Brian Clemens retrospective at the BFI

Brian Clemens is the man behind some of the finest British cult and classic TV drama. not to mention a good few movies too over a 50-year period. With this in mind, the BFI is running a retrospective of his work in July, throwing in some Q&A nights with the man himself too.

His work is too numerous to mention, but let's just say Danger Man, The Avengers, The Champions, Adam Adamant Lives! (1966), the Thriller series, The Professionals and Hammer movies including Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde and Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter for starters. You get the idea.
 
Check out over the page for the full programme, tickets are on sale now.

Paranoiac (1962) heads to DVD and Blu-ray

I've never heard of it, so it must be rare. Which is reason enough to get excited about the DVD and Blu-ray reissue of early 60s Hammer flick Paranoiac.

Sounding not unlike The Innocents in tone, the story is set three weeks before the Ashby siblings Simon (Oliver Reed), a brutish alcoholic, and Eleanor (Janette Scott), a nervous wreck, are to come into their late parents' inheritance. While Simon plans to have his sister certified insane and locked away, Eleanor keeps seeing the lurking figure of their long-dead brother Tony around the estate. Who or what is this apparition, and does he threaten to reveal skeletons in the closet (and elsewhere)?

Sounds like a winner, with a script by Jimmy Sangster and direction by Freddie Francis. Plenty of extras too, including an optional music & effects track, long-unseen original trailer and a Blu-ray-only exclusive of a high-definition stills gallery of rare materials. Available via Eureka from 26th July 2010, you can pre-order at Amazon now for £11.99.

Find out more at the Amazon website

DVD/Blu-ray review: The Pleasure Girls (1965)

A 60s teen flick featuring the man who became Lovejoy, a man who became Alan Bradley in Coronation Street and most bizarrely of all, Klaus Kinski? It has to be The Pleasure Girls, newly reissued on DVD/Blu-ray by the Flipside arm of the BFI.

In a London that's yet to fully 'swing' Gerry O'Hara's flick is in one way similar to other movies of the day, whilst at the same time being very different, not least because everything happens over the course of a weekend as relationships crumble when the darker sides of the male characters come to the fore.

DVD and Blu-ray review: The Party's Over (1963)

If one film was crying out for a release by the BFI's Flipside arm, it was surely Guy Hamilton's <b>The Party's Over</b>. Why? Well, this obscure cult gem has pretty much been out of circulation since its mid-60s debut and is well deserving of a wider audience. But also, because the original film was hacked apart by the censor - which means a reissue would require some loving care by sympathetic experts. Experts like the BFI's team of movie obsessives.

Guy Hamilton went onto bigger things, involving himself in everything from Bond classics to the original Superman flick, but The Party's Over remains his most controversial work. At least at the time, this tale of a beatnik gang and the myseterious disappearance of an American heiress wouldn't qualify as an '18' these days, but back in the 60s, it was cut severely by the British Board of Censors and packed off to the 'adult' circuit with an 'X' certificate. But it's hard to tell you why without giving away the 'twist' in the movie. So you'll just have to take my word on it.

9th Fantastic Films Weekend in Bradford - it really is fantastic

Ok, where can you see 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, Birdemic, eXistenZ, Faust, Full Employment, Horror Express, In The Market, Island, Killer Display, Lizard in a Woman's Skin, Mark of The Devil, Matthew Hopkins Witchfinder General, Patrick, Plague Town, Psycho, Robocop, Salvage, Screamtime, Secret Rites, Shadow, The Cicerones, The Giant Spider Invasion, The Image, The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, The Sorcerers, Three Cases Of Murder, Videodrome and Zone of the Dead: Director's Cut in one place over a single weekend? Simple - at the 9th Fantastic Films Weekend in Bradford.

The weekend is the 4th - 6th June 2010, with the movies supported by the usual special events and guest appearances, including British directors Stanley Long (Screamtime and cinematographer of The Sorcerers) and Michael Armstrong (The Image starring David Bowie and Mark of the Devil). This year, the weekend also includes a special guest appearance by English screenwriter and FFW patron Jeremy Dyson. Stanley will also be signing copies of his autobiography X-Rated: Adventures of an Exploitation Filmmaker.

All the details on the website.