Classic Films

• Duke Ellington and Orchestra - 1929 - 1943 | DVD | (23/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £20.99

• Fantastic Voyage | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £9.15   |  Saving you £0.84 (9.18%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Fantastic Voyage is the original psychedelic inner-space adventure. When a brilliant scientist falls into a coma with an inoperable blood clot in the brain, a surgical team embarks on a top-secret journey to the centre of the mind in a high-tech military submarine shrunk to microbial dimensions. Stephen Boyd stars as a colourless commander sent to keep an eye on things (though his eyes stay mostly on shapely medical assistant Raquel Welch), while Donald Pleasance is suitably twitchy as the claustrophobic medical consultant. The science is shaky at best, but the imaginative spectacle is marvellous: scuba-diving surgeons battle white blood cells, tap the lungs to replenish the oxygen supply, and shoot the aorta like daredevil surfers. The film took home a well-deserved Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Director Richard Fleischer, who had previously turned Disney's 1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea into one of the most riveting submarine adventures of all time, creates a picture so taut with cold-war tensions and cloak-and-dagger secrecy that niggling scientific contradictions (such as, how do miniaturised humans breathe full-sized air molecules?) seem moot. --Sean Axmaker

• Will Hay Collection | DVD | (01/09/2008) from £17.12   |  Saving you £0.27 (1.58%)   |  RRP £17.39

  A collection of classic films starring British comic actor Will Hay. Films Incllude: 1. Ask A Policeman 2. Boys Will be Boys 3. Oh Mr Porter 4. Convict 99 5. Old Bones Of The River 6. Where There's A Will 7. Good Morning Boys 8. Hey! Hey! USA 9. Windbag The Sailor

• Ealing Studios Rarities Collection: Volume 13 | DVD | (19/05/2014) from £9.85   |  Saving you £5.14 (52.18%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A global byword for cinematic quality of a quintessentially British nature Ealing Studios made more than 150 films over a three decade period. A cherished and significant part of British film history only selected films from both the Ealing and Associated Talking Pictures strands have previously been made available on home video format - with some remaining unseen since their original theatrical release. The Ealing Rarities Collection redresses this imbalance - featuring new transfers from the best available elements in their correct aspect ratio this multi-volume collection showcases a range of scarce films from both Basil Dean's and Michael Balcon's tenure as studio head making them available once more to the general public. IT HAPPENED IN PARIS (1935) Whilst looking for artistic inspiration in Paris a millionaire's son falls for a beautiful girl. Romantic complications arise when he feigns poverty in order to win her love. Black and White / 66 mins / 1.33:1 / Mono / English AUTUMN CROCUS (1934) In his final film role Ivor Novello plays the married owner of a Tyrolean inn; Fay Compton is the holidaying schoolteacher who falls hopelessly in love with him. Black and White / 80 mins / 1.33:1 / Mono / English THE DICTATOR (1935) A drama depicting the stormy marriage of King Christian VII and his English consort Caroline Matilda and the Queen's tragic affair with the royal physician Struensee. Black and White / 82 mins / 1.33:1 / Mono / English SECRET LIVES (1937) A powerful World War I drama tracing the life of a German-born woman who is trained by the French as a spy but pays a heavy price for her apparent freedom. Black and White / 78 mins / 1.33:1 / Mono / English

• This Island Earth | DVD | (04/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Weird events in the life of atomic scientist Cal Meacham culminate in an invitation from the strange-looking Exeter to work at a secret lab in Georgia supposedly in the cause of world peace. Other scientists are already there including the gorgeous Ruth Adams. They quickly discover there's more to Exeter than meets the eye. Is he benevolent? It may take an interstellar journey to find out.

