"Actor: Eva Mei"

• To The Devil A Daughter (Doubleplay) | Blu Ray | (29/01/2018) from £15.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Hammer's To the Devil a Daughter was the last film made by the once great studio. Clearly ailing, Hammer again adapted a novel by Dennis Wheatley, the author behind one of their greatest successes, The Devil Rides Out (1967). Unfortunately for the studio, films such as Rosemary's Baby (1968) and The Exorcist (1973) had, in the intervening decade, radically changed horror cinema. With American star Richard Widmark echoing Gregory Peck's role in the far more polished The Omen (1976), the film seemed, rather than setting the pace as Hammer once had, to be very much jumping on the 1970's occult band-wagon. Christopher Lee is the satanic ex-communicated priest whose coven plan to incarnate the ancient demon Ashteroth, while a supernaturally beautiful Nastassja Kinski demonstrates the same willingness to disrobe as in Cat People (1982). Even so, this lacklustre, misogynistic film couldn't compete with Carrie and Suspiria (both also 1976) and Hammer thereafter concentrated on TV productions. Surprisingly, director Peter Sykes' next film, Jesus (1979), as well as being the most seen and internationally distributed film ever (with an audience of over two billion by 2000), is also the most faithful portrayal of Christ yet committed to celluloid. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Funeral In Berlin | DVD | (05/01/2004) from £5.50   |  Saving you £10.49 (190.73%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Funeral in Berlin (1967) is the sequel to 1965's The Ipcress File, again featuring Michael Caine as reluctant spy Harry Palmer. It was clearly the filmmakers' intention to make Palmer a harder-nosed James Bond, and director Guy Hamilton was brought to this project in between Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever for that purpose. There's espionage intrigue, easy women (Eva Renzi as Samantha Steel), and gunplay. But without the gadgetry, one-liners, or even the John Barry score of the first movie, the Bond comparison runs dry. Against the backdrop of a bombed-out industrial wasteland that was Berlin in the mid-Sixties, Palmer is sent to facilitate the defection of Col. Stock (Oscar Homolka). Numerous sub-plots weave together involving indifferent chief Ross (Guy Doleman from IPCRESS), mission aide Johnnie Volkon (Paul Hubschmid), and the untrustworthy Kreutzman (Günter Meisner, who was more memorable as Slugworth in Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory). It all comes down to revealing who's working for whom and who's really defecting in the set-piece funeral of the title. The main reason the series continued (Ken Russell's OTT Billion Dollar Brain came next) was the commanding presence of Caine. It's fun to hear him try German, and he manages a few subtle comic gems, such as when a waiter asks "Bitte mein heir?" and he replies, "No. Lager please", but the best moment of characterisation recalling the womanising Palmer of Len Deighton's novels is the put down guaranteed to win any woman: "You're useless in the kitchen. Why don't you go back to bed?" --Paul Tonks

• Fast & Furious 1-8 (4K + Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (15/07/2019) from £82.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  ALL 8 FILMS ON 4K ULTRA HD, & BLU-RAY ™ PLUS BONUS DISC Buckle up for nonstop action and mind-blowing speed in the high-octane Fast & Furious 8-Movie Collection. Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez and an all-star cast put pedal to the metal in pursuit of justice and survival as they race from L.A. to Tokyo, Rio to London, and Cuba to New York City. Packed with full-throttle action and jaw-dropping stunts, these eight turbo-charged thrill rides place you behind the wheel of the most explosive film franchise in history! HOURS OF BONUS FEATURES Deleted Scenes Outtakes Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes Feature Commentaries And Much More!

• The Banger Sisters | DVD | (21/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon star as two former rock groupies from the 60s reunited in the present day. One is a waitress, nostalgic for the old days, and the other is a prominent socialite eager to forget her past.

• Schubert - Alfonso Und Estrella (Mai, Trost, Muff, Werba) | DVD | (03/01/2005) from £4.25   |  Saving you £17.00 (568.56%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Most of Schubert's operas were written without a specific commission in the hope that once completed some theatre might find them interesting simply by virtue of their musical value. This unrealistic optimism proved almost always wrong and Schubert suffered bitter disappointments very often working for nothing. Begun on 20th September 1821 Alfonso und Estrella was completed on 27th February 1822 but was first staged on the initiative of Franz Liszt only in 1854 after Schubert's death. Alfonso und Estrella has the characteristic climate of a Romantische Oper. If it is true that Schubert lacks the sense of theatre which is typical of the best operatic composers of his day (for example Weber) the power of his creativity and beauty of many arias cannot be denied.

