DVD Review: What Have They Done To Your Daughters? (1974)

Shameless returns to 1970s Rome for its latest DVD release - Massimo Dallamano's What Have They Done To Your Daughters?

A follow-up (of sorts) to What Have You Done to Solange?, it's a mix of giallo, police thriller and exploitation, with an uncomfortable subject matter, some gratuitous nudity and the odd bit of rather nasty blood-letting - although none of that gets in the way of a well-presented and at times, quite serious story.

It follows the well-trodden path of a body being found by the dashing police detective (Claudio Cassinelli as Inspector Silvestri), with a 15-year-old girl hanging from a ceiling. It looks like suicide, but it soon becomes evident that this is murder - and what becomes a lead to a far-reaching child prostitution ring.

DVD Review: My Dear Killer (1972)

It's all too easy to write off Shameless DVD releases as 90 minutes of blood, guts and general old school video nastiness. But those blood-filled sleeves can be deceptive, with some really cool vintage flicks getting a first release by the fledgling label - including My Dear KIller.

A 1972 movie, directed by Tonino Valerii (one of Sergio Leone's assistant on the 'Dollars' movies amongst other career highlights) and set in Rome, this is well above average giallo with the occasional nasty shock and an interesting script, not to mention the ubiquitous black-gloved killer. It's just a shame the ending's so cheesy really.

It's also got one of the strangest starts to a movie you'll ever encounter, as a private detective loses his head, courtesy of a digger driver hired to dredge a pond. Bad luck? Well, no - it kicks off a sequence of events that leads back to the kidnap and killing of a child from the affluent Moroni family some years before.

Original Get Smart TV series gets UK DVD release

Long before Austin Powers there was Get Smart - and the original TV series is finally getting a DVD release in the UK. Probably to capitalise on the publicity from the movie remake.

Series one gets the DVD treatment, with Maxwell Smart aka Agent 86 (Don Adams) back to spoof 60s spy movies (and TV shows) and battle an assortment of super villains, including KAOS, The Claw, Siegfried, Harry Hoo, Mr Big and Hymie The Killer Robot, all courtesy of the pen of Mel Brooks.

It's available from 7th July 2008, with all 30 episodes digitally restored and re-mastered, with extras including various featurettes, commentaries and vintage promotional clips. Expect to pay around £34.99.

Find out more about the DVD at Amazon.co.uk

Coming to DVD: Into The Labyrinth - The Complete Series

Another lost TV gem returns via DVD, with Network releasing Into The Labyrinth - The Complete Series.

First broadcast by HTV in 1980 and set to be available as a three-disc (21 episode) set, it stars Ron Moody as time-travelling magician Rothgo, trapped in the rock of a cave. Discovered by Terry, Helen and Phil, the magician convinces them  to use the time-travelling power of his labyrinth to help him regain his focus of power, the Nidus, from the evil witch Belor (Pamela Salem).

It's out for the first time on DVD on 1st July 2008, priced around £24.99. We hope to have a review online in the coming weeks.

Find out more about the DVD at Amazon.co.uk

Midnight Movies at Curzon Cinemas

If you are in London and on the look out for a late night cult film in themed surroundings, free beer and a party thrown in, you should check out Midnight Movies, which is taking place at Curzon Cinemas.

The next event is on Friday 30th May, a 1960s-themed event with Skidoo on the big screen - a satirical comedy involving gangers, hippies, prison riots, LSD, a soundtrack by Harry Nilsson and starring Groucho Marx in his final role. Locked away by director Otto Preminger himself and never released on video and DVD, this is a rare opportunity to catch this groovy flick from 1968.

The event starts at 9:30pm (with DJs), with the film showing at 11:30pm. Entry is £10 (advance) or £12 on the door, with each ticket including a free beer. Tickets are available from the box office at Curzon Soho, 99 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 5DY or from the website below.

Curzon Cinemas website

Barbican's Best of Bond Weekend

London's Barbican centre is hosting a Best of Bond weekend over the weekend of 7th and 8th June, with the films shown based on the votes of the cinema's audiences over the past couple of months.

The winners have just been announced, with the four films being shown:

Saturday 7th June
6.00pm - From Russia With Love (1963)
8.45pm - Goldfinger (1964)

Sunday 8th June 
6.00pm - Casino Royale (2006 - not the 'spoof' version from 1967)
8.45pm - Dr No (1962)

You could sit through the whole weekend if you wanted, but it doesn't look like you get a discounted ticket for doing so - admission is £8.50 per film, £6 for the unwaged.

Find out more at the Barbican website

DVD Review: Radio On (1979)

A dark film about a dark era - but Chris Petit's Radio On is an incredibly striking movie, a fine period piece and arguably one of the finest road movies ever to come out of the UK.

It's a British movie, but with an undeniably German feel - hardly surprising with Wim Wenders pushing things along on the production side and Wenders collaborator Martin Schafer dealing with the monochrome photography. But it is a film very much about life in Britain, capturing the country at the dawn of Thatcherism - in the grip of economic and social decline.

The loose plot (with very sparse dialogue) follows Robert (David Beames), a London DJ who receives news of his brother's mysterious death. At a crossroads in both his personal and professional life, he takes to the road - heading for Bristol to find out the truth behind his death. On his way, he meets people as lost as himself - a squaddie on leave of duty from Northern Ireland, a wannabe rock star (played by Sting) and a German woman (Ingrid - Lisa Kreuzer) on the hunt for her child. All soundtracked by one of the finest selections of music ever compiled for as movie - including Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Devo, Robert Fripp and Wreckless Eric. Does he find out the truth behind his brother's death? Not really - but he does come to the end of the line as the plot jumps from whodunnit to a tale of a man (like many at the time) struggling to find direction in his life.

