"Actor: Julie Anna"

• Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection | Blu Ray | (24/03/2025) from £32.38   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection | Blu Ray | (01/10/2012) from £32.95   |  Saving you £-14.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £18.95

  For the first time ever, eight of the most iconic cinematic masterpieces of the horror genre are available together on Blu-ray as Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection. Digitally restored in perfect high-definition picture and perfect high-definition sound. This essential set includes a never-before-seen featurette about the restoration of Dracula and the first ever offering of Creature from the Black Lagoon in its restored Blu-ray 3D version. Includes: 44 Page Booklet 8 Exclusive Art Cards with Original Theatrical Posters DraculaThe original 1931 movie version of Bram Stoker's classic tale has for generations defined the iconic look and terrifying persona of the famed vampire. Dracula owes its continued appeal in large part due to Bela Lugosi's indelible portrayal of the immortal Count Dracula and the flawless direction of horror auteur Tod Browning. Bonus Features: Dracula: The Restoration - New featurette available for the first time! Monster Tracks: Interactive Pop-Up Facts About the Making of Dracula Dracula Archives Score by Philip Glass Performed by the Kronos Quartet Feature Commentary by Film Historian David J. Skal Feature Commentary by Steve Haberman Screenwriter of Dracula: Dead and Loving It Trailer Gallery FrankensteinBoris Karloff stars as the screen's most tragic and iconic monster in what many consider to be the greatest horror film ever made. Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) dares to tamper with the essential nature of life and death by creating a monster (Karloff) out of lifeless human body parts. Director James Whale's adaptation of the Mary Shelley novel and Karloff's compassionate portrayal of a creature groping for identity make Frankenstein a timeless masterpiece. Bonus Features: The Frankenstein Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster Karloff: The Gentle Monster Monster Tracks: Interactive Pop-Up Facts About the Making of Frankenstein Universal Horror Frankenstein Archives Boo!: A Short Film Feature Commentary with Film Historian Rudy Behlmer Feature Commentary with Historian Sir Christopher Frayling 100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics Trailer Gallery The MummyHorror icon Boris Karloff stars in the original 1932 version of The Mummy in which a team of British archaeologists accidentally revives a mummified high priest after 3,700 years. Alive again, he sets out on an obsessive - and deadly - quest to find his lost love. Over 50 years after its first release, this brooding dream-like horror classic remains a cinematic masterpiece. Bonus Features: Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce Unraveling the Legacy of The Mummy The Mummy Archives Feature Commentary by Rick Baker, Scott Essman, Steve Haberman, Bob Burns and Brent Armstrong Feature Commentary by Film Historian Paul M. Jensen 100 Years of Universal: The Carl Laemmle Era The Invisible ManClaude Rains delivers an unforgettable performance in his screen debut as a mysterious doctor who discovers a serum that makes him invisible. Covered by bandages and dark glasses, Rains arrives in a small English village and attempts to hide his amazing discovery, but the drug's side effects slowly drive him to commit acts of unspeakable terror. Bonus Features: Now You See Him: The Invisible Man Revealed Production Photographs Feature Commentary with Film Historian Rudy Behlmer 100 Years of Universal: Unforgettable Characters The Bride of FrankensteinThe acclaimed sequel to the original Frankenstein has become one of the most popular horror classics in film history. The legendary Boris Karloff reprises his role as the screen's most misunderstood monster, now longing for a mate of his own. Colin Clive is back as the proud and overly ambitious Dr. Frankenstein, who creates the ill-fated bride (Elsa Lanchester). The last horror film directed by James Whale features a haunting musical score that helps make The Bride of Frankenstein one of the finest and most touching thrillers of its era. Bonus Features: She's Alive! Creating The Bride of Frankenstein The Bride of Frankenstein Archive Feature Commentary with Scott MacQueen The Wolf ManOriginally released in 1941, The Wolf Man introduced the world to a new Universal movie monster and redefined the mythology of the werewolf forever. Featuring a heartbreaking performance by Lon Chaney Jr. and groundbreaking make-up by Jack Pierce, The Wolf Man is the saga of Larry Talbot, a cursed man who transforms into a deadly werewolf when the moon is full. The dreamlike atmospheres, elaborate settings and chilling musical score combine to make The Wolf Man a masterpiece of the genre. Bonus Features: Monster by Moonlight The Wolf Man: From Ancient Curse to Modern Myth Pure in Heart: The Life and Legacy of Lon Chaney Jr. He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce The Wolf Man Archives Feature Commentary with Film Historian Tom Weaver The Phantom of the OperaThis lavish retelling of Gaston Leroux's immortal horror tale stars Claude Rains as the masked phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House. A crazed composer who schemes to make beautiful young soprano Christine DuBois (Susanna Foster) the star of the opera company, the Phantom also wreaks revenge on those he believes stole his music. Nelson Eddy, as the heroic baritone, tries to win the affections of Christine as he tracks down the murderous, horribly disfigured Phantom. Bonus Features: The Opera Ghost: A Phantom Unmasked Production Photographs Feature Commentary with Film Historian Scott MacQueen 100 Years of Universal: The Lot Theatrical Trailer Creature from the Black LagoonCaptured and imprisoned for scientific study, a living amphibious missing link becomes enamored with the head researcher's female assistant (Julie Adams). When the hideous creature escapes and kidnaps the object of his affection, a crusade is launched to rescue the helpless woman and cast the terrifying creature back to the depths from which he came. Featuring legendary makeup artist Bud Westmore's brilliantly designed monster, Creature from the Black Lagoon is an enduring tribute to the imaginative genius of its Hollywood creators. Bonus Features: Creature from the Black Lagoon in Blu-Ray 3D Back to the Black Lagoon Production Photographs Feature Commentary with Film Historian Tom Weaver 100 Years of Universal: The Lot Trailer Gallery

