Don’t Torture A Duckling 4K UHD (1972)

Lucio Fulci's superior, downbeat giallo gets a brand new 4K restoration from the original 2-perf Techniscope camera negative from Arrow Films.

Someone is murdering little boys in a remote Italian town. Is it naked Barbara Bouchet with her wave tank and drug problem? Or mad Florinda Bolkan who likes to stick pins in wax effigies and bury them next to the skeleton of her aborted child? Or is it someone else entirely?

Typical gialli of the early 1970s tended to emphasise 'with it' characters living in fashionable apartments and enjoying glossy lifestyles. DUCKLING's setting is an Italian peasant town, with sometimes dressed (and whenever she is it's always fashionably) Barbara Bouchet looking as anachronistic as the concrete highway that towers over the landscape and olde worlde town where all the action takes place. DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING's story unfolds not in the world of high rise penthouses and devious scheming murderers, but in a far more old-fashioned milieu of superstitious peasant folk and the all-pervading presence of religion. 

Fulci's directorial style is thoroughly dispassionate throughout - we are shown the events but are only rarely encouraged to relate to the characters on screen. It's interesting to note that the one time we are it's when Fulci involves us in the horrific torture and murder of Bolkan's character by a quartet of local men seeking revenge. Fulci's bleak bitter view of humanity comes to the fore here, where not only is Bolkan portrayed more sympathetically than at any other time in the film, but extra emphasis is placed on the unwillingness of those driving past the cemetery in which the attack takes place to stop and help. And as if he's worried the audience hasn't been manipulated enough Fulci rams his point home by having Riz Ortolani's music play a sweet and soulful song as Florinda gets beaten to death with chains. 

      Again contrary to many of the gialli of the time, the reason for the murders is anything but ludicrous and despite its catchpenny title DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING has one of the better (and less ridiculous) giallo denouements, with a typically horrific end for the killer. 

Extras have al been ported over from Arrow's previous Blu-ray and DVD release include an excellent commentary track from Troy Howarth, Hell Is Already With Us - a video essay by Kat Ellinger, archive interviews with Fulci (audio - 33 minutes) Bolkan (28 minutes), Bouchet (18 minutes), DP Sergio D'Offizi (46 minutes), editor Bruno Micheli (25 minutes) and make up artist Maurizio Trani (16 minutes), and Giallo in the Countryside - a video discussion by Mikel J Koven.

Lucio Fulci's DON'T TORTURE A DUCKING is out on 4K UHD from Arrow Films on Monday 24th March 2025

 

Audrey (2025)

 

"John Waters-Style Comedy From Australia"

After its European premiere at the BFI LFF, director Natalie Bailey's pitch black Australian comedy is getting a digital release through Vertigo Releasing.

Many years ago Ronnie Lipsick (Jackie van Beek) won awards for her acting and even had 'a two episode arc on Neighbours'. But then marriage and kids intervened and now she's a miserable and frustrated housewife with two teenaged daughters - Audrey (Josephine Blazier) and Norah (Hannah Diviney) and a somewhat bizarre husband in the shape of Cormack (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor).

When the ghastly Audrey falls off the roof of the family home during a tantrum and ends up in a coma, it turns out to be the best thing that could have happened for the rest of the Lipsicks. Audrey's planned place in a prestigious drama class is taken by her mother posing as a teenager, wheelchair-bound Norah gets to have fencing lessons, while handyman Cormack is booked to fit cupboards at a local church hall but ends up getting involved in the pastor's sideline job of making porn for Christian couples, as well as having an affair with the pastor himself.

But then Audrey recovers and everything gets worse again. What's to be done? And might Ronnie being cast as Medea in a local amateur dramatics production give her ideas?

AUDREY is quirky and entertaining and, at times, in bad enough taste that the easily offended are quite likely to be upset. Calling it an Australian John Waters film might be going a little bit too far but the Lipsicks are certainly the kind of dysfunctional family who scream at each other a lot that Waters excelled at portraying, even if everything is a little more airbrushed than what the Pope of Trash used to give us. Here's the trailer, which will give you a good idea if this one's for you:

Natalie Bailey's AUDREY is out on digital platforms from Vertigo Releasing on Monday 17th March 2025

The Rule of Jenny Pen (2025)

 

Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow star in the new film from director James Ashcroft (COMING HOME IN THE DARK) which is getting a UK cinema release this week.