Coming to DVD: Jason King - The Complete Series Special Edition

Britain's dandiest crime investigator heads to DVD next month with the launch of Jason King - The Complete Series Special Edition.

As the name suggests, this is everything - seven discs with all 26 episodes complete and uncut, with Peter Wyngarde in the title role, mixing life as a crime fighter, author, playboy and late 60s clothes horse. Extras include a documentary, stills gallery, music suite and the TV play The Cross Fire starring Peter Wyngarde.

It's out on 30th June 2008, selling for £59.99. But watch out for a competition on this very site in the very near future.

Find out more about the DVD at Amazon.co.uk

Joy Division (2008) - the trailer

Following on from our review of the Joy Division documentary, here's the trailer for it.

Enjoy...

Review: Joy Division (2008)

One of my earliest childhood memories is being dragged into Manchester by my parents - and being ever-so-slightly scared by the decaying warehouses and factories, the disused Manchester Central railway station and the concrete monstrosities that made up the actual centre. It was grim beyond belief. But that decaying, depressing and hopeless environment produced one of Manchester's most iconic bands and the basis of this self-titled documentary - Joy Division.

Yes, with Control barely out of the cinema, here's another Joy Division story to replace it. But if you are a fan of the band, this is one you really need to see. Why? Well, it's all about the detail.

Cult Clip: Alphaville trailer (1965)

We mentioned this is getting a rare outing in Manchester this month, so a good time to feature the original (and perhaps over-dramatic) trailer for Jean-Luc Godard's sci-fi noir classic Alphaville.

And here it is...

Reigning Cats & Dogs - Robert Downey Sr's Pound plus Robert Crumb's Fritz The Cat and Bob Stanley DJ set at the Barbican

Next Friday looks like a decent night at London's Barbican, with the Fortune Teller Press presents Reigning Cats & Dogs. That means an outing for Robert Downey Sr’s Pound (unseen for 30 years), supported Fritz the Cat and a DJ set from Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley.

Pound is Robert Downey Sr’s rarely-seen follow-up to Putney Swope - an existential look into the world of dogs locked up in a NY pound - except all the dogs are played by humans. Studio execs hated it so , much that all copies were destroyed. Well, not quite all - here's a surviving one. Backing it up is the cult movie based on Robert Crumb’s Fritz The Cat, with morality taking a backseat to drugs, sex and an incredibly soulful soundtrack.

Tickets are £11, with the 9th May event starting at 7pm.

Find out more at the Barbican website

DVD Review: The Owl Service (1969)

Remember The Owl Service? Me neither - but after watching the newly-released DVD version of the 1969 teen drama, it's a show that will certainly stick in my mind for some time.

Set on a remote Welsh farm, The Owl Service mixes family intrigue with ancient legend in a complex tale that will require more than just casual viewing. Based on Alan Garner's 1967 novel, the tale revolves around a family brought together by marriage - Clive and his son Roger, plus the (unseen) Margaret and her daughter Alison (played by Gillian Hills - better known for appearing in A Clockwork Orange, Blow-Up and Beat Girl). They are joined by housekeeper Nancy and her son Gwyn.

One day, Alison hears a scratching in the loft and asks Gwyn to investigate - but he finds nothing but some plates with owls on them (The Owl Service). Seems fairly innocuous, but it kicks off a stream of events that see Alison becoming obsessed with the owls, cutting them out in secret, as well as developing a relationship with Gwyn.

Coming to DVD: Radio On (1979)

An unusual slice of life in late 70s Britain gets a BFI DVD issue later this month - Christopher Petit 's existential road movie Radio On.

This cult gem (filmed in black and white and with a soundtrack including David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Lene Lovich, Ian Dury, Robert Fripp, Wreckless Eric and Devo) follows a young London DJ (David Beames) on the road to Bristol to investigate the mysterious death of his brother - and at the same time inadvertently capturing the cultural and social change taking place at the dawn of the Thatcher era.

This new version also adds a newly-filmed interview with Chris Petit and producer Keith Griffiths, a 'digital video essay' on the movie, the original trailer and an illustrated 28-page booklet. Expect it on the shelves from 26th May.

Find out more about the DVD at Amazon.co.uk

Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville gets rare big screen outing in Manchester

The Breakfast Club at Manchester's Cornerhouse cinema is still going strong - offering a cooked breakfast (meat or veggie), a drink and a cult film for Sunday lunchtimes. And the next film is an absolute corker - Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville.

This ultra-stylish sci-fi noir finds inter-galactic special agent Lemmy Caution (Eddie Constantine) in Alphaville, the capital city of a distant planet, on the hunt for the mysterious Professor von Braun.

But when he arrives, he finds a planet controlled by Alpha 60, a vast computer which has outlawed 'illogical' trivia such as love and poetry and turned the residents into emotional zombies. Assisted by the professor's daughter Natasha (Anna Karina), Caution's investigations set him on a collision course with the all-powerful machine.

It's showing in Sunday 11th May, with a price of £9.20, including your fry-up.

Find out more at the Cornerhouse website