• Before You Go | DVD | (21/04/2003) from £5.72   |  Saving you £14.27 (249.48%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Julie Walters, Joanne Whalley and Victoria Hamilton star as three sisters coming to terms with their mother's death in this adaptation of the stageplay "The Memory of Water."

• Shampoo | DVD | (08/12/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A modish creation teased into life by Warren Beatty, Shampoo was an offbeat Hollywood hit back in 1975. Made after Watergate, it reflects on the hedonism of late-60s Los Angeles with a sad, somewhat cynical eye. Basically a bedroom farce, fuelled by some famously raunchy dialogue, its comedy is nevertheless underlain with melancholy. Screenwriter Robert Towne was inspired by Wycherly's Restoration comedy The Country Wife, wherein a wily fellow convinces friends of his impotence even while he is merrily seducing their wives. Hence, Towne invented handsome Beverly Hills hairdresser George Roundy (Beatty), who ought to be gay, but emphatically isn't. Shampoo begins on US Election Day, 1968, as Nixon is trouncing McGovern at the polls, and George Roundy is trying to sort his life out. An earnest advocate of sensual pleasure, he beds most of his female clients, from the fretful Jill (Goldie Hawn) to the wealthy Felicia (Lee Grant). Yet George is himself unfulfilled, and imagines that owning his own salon will satisfy him. He asks Felicia's husband Lester (Jack Warden) to back him, but first Lester coerces George into squiring his mistress Jackie (Julie Christie) to a Nixon victory party. Inevitably, Jackie is another of George's girls and, having seduced Felicia's vivacious daughter (Carrie Fisher) earlier that day, George has much to conceal from Lester and Felicia as the evening's festivities unravel. Shampoo shows the 60s turning sour. The characters are rich hippies, superficially liberated but deeply unhappy, and blandly indifferent to the dawning of the Nixon era. The excellent Lee Grant won an Oscar, but Shampoo is Beatty's film. He produced it, had a substantive hand in Towne's script, and deputised the nominal director, Hal Ashby. The film mildly exploits legends of Beatty's real-life sexual prowess, but mainly it embodies his commitment to making thoughtful movies for grown-ups. Richard Kelly

• Beautiful Thing | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £9.90   |  Saving you £3.08 (44.57%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A grim, gritty South London housing estate makes an unlikley setting for a romantic fairy-tale, but Hetti MacDonald's gay teenage love story all but brings it off. Adapted by screenwriter Jonathan Harvey from his own stage play, Beautiful Thing tells how teenage loner Jamie falls for next-door neighbour Ste, one of the tough kids who bullies him at school. Amazingly, he finds his feelings reciprocated, and the two progress to a tender, tentative affair. Sidestepping conventional notions of working-class homophobia, the film succeeds in presenting its central relationship not as anything startlingly different, but simply as a teenage romance--with all the joy and heartbreak it implies--that happens to be between two 15-year-old guys. Problems of brutality and deprivation are acknowledged but never allowed to dominate, and under the influence of love even the harsh walkways and terraces of the estate take on a sunlit glow. --Philip Kemp

