"Actor: King"

• Friday The 13th | DVD | (29/09/2003) from £7.19   |  Saving you £6.80 (94.58%)   |  RRP £13.99

  No matter how many sequels they've made or how big a hit it was in 1980, it's difficult to view the first Friday the 13th as anything but a quickie designed to cram in as many elements from horror movies that had been hits in the late 1970s--most obviously, Halloween and Carrie--while adding as little as possible to the formula. Director Sean S Cunningham has an archetypal plot at his disposal as a group of attractive, shallow teenagers out in the woods to reopen a once-cursed summer camp are murdered in manners designed to show off Tom Savini's gore effects. Kevin Bacon, killed early (arrow through the throat), is the only player who went on to have a career, and he hardly stands out from the strip-Monopoly-playing, goon-acting meat-on-the-hoof teens who fall prey to the mostly unseen murderer. That it's not a total write-off is down to a few neatly edited bits of classical suspense and, two decades on, a simmering nostalgia for a world of bouffant-haired bubbleheads in short shorts (and that's just the guys) observed by edgy subjective camera as the music hisses "kill kill kill". On the DVD: Friday the 13th may be the least worthy of all horror "classics", but it's still nice to have an edition that (unlike earlier video releases) offers a 16x9-enhanced 1.85:1 restored image and a healthy dose of extras. The hard-sell trailer gives away most of the big scares, and so should be sampled after the film. The making of the movie is covered by a 20-minute "Return to Crystal Lake" featurette and a commentary track with input from many of the creatives (Cunningham, composer Harry Manfredini, stars Adrienne King and Betsy Palmer, writer Victor Miller). Some anecdotes get repeated, but there's a lot of solid background material. --Kim Newman

• Greta (DVD) | DVD | (26/08/2019) from £6.19   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz), a sweet, naïve young woman trying to make it on her own in New York City, doesn't think twice about returning the handbag she fi nds on the subway to its rightful owner. That owner is Greta (Isabelle Huppert), an eccentric French piano teacher with a love for classical music and an aching loneliness. Having recently lost her mother, Frances quickly grows closer to widowed Greta. The two become fast friends but Greta's maternal charms begin to dissolve and grow increasingly disturbing as Frances discovers that nothing in Greta's life is what it seems in this suspense thriller directed by Academy Award® winner Neil Jordan.

• Jammin' With The Blues Greats | DVD | (22/01/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

  Don't let the cheesy title put you off, because Jammin' with the Blues Greats, essentially a roadshow headed up by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, is quality stuff, managing to convey all the virtues of the music without sacrificing one ounce of the atmosphere of what must have been an extraordinary gig. It's pretty much impossible to identify any one contributor as outshining the others, given that there are as many takes on the music here as there are practitioners, but it's worth noting Mayall's ongoing commitment to the form as the Bluesbreakers deliver "An Eye for an Eye", "Room to Move" and several other tunes. Buddy Guy and Junior Wells get a couple of numbers ("Messin' with the Kid" is wonderful), BB King gets three and Etta James just one. However, despite everyone getting the opportunity to cut loose on the finale ("CC Rider Jam"), the whole circus is totally upstaged by the 83-year-old Sippie Wallace, who is gently led onstage, leans on the piano and sings "Shorty George" with the kind of conviction that makes everyone else look like upstarts. On the DVD: Jammin' with the Blues Greats is presented in 4:3 aspect ratio and has only one extra feature, a John Mayall discography. --Roger Thomas

• Polyester (1981) | Blu Ray | (14/10/2019) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  For his first studio picture, filth maestro John Waters took advantage of his biggest budget yet to allow his muse Divine to sink his teeth into a role unlike any he had played before: Baltimore housewife Francine Fishpaw, a heroine worthy of a Douglas Sirk melodrama. Blessed with a keen sense of smell and cursed with a philandering pornographer husband, a parasitic mother, and a pair of delinquent children, the long-suffering Francine turns to the bottle as her life falls apart - until deliverance appears in the form of a hunk named Todd Tomorrow (vintage heartthrob Tab Hunter). Enhanced with Odorama technology that enables you to scratch and sniff along with Francine, Polyester is one of Waters' most hilarious inventions, replete with stomach-churning smells, sadistic nuns, AA meetings, and foot stomping galore. Director-approved Special Edition Features: New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director John Waters, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack Audio commentary featuring Waters from the 1993 Criterion laserdisc release of the film New conversation between Waters and critic Michael Musto New program featuring interviews with Waters collaborators Tab Hunter, Dennis Dermody, Pat Moran, Vincent Peranio, Mink Stole, Mary Garlington, and Greer Yeaton Interviews from 1993 with cast and crew members Waters, Divine, Moran, Peranio, Edith Massey, and Van Smith, featuring footage from the making of the film Archival interviews Deleted scenes and alternate takes Trailer Scratch-and-sniff Odorama card Plus: An essay by film scholar Elena Gorfinkel

