Dreamlike and nightmarishly surreal, Vertigo is Hitchcock's most personal film because it confronts many of the convoluted psychological issues that haunted and fascinated the director. The psychological complexity and the stark truthfulness of their rampant emotions keeps these strangely obsessive characters alive on screen, and Hitchcock understood better than most their barely repressed sexual compulsions, their fascination with death and their almost overwhelming desire for transcendent love. James Stewart finds profound and disturbing new depths in his psyche as Scotty, the tortured acrophobic detective on the trail of a suicidal woman apparently possessed by the ghost of someone long dead. Kim Novak is the classical Hitchcockian blonde whose icy exterior conceals a churning, volcanic emotional core. The agonised romance of Bernard Herrmann's score accompanies the two actors as a third and vitally important character, moving the film along to its culmination in an ecstasy of Wagnerian tragedy. Of course Hitch lavished especial care on every aspect of the production, from designer Edith Head's costumes (he, like Scotty, was most insistent on the grey dress), to the specific colour scheme of each location, to the famous reverse zoom "Vertigo" effect (much imitated, never bettered). The result is Hitch's greatest work and an undisputed landmark of cinema history. On the DVD: This disc presents the superb restored print of this film in a wonderful widescreen (1.85:1) anamorphic transfer, with remastered Dolby digital soundtrack. There's a half-hour documentary made in 1996 about the painstaking two-year restoration process, plus an informative commentary from the restorers Robert Harris and James Katz, who are joined by original producer Herbert Coleman. There are also text features on the production, cast and crew, plus a trailer for the theatrical release of the restoration. This is an undeniably essential requirement for every DVD collection. --Mark Walker
Writer/Director Sam Raimi's relentless, gore-spattered debut is a landmark in horror cinema, a no-holds-barred onslaught of gruesome terror and nightmarish effects which has earned its rightful status as a legendary cult classic. Five college students travel to a remote cabin in the woods and unwittingly unleash a monstrous evil force hellbent on their total destruction. THE EVIL DEAD is truly the ultimate experience in grueling horror.
Animal Attraction (aka Someone Like You): Ashley Judd brings irresistible fun to this sassy romantic comedy about a young woman looking for Mr. Right... in all the wrong places! Jane Good (Judd) is a talk show talent scout whose shaky love life drives her to study the curious mating habits of the male animal. Dizzyingly sexy complications ensue when her research turns her into a revered love guru -- and lands her smack in-between hunky heartthrobs Hugh Jackman and Greg Kinnear. The Truth About Cats And Dogs: Abby a gutsy and witty veterinarian who hosts her own radio talk show is anything but confident when it comes to love. A petite brunette she describes herself as tall and blonde when Brian a caller who is smitten with her radio persona asks her on a date. She talks her tall blonde neighbour Noelle into assuming her identity setting off an escalating series of hilarious and romantic crises. Never Been Kissed: Josie Geller is ready for a change. As the youngest copy editor at a big-city newspaper she longs to be taken seriously as a journalist. But while Josie excels as the nerdy brain at work her personal life is another story still plagued by her teenager reputation as a 'geek to the core' Josie is a 25-year-old who has never ever had a serious love relationship - she has never really been kissed. Against all odd Josie lands her first assignment as a reporter: she must go undercover posing as a student at a local high school. The situation proves hilarious as Josie attempts to juggle her story assignment a potential new love and the never-ending dramas of adolescence.
This epic adventure is set amid the encounter of European and American cultures during the founding of the Jamestown Settlement in 1607.