• Gosford Park/Ladies in/Before | DVD | (24/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Gosford Park: Robert Altman directs this elegant period drama and Agatha Christie-style murder mystery that features the cream of British acting talent. Gathered at aristocrat Michael Gambon's big house are fellow toffs Charles Dance, James Wilby and Jeremy Northam (as British matinee idol Ivor Novello) among others. Meanwhile, downstairs in the bustling servant's quarters we encounter Alan Bates and Helen Mirren as the head male and female members of staff. The various intrigues that play out between members of the different classes and sexes are all observed with Altman's customary withering eye and trademark roving camerawork. After a murder is committed, comical pipe-smoking detective Stephen Fry arrives, but the solution is arrived at in an unconventional way. With an impeccable ensemble cast that Merchant Ivory would die for, Gosford Park is a classy piece of cinema from a great director getting back to the top of his form. Ladies In Lavender: Award winning actresses Dame Judi Dench and Maggie Smith star in this evocative, heart-warming story of unfulfilled dreams, innocence and unrequited love. Cornwall in 1936 remains as ever a timeless place. Sisters, Janet and Ursula Widdington discover a castaway on the beach below their house. With the help of the local doctor they nurse him back to health. During his convalescence the sisters discover his talent as a musician and the unsettling effect he has on them both - especially Ursula, whose life will never be the same again. Before You Go: Directed by veteran British film-maker Lewis Gilbert (Shirley Valentine, Educating Rita), Before You Go is based on Shelagh Stephenson's play 'The Memory of Water'. Three sisters (Julie Walters, Joanne Whalley and Victoria Hamilton) return to their family home in Northumberland following the death of their mother (Patricia Hodge). Family memories are soon rekindled in this beautifully acted, touching comedy drama...

• Rabid | DVD | (06/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £1.99

  One of David Cronenberg's most successful early films, Rabid features porn star Marilyn Chambers as a woman who becomes infected with a virus after an operation. As result she grows a kind of phallus with which she penetrates her victims as she sucks their blood and thus the disease spreads rapidly. The film displays all Cronenberg's usual horrified fascination with the human body and its sexual function. Looking back, it can be read as a kind of parable about AIDS, but it works perfectly well as an effective low-budget shocker. On the DVD: the widescreen image on the DVD is acceptable quality, as is the sound. The fairly routine extras consist of excerpts from a TV interview with Cronenberg, lasting about 10 minutes; a collection of stills from the film; some written notes by horror expert Kim Newman that give useful background, though in part reproduce what is said in the interview; full filmographies for Cronenberg and the three principal performers, including a long list of Chambers' porn credits. --Ed Buscombe

• Jawbreaker | DVD | (10/01/2005) from £6.73   |  Saving you £-0.74 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A ferocious day-glo-coloured complement to Michael Lehmann's majestically spiteful late-80s teen black comedy Heathers, Jawbreaker invites us into the immaculately turned-out and deeply, deeply venal world of a quartet of high-school princesses led by one Courtney Shayne (Rose McGowan)--or "Satan in heels", as she's known to her peer group. The only thing is, Courtney's gang don't stay a quartet for long after the one vaguely likeable member of the group, Liz (Charlotte Ayanna) dies following a malicious birthday prank executed by her caring, sharing girlfriends. (All we can say is that it involves the titular hunk of candy.) Triumphantly convincing the world Liz was, in fact, the victim of a serial killer, Courtney gets on with ruling school with a manicured iron fist--except she didn't bargain for the sudden discovery of a conscience by her lieutenant Julie (Rebecca Gayheart), or the rumbling of her plan by class geek Fern Mayo (Judy Greer). In truth, no matter how badly Jawbreaker wants to be Heathers, there's little of the sharp, acidic wit or satirical glee which Lehmann brought to the table in the earlier movie--just a sticky and a faintly unpleasant aftertaste. That said, there's a certain cartoonish vibrancy to the proceedings, however predictably they unfold, and if McGowan's Joan Crawford Jr shtick as the vampish queen-bitch Shayne hardly extends her range as an actress, it's an accomplished piece of type-casting. --Danny Leigh

