"Actor: Mary Ward"

• Chiller Theatre Features | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  It's difficult sometimes to fathom how compilers think. This Chiller Theatre threesome consists of two classic silent horror films, plus a low-budget B-movie from the early 1960s. The connection? You decide! Yet these are films that belong in any self-respecting collection, and this package is a good way of acquiring them. Of those featuring Lon Chaney, it's the original 1923 The Hunchback of Notre Dame that comes across best. Chaney's grotesquerie is shot-through with pathos, and Patsy Ruth Miller's Esmeralda has enduring freshness. Wallace Worsley handles crowd scenes and cathedral stunts with aplomb, and there's an atmospheric "posthumous" soundtrack, though anyone looking for accuracy in the depiction of medieval French society is in for a shock. 1925's The Phantom of the Opera is slow-moving and uneventful by comparison, with Rupert Julian's direction never escaping the narrow Gothic trappings of the novel. Chaney cranks (or is that camps?) up his range of gestures to the limit, and Mary Philbin is an eye-catching heroine, but the denouement in the Paris sewers seems endless--with looped extracts of Schubert and Brahms as a hardly appropriate soundtrack. Cut to 1962, and The Carnival of Souls--made in Kansas for under $100,000--is an undeniable cult classic. Herk Harvey sustains the increasingly surreal narrative with ease, Candace Hilligoss is striking (if a tad gauche) as the young organist caught on the cusp of this world and the next, and Gene Moore's organ soundtrack is a masterly backdrop for the motley assemblage of ghouls who pursue her around the seaside pier in a memorable closing sequence. On the DVD: Chiller Theatre is very acceptably remastered--with 1.33:1 aspect ratio and 12 chapter headings per film--and decently if minimally packaged. --Richard Whitehouse

• The Phantom Of The Opera | DVD | (29/05/2001) from £18.74   |  Saving you £-5.75 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Please Note: The studio has not sealed this disc in shrinkwrapped plastic. Please rest assured you that these discs are new. This early version of The Phantom Of The Opera is regarded by many as the first great horror film and certainly the best of the silent era. Lon Chaney is Erik the horribly disfigured Phantom who leads a menacing existence in the catacombs and dungeons beneath the Paris Opera. When Erik falls in love with a beautiful primadonna he kidnaps her and

• The In Crowd | DVD | (18/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Adrien (Lori Heuring) leaves the mental hospital she has been incarcerated in to take a summer job at wealthy country club. Soon she is taken under the wing of queen teen bitch Brittany (Susan Ward)but realises there is more to her than meets the eye.

• Ulterior Motives | DVD | (17/09/2001) from £6.55   |  Saving you £-0.56 (-9.30%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Ambitious and beautiful New York journalist Erica (Keller) has the scoop of her career: a Japanese businessman suspected of selling American secrets to Japan. When private investigator Jack Blaylock (Griffith) is hired to help her he finds himself entangled in a web of violence and corruption with a deadline whose fatal consequences leave no margin for error...

• The Land Of Promise | DVD | (28/04/2008) from £29.95   |  Saving you £5.04 (16.83%)   |  RRP £34.99

  40 films over 4 DVDs. Extensive collection is a major retrospective of the British documentary film movement during its period of greatest influence. These films many of which are made available here for the first time since their original release - capture the spirit and strength concerns and resolve of Britain and its people before during and after the Second World War. These diverse and compelling films are fascinating historical documents bearing witness to the social and industrial transformations of the rapidly changing world. Yet they are also striking in their different approach to the form. Using poetry dramatic reconstruction modernist techniques and explicit propaganda the film-makers found fresh new ways to get their message across.

• The Night Caller | DVD | (23/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A woman goes to desperate measures to meet a successful radio psychologist even if it means killing in order to do so...