• Blair Witch Project | Blu Ray | (04/10/2010) from £7.99   |  Saving you £12.00 (150.19%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In October of 1994 three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville Maryland while shooting a documentary... A year later their footage was found. The viscerally frightening hit film The Blair Witch Project makes its Blu-ray Disc debut. Set in 1994 three film students travel to the woods of Maryland to investigate an urban legend and find themselves terrified to the core. The friends - Heather Josh and Mike - never return from the Black Hills Forest and one year later their missing footage is found and edited together to tell the story of the amateur filmmakers' terrifying two-day hike. Featuring four never-before-seen alternate endings the film that caused a stir worldwide is featured for the first time in 1080P High Definition Widescreen along with additional bonus materials that include an audio commentary a featurette and extra footage

• The Santa Clause | DVD | (18/11/2002) from £8.25   |  Saving you £3.74 (45.33%)   |  RRP £11.99

  Tim Allen makes an impressive screen debut in Disney's well-written seasonal film The Santa Clause. Divorced toy company executive Scott Calvin is pleased to have his son Charlie for Christmas, though the boy himself isn't happy about it. But when Santa Claus accidentally topples off the roof of the house and falls with a thud in the snow, Scott finds himself taking the merry old elf's place and earning new respect in his son's eyes. When the night ends, the reindeer take them to the North Pole, and Scott discovers that by donning the fabled red suit, he's inadvertently agreed to become the next Santa Claus. The next morning he wakes up in his own bed and thinks it's all a dream--but Charlie remembers it with crystal clarity. Scott now has to deal with his suspicious ex-wife (Wendy Crewson) and her psychiatrist boyfriend (Judge Reinhold), who both think he's playing tricks with Charlie's mind, and also with his own out-of-control body, which is putting on weight and growing a prodigious beard. The Santa Clause probably won't supplant It's a Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street as anyone's favourite Christmas viewing, but it's an enjoyable, straightforward family film, anchored by the affable charisma of Allen. --Bret Fetzer

• Joe 90 - Complete Series | DVD | (30/09/2002) from £31.97   |  Saving you £38.02 (118.92%)   |  RRP £69.99

  Joe 90 was Gerry Anderson's penultimate puppet show of the 1960s, following Captain Scarlet (1968) and preceding the little-known The Secret Service (1969). In 2112 professor Ian McClaine has invented the BIG RAT (Brain Impulse Galvanoscope, Record And Transfer), a machine for copying knowledge and experiences from person to person. WIN (World Intelligence Organisation) uses this to prime their top undercover agent before sending him into the field on missions which range from foiling international terrorists to recovering a nuclear weapon from beneath the polar ice. So far so good, but in perhaps the most mind-boggling concept ever to reach children's TV, that agent is McClaine's nine-year-old adopted son, Joe. Somehow even as it stays true to the Gerry Anderson techno-fantasy formula of secret organisations, gadgetry, and action-packed adventure full of spectacular explosions and violent death, Joe 90 remains blithely unconscious of its own implications. The missions are as globe-trotting as anything in Anderson's classic Thunderbirds series, and sometimes Joe does save lives, performing a risky brain operation or rescuing trapped astronauts. Yet even then his criminally irresponsible father brainwashes the lad each episode before placing him in a highly dangerous adult situation. Though the production values remain way ahead of anything else being done on British TV at the time, the question remains how did this ever seem like a good idea? On the DVD: Joe 90 comes complete in a five-disc box set of the entire 30-episode series. Each disc contains six 25-minute episodes presented, as usual with Gerry Anderson DVDs, behind a lovingly crafted menu. As expected the 4:3 picture quality is superb and the mono sound is full, detailed and without a trace of distortion. Each disc contains several pages of character biography and background information on the show, a photo gallery and varied extras such as location stills or a gallery of promotional images. --Gary S Dalkin

• Burke and Hare | Blu Ray | (21/02/2011) from £3.59   |  Saving you £21.40 (596.10%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Burke And Hare is a comedic take on the true story of the Edinburgh body-snatchers William Burke (Simon Pegg) and William Hare (Andy Serkis). These two Irish entrepreneurs spurred on by a chance meeting with a gorgeous actress (Isla Fisher) discover that a dead body can fetch a hefty price when the demands of the leading medical professors Dr. Knox (Tom Wilkinson) and Dr. Monroe (Tim Curry) reach beyond that of the local supply.

• About A Boy / Notting Hill | DVD | (02/02/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  About A Boy: Will (Grant) is a 38-year old Londoner living a bachelor lifestyle on the back of royalties earned from a Christmas song penned by his father some years previously. A serial womaniser Will comes up with the idea of attending a single parents group as a new way to pick up women. Inventing a two-year old son for himself he meets lonely bullied schoolboy Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) and his depressed music therapist mother (Toni Collette). The intelligent Marcus soon learns Will's secret and so blackmails him into letting him hang out at his place and watch afternoon telly. However what starts out as an uneasy quiz show watching alliance turns into an unlikely friendship... Notting Hill: William Thacker (Hugh Grant) is the owner of a bookshop in the heart of Notting Hill in London. One day by a one-in-a-million chance the worlds most famous actress Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) comes into his shop. He watches in amazement as she leaves and he thinks he'll never see her again. But fate intervenes - and minutes later William collides with Anna on Portobello Road. So begins a tale of romance and adventure in London W11. With a little help from his chaotic flatmate Spike (Rhys Ifans) and his friends Max and Bella (Tim McInnerny and Gina McKee) William seeks the face he can't forget...