• The Dark Half | DVD | (22/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Although it lacks the creepy subtleties of Stephen King's celebrated novel, George Romero's underrated adaptation of The Dark Half is among the best films based on King's fiction, with Romero taking care to honour the central theme while serving up some gruesome gore in the film's much-criticised finale. Inspired by King's own admission that he wrote several novels under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Dark Half explores the duality of a writer's impulse, ranging from literary respectability to the viscerally cathartic thrills of exploitative pulp fiction. Author and teacher Thad Beaumont (Timothy Hutton) finds himself torn between those extremes when he "kills" his profitable alter ego, George Stark (the bestselling dark half to Thad's light), who then assumes evil, autonomous form (again played by Hutton) to defend lethally his role in Thad's creative endeavours. Forced to wrestle with this evil manifestation of his own unformed twin, Thad must fight to protect his wife (Amy Madigan), their twin babies and himself. While Romero skilfully develops the twin/duality theme to explore the writer's dilemma, Hutton is outstanding in his dual roles, playing Stark (in subtly fiendish makeup) as a redneck rebel with a knack for slashing throats. Julie Harris adds class in a supporting role, and horror fans will relish Romero's climactic showdown, in which swarms of sparrows seal Stark's fate. It favours a pulp sensibility with clunky exposition to explain Stark's existence, but The Dark Half is a laudable effort from everyone involved. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• The Legend Of The Seven Golden Vampires | DVD | (28/06/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Hammer Horror! Dragon Thrills! The First Kung Fu Horror Spectacular! Count Dracula journies to a remote Chinese village in the guise of a warlord to support six vampires who are dispirited after the loss of a seventh member of their cult. At the same time vampire hunter Prof. Van Helsing happens to be lecturing in the country and is persuaded by villagers to help them fight this curse of the ages... Possibly the only film to combine the traditions of a vampire story with Kung Fu!

• The Michael Haneke Collection | DVD | (09/10/2006) from £22.99   |  Saving you £17.00 (73.95%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Hidden (aka. Cache) (2005): Writer/director Michael Haneke delivers a masterpiece of unsettlement with Hidden (Cache). Life seems perfect for Georges (Daniel Auteuil) and Anne (Juliette Binoche) a bourgeois Parisian couple who live in a comfortable home with their adolescent son Pierrot (Lester Makedonsky). But when an anonymous videotape turns up on their doorstep showing their house under surveillance from across the street their calm life begins to spiral out of control. Subsequent videotapes arrive accompanied by mysterious drawings and gradually Georges becomes convinced that he's being tormented by a figure from his past. But when he confronts him the man assures Georges he is innocent. A growing sense of guilt begins to rise in Georges as he recalls his less-than-angelic childhood yet for some reason he's unable to be completely honest with Anne. Soon their happy home is an emotional battleground leading to a climax that is breathtaking in its ferocity and ambiguousness. The Time Of The Wolf (2003): Michael Haneke directs this nightmarish vision of a post-apocalyptic world in which society has completely broken down. Isabelle Huppert plays Anne who flees the city with her husband Georges and their two children in the hope of finding safe refuge at the family's country home. But soon after arriving they learn they have made a terrible mistake and must embark on a gruelling odyssey through a country totally devastated by disaster without even the most basic of utilities such as water and electricity. Demonstrating yet again his unique and uncompromising cinematic vision Haneke assembles an all star cast for this typically challenging tense and gripping drama. The Piano Teacher (2001): The Piano Teacher is a powerful and controversial drama from award-winning Austrian film-maker Michael Haneke (Funny Games Code Unknown). Isabelle Huppert gives a performance of astounding emotional intensity as Erika Kohut a repressed woman in her late thirties who teaches piano at the Vienna Conservatory and lives with her tyrannical mother (Annie Girardot) with whom she has a volatile love-hate relationship. But when one of Erika's students the handsome and assured Walter Klemmer (Benoit Magimel) attempts to seduce her the barriers that she has carefully erected around her claustrophobic world are shattered unleashing a previously inhibited extreme and uncontrollable desire. Code Unknown (2000): Paris. A very busy boulevard. Someone throws a crumpled piece of paper into the outstretched hands of a beggar-woman. This is the bond which for an instant links the trajectories of several very different characters : Anne a young actress is on the threshold of making it in the cinema. Her boyfriend Georges is a war photographer he is rarely in France. His father is a farmer. Georges' younger brother Jean has no interest in taking over the farm. Amadou is a music teacher in an institute for deaf-mute children. His father a taxi driver originates from Africa. His little sister is deaf and it's because of her that Amadou has chosen his profession. Maria comes from Romania and sends home the money she gets from begging. Having been deported she goes back home to spend some time with her family before embarking on another humiliating journey to France. What do they have in common these characters and those whose path they cross?

