23rd Nov2018

‘Escape From New York: Collectors Edition’ Blu-ray Review

by Rupert Harvey

Stars: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Adrienne Barbeau, Ernest Borgnine, Tom Atkins | Written by John Carpenter, Nick Castle | Directed by John Carpenter In the early 1980s, New York was grindhouse heaven: a hell of neon iniquity, with every alleyway harbouring some new nameless vice. Horror had a field day: […]

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24th Feb2017

‘Cul-De-Sac’ Blu-ray Review (Criterion)

by Rupert Harvey

Stars: Donald Pleasence, Lionel Stander, Françoise Dorléac, Jack MacGowran, Iain Quarrier | Written by Roman Polanski, Gerard Brach | Directed by Roman Polanski Roman Polanski’s taste for dark absurdist comedy is in full swing in 1966 comedy-thriller Cul-De-Sac. It’s his second English-language film, sandwiched between Repulsion and Fearless Vampire Killers. Compared with his towering classics […]

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26th Mar2014

‘Wake in Fright’ Review

by Paul Metcalf

Stars: Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay, Jack Thompson, Peter Whittle, Al Thomas, John Meillon, John Armstrong | Written by Evan Jones | Directed by Ted Kotcheff John Grant (Gary Bond) is a bonded school teacher who finds himself teaching in the outback.  When travelling back to Sydney he stays overnight in the […]

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20th Oct2013

‘Halloween: 35th Anniversary Edition’ Review

by Phil Wheat

Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, P.J Soles, Kyle Richards, Charles Cyphers, Nancy Kyes, Brian Andrews | Written by John Carpenter, Debra Hill | Directed by John Carpenter Halloween must qualify as one of the most re-released horror films in history – especially in the digital era. It often felt like Anchor Bay (especially the […]

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28th Jul2013

‘Halloween II’ Blu-ray Review [Scream Factory]

by Nathan Smith

Stars: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Charles Cyphers, Lance Guest, Jeffrey Kramer, Pamela Susan Shoop, Dick Warlock, Leo Rossi | Written by John Carpenter, Debra Hill | Directed by Rick Rosenthal I wonder what John Carpenter was initially thinking when he ended his career making an undeniably genre defining film, Halloween. When he was writing […]

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