"Actor: Gwen Watford"

• Taste The Blood Of Dracula | DVD | (28/06/2013) from £4.99   |  Saving you £13.00 (260.52%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Taste the Blood of Dracula is one of the best of Christopher Lee's Dracula series for Hammer. A group of businessmen who, out of sight of their families, like nothing more than to frequent brothels and generally behave in sensation-seeking ways, are persuaded by Dracula's servant (a splendidly manic Ralph Bates) that summoning up the orthodontically-challenged aristocrat would be the ultimate thrill. They warily agree, purchasing relics for the necessary ritual from a shifty dealer (Roy Kinnear--who else?), but panic halfway through the proceedings and decide to kick their initiator to death instead. Unfortunately, it's too late, and Dracula materialises as they make good their escape, swearing to avenge the murder of his servant. While the subsequent descent into paranoia by the three villains-Dracula himself hardly counts in comparison with this odious bunch--isn't exactly the stuff of Rosemary's Baby, it still infuses the plot with an element of psychodrama that is unusual for a Hammer fang-fest. There are strong performances pretty much all round, but Peter "Clegg" Sallis quakes exceptionally nicely as one of the trio of miscreants. The sets, props and costumes are of an unusually high order, too. --Roger Thomas

• Taste the Blood of Dracula | Blu Ray | (04/05/2020) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  It's the boys night out, time for bawdy fun. Yet revelry alone can't satisfy these community leaders out on a lark. There's still an adventure theycan be duped into trying, onr that will transform a certain Count from moldering dust into bloodlusting flesh. Taste the Blood of Dracula, another film in Hammer Studios' cycle of hemogobbling Victorian-era horror, is a showcase of why Hmmer became the name in Gothic terror. The solid cast and rich production design raise goosebumps of real-life fear and otherworldy dread. And Christopher Lee dons his red-lined cape again to become Evil Incarnate. He's Count Dracula. a being neither dead nor alive...but his movies are livelier than ever.

• Do You Know This Voice? | DVD | (18/04/2016) from £6.38   |  Saving you £3.61 (56.58%)   |  RRP £9.99

  When a ransom bid results in the death of a child, the police have only one lead the old lady who witnessed the kidnapper using a public phone box. Though her recollection is vague, she volunteers to act as bait for the killer telling the press that she had seen the kidnapper's face, she waits for him to attack...A compelling British noir boasting a gritty, powerful performance from Dan Duryea, Do You Know This Voice? is based on a story by noted crime/gothic horror writer Evelyn Berckman. It is featured here in a brand-new transfer from the original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio.

• Never Take Sweets from a Stranger (Standard Edition) | Blu Ray | (15/02/2021) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  One of Hammer's most controversial and genuinely adult thrillers, Never Take Sweets from a Stranger is a serious drama that dealt candidly (for the time) with the issue of child abuse. Deftly handled, the film is a sincere and unsensational treatment of a taboo subject. Avoiding melodrama it addresses the horrors of the real world but remains a compelling and genuinely unsettling work. Extras High Definition remaster Original mono audio Alternative presentation with US Never Take Candy from a Stranger title sequence Conspiracy Theories: Inside ˜Never Take Sweets from a Stranger' (2018, 25 mins): an analysis of the film and its production by Hammer expert Jonathan Rigby, BFI curator Josephine Botting and cultural historian John J Johnston Hammer's Women: Gwen Watford (2018, 8 mins): British cinema expert Dr Laura Mayne explores the life and career of the prolific film, stage, and television actress An Interview with Janina Faye (2018, 15 mins): the British actress recalls her time working with Hammer An Appreciation by Matthew Holness (2018, 12 mins): the actor, writer, director and Hammer fan reflects on many aspects of the film The Perfect Horror Chord (2018, 44 mins): a new appreciation of composer Elisabeth Lutyens by David Huckvale, author of Hammer Film Scores and the Musical Avant-Garde US theatrical trailer Brian Trenchard-Smith trailer commentary (2013, 4 mins): a short critical appreciation Image galleries: press and promotional material New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing

• Miss Marple - The Body In The Library | DVD | (24/03/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The suspense of Miss Marple: The Body in the Library isn't the edge-of-your-seat variety; it's simply a perplexing puzzle that keeps niggling at the back of your mind. Just as one piece of the puzzle falls into place, another gap opens up, thanks to one of Agatha Christie's most intricate plots. Considering what a long film this is (150 minutes, lengthier than most Christie adaptations), it's impressive how tightly the mystery grips the viewer's attention. And not a second of Joan Hickson's marvellous performance as Miss Marple should be missed (the other performances, alas, fall short, except for Gwen Watford as Dolly Bantry, in whose library the body is found). To people meeting her for the first time, Jane Marple appears to be a sweet old dear, whose comments on the murder investigation are more likely to involve an obscure recollection of a frog jumping out of someone's coat than to have any direct bearing on the case. But as Christie fans know, beneath that dithery exterior lies one of the shrewdest minds in England. Hickson's understated portrayal reveals the humour in her character without ever making a mockery of Miss Marple and the results are delightful to watch. --Larisa Lomacky Moore, Amazon.com

• In This House Of Brede | DVD | (11/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Phillipa Talbot (Diana Rigg) was a widowed successful career woman. She had position wealth a devoted lover. She also had a heart numbed by self-hatred. A heart that refused to love. In This House of Brede is the story of Phillipa's search for love in the mysterious sequestered world of Benedictine nuns at Brede Abbey. It tells of her tormented relationships with two women: A young novice who questions her fidelity to her vows which causes her pain and an older woman whose hatred almost destroys her. She ultimately learns to love both in equal measure. Based on the best-selling novel by Rumer Godden and filmed on location at genuine convents in London and Ireland.

• The Agatha Christie Hour - The Case Of The Middle-Aged Wife / In A Glass Darkly | DVD | (10/05/2010) from £6.23   |  Saving you £1.76 (28.25%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Episodes Comprise: The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife: When Mrs Packington whose husband is paying more attention to his young secretary answers an ad in the papers reading ARE YOU HAPPY? IF NOT CONSULT MR PARKER PYNE she soon finds herself being dazzled and swept off her feet by the handsome Claude Luttrell. In A Glass Darkly: Matthew Armitage is startled by a vision in his mirror: he sees a man with a scarred neck strangling a beautiful blonde. He later meets the woman in his vision Sylvia and notes her fiance's scarred neck. Mathew tells Sylvia of his premonition and the engagement is broken off. But is that all there is to it?