It's tough trying to beat the 1934 version of the popular adventure-romance story, starring Leslie Howard as the 18th-century British hero who poses as a fop in London society but runs a secret mission to rescue the doomed in Robespierre's Paris. But this 1982 television version, starring Anthony Andrews (Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisited) as the Pimpernel and Jane Seymour as his beloved but estranged wife, is quite a treat. Andrews and Seymour expertly capture the essence of a relationship suffering from misunderstandings and elusive passion, and there is plenty of crackle to the action sequences. Clive Donner (What's New, Pussycat?) brings some strong cinematic qualities to this television presentation. --Tom Keogh
Bryan Singer's follow-up to his post-modern caper-thriller The Usual Suspects trades in the flamboyant narrative flourish of that film for a moody meditation on the allure of evil. Based on the Stephen King novella (featured in the collection Different Seasons), Apt Pupil follows the disturbing downward spiral of a bright young schoolboy, Todd (Brad Renfro), who discovers a wanted Nazi war criminal is living in his town and then blackmails him into telling stories ("everything they're afraid to show us in school") of the horrors of the Holocaust. The old man, Dussander (a terrifying performance by Ian McKellen), comes alive while telling his tales and is soon reliving his past glories in a SS Halloween ordered byTodd. It's not long before Dussander's homicidal streak is unleashed and he is pulling Todd along with him. Although set against a backdrop of Holocaust history, the issues raised in the stories are ignored in favour of shocks and suspense and the film ultimately sacrifices the opportunity to be a fascinating psychological thriller about the seductive power of evil for a trip into Stephen King territory. Despite such limitations, Singer delivers a stylish and sometimes unsettling horror picture, which is largely due to McKellen's chilling portrait of a slumbering sadist awakened. --Sean Axmaker
Ian McKellen delivers a riveting, award-winning performance as Hollywood horror director James Whale.
Picking Up The Pieces: Tex (Woody Allen) a kosher butcher from New York under the witness protection program in Arizona has a problem. He has just killed his wife Candy (Sharon Stone) in a jealous rage after discovering she's having an affair with the local sheriff (Keifer Sutherland). He's cut her body into pieces and has taken them to the Mexican border but he's lost one of her hands! A blind old village woman stumbles upon the hand hits her head and miraculously regains her eyesight. Soon thousands are flocking to the local church to see the hand of the 'Madonna' and miracles are granted to all who ask. But the village priest (David Schwimmer) who is in love with the town hooker (Maria Grazia Cucinotta) senses that the hand's origin is not quite 'virginal'. Tex the Sherrif and the Priest all want something done with the hand and the unpredictable outcome proves to be both magical and hilarious. Miss Firecracker: Comedy about Carnelle (Hunter) a sexually-loose hellraiser who enters the Miss Firecracker contest in the very old-fashioned town where she was raised Yazoo City Mississippi. Carnelle's not the usual kind of contestant -- but her cousin is a famous winner -- and Carnelle's determined to equal her no matter what the obstacles.
Paris 1792. Each day scores of the French nobility feed the guillotine. They are trapped in the capital: there is no escape. But rumours whisper of a league of young English gentlemen of unparalleled daring who risk their lives to spirit aristocrats across the Channel. They leave no trace behind them except a note from the ""Scarlett Pimpernel"" (Anthony Andrews). The ruthless spy master Chauvelin (Ian McKellen) is determined to stop the rescuers by fair means or foul - and desperately outnumbered the Scarlet Pimpernel and his men must use all their wits to evade capture and stay alive. With a dazzling all-British cast this glorious production of Baroness Orczy's classic adventure novel is one of the largest single television productions ever made - winning critical acclaim on its release and wowing generations of viewers for over two decades. Nominated for three Academy awards and winner of an Emmy award for Outstanding Costume Design.
In a prequel to legendary horror "The Exorcist," priest Lancaster Merrin encounters unspeakable evil in the deserts of East Africa.
This epic adventure is set amid the encounter of European and American cultures during the founding of the Jamestown Settlement in 1607.
The television series that captured the American spirit of family loyalty returns for a third season on DVD. Episodes comprise: 1. The Conflict (Part 1) 2. The Conflict (Part 2) 3. The First Day 4. The Thoroughbred 5. The Runaway 6. The Romance 7. The Ring 8. The System 9. The Spoilers 10. The Marathon 11. The Book 12. The Job 13. The Departure 14. The Visitor 15. The Birthday 16. The Lie 17. The Matchmakers 18. The Beguiled 19. The Caretakers 20. The Shivaree 21. The Choice 22. The Statue 23. The Song 24. The Woman 25. The Venture
A magical animated world based on the story by Rae Lambert which follows the antics of Abigail the Woodmouse Edgar the Mole and Russell the Hedgehog.