• Yakuza Law | Blu Ray | (13/05/2019) from £9.35   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Director Teruo Ishii (Blind Woman's Curse, Horrors of Malformed Men), the Godfather of J-sploitation, presents Yakuza Law (AKA Yakuza's Law: Lynching) a gruelling anthology of torture, spanning three district periods of Japanese history and to the screen some of the most brutal methods of torment ever devised. In this deep dive into the world of the Yakuza, meet the violent men who rule the Japanese underworld and the cruel punishments inflicted on those who transgress them. The carnage begins in the Edo Period with a violent tale of samurai vengeance starring Bunta Sugawara (Battles Without Honour and Humanity), before shifting to the Meiji Period as the exiled Ogata (Minoru Oki, Shogun Assassin) returns to face punishment for his past transgressions and, ultimately, to take his revenge. Finally, the action is brought right up to date with a tale of gang warfare set in then-present-day '60s Japan and headlined by Teruo Yoshida (Ishii's Orgies of Edo), as a powerful crime syndicate seeks bloody vengeance for the theft of one hundred thousand yen. Brutal, bewildering and definitely not for the faint-hearted, Yakuza Law represents Japanese popular cinema at its most extreme and most thrilling. Special Edition Contents: High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation Original lossless mono Japanese soundtrack Optional English subtitles New audio commentary by author and critic Jasper Sharp Erotic-Grotesque and Genre Hopping: Teruo Ishii Speaks, a rare vintage interview with the elusive director on his varied career, newly edited for this release Image gallery Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jacob Phillips FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Tom Mes

• Westworld - 40th Anniversary Edition | Blu Ray | (27/10/2014) from £15.74   |  Saving you £2.25 (14.29%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Welcome to Delos, the high-tech Disneyland for adults that Michael Crichton created for Westworld, a nifty science fiction thriller from 1973 that also marked the popular novelist's feature-film directorial debut. The movie is so named because the vacationing buddies who travel to Delos (James Brolin, Richard Benjamin) choose Westworld as their destination (the other choices being Roman World and Medieval World), where they are free to indulge their movie-inspired fantasies of the Wild West). The place is populated by perfectly humanlike robots programmed and monitored to cater to every guest's fancy, from brothel beauties to black-hatted gunslingers (such as the villain played by Yul Brynner). But fun turns into abject horror when the robots--particularly Brynner's villain--begin to malfunction and Delos turns into an amusement park that's anything but amusing. Westworld has moments of camp and the look of a low-budget back-lot production, but two decades before Crichton revamped his idea to create Jurassic Park, this movie made the most of its interesting and exciting premise. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Guess Who's Coming To Dinner | DVD | (04/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn (who won the Academy Award as Best Actress for her performance) are unforgettable as perplexed parents in this landmark 1967 movie about mixed marriage. Joanna (Katharine Houghton) the beautiful daughter of a crusading publisher Matthew Drayton (Tracy) and his patrician wife Christina (Hepburn) returns home with her new fiancee John Prentice (Sidney Poitier) a distinguished black doctor. Christina accepts her daughter's decision to marry John but Matthew is shocked by this interracial union; and the doctor's parents are equally dismayed. Both families must sit down face to face and examine each other's level of intolerance. In 'Guess Who's Coming To Dinner' director Stanley Kramer has created a masterful study of society's prejudices.

• The Bat Woman (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (25/03/2024) from £19.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Wrestlers, mad doctors, and human-fish hybrids abound in The Bat Woman (La mujer murciélago), a colourful showcase for the talents of Italian Mexican sex symbol Maura Monti. When Acapulco's wrestlers start being murdered and their pineal glands mysteriously extracted, the wealthy luchadora Gloria (Monti) adopts her crime-fighting persona of the Bat Woman. Donning her disguise of shiny blue mask, cape, and micro-bikini, she teams up with agent Mario (Héctor Godoy) to foil the evil Dr Williams (Roberto Cañedo) in his dastardly plan to create an army of amphibious 'fish-men'. Produced by Guillermo Calderón (Santo vs. the Riders of Terror) and directed by René Cardona (The Panther Women), The Bat Woman is an eye-popping, high-camp blend of lucha libre and superhero action. Product Features 4K restoration from the original negative Original Spanish mono audio Audio commentary with film historian and Mexican cinema specialist David Wilt (2024) Adventures in Mexicolour (2024): journalist, writer and indie editor of Belcebú, and formerly DC Comics, Mauricio Matamoros Durán examines the position of The Bat Woman within the Mexican and international pop and comic-book culture of the time Fantastique Creatures (2024): José Luis Ortega Torres, film critic, teacher, and author of the book Mostrología del cine mexicano, explores the representation of monsters in early Mexican genre cinema Original theatrical trailer Image gallery: promotional and publicity material New and improved English translation subtitles Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Dolores Tierney, archival essays by Doyle Greene and Andrew Coe, archival interviews with Maura Monti, and full film credits UK premiere on Blu-ray Limited edition of 8,000 individually numbered units for the UK and US All extras subject to change

• House Of Frankenstein | DVD | (05/05/2008) from £4.49   |  Saving you £7.50 (301.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Deranged scientist Gustav Niemann (Boris Karloff) escapes from prison and overtakes the director of a traveling chamber of horrors. Pulling the stake of a skeleton he revives the infamous Count Dracula (John Carradine) and commands him to kill the man responsible for his imprisonment. He then finds the frozen Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange) and the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.) buried under the ruins of the infamous Frankenstein laboratory. When he brings them back to life the Monster is uncontrollable and drags him to a watery grave.