• Inside I'm Dancing | DVD | (25/04/2005) from £7.39   |  Saving you £8.60 (116.37%)   |  RRP £15.99

  When a loud-mouthed soul moves in next door, Michael, a long-term resident of Dublin's Carrigmore Home for the Disabled, finds a new lease of life in this award-winning Irish movie.

• The Pebble and the Penguin | DVD | (28/05/2012) from £10.89   |  Saving you £-0.90 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  As a brief promo by a Sea World Animal Ambassador tells us before the movie begins, male penguins really do present pebbles to the females during a courtship that will result in a lifetime match. This post-Thumbelina Don Bluth/Barry Manilow effort gives us Hubie, a nerdy penguin whose love for the beautiful Marina, remarkably, is returned. Alas, before he can present her with a fine stone, his evil--and strangely buff--rival throws him into the swirling sea. Epic adventures and a comical sidekick result. Leopard seals and killer whales threaten, but kids will be entertained rather than frightened by this harmless, if less-than-brilliant movie. --Kimberly Heinrichs

• Boxing Day | DVD | (28/11/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Melvin, a British author living in America, returns home to London for the holidays to introduce his American fiancé (Lisa) to his eccentric British-Caribbean family. Their relationship is put to the test, as she discovers the world Melvin left behind revolves around his ex-girlfriend (Georgia), who is now an international pop star!

• Dexter - Season 1 | DVD | (19/05/2008) from £6.38   |  Saving you £33.61 (526.80%)   |  RRP £39.99

  A dark and unflinching amorality tale told from the perspective of the lovable "Dexter" - a forensics science officer by day and a seriel killer by night!

• Prisoner Cell Block H: Volume 16 | DVD | (24/09/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Get ready for more Prisoner Cell Block H action with Volume 16. Wentworth is evacuated after an anonymous phone tipoff. Angel arranges for a brutal attack on Meg, resulting in an act of retaliation she won't soon forget. Myra finds Bobbie's dope plants in the garden - she takes drastic action with her and Judy isn't happy. New inmate Samantha Greenway arrives, on the charge of drug possession. Tragedy strikes when Brian Lowe comes to set Ann and Meg free from a booby-trapped building. ...

• My Bloody Valentine 3-D | Blu Ray | (08/06/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Ten years ago, a tragedy changed the town of Harmony forever. An inexperienced coal miner caused an accident killing five men and plunging Harry Warden into a permanent coma. But Harry wanted revenge. Exactly one year later, on Valentine's Day, he woke up

• Prisoner Cell Block H Vol.2 | DVD | (01/06/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  The second volume collection of classic Australian soap opera Prisoner Cell Block H.

• Bulletproof Monk | DVD | (15/09/2003) from £6.37   |  Saving you £11.62 (182.42%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The Monk (Chow Yun-Fat) is a Zen-calm martial arts master whose duty has been to protect a powerful ancient scroll that holds the key to unlimited power. Now, faced with finding the scroll's next guardian, the Monk's quest brings him to America.

• Prisoner Cell Block H Volume 14 | DVD | (09/07/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  The amazing Volume 14 of Prisoner Cell Block H is packed full of the same gripping drama that continues to make this show get better with every episode!From car bombs detonating on the wrong targets, to a poisonous snake causing havoc behind the bars, the action and drama never lets up. Old characters make come backs to see familiar faces of previous jail stints, a few relationships blossom but many don't as the continuous plotting for murder reaches breaking point.You better get your friends around, the ones that aren't double crossing you of course, and settle yourself in for 32 episodes of gritty and relentless Australian drama.

• The New Normal - Season 1 | DVD | (30/09/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  These days, families come in all forms - single dads, double moms, sperm donors, egg donors, one-night-stand donors... It's 2012 and anything goes. Bryan (Andrew Rannells - Girls, The Book of Mormon) and David (Justin Bartha - The Hangover) are a Los Angeles couple and they have it all. Well, almost. With successful careers and a committed, loving partnership, there is one thing that this couple is missing: a baby. And just when they think the stars will never align, enter Goldie (Georgia King - One Day), an extraordinary young woman with a checkered past. A Midwestern waitress and single mother looking to escape her dead-end life and small-minded grandmother (Emmy and Tony Award-winner Ellen Barkin), Goldie decides to change everything and move to L.A. with her precocious eight year-old daughter. Desperate and broke - but also fertile - Goldie quickly becomes the guys' surrogate and quite possibly the girl of their dreams. Surrogate mother, surrogate family.

• Hart Of Dixie: The Complete Fourth Season | DVD | (12/10/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Take a trip to quirky BlueBell, Alabama, as Hart of Dixie continues for a fourth fun-filled season. At the end of season three, Zoe finally admits that she loves Wade but does he return her feelings? Meanwhile, George and Lavon each realize they are in love with Lemon who has just set sail on a singles cruise. So set your course for season four of this dramedy, because any outcome is possible!