"Actor: Louise Sorel"

• The Party's Over | Blu Ray | (17/05/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  When enigmatic young American Melina (Louise Sorel) falls in with a group of Chelsea beatniks she catches the attention of the gang's defiant leader Moise (Oliver Reed) but invites scorn and jealousy from the group's other members including Moise's lover Libby (Ann Lynn). At one wild and drunken party the group's games are taken too far and tragedy follows but only when Melina's fianc'' Carson (Clifford David) begins investigating does the terrible truth reveal itself. Originally banned by the censors for its controversial content The Party's Over has long been out of circulation despite the presence of some of Britain's most celebrated acting talent and James Bond director Guy Hamilton (Goldfinger Live and Let Die).

• The Party's Over (DVD) | DVD | (22/06/2015) from £16.51   |  Saving you £1.48 (8.96%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Enigmatic young Melina (Louise Sorel Crimes of Passion) has fallen in with a group of Chelsea beatniks catching the attention of the gang's defiant leader Moise (Oliver Reed The Devils). But wild and drunken partying has terrible consequences and when Melina's fiancé Carson (Clifford David The Exorcist III) begins investigating the shocking truth is soon revealed. Written by Marc Behm (Help!) and scored by the legendary John Barry (The Ipcress File Diamonds are Forever) this controversial film originally fell foul of the British Censors forcing director Guy Hamilton (Live and Let Die Diamonds are Forever Goldfinger) to remove his name from the credits but is now finally available to experience in its never-before-seen pre-release version. Presented in a digitally remastered transfer from rare print materials this daring controversial film is released here with extra features including alternative sequences and little-seen short films from the era. Extras: Alternative theatrical release sequences (18 mins) The Party (R A Ostwald 1962 16 mins): a time-capsule short about an art school get-together Emma (Anthony Perry 1964 12 mins): short film from the producer of The Party’s Over

• Cult Action Extravaganza | DVD | (21/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Cult Action Extravaganza three-disc set offers three very different movies that have nothing in common bar residency in Siren's film archive. They are: The Most Dangerous Game (1932), Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953) and Get Christie Love! (1974). The Most Dangerous Game is a classic, one of the first talkies to get pictures moving after five very static years following the birth of sound. The plot finds resourceful hero Joel McCrea and heroine Fay Wray being hunted on the island of the insane Zaroff (Leslie Banks). One of the grandfathers of the summer blockbuster, the film's setup has been reworked many times since, notably in John Woo's Hard Target (1993). By modern standards it's technically primitive, though still gripping stuff, complete with the jungle set built as a test run for King Kong (1933) and graced by Max Steiner's prototype of all Hollywood action scores. Beneath the 12-Mile Reef is another landmark or rather watermark. The third-ever CinemaScope production, this was a prestige release with Technicolor location filming at Key West, Florida of never-before-achieved underwater cinematography and four-channel stereo recording of a superlative Bernard Herrmann score. Even a still-impressive underwater battle with an octopus pre-dates the more famous giant squid of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). The humans aren't bad either, with a young Robert Wagner making a charismatic if ethnically unconvincing Greek lead as sponge fisherman Tony and Terry Moore playing Juliet to his Romeo with real vivacity. Starring Theresa Graves, Get Christie Love! is a tame TV movie imitation of early 1970s female blaxploitation films such Pam Grier's Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974). Running a standard TVM 73 minutes and with a low budget and content sanitised to US network standards, this is lightweight stuff about an undercover cop determined to smash a drugs ring. Nevertheless the movie was popular enough to spawn a short-lived TV show and is significant for being the first time a black woman took the title role in any American network production. Tarantino completists may be interested, as before he paid homage to Christie Love in the dialogue of Reservoir Dogs (1991). On the DVD: Cult Action Extravaganza presents the films in their original aspect ratio and sound format; The Most Dangerous Game and Get Christie Love! are 4:3, mono. The former is faded b/w with reasonably sturdy sound, though the transfer suffers from compression artefacting. No one would expect great quality from a 1974 TV movie, but Get Christie Love! suffers from both a poor print and a mediocre DVD transfer. Beneath the 12-Mile Reef is presented in the extra wide 2.55:1 of early CinemaScope and though sadly not anamorphic both the seascapes and underwater cinematography are still impressive. The four-channel stereo sound is revelatory, clear, detailed and years ahead of what we have come to expect early 1950s films to sound like. --Gary S Dalkin