During the sentencing of a case, Judge Stefan Mortensen (Rush) suffers a stroke. Soon he is in an elderly care home with the intention that once he is sufficiently rehabilitated he will be able to return home. His progress is slow but that's not the least of his problems. Long-term patient Dave Crealy (Lithgow) holds a reign of terror over the other patients with the aid of a bizarre glove puppet whom he calls Jenny Pen, and Mortensen is soon within his sights. However, Mortensen may just be a bit more than Crealy can handle.

An absorbing, tightly constructed and frequently downright disturbing piece of work, especially for anyone who might have elderly relatives resident in such an institution, with its gloomy corridors and persistent sense of menace, James Ashcroft's film at times feels like Kubrick's THE SHINING and at others like Alan Clarke's SCUM set in an old people's home. 

      Lithgow is terrifying as Crealy, while Rush underplays expertly as his main foil. Ashcroft's visuals cleverly illustrate the gulf between how well Rush's character believes himself to be progressing and how he is actually doing, and the film sustains an impressive intensity right up until the closing minutes. All this and the best use of the themes from Follyfoot and Van Der Valk ever in a horror film. Top stuff. Here's the trailer:

THE RULE OF JENNY PEN is out in UK cinemas on Friday 14th March 2025 from Vertigo

Like Tears in Rain (2025)

"A Fitting Tribute to a Fine Actor"

Sanna Fabery de Jonge's new documentary about her godfather Rutger Hauer is getting a digital release on Viaplay exclusively through Amazon Prime Video.

Throughout his adult life Rutger Hauer was obsessed with recording on film  everything that was happening around him, including behind the scenes on his motion picture projects. He kept all the tapes in a storage facility, where they were destroyed in a flood. However, after his death in 2019, a further box of long-unseen material was discovered at his home. de Jonge has combined this with interviews with some of the people Hauer worked with including directors Paul Verhoeven, Robert Rodriguez and Jason Eisener and actors Vincent d'Onofrio, Mickey Rourke, Whoopi Goldberg and Miranda Richardson to produce this tribute to Hauer the man. 

As such, it does its job very well indeed. In 80 minutes LIKE TEARS IN RAIN gives you a very rounded portrayal of Rutger Hauer, detailing his early life and career and going on to talk about his move to Hollywood. Don't expect detailed behind the scenes gossip of films like BLADE RUNNER or LADYHAWKE because that's not the point of this, although they are mentioned (you have to wait to the end for most of the talk about his role of Roy Batty in BLADE RUNNER which is fair enough). It is, however, a delight to see people like Paul Verhoeven talking at length about him with such affection, and you come away thinking Rutger Hauer might have been a very nice chap to know. Provided he liked you, that is. Here's the trailer:

LIKE TEARS IN RAIN is getting a digital release on Viaplay exclusively through Amazon Prime Video on Monday 10th March 2025

The Terminal Man (1974)

Arrow Films are bringing out Mike Hodges' bleak adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel on Blu-ray with a bunch of excellent newly filmed extras.

After suffering a brain injury caused by trauma Harry Benson (George Segal) suffers from intermittent seizures that result in extremely violent behaviour. During these episodes he has no control over himself and no memory of what he has done. His only warning is a distinctive smell 'like pig shit and turpentine' that signifies the onset of an attack.

However, there may be hope for Harry in the form of an experimental brain implant that can predict the onset of a seizure and prevent it from happening. Harry is the first human to undergo the procedure. Unfortunately Harry's brain becomes addicted to the implant's calming effect and reacts by inducing more seizures in order to get it. When he escapes from hospital it quickly becomes apparent that Harry, now capable of even more frequent bouts of extreme violence than before, has to be found and stopped.

Made at a time when its writer-director was suffering a bout of extreme depression, THE TERMINAL MAN probably wins the prize for being the bleakest, gloomiest, most downbeat adaptation of a Michael Crichton work. Being denied the opportunity to shoot in black and white, Hodges instead went for a colour palate than is all black and white and shades of grey. The film's themes of isolation and loneliness exacerbated by the technology we have created (or a striving to create) are, if anything, even more relevant and poignant today and, as a consequence, fifty years later THE TERMINAL MAN is still a potent gut punch of a movie.

