chopper 16. Demon In Lace 17. Legacy Of Terror 18. The Knightly Murders 19. The Youth Killer 20. The Sentry

• Die Hard 2: Die Harder | DVD | (10/01/2000) from £5.98   |  Saving you £14.01 (234.28%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Director Renny Harlin (Cutthroat Island) took the reins of this 1990 sequel, which places Bruce Willis's New York City cop character in harm's way again with a gaggle of terrorists. This time, Willis awaits his wife's arrival at Dulles Airport in Washington, DC, when he gets wind of a plot to blow up the facility. Noisy, overbearing and forgettable, the film has none of the purity of its predecessor's simple story; and it makes a huge miscalculation in allowing a terrible tragedy to occur rather than stretch out the tension. Where Die Hard set new precedents in action movies, Die Hard 2 is just an anything-goes spectacle. -- Tom Keogh, Amazon.com

• The Howling | DVD | (09/10/2017) from £9.70   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  An instant werewolf classic, The Howling was directed by Joe Dante, a graduate of Roger Corman's school of low-budget ingenuity who had gained enough momentum with 1978's Piranha to rise to this bigger challenge. He brought along Piranha screenwriter John Sayles, too, and recruited makeup wizard Rob Bottin to create what was then the wildest on-screen transformation ever seen. With Gary Brandner's novel The Howling as a starting point, Sayles and Dante conceived a werewolf colony on the California coast, posing as a self-help haven led by a seemingly benevolent doctor (Patrick Macnee), and populated by a variety of "patients", from sexy, leather-clad sirens (Elisabeth Brooks) to an old coot (John Carradine) who's quite literally long in the tooth. When a TV reporter (Dee Wallace) arrives at the colony to recover from a recent trauma, the resident lycanthropes prepare for a howlin' good time. Dante handles it all with equal measures of humour, sex, gore, and horror, pulling out all the stops when the ravenous Eddie (Dante favourite Robert Picardo, later known as The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager) transforms into a towering , bloodthirsty werewolf. (Bottin's mentor Rick Baker would soon raise the make-up ante with An American Werewolf in London.) As usual in Dante's movies (qv. Gremlins), in-jokes abound, from characters named after werewolf movie directors, amusing cameos (Corman, Sayles, Forrest J Ackerman), and hammy inserts of wolfish cartoons and Allen Ginsberg's "Howl". It's best appreciated now as a quintessential example of early-80s horror, with low-budget limitations evident throughout, but The Howling remains a giddy genre milestone. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• The Howling | DVD | (18/10/2004) from £13.54   |  Saving you £6.45 (47.64%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Severely shaken after a near-fatal encounter with a serial killer TV newscaster Karen White (Dee Wallace-Stone) takes some much-needed time off. Hoping to conquer her inner demons she heads for the 'Colony' a secluded retreat where her new neighbors are just a tad too eager to make her feel at home. Also there seems to be a bizarre link between her would-be attacker and this supposedly safe haven. And when after nights of being tormented by savage shrieks and unearthly cries Kar

• Die Hard 2: Die Harder (Two Disc Special Edition) | DVD | (28/04/2003) from £6.97   |  Saving you £16.02 (69.70%)   |  RRP £22.99

  A band of commandos led by a murderous officer seize an international airport. Their aim is to rescue a drug baron (Franco Nero) from justice. Detective McClane (Bruce Willis) finds himself having to battle tough anti-terrorists squads and a deadly snowstorm to break the grip of the terrorists who have control of the plane that is carrying his wife...

• The Howling - Das Tier - Limited Steelbook Edition (4K Ultra HD) | Blu Ray | (28/10/2021) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Howling (1 Disc Edition) | DVD | (24/04/2006) from £10.75   |  Saving you £5.24 (32.80%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Severely shaken after a near-fatal encounter with a serial killer TV newscaster Karen White (Dee Wallace-Stone) takes some much-needed time off. Hoping to conquer her inner demons she heads for the 'Colony' a secluded retreat where her new neighbors are just a tad too eager to make her feel at home. Also there seems to be a bizarre link between her would-be attacker and this supposedly safe haven. And when after nights of being tormented by savage shrieks and unearthly cries Karen ventures into the forest to find answers she makes a terrifying discovery. Now she must fight not only for her life but for her very soul!