• Leonard Bernstein: Trouble In Tahiti | DVD | (20/01/2003) from £17.15   |  Saving you £2.84 (16.56%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This new film of Leonard Bernstein's music-theatre piece Trouble in Tahiti, produced by BBC Wales and Opus Arte and directed by Tom Cairns, makes a strong case for a neglected work. Bernstein wrote his satire on American materialism in 1952, drawing on elements of opera, revue and musical comedy to tell a story of a marriage that's turned sour amid the trappings of suburban prosperity. The brevity of the piece, which flashes by in 39 minutes, perhaps accounts for its rare appearances, making this version specially welcome. Tom Cairns directs with style and panache, moving the camera effortlessly to and fro between the seven scenes. Amir Hosseinpour's choreography recalls with affection the heyday of the MGM musical then at its zenith. The film opens with a Greek-style chorus singing in scat jazz fashion to a montage of 1950s imagery: flickering television adverts, manicured lawns and white picket fences. Characters within the narrative appear in flash-back in home video footage. This is all highly diverting and possibly a ruse to mask some dramatic weakness in the story written by Bernstein himself. The wife never offers an explanation for her visit to the cinema to see Trouble in Tahiti instead of attending her son's school play, nor do we see the boy again after witnessing his parents having a tiff. The two principals, Karl Daymond as Sam and Stephanie Novacek as Dinah, are well cast and sing in a natural and pleasing manner with clear diction. The scat vocal trio is well matched and the City of London Sinfonia under Paul Daniel catch the spirit of the jazz inflected score as if it were second nature. On the DVD: Trouble in Tahiti is shot in wide-screen, appropriate for the era that gave us CinemaScope. There are subtitles in German, Spanish and French. A full translation in English is printed in the booklet. The extras include an introduction that partly overlaps with "A Very Testing Piece", in which Paul Daniel touches on the parallel with Bernstein's own unhappy childhood. Humphrey Burton in "Not Particularly Romantic" elaborates on this theme and goes on to offer a further fascinating commentary on Bernstein, whom he knew well. --Adrian Edwards

• Hangin' With The Homeboys | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £3.98   |  Saving you £16.01 (402.26%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Four young friends spend a crazy night on the streets of Manhattan that quickly turns into a night they'll never forget!

• Doctor Who - The Key to Time (Complete Boxset) | DVD | (24/09/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £69.99

  Join the popular Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and the beautiful Romana on a 26-episode intergalactic treasure hunt for the six segments of the all-powerful Key to Time. Includes all six stories from the popular series: The Ribos Operation The Pirate Planet The Stones of Blood The Androids of Tara The Power of Kroll and The Armageddon Factor.

• Man on the Flying Trapeze | Blu Ray | (19/04/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Payback | DVD | (02/04/2001) from £4.99   |  Saving you £1.00 (20.04%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Only Kathryn Stillman has the courage to testify against Brian Kaleen a cop who breaks every law and uses violence and cruelty to get his own way. With the FBI and Internal Affairs unable to help Kathryn knows that only she can bring this nightmare to an end. Based on a true story.

• Lorenzo's Oil | DVD | (24/12/2001) from £12.73   |  Saving you £0.26 (2.04%)   |  RRP £12.99

• The Bone Collector/Philadelphia/Inside Man | DVD | (02/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Bone Collector: He takes his victims' lives and leaves behind mysterious pieces of a bizarre puzzle. And the only person who may be able to make sense of the serial killer's deranged plan is Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel Washington) a one-time top homicide investigator. After a tragic accident changes his life forever Rhyme can only watch as other cops bungle the case...until he teams up with a young rookie Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) who bravely becomes his eyes and ears and searches out the clues that help them solve the case. But as the killer senses the cops closing in Rhyme realizes that he and his partner are on the trail of a vicious sadistic murderer who will stop at nothing on his deadly mission. At any moment Rhyme and Amelia could become his next targets - and their first case could become their last. (Dir. Phillip Noyce 1999) Philadelphia: Up-and-coming young lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) has just been fired by his prestigious law firm. They say he hasn't got what it takes. Andrew knows it's because he's got AIDS. Determined to defend his professional reputation Andrew hires fierce brilliant personal-injury attorney Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) to sue his former employers for wrongful dismissal. Joe is initially reluctant to take on the case. Although he as grown up knowing the pain of prejudice he's never had to confront his own prejudices against homosexuality and AIDS...until now. One man is fighting for his reputation his life and for justice. The other is battling to overcome his own and society's ignorance and fear. Philadelphia is one of the most powerful and critically acclaimed movies of our time. (Dir. Jonathan Demme 1993) Inside Man: It looked like the perfect bank robbery. But you can't judge a crime by its cover. Acclaimed actors Denzel Washington Clive Owen and Jodie Foster come together to explore the lure of power the ugliness of greed and the mystery of a perfect robbery in a combustible new crime drama from Spike Lee. The hardbitten but unorthodox Detective Fraiser (Washington) pits his wits against a high-class bank robber Dalton Russell (Owen) following the robbery of a Manhattan bank. As the chase unfolds political corruption and hidden agendas threaten to destabilise an already volatile situation. (Dir. Spike Lee 2006)

