"Actor: Heather Chase"

• The Sound Of Music | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £5.36   |  Saving you £10.63 (198.32%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The most widely seen movie produced by a Hollywood studio, The Sound of Music grows fresher with each viewing. Though it was planned meticulously in pre-production (save for the scene where Maria and the children take a dipping in an Austrian lake that nearly cost a life), on each viewing one is struck anew by the spontaneous almost improvisatory air of the acting, notably of Julie Andrews under Robert Wise's direction. There are also the little human touches he brings to, for instance, the scene where Maria leads the children to the hills, over bridges and along tow paths where the smallest boy trips up and momentarily gets left behind: it creates a feeling that most of us have encountered. From the opening pre-credit sequence of muted excitement as the camera roves over the Austrian Alps (photographed in magnificent colour), where little phrases from the wind instruments on the soundtrack are flung as if on the breeze, foreshadowing the title song to follow, the production never puts a foot wrong. On the DVD: On the first disc the film itself has never looked or sounded better since its original presentation in Todd AO (prints of which are said to have disappeared forever). The disc also contains a separate audio guide that takes the viewer through the film sequence by sequence, with director Robert Wise commenting on the weather, the production design by Boris Leven, the sequences filmed on location and in Hollywood (like the interiors of the Von Trapp villa), and the naming of other actors who were eager for the lead roles, notably Doris Day and Yul Brynner. On the second disc there are the documentaries. "Salzburg Sight and Sound" was Charmian Carr's own record of her time on location in the summer of 1964, playing Liesl, the eldest Von Trapp daughter. "From Fact to Fiction", running two hours, begins with the birth of Maria in 1905 who inspired the film, charts her subsequent marriage to Captain Von Trapp, their escape from Nazi Germany not across the Alps but via a train across the Italian boarder, their home in Vermont and thence to the German film of the family that was brought to the attention of Rodgers and Hammerstein as an ideal vehicle for a stage musical. A second group of documentaries covers previews, television and radio commercials and a 1973 interview with Wise and Andrews. Overall, this is a marathon package but in its way is as compelling as the film itself. --Adrian Edwards

• The Sound Of Music - 2 disc Special Edition | DVD | (09/04/2001) from £12.82   |  Saving you £7.17 (55.93%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The most widely seen movie produced by a Hollywood studio, The Sound of Music grows fresher with each viewing. Though it was planned meticulously in pre-production (save for the scene where Maria and the children take a dipping in an Austrian lake that nearly cost a life), on each viewing one is struck anew by the spontaneous almost improvisatory air of the acting, notably of Julie Andrews under Robert Wise's direction. There are also the little human touches he brings to, for instance, the scene where Maria leads the children to the hills, over bridges and along tow paths where the smallest boy trips up and momentarily gets left behind: it creates a feeling that most of us have encountered. From the opening pre-credit sequence of muted excitement as the camera roves over the Austrian Alps (photographed in magnificent colour), where little phrases from the wind instruments on the soundtrack are flung as if on the breeze, foreshadowing the title song to follow, the production never puts a foot wrong. On the DVD: On the first disc the film itself has never looked or sounded better since its original presentation in Todd AO (prints of which are said to have disappeared forever). The disc also contains a separate audio guide that takes the viewer through the film sequence by sequence, with director Robert Wise commenting on the weather, the production design by Boris Leven, the sequences filmed on location and in Hollywood (like the interiors of the Von Trapp villa), and the naming of other actors who were eager for the lead roles, notably Doris Day and Yul Brynner. On the second disc there are the documentaries. "Salzburg Sight and Sound" was Charmian Carr's own record of her time on location in the summer of 1964, playing Liesl, the eldest Von Trapp daughter. "From Fact to Fiction", running two hours, begins with the birth of Maria in 1905 who inspired the film, charts her subsequent marriage to Captain Von Trapp, their escape from Nazi Germany not across the Alps but via a train across the Italian boarder, their home in Vermont and thence to the German film of the family that was brought to the attention of Rodgers and Hammerstein as an ideal vehicle for a stage musical. A second group of documentaries covers previews, television and radio commercials and a 1973 interview with Wise and Andrews. Overall, this is a marathon package but in its way is as compelling as the film itself. --Adrian Edwards

• The Sound Of Music | DVD | (28/11/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Share the magical heartwarming true-life story that has become the most popular family film of all time - Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound Of Music. Julie Andrews lights up the screen as Maria the spirited young woman who leaves the convent to become governess to the seven children of Captain von Trapp an autocratic widower whose strict household rules leave no room for music or merriment. Winner of five Academy Awards including Best Picture this timeless cla