Arrow's disc gives you the film in two versions: theatrical cut (104 minutes) and director's cut (100 minutes), the main difference between the two being a four minute scene-setting prologue that's present in the theatrical, making it the version that's probably best watched first. The theatrical print also has the commentary, which is by Howard S Berger and Steven Mitchell and touches on as many aspects of the production and the adaptation of the book as they can fit in. Berger returns for a touching visual essay on Mike Hodges's work (22 minutes) and a fascinating look at two Crichton adaptations - THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN and THE TERMINAL MAN, their directors (Robert Wise and Hodges) and the cinematographer that links the two - Richard Kline (25 minutes). Is that really Howard's family bathroom at the beginning? Probably not.

Otherwise there's a nine minute segment of Arrow's Mike Hodges documentary where the late director talks about the film, and another excellent visual essay, this time by Josh Nelson, this one talking about how Hodges composes shots in the film to emphasise isolation and using the paintings of Edward Hopper as comparison. Finally, the disc comes with a booklet featuring new writing on the film by Guy Adams.

Mike Hodges' THE TERMINAL MAN is out on Blu-ray from Arrow Films on Monday 10th March 2025

Dressed To Kill 4K UHD (1980)

 "Sp

"Sparkling 4K Transfer With New Extras That's Worth the Upgrade From Blu-Ray"

Nearly 12 years after its Blu-ray release, Arrow Films are bringing out Brian De Palma's occasionally ludicrous but frequently masterful DRESSED TO KILL on 4K UHD with archival extras ported over from both the Blu-ray and the US Kino Lorber release, plus some new ones as well. 

Nice, likeable, middle-aged housewife Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) lives a dull, unfulfilled, middle-class New York life. She is married to Ted (Norman Evans in what must be one of the most thankless roles in cinema), who provides her with a boring sex life. She also has a teenaged son, Peter (Keith Gordon), who is something of an electronics whizz. One morning, after an appointment with her psychiatrist Dr Robert Elliott (Michael Caine) Kate pays a visit to a museum (it’s actually the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the inside). There she meets a man who takes her back to his place for a bit of afternoon bedroom shenanigans. Getting ready to leave, she finds a letter notifying the chap of having a venereal disease (with exclamation mark). Leaving the building she’s attacked in the elevator by a woman wielding a razor and her bleeding, dying body is discovered by call girl Liz (Nancy Allen) who becomes the killer’s next intended victim.

Most people know how DRESSED TO KILL pans out, but in case you don’t I’m not going to reveal any more, suffice to say that this is Hollywood cinema at its most stylish and operatic. When it was originally released DRESSED TO KILL came in for a lot of criticism for being overly misogynistic. In fact, if anything it’s men who get a rough portrayal in this movie. The male characters in the world of DRESSED TO KILL are either beer-swilling useless insensitives (poor old Ted), geeks (Peter), STD-infected lotharios (the chap from the museum) or the perpetrator of the murders. Women come out of this better than men, but at the end of the day, and in the world of the giallo the individual characters don’t matter as much as the overall style of the piece. 

It’s a testament to de Palma’s skill as a film-maker that DRESSED TO A KILL is a film that doesn’t stand up to repeat viewings from a logical viewpoint (the film cheats all over the place, often so blatantly you can’t help but see De Palma with a cheeky grin while doing do) but nevertheless it’s a film you have to see several times to appreciate the sheer technical accomplishment of the piece, as well as the many subtleties that you may miss the first time around. Despite all its problems of narrative logic, and the way it does several things that can’t even be described as sleight of camera to distract, deceive and manipulate the viewer, DRESSED TO KILL has gained status as a deserve classic, mainly because De Palma’s style is so arresting and so mesmerising. 