Audiences overlooked Wild Bill at the cinema, but it's one of the better Westerns of the 1990s, featuring yet another terrific performance by Jeff Bridges, America's most underrated movie actor. As James Butler Hickock, he captures the sense of a man at the end of his career, one of the first media superstars who discovers that his legend is more burden than blessing. As he heads toward his final hand of poker in Deadwood, South Dakota, he flashes back to his younger days and the events that built his reputation, even as he copes with encroaching blindness caused by syphilis. Walter Hill blends action and elegy, utilising a screenplay based both on Pete Dexter's novel Deadwood and Thomas Babe's play Fathers and Sons. Wild Bill features strong supporting performances by John Hurt (as a Hickock sidekick) and Ellen Barkin (as the tough, lusty Calamity Jane)--but the centrepiece is the sad, manly performance by Bridges, who more than measures up to the part. --Marshall Fine
The Evil Dead Trilogy in one DVD set! Evil Dead: The gruesome granddaddy of modern day horror Sam Raimi's original 1981 classic The Evil Dead has been hailed by horror writer Stephen King as the most ferociously original horror movie I have ever seen and in the UK was one of the first horror films to be labelled as a 'video nasty'. Off for a weekend of fun in a remote cabin in the woods five young friends unwittingly release a powerful force of unspeakable evil from the pages of the Necronomicon the Book of the Dead. Possession murder and dismemberment follow in rapid succession as Ash (Bruce Campbell) the one uncorrupted member of the group fights for survival against his former friends who have joined the legion of the evil dead. Evil Dead 2: The first sequel to Sam Raimi's horror masterpiece Evil Dead II sees Ash (Bruce Campbell) continuing his battle with the evil dead initially in the demon form of his girlfriend Linda (Denise Bixler). Meanwhile relatives and associates of the cabin's original owner are en route to the cabin with newly found pages from the Necronomicon. Evil Dead II manages to successfully marry outrageous comedy with nail-biting terror as Ash is forced to resort to progressively extreme measures in order to maintain his sanity and conquer the demonic forces threatening his life. Evil Dead 3: Army Of Darkness: Immediately following the events of Evil Dead II Army of Darkness finds Ash (Bruce Campbell) transported to Medieval England where the occupants of a local castle are under siege from the supernaturally evil Deadites. Hailed as the deliverer of the Necronomicon and the saviour of the living he must employ his 20th Century wits and skills to overcome his evil self before destroying his possessed medieval girlfriend and the entire Army of Darkness in a battle to save the living from the dead. Disc 4: The fourth disc in the boxed set presents the eponymous first film in The Evil Dead trilogy in its original 4x3 format (1.33:1 Full Screen Unmatted) and includes several extras exclusive to this edition making it a must-have for all Evil Dead fans and collectors.
Bird' Jackson is a young girl whose life with her parents is painful and frightening. She turns to her reclusive neighbour Miss Zora played by Oprah Winfrey to escape the harsh realities of her home life and it is through their friendship that Bird learns to dream of a better life. But Miss Zora knows that Bird cannot survive on dreams alone and there is only one way to save her.
The Exorcist (Dir. William Friedkin 1973): The belief in evil - and that evil can be cast out. From these two strands of faith author William Peter Blatty and director William Friedkin wove The Exorcist the frightening and realistic story of an innocent girl inhabited by a malevolent entity. Academy Award winner Friedkin who introduces the film and supervised this new video transfer from restored picture and audio elements gets effective performances from Linda Blair Ellen Burstyn Jason Miller Max von Sydow and Lee J. Cobb. The Exorcist remains 25 years later one of the most shocking and gripping movies ever made. The Shining (Dir. Stanley Kubrick 1980): Think of the greatest terror imaginable. Is it a monstrous alien? A lethal epidemic? Or as in this harrowing masterpiece from Stanley Kubrick is it fear of murder by someone who should love and protect you - a member of your own family? From a script he co-adapted from the Stephen King novel Kubrick melds vivid performances menacing settings dreamlike tracking shots and shock after shock into a milestone of the macabre. In a signature role Jack Nicholson plays Jack Torrance who's come to the elegant isolated Overlook Hotel as off-season caretaker with his wife (Shelley Duvall) and son (Danny Lloyd). Torrance has never been there before - or has he? The answer lies in a ghostly time warp of madness and murder.
Prince Alexei heir to the last Tsar is a hemophiliac. The Tsarina is persuaded to allow a mysterious monk Rasputin to use his powers of healing on the Prince. Against the wishes of the Tsar Rasputin tends to the young Prince - with frighteningly successful results. So begins a relationship which ended in Rasputin's murder and the eventual downfall of Imperial Russia...
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