• The Deadly Females | DVD | (31/10/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  What would you do if your husband, wife or business partner was making your life unbearable, to the point where there was no alternative but to have them removed- permanently? Could you bring yourself to do it? If not, bored Kensington housewife Joan (Tracy Reed, cousin of Oliver and niece of Carol) offers a possible alternative- for a price, she and her highly trained, all-female hit squad will very discreetly 'take out' the offending party and leave no trace behind .In this dark, bleakly comic and sometimes grimly prophetic drama from Donovan Winter, which, like many of the best British exploitation films, features a story ripped from yesterday's headlines, we enter the lives of both assassin and victim, and discover that in the London of 1975, whether swanky Knightsbridge or deepest suburban Orpington, noone has immunity from murder, and everyone is expendable. Locations also take in the legendary Biba department store, shortly before its closure.As usual, Winter assembles a cast of great performers from both ends of the cinematic spectrum, with future TV stars Bernard Holley (Z Cars, Tripods, Thriller, Dr Who, Phoenix And The Carpet, Birds Of A Feather) Brian Jackson (Revenge Of The Pink Panther, Protectors, Persuaders, Escort Girls) and Rula Lenska (Rock Follies, Take A Letter Mr Jones, Cluedo, Dr Who, Leap In The Dark, Confessions) rubbing shoulders with seasoned blue movie names Heather Chasen and Steve Amber, the former of whom is now a respected actress in her own right. There's also a minor role for horror star Sally Faulkner (Prey, Vampyres, The Body Stealers) which the eagle-eyed amongst you will have fun spotting.Is it the Mafia? Is it the Triads? Is it the Illuminati? The Men In Black? No, it's The Deadly Females - and they've got your name on their books...

• Maniacal | DVD | (01/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A terrifying movie from notorious shock horror director Joe Castro... After brutally killing his mother and seriously injuring his father Gilbert is sent to a maximum security sanitarium for the rest of his days. The neighbourhood begins to get back to normal but not for long.... Brutally killing three orderlies Gilbert escapes and return with revenge on his mind. It's a race against time... the only person that can get through to Gilbert is his sister Janet. Will she be able to stop him or will she just become another of his victims?

• The Sherlock Holmes Catalogue - The Eligible Bachelor | DVD | (28/04/2003) from £19.30   |  Saving you £-9.31 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A little over-extended as a two-hour movie, The Eligible Bachelor was one of several such feature-length productions made (late 1992) in Granada Television's long-running Sherlock Holmes series. Based on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor, this TV movie finds Holmes (the ailing Jeremy Brett, playing an increasingly darker and more neurotic detective) and Dr. Watson (Edward Hardwicke) called upon to help in a case involving the disappearance of Henrietta Doran (Paris Jefferson), fiancé of the noble Lord Robert St Simon (Simon Williams), who was last seen with a former lover of St Simon's, Flora Millar (Joanna McCallum). The unimaginative Scotland Yard instantly arrests Millar on suspicion of foul play, but it is Holmes who has to find the missing woman. Fans of the entire series might best enjoy this slightly clunky programme, though there is much of interest about Brett's performance to recommend it. --Tom Keogh

• Alien Abduction | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £18.99

  While camping Jean and her three friends are abducted by extra terrestrials. She returns to consciousness in a US Military Hospital especially designed to rehabilitate alien abductees. Her army interrogators soon resort to torture lobotomy and even the execution of uncooperative and mutated patients. Jean escapes only to discover the awful truth about the bloody conflict between humanity and the conquering forces of extraterrestrial evil.

• The Toybox | DVD | (04/12/2006) from £14.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  It all began so innocently.... It all began so innocently for two children growing up in the deepest countryside their imaginations set ablaze by a book on local myths and legends. Berenice convinces her younger brother Brian that she is the reincarnation of a witch with the powers to put everything right. As they grow up Brian becomes emotionally dependent on his sister so that when she returns to the family home for Christmas with her new boyfriend he feels totally betrayed. At the same time a man strongly resembling the mythical Jake the Mid-Folker is closing in. An overwhelming sense of impending horror surrounds the house but is the enemy outside - or is the enemy within?

• Sound of Music: 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Steelbook | Blu Ray | (02/03/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music Winner of five ACADEMY AWARDS® including Best Picture* with this 2-disc Blu-ray™ set that includes an all-new hour-long documentary detailing Julie Andrews' return visit to Salzburg where she filmed her iconic role as Maria half a century ago! *1965: Directing, Film Editing, Music, Best Picture, Sound Includes All-New 60-Minute Documentary The Sound of a City: Julie Andrews Returns to Salzburg and more!