• Brief Encounter | DVD | (26/09/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Noel Coward's timeless movie of a couple who meet in a railway station and must make a decision that will change their lives forever.

• A Star is Born | Blu Ray | (18/03/2013) from £9.49   |  Saving you £8.50 (89.57%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Janet Gaynor plays a small town girl with stars in her eyes looking for fame and fortune in Hollywood only to face rejection after rejection. A chance meeting with Hollywood star Norman Maine played by Fredric March gives her the opportunity for a screen test. She is instantly rocketed to fame but fame can be a cruel taskmaster. Produced by legendary film-maker David O. Selnick (King Kong and Gone with the Wind) this is the classic tale of happiness and heartbreak.

• Plaza Suite | DVD | (03/08/2020) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• A Clockwork Orange | Blu Ray | (15/04/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The controversy that surrounded Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Anthony Burgess's dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange while the film was out of circulation suggested that it was like Romper Stomper: a glamorisation of the violent, virile lifestyle of its teenage protagonist, with a hypocritical gloss of condemnation to mask delight in rape and ultra-violence. Actually, it is as fable-like and abstract as The Pilgrim's Progress, with characters deliberately played as goonish sitcom creations. The anarchic rampage of Alex (Malcolm McDowell), a bowler-hatted juvenile delinquent of the future, is all over at the end of the first act. Apprehended by equally brutal authorities, he changes from defiant thug to cringing bootlicker, volunteering for a behaviourist experiment that removes his capacity to do evil.It's all stylised: from Burgess' invented pidgin Russian (snarled unforgettably by McDowell) to 2001-style slow tracks through sculpturally perfect sets (as with many Kubrick movies, the story could be told through decor alone) and exaggerated, grotesque performances on a par with those of Dr Strangelove (especially from Patrick Magee and Aubrey Morris). Made in 1971, based on a novel from 1962, A Clockwork Orange resonates across the years. Its future is now quaint, with Magee pecking out "subversive literature" on a giant IBM typewriter and "lovely, lovely Ludwig Van" on mini-cassette tapes. However, the world of "Municipal Flat Block 18A, Linear North" is very much with us: a housing estate where classical murals are obscenely vandalised, passers-by are rare and yobs loll about with nothing better to do than hurt people. On the DVD: The extras are skimpy, with just an impressionist trailer in the style of the film used to brainwash Alex and a list of awards for which Clockwork Orange was nominated and awarded. The box promises soundtracks in English, French and Italian and subtitles in ten languages, but the disc just has two English soundtracks (mono and Dolby Surround 5.1) and two sets of English subtitles. The terrific-looking "digitally restored and remastered" print is letterboxed at 1.66:1 and on a widescreen TV plays best at 14:9. The film looks as good as it ever has, with rich stable colours (especially and appropriately the orangey-red of the credits and the blood) and a clarity that highlights previously unnoticed details such as Alex's gouged eyeball cufflinks and enables you to read the newspaper articles which flash by. The 5.1 soundtrack option is amazingly rich, benefiting the nuances of performance as much as the classical/electronic music score and the subtly unsettling sound effects. --Kim Newman

• Tommy - The Movie (The Who) | DVD | (21/05/2007) from £16.05   |  Saving you £-10.06 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Ken Russell's flamboyant treatment of The Who's rock opera about a deaf dumb and blind boy who develops an extraordinary ability at pinball. Under his sinister stepfather's influence he achieves fame and a cult following but his almost messianic status also spells the beginning of his destruction... Featuring musical contributions from a host of rock stars including Elton John Eric Clapton and Tina Turner.