• The Phantom Of The Opera | DVD | (11/11/2002) from £17.53   |  Saving you £-4.54 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  From the moment of original release in 1925, The Phantom of the Opera has been considered among the classic movies of all time. The extreme, expressive acting and state of the art character make-up of Lon Chaney, the multitude of cuts, remade endings and restorations, the fantastic sets and filming techniques, all coalesce to create the mysterious aura that will forever fuel this masterpiece. While several versions of Phantom exist, this is perhaps the most unique and relevant to the darkwave...

• The Horror Stack | DVD | (25/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Ravage: Can one man's vengeance-driven soul survive? Criminal psychologist Gregory Burroughs is trying to catch serial killer 'Hannibal Lecterish' the man responsible for the death of his daughters and the murder of several policemen. Greg follows a trail of carnage and destruction to a violent underworld and becomes entangled in a web of brutality surrounded by an army of cold-blooded assassins. The resulting explosion of action and violence propels Gregory to the ultimate chance to attain the vengeance he so desires... (Dir. Ronnie Sortor 1997) The Bride Of Frank: Frank O' Brien formerly homeless now has a warehouse job in the outskirts of New Jersey. He may be getting old and a little rough round the edges but he's finally got a home. Now he's lonely. Things are looking up for him when a colleague places an ad in the personals on Frank's behalf. He goes on a handful of dates but the women are judgemental and obnoxious so Frank - naturally - kills them in various ways -some too horrible to imagine! Ways that you simply won't believe. Escalpo Don Bald's (Steve Ballot) notorious underground horror/comedy features disturbing scenes of violence and cruelty and is not for those who are easily offended! (Dir. Steve Ballot 1996) Ozone: A horrifying new drug is released on the streets going by the name of Ozone. Its chilling side-effects are numerous perhaps the worst being its ability to mutate addicts into hideous rotting monsters. One cop makes it his mission to battles through a hoard of horrors to get to the drug kingpin behind the mutating madness! (Dir. J.R. Bookwater 1993)

• Mr. Deeds Goes to Town/Wild One/Holiday/the Howards of | DVD | (12/11/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Mr Deeds Goes To Town (1936): Gary Cooper is the pixilated small-town resident who refuses to let a million inheritance and a New York mansion alter his down-to-earth faith in people in Frank Capra's delightful comedy. Jean Arthur co-stars as the cynical reporter who falls for Deeds. Wild One (1954): Brando plays Johnny the leader of a vicious biker gang that involves a small sleepy California town. The leather-jacketed young biker seems hell-bent on destruction until he falls for Kathie (Mary Murphy) a good-girl whose father happens to be a cop. Unfortunately for Johnny his one shot at redemption is threatened by a psychotic rival Chino (Lee Marvin) plus the hostility and prejudice of the townspeople. All their smouldering passions explode in an electrifying climax. Holiday (1938): An iconoclastic young man (Cary Grant) who's engaged to a snooty heiress (Doris Nolan) discovers he's really in love with his fianc''e's down-to-earth sister (Katharine Hepburn) in director George Cukor's stylish comedy... The Howards Of Virginia (1940): Leading man Cary Grant plays Matt Howard a common man who gains employment as a surveyor through the help of Thomas Jefferson. Howard quickly falls head over heels for his wealthy employer's daughter Jane Peyton (Martha Scott). The couple appear to be set for happiness until Matt becomes involved in politics and the War of Independence arrives...

• Farewell To Arms, A / Meet John Doe | DVD | (08/05/2006) from £6.15   |  Saving you £-1.16 (-23.20%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Farewell To Arms (Dir. Frank Borzage 1932): Ernest Hemingway's tragic wartime romance comes to vivid life in this classic 1932 film starring Oscar winners Gary Cooper and Helen Hayes. The cataclysm of WW1 sets the stage for an impassioned story of star-crossed love between a daring American ambulance driver (Cooper) and an English nurse (Hayes) in an army hospital. The tumult of war conspires to push the pair together and then wrench them apart in what becomes an ultimate tes