• To The Devil A Daughter | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  A heretic priest (the legendary Christopher Lee in one of his finest Hammer performances) plots to use a teenage nun (Nastassja Kinski) in a depraved sexual pact with the forces of darkness. But when an American occult novelist uncovers the conspiracy he must battle an international cabal of evil for the body and soul of the Devil's child-bride. Can this black magic marriage be stopped before an innocent girl is defiled as the womb of Satan?

• Mozart: La Finta Giardiniera | Blu Ray | (27/04/2009) from £21.95   |  Saving you £8.04 (26.80%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Finta Giardiniera (La)

• Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito | DVD | (19/02/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The opera La Clemenza di Tito was composed only a few months before Mozart's death. As this period of his life is not particularly well-documented there are many legends surrounding this composition - some say that it was composed in just 18 days! This production is unique because the secco-recitatives proven to not be Mozart's own are not up to the standard of the main musical numbers and Franz Welser-Mst decided to replace them with abridged spoken dialogue. The Opernhaus Zrich has aimed to look forward with this production and fuel discussions about the possibilities of modern Clemenza performances. Director Jonathan Miller was inspired by Tolstoi and Tchechov and the Flemish painters for this production. They gave the appropriate down to earth feel which he wanted to achieve. Jonas Kaufmann has sung all of the great Mozartian tenor roles so his excellent Titus rounds up his repertoire extremely well.

• Mozart - Don Giovanni (Welser-Moest) | DVD | (24/09/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Don Giovanni - Live From The Opernhaus Zurich.

• Donizetti: Don Pasquale -- Teatro Lirico, Cagliari / Korsten | DVD | (15/12/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A performance of the Donizetti opera by the Teatro Lirico Cagliari; conducted by Gerard Korsten.

• Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) -- Zurich/Harnoncourt | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt's approach to Le Nozze di Figaro is certainly historically informed, but both his musical direction and this Zurich Opera production as a whole lack a certain lightness of touch. In such a deliciously comic work it should be permissible to have fun. Harnoncourt's tempos seem rather too conservative; while the low stage lighting keeps the revolving sets shaded in half-shadow for much of the time. The result is a tad claustrophobic, both musically and visually. There are many compensations, however. Though Harnoncourt may be a little over-cautious, what's lost in joie de vivre is gained in clarity and nuance. Similarly, the singers have plenty of space to enunciate and cherish every rolling phrase. Although Carlos Chausson makes an appealing everyman character as Figaro, he and everyone else must perform (sometimes literally) in Rodney Gilfry's domineering shadow. Gilfry's Alamaviva is a swaggering counterpart to his Don Giovanni, with the same almost overwhelming sexual presence and charisma; no wonder, then, that Eva Mei's Countess is so jealous, or that Isabel Rey's Susanna seems genuinely attracted despite her better judgment. The ensemble cast are uniformly delightful and, unusually, are all good actors: when the Count and Countess squabble, Gilfry and Mei really work themselves into a fine passion. The set and costuming are both of indeterminate period: the Count carries a shotgun to shoot Liliana Nikiteanu's errant Cherubino, and there are deckchairs in the garden, but the ladies' costumes are cut to reveal authentically 18th-century heaving bosoms. In all, this is a Figaro distinguished by a strong cast and fine singing, but hampered a little by the staging. An airier alternative is the more traditional Glyndebourne production. On the DVD: Le Nozze di Figaro from Zurich is presented in three vivid sound options: LPCM Stereo, Dolby 5.1 or DTS 5.1. Picture is 16:9. The subtitling is occasionally unnecessarily repetitive (Figaro's "Piano, piano, piano" takes up a big chunk of the screen as: "Not so fast, not so fast, not so fast" and so on) and inadequately proofread ("Forgeive me...Falsce one" [sic]). --Mark Walker

• Mozart: Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (Abduction from the Seraglio) -- Mehta | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The story of an escape from a Turkish harem in Mozart's comic opera. Recorded at the Teatro Della Pergola in Florence.

• La Traviata - Verdi | DVD | (14/11/2005) from £23.95   |  Saving you £1.04 (4.34%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A performance of Verdi's opera performed live from the Zurich Opera House in 2005.

• La Sonnambula - Bellini | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A performance of the Bellini opera recorded in 2004 at the Teatro Del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. Daniel Oren conducts.

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Mozart: Greatest Operas | DVD | (31/07/2006) from £121.48   |  Saving you £-31.49 (N/A%)   |  RRP £89.99

  This unique boxset a collaboration between Arthaus and TDK presents four great Mozart operas from the Zurich Opera House with some of the world's top artists. Featuring: Le Nozze Do Figaro Don Giovanni Cosi Fan Tutti Die Zauberflote

• Die Jungfrau von Orleans | DVD | (28/01/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A