It's the story of Jason (Todd Armstrong) a fearless sailor and explorer who returns to the kingdom of Thessaly after a 20-year voyage to make his rightful claim to the throne. But to do so Jason must first find the magical Golden Fleece. He selects a crew and with the help of Hera Queen of the Gods sets sail in search of the Fleece. Jason and his crew must overcome incredible obstacles including a 100-foot bronze giant the venomous Hydra a huge creature with the heads of seven
Fatal Attraction was the most controversial hit of 1987, a film nominated for six Oscars that launched a whole up-market psycho sub-genre. In an elaboration of Play Misty for Me (1971), Michael Douglas plays a married middle-class everyman who has an opportunistic weekend affair with New York publishing executive, Glenn Close. The twist is that Close's Alex is a borderline psychotic. She won't let go, and the film moves from a study of modern sexual mores to an increasingly tense thriller about neurotic obsession. The performances are exceptional and two set-pieces, one which gave us the term "Bunny Boiler" and another in a fairground, provide metaphorical and literal rollercoaster rides. Only a laughable sex scene--in a sink, anyone?--and a melodramatic finale shamelessly ripping-off the 1955 French classic Les Diaboliques and Psycho (1960) prevent a good thriller being a great one. Even so, Fatal Attraction is still a film worth seeing again, even if it's hard to wonder what all the fuss was about in 1987. On the DVD: Fatal Attraction on disc has a new 28-minute documentary featuring the principal players explaining how wonderful each other are. More substantial is a 19-minute feature on creating the visual look, with sections on cinematography, costume and make-up design. A worthwhile 10-minute piece examines the social impact of the movie and the controversy it generated. Seven minutes of the three stars in rehearsal is intriguing, but more interesting is the opportunity to see the original, low-key ending, rejected after test screenings. Much of the best documentary material focuses on how the finally released ending came about, while Lyne's commentary is thoughtful and illuminating. The original trailer is included and there are 16 sets of subtitles, including English for the hard of hearing, as well as an alternative German dub. The sound has been remixed from stereo into a subtly involving Dolby Digital 5.1, and the 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer looks fine, though there is some very minor print damage. --Gary S Dalkin
At a remote castle a vampire bat dribbles fresh blood over mouldering remains, resurrecting the infamous Count Dracula (Christopher Lee ). Terrified villagers set fire to the castle, but later discover that a swarm of vengeful bats has killed the women and children that sought sanctuary in the local church. Dracula's latest reign of terror has begun. In Scars of Dracula, Christopher Lee returned to his most famous role for the fifth time, and director Roy Ward Baker (Quatermass and the Pit, Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde) created the unprecedented shot of the Count scaling his castle walls. This was the last of Hammer's traditional Dracula films, and the bloodiest entry in the entire series. EXTRAS: NEW FEATURETTE - Blood Rites: Inside Scars of Dracula ORIGINAL TRAILER
This release contains two suspenseful horror films from the 1960s: VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED and CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED.
The twist of private-eye show Randall & Hopkirk Deceased is that in the first episode, gumshoe Marty Hopkirk (Kenneth Cope) is killed off by the villains, only to pop up in an immaculate white suit as a ghost visible only to his hardboiled partner Jeff Randall (Mike Pratt). In theory, the supernatural streak--which meant a complex set of rules about Marty's appearances and effects on the physical world--should lead the show into wilder territory, but most episodes squander the team's unique abilities on ordinary cases about blackmail and murder-for-profit. A persistent subplot has the living Jeff getting cosy with the dead Marty's widow Jean (Annette Andre) to the discomfort of her late husband. The elementary effects and the nice underplaying of the leads have a certain period charm, and the show could afford a high calibre of special guest villains and dolly birds. A 1990s remake with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer hasn't obliterated memories of the original. --Kim Newman
Can a kid from Kansas come to New York to conquer the business world and maneuver his way from the mailroom to the boardroom in a matter of weeks? Michael J. Fox proves it can be done in this very funny lampoon of corporate business life. Fresh out of college he's determined to climb New York's corporate ladder in record time by masquerading as an up-and-coming executive even though he's really the new mail boy. However Fox's plans begin to go awry when the boss's wife falls in love with him and he falls in love with a junior executive who also happens to be the boss's mistress...