• The Ultimate Film Noir Collection | DVD | (04/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Ten classic film noirs in this gripping 5 disc collection! Disc 1: Scarlet Street / Robinson / Detour Disc 2: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers / Whistle Stop Disc 3: He Walked By Night / Trapped Disc 4: Impact / D.O.A. Disc 5: Quicksand / The Hitchhiker

• Francis Of Assisi | DVD | (28/02/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  An inspirational story of one man's journey. Born into a life of privilege passion and extravagance Francis of Assisi would become one of the most beloved and revered saints in history. Bradford Dillman delivers a gripping performance as the lusty adventurer who hears the voice of God and answers by abandoning his secular life. Trading in his sword for a cross he rises to glory...only to see his life's work threatened by a corrupt and jealous church hierarchy. Helmed by famed Casablanca director Michael Curtiz this epic tale of courage and sacrifice will inspire the entire family.

• Laurence Olivier Shakespeare Collection | DVD | (30/07/2007) from £13.99   |  Saving you £66.00 (471.77%)   |  RRP £79.99

  Set Comprises: King Lear Henry V Hamlet Merchant of Venice Richard III As You Like It

• The Legacy (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (29/07/2019) from £34.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Written by the late, great Jimmy Sangster (The Revenge of Frankenstein, Taste of Fear), this supernatural riff on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None is a gruesome, hugely entertaining chiller. Two American architects (real-life couple Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott, who met on the set of this film) are holidaying in England and find themselves trapped at a country mansion where the various guests become victims in a series of unexplained and increasingly violent deaths. Director Richard Marquand (Return of the Jedi, Jagged Edge), making his feature-film directing debut, deftly balances horror and grisly black humour. The film also boasts sumptuous photography by the great Dick Bush and Alan Hume, a wonderfully eccentric score by Michael J Lewis and a superb supporting cast which includes Charles Gray, Margaret Tyzack, Ian Hogg, John Standing and The Who's Roger Daltrey. Extras: High Definition remaster Original mono audio Audio commentary with Kevin Lyons, editor of The Encyclopaedia of Fantastic Film and Television Theatrical Trailer TV and Radio Spots Between the Hammer and the Anvil (1973): Marquand's acclaimed documentary short film, made for the Central Office of Information, about the Liverpool police force Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Julian Upton, an overview of contemporary critical responses, archival articles, and film credits Limited Edition of 3,000 copies All extras subject to change

• Get Carter | Blu Ray | (05/05/2014) from £7.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (125.16%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Released in 1971 (the same year Straw Dogs and A Clockwork Orange hit the screens, which must make 71 the annus mirabilis for violent films set in Britain), Get Carter opens with gangsters leering over pornographic slides and ends on a filthy, slag-stained beach in Newcastle. It's a low-down and dirty movie from beginning to end, and possibly the grittiest and best film of its kind to come out of Britain. The granddaddy of Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels and all its ilk, director Mike Hodges' Get Carter offers revenge tragedy swinging-60s style, all nicotine-stained cinematography, shabby locations and the kind of killer catchphrases Vinnie Jones would die for ("You're a big man, but you're in bad shape. With me, it's a full-time job. Now behave yourself", says Michael Caine's deadpan anti-hero Carter before inflicting a few choice punches on Brian Mosley, aka Coronation Street's Alf Roberts, to name but one example from Hodges and Ted Lewis' exquisitely laconic script). Presenting the dark horse in his family of loveable Cockney geezer roles (Alfie, The Italian Job), Michael Caine plays the title role of Jack Carter, a man so hard he barely registers a flicker of regret watching a woman he's just had sex with plunge to her death. After taking the train up to Newcastle as the credits roll and Roy Budd's chunky bass-heavy theme tune plays, Carter returns to his hometown to attend his brother's funeral and investigate the circumstances of his death. Not that he's all that sentimental about family: he shaves nonchalantly over the open coffin, and shows affection to his niece Doreen (Petra Markham) by cramming a few notes in her hand and telling her to "be good and don't trust boys". Gradually, Carter unravels the skein of drugs, pornography and corruption tangled around his brother's death, which brings him up against supremely oleaginous kingpin Kinnear (played by the author of Look Back in Anger John Osborne) among others. A remake starring Sylvester Stallone is in the offing, but quite frankly it will be a 30-degree (Celsius) Christmas night in Newcastle before Hollywood could ever make something as assured, raw and immortal as this. --Leslie Felperin