There are other factors too, however. The acting from Dickinson, Allen, and Keith Gordon is very good indeed, and pretty much lets us forgive Michael Caine who does feel a bit out of place in this (although who else would have been better in the role - another curious DRESSED TO KILL dichotomy). As mentioned above, the elevator murder remains an operatic triumph of direction, editing and music. Pino Donaggio’s work deserves special mention because it really is one of the best dramatic scores composed for a film of this type. Criticised by those with nothing better to do at the time as being a pale imitation of Bernard Herrmann’s score for PSYCHO, Donaggio’s music actually goes well beyond that. While the scraping strings of PSYCHO’s shower murder are imitated in the elevator scene, Donaggio underpins them with woodwind to create an effect that, if anything, feels even more violent and over the top, in keeping with the operatic nature of De Palma’s film.

I reviewed Arrow's 2013 Blu-ray release of DRESSED TO KILL and its extras, all of which have been ported over, back in 2013 so go here to read about them. Extras new to UK viewers on Arrow's 4K disc are two commentary tracks, one by critic Maitland McDonagh and another, newly recorded for Arrow, by podcasters Drusilla Adeline and Joshua Conkel. The McDonagh is a little drier and more academic while the Adeline and Conkel is much chattier and feels as if you're watching it with knowledgeable friends.

There are two new visual essays: BJ and Harmony Colangelo discuss the themes of duality in the film in terms of not just character but the way the film is shot and its narrative structure (11 minutes) , while Jessica Crets talks about De Palma's empathic treatment of his subject matter in a concise but well-worded piece (9 minutes).

Interviews from 2022 (and presumably prted over from Kino Lorber's Blu-ray) include Nancy Allen (18 minutes), Keith Gordon (14 minutes) and associate producer Fred Caruso (8 minutes).

Finally, the image on Arrow's transfer is a step up from the Blu-ray with dark scenes clearer and the colours on brighter scenes really popping (eg in the museum). The bottom line? If you love DRESSED TO KILL then you have to have this.

Brian De Palma's DRESSED TO KILL is out on 4K UHD from Arrow Films on Monday 3rd March 2025

Cronos (1993)

 

Guillermo del Toro's debut feature gets a limited edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray double disc release from the BFI.

Antiques dealer Jesus Gris (Federico Luppi) acquires a statue of an angel and discovers, hidden in the base, a brass clockwork device in the shape of a large scarab beetle. Unknown to him (but known to us because we've seen the prologue) this is an immortality device, designed and built by the alchemist Fulcanelli. 

Soon Jesus has wound the device up and had the skin of his palm pierced, leaving him feeling younger but with an aversion to daylight and a craving for blood. And those aren't his only problems. Rich, dying De La Guardia (Claudio Brook) wants the device for himself and sends the brutish Angel (Ron Perlman) to get it.

CRONOS isn't perfect - there are pacing problems and the final act tails off rather than reaching a satisfactory conclusion, but in 1993 there was still no doubt that the film heralded the arrival of a very promising talent. Now, all the years and awards later, it's possible to see some of Del Toro's obsessions (little children exposed to the world of fantasy, well-meaning monsters encountering external threats to their existence) correct and present even at this early stage, while the cronos device itself is a beautiful marvel of production design.

The BFI's set consists of two discs. Disc One is either UHD or Blu-ray with the film in a 4K (2160p) restoration in Dolby Vision from the original 35mm negative supervised by the director. Extras on this disc are limited to three commentary tracks - a new one moderated by Vic Pratt and featuring Jason Wood, author of the Faber Book of Mexican Cinema, and two archival commentaries from 2002, one by Del Toro and another with three of the producers.

Disc Two is a Blu-ray with the other extras including a new 33 minute interview with Del Toro by Olivier Pére. Geometria is a jolly little 6 minute horror short from 1986 and Del Toro talks for seven minutes about it afterwards. There's the 2017 BFI LFF interview with Del Toro conducted by Mark Salisbury around the time THE SHAPE OF WATER came out (75 minutes). The rest of the material is archival from other disc releases including a five minute interview with Federico Luppi from 2003, two interviews with Del Toro from 2010 (60 minutes and 17 minutes), one with DP Guillermo Navarro (17 minutes) and a charming one with Ron Perlman (7 minutes) where he discusses why he and the director get on so well. 

There are also the usual trailer and image galleries, plus the set comes with a 60 page book featuring new and archival writing on the film and Del Toro. Finally you also get four postcards and a fold out poster.

Guillermo Del Toro's CRONOS is out in a two disc set (UHD and Blu-ray or two Blu-rays) on Monday 24th February 2025