• Fahrenheit 451 | Blu Ray | (29/05/2017) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  François Truffaut co-writes and directs this classic drama adapted from Ray Bradbury's novel. In the not-too-distant future, forbidden volumes of literature are burned regularly by the 'firemen'. Montag (Oskar Werner) is the man in charge of the burnings, but after meeting a revolutionary book-owner, schoolteacher Clarisse (Julie Christie), he begins to have doubts - both about his vocation and his dead marriage to pleasure-seeking Linda (also Christie). Curious about the draw of literature, Montag keeps forbidden volumes of books for himself, and soon embarks on a secret affair with Linda. The cast also includes Anton Diffring and Cyril Cusack.

• Ahead Of The Class | DVD | (21/05/2007) from £10.88   |  Saving you £2.11 (19.39%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Based on the true story of how Marie Stubbs (Julie Walters) saved the notorious St. George's School in West London from closure following the murder of headmaster Philip Lawrence at its gates five years earlier...

• Dirty Tricks | DVD | (19/06/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  'Dirty Tricks' follows the hapless exploits of an unscrupulous English tutor at a seedy language school in Oxford. On the surface he is an eternal student: charming witty and accomplished. Beneath the facade however he displays a brilliant and ruthless talent for lying and manipulating everyone around him. Our 'hero' becomes friendly with wealthy couple Dennis and Karen Parsons but his initial feelings of bitterness regarding their success become complicated by a frenzied affair wit

• Hold Back The Night | DVD | (28/10/2002) from £5.11   |  Saving you £2.14 (55.58%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Two young protestors on the run from the police become friends lovers and try to lose their past...

• LX 2048 | Blu Ray | (15/02/2021) from £5.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  In the year 2048, the sun has become so toxic people can no longer leave their houses in daytime, and normal life is conducted mostly inside the virtual realm. Adam is a husband and father who discovers that he has a mysterious heart disease. With no possibility for an organ transplant, he is now scheduled to be replaced by a cloned upgrade an improved version of himself that will be supplied to his estranged wife as part of the Premium 3 government insurance plan. Spiraling out of control, Adam starts living on borrowed time, seeking to find a solution before his replica will be sent to raise his kids and replace his existence across the board.