Derivative fluff from 1987, The Secret of My Success is made tolerable by its bawdy exuberance and an appealing performance by Michael J Fox, who was still enjoying TV stardom and the career momentum he earned by travelling Back to the Future. Here he plays a Kansas farm boy who dreams of scoring big in New York City... but reality turns out to be brutal to his ambition. When his uncle (Richard Jordan) gives him a mail-room job in the high-rise headquarters of a major corporation, Fox occupies an empty office and poses as a young executive, winning the attention of a lovely young colleague (Helen Slater) and having an affair with his boss's wife (Margaret Whitton). Sporadically amusing as a yuppie comedy and rather off-putting as a wannabe sex farce, the film's still recommendable for its lively cast and a breezy style that almost succeeds in updating the conventions of vintage screwball comedy. Whitton is a standout performer here, so you may wonder why her comedic talent has been underrated, apart from a good role in the first two Major League movies. This may be little more than a big-screen sitcom, but it's not without its charms. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Starring Anthony Quinn in the title role Barabbas was released in 1961 in the midst of a wave of widescreen epics based on Biblical characters. "It begins where the other big ones leave off", declaims the trailer. The screenplay, by playwright Christopher Fry (who also contributed to Ben-Hur), is an unusually intelligent one: listen out for Barabbas' final encounter with the Apostle Thomas, for example. Further assets are the imaginative, sparingly orchestrated score by Mario Nascimbene and a handsome production design by art director Mario Chiari that is so rewarding to the eye in Aldo Tonti's often dazzling cinematography. Like the other Biblical epics of the day, in its original theatrical incarnation Barabbas had an intermission and orchestral intermezzo which is sadly missing from this version. (It occurred at the point where Barabbas emerges from a 20 years exile in the sulphur mines in Sicily, allowing the audience to dwell on his recuperation before we next encounter him. He now appears muscled and bronzed ploughing the verdant fields outside Rome in all too quick a fashion!). Many scenes, such as Christ's crucifixion, are shot and staged like tableaux in a style reminiscent of the great masters of art. And in Fleischer's hands this film surpasses anything Ridley Scott achieved years later in Gladiator: he fills the huge arena--a vast Roman amphitheatre--with a gladiatorial school of hand-to-hand combat, a parade of elephants and a den of lions, and then caps his production with a riveting and thrillingly mounted duel between Jack Palance, careering round the circumference of the arena in his chariot, and Barabbas dodging him on foot. The supporting cast, who sport a variety of accents call for some tolerance, however. On the DVD: Barabbas on disc comes devoid of any extra features other than trailers for it and another contemporaneous blockbuster, The Guns of Navarone. --Adrian Edwards
The Revenge of Frankenstein was an inevitability after Hammer Films had made an international star of Peter Cushing in The Curse of this sequel-rich franchise. The plot here is a braver twist on the story than the many follow-ups would take. The Creature doesn't make its presence known until the final reel, up to which point the only sense of lurking menace comes from Cushing's deliciously mannered performance as a disguised Dr Stein. A new name and a new town is a gamble sure to fail, and circumstances almost immediately conspire against the deceit. Also rattling around the brilliantly lit studio sets are Eunice Gayson and Francis Matthews, while Michael Gwynn gives everything he's got in stiff competition to predecessor Christopher Lee in the Creature role. It's subtle and simply screams out for enfranchisement--so of course Hammer dutifully made another five in the series. On the DVD: The Revenge of Frankenstein comes with mono sound (all you're going to get from Hammer and 1958), but the 1.66:1 ratio is a treat. You also get a trailer (and a surprise additional movie trailer) plus 10 photos. --Paul Tonks
Available for the first time on DVD! The Virgin Soldiers is a bawdy look at life in Britain's conscript army of the 50s and how their ""virgin soldiers"" spent two years defending King and country. Take Private Brigg (Hywel Bennett) for example when he's not filling in forms or engaging the Malaysian bandits he's out on manoeuvers with a Chinese dance-hall girl named Juicy Lucy (Tsai Chin). She is supposed to be a lady of easy virtue but to Brigg's delight she proves to be a lady
England wants the Island dumped.France wants it bombed America wants it wholesale And Michael Caine wants it.... on the rocks!
