"Actor: Gordon Douglas"

• The Bride Of Frankenstein | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £5.25   |  Saving you £6.00 (150.38%)   |  RRP £9.99

  It appeared, at the end of the epochal 1931 horror movie Frankenstein, that the monster had perished in a burning windmill. But that was before the runaway success of the movie dictated a sequel. In Bride of Frankenstein, we see that the monster (once again played by Boris Karloff) survived the conflagration, as did his half-mad creator (Colin Clive). This remarkable sequel, universally considered superior to the original, reunites other key players from the first film: director James Whale (whose life would later be chronicled in Gods and Monsters) and, of course, the inimitable Dwight Frye, as Frankenstein's bent-over assistant. Whale brought campy humour to the project, yet Bride is also somehow haunting, due in part to Karloff's nuanced performance. The monster, on the loose in the European countryside, learns to talk and his encounter with a blind hermit is both comic and touching. (The episode was later spoofed in Mel Brooks's Young Frankenstein.) A prologue depicts the author of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, being urged to produce a sequel by her husband Percy and Lord Byron. She's played by Elsa Lanchester, who reappears in the climactic scene as the man-made bride of the monster. Her lightning-bolt hair and reptilian movements put her into the horror-movie pantheon, despite being onscreen for only a few moments. But in many ways the film is stolen by Ernest Thesiger, as the fey Dr. Pretorious, who toasts the darker possibilities of science: "To a new world of gods and monsters!" --Robert Horton

• Dead Ringers | DVD | (31/01/2000) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-13.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Like many other films by Canadian director David Cronenberg (especially Crash), Dead Ringers presents the cinematic and psychological equivalent of an automobile accident--you dare not look, but you can't turn away. The film marked a directorial breakthrough for Cronenberg, who was able to continue some of the themes explored in his earlier horror films while graduating to a higher, more critically "respectable" level of artistic sophistication. The film is loosely based, amazingly enough, on a true story about twin gynaecologists who routinely traded each others' identities, lives and even lovers. Utilizing innovative split-screen technology (years before computer manipulation made such trickery much easier), the film stars Jeremy Irons in flawless dual roles as the identical brothers Beverly and Elliot Mantle. Their ability to instantly switch identities leads them to a shared relationship with a well-known actress (Genevieve Bujold) and, ultimately, a physical and psychological tailspin that sends them both to the brink of madness and death. The scenario suggests that both men are halves of a whole, and that one cannot exist without the other. But when Beverly pursues a kinky, drug-addicted affair with the actress, his more self-controlled brother is helpless to prevent their mutual decline. In this way Dead Ringers becomes a fascinating and stylistically clinical study of duality, and Cronenberg doesn't shy away from the dark and unpleasant aspects of the story. (One look at the movie's display of bizarre gynaecological instruments and you'll know why women find this film particularly--and unforgettably--disturbing.) The Criterion Collection DVD includes illuminating commentary by Cronenberg, Irons, production designer Carol Spier and others; extensive production information; interviews with the principal cast; and a detailed examination of the film's groundbreaking use of invisible special effects. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com --This text refers to the DVD edition of this video.

• Roman Polanski Collection | DVD | (16/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A talented musician struggles to survive the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto and the concentration camps of World War II.

• Twilight Zone - Season Two | DVD | (20/06/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadows, between science and superstition. And it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call...The Twilight Zone.Those were the first words that echoed when The Twilight Zone first aired in 1959. Its episodes featured stories of the bizarre and unexplained, blended with humour and often with an unexpected twist to the tale. Created by the legendary Rod Serling, its eclectic mix of fantasy and sci-fi has helped to define it as one of television's most original and celebrated series. Season 2 features some of The Twilight Zone's most famous episodes including Nick Of Time starring the young William Shatner and Long Distance Call with Bill Mumy (Lost In Space).Released digitally remastered for the first time in the UK, this 5 disc set contains all 29 episodes from the second season as well as special features.Disc 1:King Nine Will Not ReturnThe Man in the BottleNervous Man in a Four Dollar RoomA Thing About MachinesThe Howling ManEye of the BeholderDisc 2:Nick of TimeThe Lateness of the HourThe Trouble With TempletonA Most Unusual CameraThe Night of the MeekDustDisc 3:Back ThereThe Whole TruthThe InvadersA Penny For Your ThoughtsTwenty TwoThe Odyssey of Flight 33Disc 4:Mr. Dingle, The StrongStaticThe Prime MoverLong Distance CallA Hundred Yards Over the RimThe Rip Van Winkle CaperDisc 5:The SilenceShadow PlayThe Mind and the MatterWill the Real Martian Please Stand Up?The Obsolete Man