• Universal Classic Monsters Collection: Limited Edition Coffin | Blu Ray | (01/10/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  Limited Edition coffin containing eight of the most iconic cinematic masterpieces of the horror genre. Digitally restored in perfect high-definition picture and sound. Coffin includes a never-before-seen featurette about the restoration of Dracula and the first ever offering of Creature from the Black Lagoon in its restored Blu-ray 3D version.DraculaThe original 1931 movie version of Bram Stoker's classic tale has for generations defined the iconic look and terrifying persona of the famed vampire. Dracula owes its continued appeal in large part due to Bela Lugosi's indelible portrayal of the immortal Count Dracula and the flawless direction of horror auteur Tod Browning.FrankensteinBoris Karloff stars as the screen's most tragic and iconic monster in what many consider to be the greatest horror film ever made. Dr. Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) dares to tamper with the essential nature of life and death by creating a monster (Karloff) out of lifeless human body parts.The MummyHorror icon Boris Karloff stars in the original 1932 version of The Mummy in which a team of British archaeologists accidentally revives a mummified high priest after 3,700 years. Alive again, he sets out on an obsessive-and deadly-quest to find his lost love.The Invisible ManClaude Rains delivers an unforgettable performance in his screen debut as a mysterious doctor who discovers a serum that makes him invisible. Covered by bandages and dark glasses, Rains arrives in a small English village and attempts to hide his amazing discovery, but the drug's side effects slowly drive him to commit acts of unspeakable terror.The Bride Of FrankensteinThe acclaimed sequel to the original Frankenstein has become one of the most popular horror classics in film history. The legendary Boris Karloff reprises his role as the screen's most misunderstood monster, now longing for a mate of his own. Colin Clive is back as the proud and overly ambitious Dr. Frankenstein, who creates the ill-fated bride (Elsa Lanchester).The Wolf ManOriginally released in 1941, The Wolf Man introduced the world to a new Universal movie monster and redefined the mythology of the werewolf forever. Featuring a heartbreaking performance by Lon Chaney Jr. and groundbreaking make-up by Jack Pierce, The Wolf Man is the saga of Larry Talbot, a cursed man who transforms into a deadly werewolf when the moon is full.Phantom Of The OperaThis lavish retelling of Gaston Leroux's immortal horror tale stars Claude Rains as the masked phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House. A crazed composer who schemes to make beautiful young soprano Christine DuBois (Susanna Foster) the star of the opera company, the Phantom also wreaks revenge on those he believes stole his music. Nelson Eddy, as the heroic baritone, tries to win the affections of Christine as he tracks down the murderous, horribly disfigured Phantom.The Creature From The Black LagoonCaptured and imprisoned for scientific study, a living amphibious missing link becomes enamored with the head researcher's female assistant (Julie Adams). When the hideous creature escapes and kidnaps the object of his affection, a crusade is launched to rescue the helpless woman and cast the terrifying creature back to the depths from which he came.

• Killing Dad | DVD | (01/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Alistair a hair tonic salesman is not very happy about welcoming back a father who twenty-three years earlier went out to fetch some cigarettes. He decides to spy on his father and discovers that he is still the drunken disgrace that he used to be. Alistair decides that drastic action must be taken to stop this awful man....the outcome is outrageous!

• Rabid | DVD | (07/08/2017) from £9.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  One of David Cronenberg's most successful early films, Rabid features porn star Marilyn Chambers as a woman who becomes infected with a virus after an operation. As result she grows a kind of phallus with which she penetrates her victims as she sucks their blood and thus the disease spreads rapidly. The film displays all Cronenberg's usual horrified fascination with the human body and its sexual function. Looking back, it can be read as a kind of parable about AIDS, but it works perfectly well as an effective low-budget shocker. On the DVD: the widescreen image on the DVD is acceptable quality, as is the sound. The fairly routine extras consist of excerpts from a TV interview with Cronenberg, lasting about 10 minutes; a collection of stills from the film; some written notes by horror expert Kim Newman that give useful background, though in part reproduce what is said in the interview; full filmographies for Cronenberg and the three principal performers, including a long list of Chambers' porn credits. --Ed Buscombe

• Shampoo | DVD | (13/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Shampoo was billed as a sex comedy when it was first released in 1975, cashing in on the priapic reputation of its leading man and producer Warren Beatty. More than a quarter of a century on, that tag looks somewhat inadequate. Against a background of aimless bed-hopping and power-broking, Shampoo satirises the cultural and political wasteland of late-1960s Beverley Hills society. Ladies who lunch are married to ambitious, unfaithful husbands with mistresses; their daughters are dysfunctional; and the mistresses spend more time with their dogs than their lovers. George, the philandering hairdresser, is the common denominator who services them all. But he has private ambitions and is hustling for investment in his own salon. Beatty's restless performance as the man who can't say "no" is intriguing, waking up suddenly and too late to the chaos and vapidity of his life. The humour is bleak, sharpened by the background of Nixon's ascent to the White House: Shampoo is a cynical by-product of the Watergate scandal. There are good performances from Julie Christie and Goldie Hawn as two of George's leading conquests, and from a pre-Star Wars Carrie Fisher as the teenager who tries to seduce him. But Lee Grant garnered the awards as the embittered wife who finally calls "time". On the DVD: Shampoo is presented in 1:85.1 anamorphic widescreen, replicating the glossy production values of the original theatrical experience. The mono Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is well balanced. There are no extras apart from standard subtitles. --Piers Ford