The twist of private-eye show Randall & Hopkirk Deceased is that in the first episode, gumshoe Marty Hopkirk (Kenneth Cope) is killed off by the villains, only to pop up in an immaculate white suit as a ghost visible only to his hardboiled partner Jeff Randall (Mike Pratt). In theory, the supernatural streak--which meant a complex set of rules about Marty's appearances and effects on the physical world--should lead the show into wilder territory, but most episodes squander the team's unique abilities on ordinary cases about blackmail and murder-for-profit. A persistent subplot has the living Jeff getting cosy with the dead Marty's widow Jean (Annette Andre) to the discomfort of her late husband. The elementary effects and the nice underplaying of the leads have a certain period charm, and the show could afford a high calibre of special guest villains and dolly birds. A 1990s remake with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer hasn't obliterated memories of the original. --Kim Newman
Stylish and sexy Fatal Attraction took audiences to terrifying new heights with its thrilling story of a casual encounter gone terribly awry. Michael Douglas plays Dan Gallagher a New York attorney who has a tryst with seductive Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) while his wife (Anne Archer) is away. Dan later shrugs off the affair as a mistake and considers it over. But Alex won't be ignored. Not now not tomorrow not ever; even if it means destroying Dan's family to keep him...
When the FBI unwittingly kill the wrong brother 'Scarface' Al Capone (Abraham) tracks down the real John Dillinger (Sheen) in hiding and forces him to plan one final bank heist. With his wife and son held by the Mob John must make a success of his biggest bank job to date...
When two innocent victims discover the blood drained corpse of a missing friend in Dracula's castle necropolis the flesh-creeping horror begins. Christopher Lee the definitive Count Dracula to British film fans portrays both the creature's essential power and evil and his sexual and magnetic appeal in a script which stems directly from the original Bram Stoker novel.
Vicky is a woman married to a rich old man who has one foot in the grave. Gregory Harrison plays Mike Riordon a district attorney who is young handsome and living at home with his Irish mum. Vicky's husband Arthur gets Mike involved in a merger of two companies even though he knows that Mike and Vicky were a couple in the past and that she had broken up with him. Whilst Mike and Vicky are attending a party Arthur is alone at home and a burglar appears out of nowhere and shoots him point blank. Upset Vicky turns to Mike and at the same time a man appears to be following them. Vicky inherits everything from Arthur which leaves Arthur's two children very angry because they know that their father had changed his will but he hadn't been able to give it to his lawyer. Yet there is no sign of the new will and so Vicky gets everything.Vicky and Mike take off together for a while but after again realizing that they are being followed they go their separate ways until Mike starts to find clues on who had Arthur murdered. He confronts Vicky who tells him that she had no part of it and he believes her but then he sets himself up for his own death. A very strange movie.
Lyle Mollencamp is an alcoholic. His wife Joyce struggles to cover their family's distress. When Lyle's drinking costs him his job and spoils his son Brian's birthday. The confrontation between father and son is so explosive that Lyle must deal with his problem. Will he succeed? Or remain in a home of shattered spirits?
Michael Caine stars as Baxter Thwaites the laid-back Governor of the sleepy British island colony of Cascara. But when American oil drillers accidentally strike a gusher of ultra-delicious mineral water the forgotten Caribbean outpost becomes a global hotbed of political and economic chaos. Will Thwaites his hot-blooded wife (Brenda Vaccaro) a singing rebel (Billy Connolly) a sexy activist (Valerie Perrine) a corporate weasel (Dennis Dugan) a Rasta DJ (Jimmie Walker) a Texas billionaire (Fred Gwynne) Cuban advisers arrogant Frenchmen or U.S. 'peacekeepers' seize control of this suddenly popular paradise or is true independence just something in the water?Leonard Rossiter Dick Shawn and Alfred Molina co-star in this hilarious all-star satire in the tradition of The Mouse That Roared featuring special appearances by George Harrison Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton.
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