• Laurel & Hardy Volume 8 - Blackmail/Classic Shorts | DVD | (03/05/2004) from £8.49   |  Saving you £0.49 (8.91%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Comedy with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Chickens Come Home (b/w) Chickens Come Home (colourised) Politiquerias (Chickens Come Home in an extended Spanish-language edition with Laurel & Hardy speaking their own Spanish dialogue!) Come Clean (b/w) Love 'Em and Weep (b/w silent with music score) Sugar Daddies (b/w silent with music score) Early to Bed (b/w silent with music score) A collection of classic Laurel & Hardy shorts based around the theme of blackmail - actual or implied! In one of the team's best shorts 'Chickens Come Home' Ollie is a candidate for Mayor whose campaign is endangered by the reappearance of a girl from his past. Alongside the familiar version of this film is its feature-length Spanish equivalent 'Politiquerias' with L&H speaking their own foreign dialogue plus the early silent short 'Love 'Em And Weep' on which it was based. Another early silent 'Sugar Daddies' provides a variant on the idea (plus the same climactic gag!) while in the sound short 'Come Clean' regular foil Mae Busch - the blackmailer in 'Love 'Em And Weep' and its remake - is once again demanding money from Stan and Ollie. In the classic silent 'Early To Bed' Ollie has money to spare - and this time it's Stan who learns the power of blackmail!

• The Twilight Zone - Season 2 | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £41.90   |  Saving you £18.09 (43.17%)   |  RRP £59.99

  There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow between science and superstition and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area we call...The Twilight Zone! Episodes comprise: 1. King Nine Will Not Return 2. The Man In The Bottle 3. Nervous Man In

• Gregory's Girl / Gregory's Two Girls | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Gregory's Girl: In a Scottish new town Gregory a school footballer becomes aware of... girls! Life is OK for Gregory - even when he loses his star position in the football team to gorgeous Dorothy of 5A. Demoted to goalie he now has time to revel in her triumphs on the field and to dream of the possibilities that just may lie ahead... off the field. But his interest is not entirely reciprocated. Will he survive a rebuff? Can his friends cure him of his terrible infatuation? Will he score with Dorothy? Will he score at all? Who's going to be Gregory's girl? Gregory's Two Girls: Two decades after a teenage boy's crush on a schoolgirl football player Gregory Underwood returns to his old school to teach English. He soon finds himself caught between a colleague and a schoolgirl who plays football. With much of his teaching encompassing human rights Gregory also finds himself enlisted too.

• Bram Stoker's Shadowbuilder | DVD | (17/06/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Father Vassey (Michael Rooker) has a problem. Using his two 9mm, laser-sighted cannons, he has tracked down and killed the holders of a heretic ceremony meant to bring a demon into the world. Not just any demon, for this one's reason to be is nothing less than uncreating creation. The problem is, Vassey's too late. The demon has manifested and escaped, and is now on the hunt for the soul of a young boy who is believed to be saint material, due to the stigmata he had at birth. The film is directed by Jamie Dixon, heretofore a special effects supervisor, who shows canny restraint where special effects are concerned. The shadowy demon of the title is depicted often by a fluid black cloud, which is functional without losing its eeriness or credibility. The acting is solid, never campy, though Michael Rooker sometimes feels out of place. And the climactic scenes, built up to with good pacing, are fraught with peril and excitement. All in all, this is a worthwhile effort for a first-time director, and that makes it one of the best direct-to-video releases I've seen in quite a long time. I just wish I could locate the Bram Stoker story it's supposed to be based on. --Jim Gay, Amazon.com

• Great Guy | DVD | (01/08/2001) from £14.20   |  Saving you £-7.22 (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Department of Weights and Measures Inspector Johnny Cave finds himself in the midst of deceitful government officials when he takes over for his boss whom the officials have beaten and put in the hospital. Cave quickly acts to turn everyone in but his corrupt counterparts refuse to go quietly. Soon he exposes the hidden government agenda that has his coworkers bilking the American taxpayers out of several thousand dollars per year by stealing an equally small amount from everybod

• Traitor's Heart | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Nick and Maggie Brody's horror when their 8 year old son goes missing at a fair is soon assuaged when a stranger delivers him safe and sound. However just days later a mysterious caller demands a meeting to discuss the incident and unbeknown to Nick he and his comfortable middle class family are walking straight into an ambush...